Tsugumi Okabe
Asst Professor
Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
Department: Modern Languages & Comp Lit
Areas of expertise: Media adaptations of Sherlock Holmes in Japan, detective manga stories, Japanese and British mystery fiction, Japanese neo-Victorian detective stories/media
Email Address: tsugumi.okabe@baruch.cuny.edu
- Biography
- Teaching
- Research and Creative Activity
- Grants
- Honors and Awards
- Service
Hi there! Feel free to call me Mimi!
I am a comparatist specializing in manga adaptations of classic detective stories in neo-Meiji and Japanese neo-Victorian works, such as those influenced by Edogawa Rampo and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Specifically, I examine the evolution of the youth detective trope and on interpretations of the role of youth throughout the history of modern Japan in the construction of the boy detective from the 1990s. My first monogrpah, Manga, Murder and Mystery: Investigating the Revival of the Boy Detective in Japan’s Lost Generation, which received the 2023 International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize, advances new insight in Japanese Studies and detective fiction criticism, as it explores children’s mystery stories appearing in Japanese manga tracing the literary figure of the boy detective over the course of Japan’s ‘lost decade’ (1990 – 2001) to explore broader social expectations of youth in contemporary Japan. Ultimately, my research goal is to expand the field of Japanese mystery fiction criticism beyond current scholarship’s focus on well-known, classic writers and beyond the focus of literature alone.
I also conduct research on cultural and media studies with a focus on gender and gaming, which branches off into two distinct streams: an analysis of how tropes and themes of classic detective stories are deployed in Japanese game content; and an exploration of the production and consumption side of games and, specifically women’s participation in the industry. To learn more about my research interests, publications and projects, visit my website
Education
Ph.D., Comparative Literature, University of Alberta Canada
Program Certificate, Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation Media-Content Research Project, 2-Week Summer Program, University of Tokyo Japan
A.M., English Language and Literature, Brock University Canada
A.M., Popular Culture, Communications & Film, Brock University Canada
B.A., English Language and Literature, Brock University Canada
| Semester | Course Prefix | Course Number | Course Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2025 | JPN | 3001 | Intensive Interm Japanese I |
| Spring 2025 | JPS | 4906 | Critical Approaches to Japanes |
| Spring 2025 | JPN | 3002 | Int Intrm Japanese II |
| Spring 2025 | AAS | 4906 | Critical Approaches to Japanes |
| Fall 2024 | JPN | 1001 | Elementary Japanese I |
| Fall 2024 | AAS | 4905 | Lang,Lit,Cult-Japan |
| Fall 2024 | JPS | 4905 | Lang,Lit,Cult-Japan |
Books
Hutchinson, R., Okabe, T., Mondelli, F., & Pelletier-Gagnon, J. (2028). The Japanese Videogame Theory Reader. Under review with MIT Press . In Progress.
Okabe, T. (2028). Sleuthing Shojo: The Girl Detective in Japanese Media. Bloomsbury Academic. In Progress.
Okabe, T. (2023). Manga, Murder and Mystery: The Boy Detectives of Japan's Lost Generation. (p. 216). Bloomsbury Academic.
Journal Articles
Okabe, T., & Kusumoto, K. (2025). Why are there so many Translations of Alice in Japan?. Special Issue of the Journal of Asian Studies,
(2025). The City as Playground: Boy Detectives, Crime, and Urban Space. The Canadian Review of Comparative Literature / Revue Canadienne de Littérature Comparée,
Amano, K., Rockwell, G., & Okabe, T. (2021). Ethics and Gaming: A Content Analysis of Annual Reports of the Japanese Game Industry. Replaying Japan Journal, 3. 11-20.
Okabe, T., & Pelletier-Gagnon, J. (2019). Playing with Pain: The Politics of Asobigokoro in Enzai Falsely Accused. Journal of the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities , 4(1). 37-53.
(2019). Global Partners against Crime: Rewriting Sherlock Holmes and Watson in Japanese Video Games. Replaying Japan Journal, 1(1). 40-51.
(2018). Combating Youth Violence: The Emergence of Boy Sleuths in Japan’s Lost Decade. Mechademia Second Arc, 11(1). 92-112.
