Yutao Lu is a first-year PhD student in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. He received his MA in East Asian Studies from the University of Alberta and his BA in History from Simon Fraser University. His current research focuses on Japanese religion and intellectual history, examining the politicization of definitions of religion in the late Tokugawa (1603–1867) and early Meiji (1868–1912) periods, with particular attention to the Mito School (Mitogaku) and Shinkoku (divine land) discourse.
Prior to joining the University of Arizona, he spent ten months studying at the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies (IUC) in Yokohama, Japan (2023–24). Immediately thereafter, he pursued intensive training in classical Japanese at the University of British Columbia. He also currently serves as one of the graduate representatives to the East Asian Studies Department Council at the University of Arizona.