Emi Otsuji

“I’ve never stayed in one place so long”, said Emi Otsuji in the beginning of our interview in Sydney. She was born in the US and spent several years in Japan before her family relocated to the UK. Even after her family moved back to Japan, they lived in several cities, including Fukuoka and Osaka, and finally settled in Sasazuka, Tokyo, where Emi’s mother still lives. In the 1990s, Emi once again left Japan, this time on her own, for Singapore to teach Japanese. After leaving Singapore, she spent six months in Holland on her way to her next destination, Sydney, Australia, where she completed her masters (Macquarie University) and PhD degrees (University of Technology, Sydney). Emi is currently Senior Lecturer at UTS, teaching Japanese and conducting funded projects on metrolingualism. Her work involves communication with people from various backgrounds as well as frequent trips overseas. In this video, she shares her thoughts on her transnational lifestyle. She talks of both a sense of excitement and uncertainty that often come with such a way of life.

「あまり一つの所にながく居た事がないんです」とインタビューの冒頭にお話してくれたのはシドニー工科大学の尾辻恵美博士。アメリカで生まれ、日本で数年滞在した後、ご家族と共にイギリスで幼少時を過ごした。日本に帰国後、福岡や大阪などの数都市に滞在後、現在もお母様がいらっしゃる東京の笹塚がご家族の拠点となった。１９９０年に再度日本を離れ、シンガポールで日本語を教える。シンガポールを離れ、６ヶ月オランダに滞在後、来豪する事になった。マッコーリ大学にてマスターを習得し、シドニー工科大学にて博士号を終了されている。現在はシドニー工科大学でシニアレクチャラーとして日本語を教えつつリサーチに忙しい日々。代表的なリサーチプロジェクトはAustralian Research Councilから助成を受け行っているMetrolingualism。多国籍な職場で海外出張も多いお仕事だ。
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