I originally studied medieval Europe at Lund’s University in my native Sweden, but became increasingly interested in other medieval societies, in which Japan stood out as the most significant comparator to Europe. This happened in the early 1980s, when there interest in Japan was booming, much thanks to samurai films by Kurosawa Akira and the TV series Shogun. I began studying Japanese at Lund, which I continued at Stockholm for two years until iw as fortunate to receive a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education in 1986. Once I set foot in Japan, I was hooked, not just by its history and culture, but also by its contemporary culture, food, and entertainment, especially in Kyoto and Osaka, where I spent 2.5 years. I started the PhD programme at Stanford University, which i completed in 1995. I have held academic positions at the University of Oklahoma, Harvard University, the University of Alberta in Canada, before arriving at Cambridge and Trinity in 2016. Besides being chair of Japanese, I have also served as head of department and co-chair of the Faculty (2017-2021).

Fun fact: I played volleyball, for many years, and have coached in Sweden, Japan, the US, and the UK.

Inspired by the Annales School, I take a holistic approach in my research, aiming to provide a getter understanding of the mental and socio-political frameworks of early medieval Japan. For instance, I have looked at how Buddhist ideas were embedded within the state ideology, allowing temples and monks both independence and influence on the imperial court. My interest in historical narratives induced me to deconstruct the notion of “monk-warriors,” placing warriors fighting for temples into a better historical context, while also providing an analysis of how and why negative images of them emerged in later times. Finally, my interest in agency led to a monograph focusing on Sino-Japanese trade in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and the important role played by merchants in Japan’s remarkable medieval economic development.