YASUKO OKUMURA

Last Updated :2025/06/24

Affiliations, Positions
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Associate Professor
E-mail
y-okumurahiroshima-u.ac.jp

Basic Information

Major Professional Backgrounds

  • 2022/04, 2023/03, The University of Tokyo, Center for Evolutionary Cognitive Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Project Researcher
  • 2019/04, 2022/03, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Special Postdoctoral Researcher (PD)
  • 2018/05, 2019/03, The University of Tokyo, Center for Research and Development on Transition from Secondary to Higher Education
  • 2017/04, 2018/03, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Department of Developmental Disorder
  • 2014/04, 2017/03, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Department of Developmental Disorders
  • 2011/04, 2014/03, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Special Postdoctoral Researcher (DC1)

Academic Degrees

  • Hokkaido University
  • Hokkaido University
  • Hokkaido University

Educational Activity

Course in Charge

  1. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 1Term, Fundamentals of Teaching Japanese as a Second Language
  2. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 1Term, Community-Based Japanese Language Education
  3. 2025, Undergraduate Education, 3Term, Introduction to Teaching Japanese to Young Learners
  4. 2025, Undergraduate Education, First Semester, Specific Study of Japanese as a Second Language I
  5. 2025, Undergraduate Education, Second Semester, Specific Study of Japanese as a Second Language II
  6. 2025, Undergraduate Education, Second Semester, Graduation Thesis
  7. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , 2Term, Educational Sciences and Society
  8. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , 2Term, Educational Sciences and Society
  9. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , First Semester, Research Methods in Teaching Japanese as a Second Language
  10. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , Second Semester, Research Project on Teaching Japanese as a Second Language
  11. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , 1Term, Teaching Japanese to Young Learners
  12. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , Second Semester, Topics in Teaching Japanese to Young Learners
  13. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , First Semester, Tutorial Seminar in Special Topics
  14. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , Second Semester, Tutorial Seminar in Special Topics

Research Activities

Academic Papers

  1. High school admission rate for children with foreign background: Based on 15-year records of volunteer activities in City A of Chugoku region, Bulletin of Teaching Japanese as a Second Language Program, Hiroshima University, 35, 17-22, 20250331
  2. ★, Overdiagnosis of reading difficulties based on a Hiragana reading test and the proposal of a new norm, No To Hattatsu, 56(6), 420-426, 20241101
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  3. Characteristics of shifting ability in children with mild intellectual disabilities: an experimental study with a task switching paradigm, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 66(11), 853-864, 20220906
  4. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation decreased effortful frontal activity for shifting in patients with major depressive disorder, NeuroReport, 33(11), 470-475, 20220803
  5. ★, Pre-elementary Children With Imperfect Letter-Name Knowledge Are at Great Risk of Reading Difficulty in First Grade: One-Year Longitudinal Study in Japanese Hiragana, Frontiers in Education, 7, 1-9, 20220228
  6. Training attention to the other's need improves helping behaviors in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A behavioral analysis using a two-dimensional motion capture system, Frontiers in Education, 2, 20170927
  7. Excessive hemodynamic activity in the superior frontal cortex during the flanker task in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Neuroreport, 28(13), 828-832, 20170906
  8. Spatial working memory encoding type modulates prefrontal cortical activity, Neuroreport, 28(7), 391-396, 20170503
  9. Early print-tuned ERP response with minimal involvement of linguistic processing in Japanese Hiragana strings., Neuroreport, 25(6), 410-4, 20140416
  10. Assessment and diagnosis of developmental dyslexia in Japanese-English bilingual children : A case series study, 53(2), 111-117, 202103
  11. Executive dysfunction in medication-naïve children with ADHD: A multi-modal fNIRS and EEG study, Brain & Development, 42(8), 555-563, 202009
  12. Discrepancy between musical ability and language skills in children with Williams syndrome, Brain & Development, 42(3), 248-255, 202003
  13. Assessing Learning Difficulties in a Child with Limited Japanese Proficiency : A Case Report of Academic-Skill and Cognitive Assessments in a Swedish-Speaking Girl, 36(3), 99-112, 201912
  14. Predictive factors of success in neurofeedback training for children with ADHD, Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 22(1), 3-12, 201901
  15. The relationship between the superior frontal cortex and alpha oscillation in a flanker task: Simultaneous recording of electroencephalogram (EEG) and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), Neuroscience Research, 131, 30-35, 201806
  16. Right prefrontal cortex specialization for visuospatial working memory and developmental alterations in prefrontal cortex recruitment in school-age children, Clinical Neurophysiology, 129(4), 759-765, 201804
  17. Print-specific N170 involves multiple subcomponents for Japanese Hiragana, Neuroscience Letters, 650, 77-81, 201705
  18. ★, Attention that covers letters is necessary for the left-lateralization of an early print-tuned ERP in Japanese hiragana., Neuropsychologia, 69, 22-30, 201503
  19. Reading and Spelling Instructions for English Words Using Phonics and Rhyme Patterns : Case Reports of Two Japanese Students with Reading and Spelling Difficulties, 22(4), 445-456, 201311
  20. Developmental changes in pitch discrimination ability during childhood, Journal of Music Perception and Cognition, 25(1), 3-12, 2019
  21. Applicability of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2) for Japanese Children Aged 3-6 Years: A Preliminary Investigation Emphasizing Internal Consistency and Factorial Validity, Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1452-1452, 2018
  22. ★, Pure and Short-Term Phonics-Training Improves Reading and Print-Specific ERP in English: A Case Study of a Japanese Middle School Girl., Developmental neuropsychology, 42(4), 265-275, 2017
  23. Print-tuning in Early Stages of Visual Word Processing : Toward Elucidation of Reading and Developmental Dyslexia, 49-63, 2016
  24. Representational Levels of Bilateral N170 for Japanese Hiragana Strings during Focal Spatial Attention to Letters, Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology, 33(1), 5-17, 2015
  25. Interventions for Students with Difficulties in Learning English Reading and Spelling, 125-129, 2014
  26. A Specific Visual Evoked Response to Illusory Contours is Reduced by Cognitive Load, Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology, 32(1), 11-17, 2014

