Dr. Yuri Takahashi

Biography

Yuri Takahashi is a lecturer and convener of the Burmese Program at the Australian National University, established in 2016. He was awarded the Commendation for Excellence in Education from ANU College of Asia & Pacific in 2022. Yuri obtained a Master's degree in Burmese literature from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and worked for seven years at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Burmese specialist, alongside a significant stay in Yangon from 1991 to 1994. His career as a professional language educator is focused on tertiary education. He graduated from Meiji University with a BA in Economics, majoring in modern Japanese political history in 1982 and taught the Japanese language to overseas students at Takushoku University for nine years while holding a posting at the Japanese Embassy in Myanmar. Yuri later moved to Australia and returned to language education research at the University of Sydney, where he taught at the Japanese Department for sixteen years as a casual academic and Associate Lecturer in Japanese. In 2013, he led an intensive Burmese course at the University of Sydney. Over his career, he has published numerous translations and essays on Burmese literature, music, and media culture in Australia, Japan, and Myanmar, and obtained an M.Phil and a PhD in Modern Burmese intellectual history from the University of Sydney, focusing on changing narratives of Burmese nationalism through the biography of Shwe U Daung, a Burmese author known for creating the 'San Shar Detective' series, which is an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes stories.

Research Interests

Experience