Mina Kaneko

Mina Kaneko is an Assistant Professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at North Carolina State University, specializing in modern Japanese literature and culture. She holds a PhD in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture from the University of Southern California and previously served as Associate Editor of Covers at The New Yorker magazine. Her research focuses on postwar Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, particularly analyzing the mushroom as a symbolic representation of nuclear war trauma. She is affiliated with the Film Studies program and has been supported by prestigious fellowships such as the Fulbright-Hays award. Prior to NC State, she taught at Oberlin College.

Her educational background includes a B.S. in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University, and both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture/Comparative Media Studies from USC.

Kaneko’s work bridges literary analysis with visual media studies, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to cultural history. Her current project, “Radiating Mushrooms of Postwar Japan,” explores how visual symbols mediate collective memory in post-nuclear contexts.