North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC): Home

NCC's 30th Anniversary Celebration & 4th Decade Conference

As we enter the final month of our 30th Anniversary/ 4th Decade Conference year, it seems particularly fitting to publish this interview between a (possible) future next-generation Japan Studies librarian and a veteran Japan Studies librarian who has contributed so much to NCC and the Japan Studies field in a career spanning two decades.

Gina Goosby is a 2020 graduate of Swarthmore College (B.A. in Japanese Studies) with a strong interest in Asian Studies librarianship. Her research interests focus on the diasporic Korean community within Japan from past to present. She is currently in Osaka, Japan, teaching English for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. As part of the NCC 30th Anniversary and 4th Decade Conference, Goosby interviewed Tokiko Bazzell (University of Hawaii at Manoa) about her career path to becoming a Japan Studies Librarian.

Prior to joining the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Tokiko Bazzell worked as a librarian for Nomura Research Institute (Washington, D.C.) and American University (Washington, D.C.). Bazzell’s career as a Japan Studies Librarian spans 22 years, and she has served in many key roles, including NCC Chair from 2007 to 2010. In 2021, she received the Nina D.P. Horio Excellence in Librarianship Award.