(2015). The Game Freaks who Play with Bugs—in Praise of the Video Game Xevious . Kinephanos Revue d'études des médias et de culture populaire Journal of media studies and popular culture, 5(1). 175-201.
(2015). Jane Austen in Translation: On Sisterhood and Romance in Mochizuki Reiko’s Sense and Sensibility. Persuasions Online, 36(1).
(2013). From Sherlock Holmes to ‘Heisei’ Holmes: Counter Orientalism and Post-Modern Parody in Aoyama Gosho’s Detective Conan Manga Series. International Journal of Comic Art, 15(1). 230-250.
Book Chapters
(2026). Phantom Sleuths: Youth Agency and Social Justice in Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5Royal. Phantom Sleuths: Youth Agency and Social Justice in Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal Bloomsbury Academic.
(2026). "Detective". Keywords in Game Studies New York University Press.
(2025). London Detective Mysteria: A Case Study on the Limitations and Potentials of the Otome Detective in Japanese neo-Victorian Video Games. Victorians and Videogames Routledge.
(2025). Ladies, Leave, and Corporate Liability? Personnel Policies in the Japanese Game Industry . The Handbook of Japanese Games and Gameplay (pp. 235-248). Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam University Press, 2025.
(2023). Policing Youth: The Role of Detectives in Japanese Visual Novel Games. Introducing Japanese Popular Culture (Revised Edition) (pp. 81-87). London, England. Routledge.
(2022). Starving Beauties? Instabae, Diet Food and Japanese Girl Culture. Food Instagram: Identity, Influence, and Negotiation (pp. 47-64). Champaign, Illinois. University of Illinois Press.
(2018). Rule Makers vs. Rule Breakers: The Impact of Legislative Policies on Women Game Developers in the Japanese Game Industry. Feminism in Play (pp. 125-141). Cham, Switzerland. Springer International Publishing.
Conference Proceedings
Okabe, T. (2025). What’s Next? Trans-Pacific Fandom Studies in the Deglobalizing Era. Association for Asian Studies 2025 Columbus, Ohio.
Okabe, T. (2025). “Gendered Narratives in Japanese Gaming”. DIGRA2025: Digital Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA).
Okabe, T. (2025). “The Shojo Detective in Japanese Manga: Gender, Girlhood, and Social Agency”. Mechademia 2025.
Okabe, T. (2024). “The Politics of Japanese Detective Games". 52nd Annual Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies Conference.
Presentations
Okabe, T. Teaching and Translating Japanese Video Games. Translating Japanese Games and Game Scholarship Class Visit. Newark, Delaware: Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Delaware.
Okabe, T. (2025, November 1). From Curiosity to Career: Exploring the Boy Detective Tradition in Anime and Manga, and the Influence of Detective Conan. Guest Speaker at Hunter College. New York: Department of Classical and Oriental Studies, Hunter College.
Okabe, T. (2025, October 24). “Manga, Murder and Mystery: The Boy Detectives of Japan's Lost Generation”. Distinguished Visitors Talk. Haverford College: East Asian Languages and Cultures.
| Honor / Award | Organization Sponsor | Date Received | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6th Annual International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize | Sixth Annual International Crime Fiction Association Book Prize | 2024-08-09 | The IFCA Book Prize recognizes ingenuity, innovation, and scholarship in the academic study of crime fiction and crime writing in its widest sense. |
Professional
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ritsumeikan Centre for Game Studies, Ritsumeikan University | Editor, Associate Editor | Japan | 9/1/2021 | Present | International | |
| Replaying Japan International Japan Game Studies Conference | Committee Member | 9/6/2016 | Present | International | ||
| Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) | Track Organizer | 9/1/2024 | 7/4/2025 | International | ||
| 12th International Japan Game Studies Conference: Replaying Japan | Program Organizer | New York | United States | 8/19/2024 | 8/21/2024 | International |
Public
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd Annual Manga March Madness Faire | Guest Speaker | New York | United States | 3/21/2025 | 3/21/2025 | Local |
| NECTJ Spring Festival, Hunter College | Guest Speaker | New York | United States | 2/12/2025 | 2/12/2025 | Local |
| The Shaka Sherlockians of Hawaii | Guest Speaker | Hawaii | United States | 8/10/2024 | 8/10/2024 | International |