Amy B. Borovoy

Amy B. Borovoy is a Professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University, specializing in cultural and medical anthropology with a focus on modern Japanese society and welfare systems. Her research explores health care, mental health, and social welfare dynamics in Japan, including studies on alcoholism, hikikomori (social withdrawal among youth), eating disorders, and bioethics. She has held affiliations with the Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University, and Sophia University. Borovoy has authored influential works like The Too-Good Wife: Alcohol, Codependence, and the Politics of Nurturance in Postwar Japan (2005) and is currently researching aging, neurological death ethics, and kidney transplantation practices in Japan.

Her recent work analyzes postwar U.S. social scientists' engagement with Japanese societal models, critiquing American liberalism through Japan’s collectivist frameworks. Borovoy serves on the Bioethics Committee at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital and teaches courses like “Mind, Body, and Bioethics in Japan.”

• Awards: Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Fellowship (2017-18), SSRC/CGP Abe Fellowship (2002-03), and multiple research grants.
• Key Research: Covid-19 containment policies in Japan, organ donation ethics, and critiques of neoliberalism.
• Lab/Teams: Affiliated with Princeton’s Global Japan Lab, Center for Health and Well-Being, and Global Health Program.