Professor Kawakami took his current position at Waseda University in 2002, after working as the Japanese Language Advisor of the Japan Foundation for the Ministry of Education, Queensland, Australia and as a Professor at Miyagi University of Education.

He received his PhD from Osaka University. His research areas are Japanese Language Education and Cultural Anthropology.

Professor Kawakami proposed the concept of ‘Children Crossing Borders’ to capture experiences and memories of those who were brought up in plurilingual environments, and has been investigating Japanese language education for children.

His recent publications include:‘Watashi mo ido suru kodomo data: kotonaru gengo no aida de sodatta kodomotachi no raifusutori’ [I am “Children Crossing Borders” too: Life Stories of Children Who Were Brought Up between Different Languages] , ‘Ido suru kodomotachi no kotoba no kyoikugaku’ [Language Pedagogy for Children Crossing Borders], ‘Nihongo wo manabu/ fukugengo de sodatsu: Kodomo no kotoba wo kangaeru waakubukku’ [Learn Japanese/Bring up in plural languages: Workbook of Examining languages of children (co-authored)] and ‘Ido to kotoba’ [Mobility and Language (co-authored)] (all of the aforementioned books are published by Kuroshio Publications).