Emi Otsuji

Associate Professor Emi Otsuji holds a position at the School of International Studies, University of Technology Sydney (UTS). She coordinates the Japan Major and teaches courses on transcultural communication, language and identity in Japanese, and Japanese media. Her research focuses on everyday multilingualism (metrolingualism), critical sociolinguistics, and language ideologies, employing linguistic ethnography to explore grassroots language practices in urban settings.

Dr. Otsuji’s doctoral work, which received the 2009 Michael Clyne Prize, examined immigrant bilingualism and language contact. She co-authored *Metrolingualism: Language in the City* (2015) and co-edited volumes such as *Languages and Identities in a Transitional Japan* (2015). Her current research investigates multilingualism through food culture, emphasizing vegetables as cultural artifacts that bridge migrant communities and urban spaces.

She serves as President of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia and holds editorial roles in *Japan Journal of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism*. Her funded projects include studies on metrolingual assemblages and Japan’s evolving multiculturalism. Otsuji advocates for inclusive language education that transcends monolingual frameworks, emphasizing semiotic resources and urban public spheres.