Jo Gwan-ja received a bachelor's degree in Korean language and literature from Seoul National University. She received her master's and a doctorate degree in regional culture from the University of Tokyo. Her research focuses on Japanese ideas and culture in relation to Korea-Japan relations. She is the author of 『植民地朝鮮/帝國日本の文化連環: ナショナリズムと反復する植民地主義』(2007), and co-author of 『巖波講座アジア·太平洋戰爭 第3卷: 動員·抵抗·翼贊』(2006), Revisiting Modern History (2006), Colonial Public Sphere (2010), Cultural Power of Imperial Japan (2011), Intellectual Scenery of Post-War Japan (2012), 『日本思想史講座5: 方法』(2015), Re-Reading Kajimura Hideki's Theory of Indigenous Development (2015), Six Perspectives to Understand Japan (2018). She was the editor of Japan, Beyond the Lost Decade (2014), Ideas and Sentiments of Post-War Japan (2017). Her research includes “Beyond Criticism of Assimilation: Rethinking the Politics of Ethno-national Education in Postwar Japan” (2015). She is an assistant professor at Seoul National University. Previously she was an associate professor at Chubu University in Japan.