Noriko Kanahara is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Chicago, and currently doing research in the Department of Area Studies at the University of Tokyo. She studies the history of migration in modern Japan with a particular focus on the perception of Islam and Muslims as revealed through academic and policy related records. Her dissertation examines how policy makers, police, academics, and journalists perceived refugees from central Asia in the post Russian Revolution period in order to approach questions regarding the understanding of religion in modern Japan, and more generally, standards of judgments for determining dangerous and unacceptable practices and ways of being.