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About

Takeshi Kimura is a pioneering interdisciplinary scholar whose work sits at the intersection of robotics, sociology of religion, ethics, and human-technology relations — with particular expertise in the Japanese cultural and technological context. His most influential contribution, "Robotics and AI in the Sociology of Religion" (2017, 97 citations), broke new ground by integrating Science, Technology and Society (STS) frameworks with religious studies, illuminating how advanced AI reshapes secular and spiritual dimensions of modern life. Kimura has also made significant strides in educational robotics, with two widely cited works exploring how care-receiving robots can serve as pedagogical tools for young children and the ethical considerations surrounding their classroom deployment, together accumulating over 100 citations. His intellectual curiosity extends further into human intimacy and identity, as demonstrated by his examination of sex robots and artificial partners within Japanese cultural norms. A particularly distinctive contribution is his scholarly analysis of Masahiro Mori's Buddhist philosophy of robotics (18 citations), connecting Japan's spiritual heritage to its technological innovation. Across his career, Kimura has consistently challenged readers to think deeply about what it means to be human in an age of intelligent machines.