Sakura Christmas

Dr. Sakura Christmas is an Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies at Bowdoin College, currently on leave for the 2025–2026 academic year. She specializes in modern Japanese history, focusing on borderlands, environment, and imperialism in the 20th century. Her research integrates fieldwork in Japan, China, and Mongolia, supported by prestigious fellowships from institutions like the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Social Science Research Council.

Education: PhD in History from Harvard University (2016); AB in History from Harvard University (2008).

Research interests include the intersection of environmental planning and colonialism, with her forthcoming book Territorial Natures examining Japanese influence on Inner Mongolia's autonomy. Her articles analyze topics like aerial technology in Manchukuo and environmental disease in soy farming.

Awards include the Transregional Research Junior Scholar Fellowship (SSRC) and Henry Luce Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. She teaches courses on Japanese history, environmental history, and colonialism, emphasizing global contexts. Her advising emphasizes multi-lingual research, and she supports student travel/research in Asia through grants.

Her work bridges disciplinary boundaries, combining historical analysis with environmental and imperial studies. Current projects explore the contested legacies of Japanese imperialism and transnational environmental ethics.