Invited Lecture, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation

  1. Longitudinal assessment and prediction of kanji reading/writing difficulty in children from third to sixth grade, Yasuko Okumura, Yuka Shirakawa, Yuzuki Kitamura, Nina Morohoshi, Miyuki Fujiwara, Ayaka Shigeta, Michiko Asano, Yosuke Kita, The 67th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Child Neurology, 2025/06/05, Without Invitation, Japanese, Japan Society of Child Neurology, Yonago, Tottori
  2. Handwriting and reading abilities in preschool children: Relationship between table-based drawing and letter knowledge in hiragana, Yasuko Okumura, Yuka Shirakawa, Miyuki Fujiwara, Hidehiko Matsumoto, Ken Kikuchi, Hisakazu Morofuji, Yosuke, 2025/05/11, Without Invitation, Japanese
  3. Tablet-based drawing assessment in preschool children: II. Assessment norm to identify children at-risk of handwriting difficulty, Yasuko Okumura, Yosuke Kita, Yuka Shirakawa, Miyuki Fujiwara, Hidehiko Matsumoto, Sora Hirose, Ken Kikuchi, Hisakazu Morofuji, DCD15-IMDRC6, 2024/06/06, Without Invitation, English, De Bijloke, Gent, Belgium
  4. Tablet-based drawing assessment in preschool children: I. Basic features of handwriting skills, Yosuke Kita, Yasuko Okumura, Yuka Shirakawa, Miyuki Fujiwara, Hidehiko Matsumoto, Sora Hirose, Ken Kikuchi, Hisakazu Morofuji, DCD15-IMDRC6, 2024/06/06, Without Invitation, English, De Bijloke, Gent, Belgium
  5. A role of visual attention in expert word reading: Implications for the cause of developmental dyslexia., Okumura, Y; Kasai, T; Murohashi, H, The 17th World Congress of Psychophysiology, 2014/09/24, Hirosima, Japan

External Funds

Acceptance Results of Competitive Funds

  1. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Development of classroom instruction programs for preschools to assure literacy acquisition, 2023/04/01, 2026/03/31
  2. Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows, 2019/04/25, 2022/03/31
  3. Japan Society for Promotion of Science, 2019/04/01, 2023/03/31
  4. Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, Identification and intervention for Japanese children at-risk of reading and writing difficulties in English based on phonological awareness tasks, 2018/04/01, 2022/03/31
  5. Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), Developmental trajectories of children with developmental dyslexia in Japanese, 2017/04/01, 2022/03/31
  6. Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research, Establishing Methods for Early Identification and Intervention of Developmental Dyslexia Based on the Evaluation of Implicit Letter Knowledge in Preschoolers, 2015/04/01, 2019/03/31
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  7. Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), Examinations of vulnerability and resiliency in developmental disabilities and the development in methods of individual support for them, 2011/04/01, 2015/03/31
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  8. Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows, 2011, 2013
  9. Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), Estimations for disability-traits of infant, children, adolescents with special needs and development of support programs for them, 2007, 2009
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Social Activities

Other Social Contributions

  1. The 4th Hiroshima University and the National Institute of Special Needs Education Joint Seminar, Learning difficulties in children in multi-lingual environment, The Center for Special Needs Education Research and Practice, The Institute for Diversity and Inclusion, Hiroshima University, 2024/12/08, 2024/12/08, Phoenix International Center MIRAI CREA, Lecturer, Seminar or workshop, Teachers

History as Peer Reviews of Academic Papers

  1. 2024, Scientific Reports, Others, Reviewer, 2
  2. 2024, Research in Developmental Disabilities, Others, Reviewer, 1
  3. 2023, Brain and Development, Others, Reviewer, 1
  4. 2023, Scientific Reports, Others, Reviewer, 2
  5. 2022, Brain & Development, Others, Reviewer, 1