Adam Kern, PhD, is a professor of Japanese literature and visual culture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He nurtured his passion for Japanese culture and literature as a high school exchange student in Japan. Afterward, he worked as a staff reporter for the Japanese-language newspaper Kyoto Shimbun and as an intern for the manga weekly Young Magazine. In 1997, he attained his doctorate in Japanese literature from Harvard University; he joined the faculty at this hallowed institution for a decade, followed by teaching positions at the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin–

Madison. Dr. Kern’s writings include Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook Culture and the Kibyōshi of Edo Japan and The Penguin Book of Haiku among others. He also coedited a translation volume, A Kamigata Anthology: Literature from Japan’s Metropolitan Centers, 1600–175.