Seiji Takaku, PhD

Dr. Seiji Takaku joined Soka University of America in 2002 as a Professor of Psychology. Before joining the faculty at SUA, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Minnesota State University. He received his B.A. with magna cum laude from UCLA, his M.A. from California State University, Long Beach, and his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University. His dissertation on a cross-cultural examination of forgiveness won the Arthur H. Brayfield Dissertation Award for the ‘Most Meritorious Dissertation in Psychology' in 2000.

Dr. Takaku's research interests focus on cross-cultural examinations of people's apology (and excuse)-giving behavior, interpersonal forgiveness, and various strategies involved in interpersonal/inter-group conflict resolutions. He published several articles and book chapters on these topics. Currently, he has also started working on a new research program with his former students investigating cultural influences on eye-witness memory.

In his spare time, he enjoys reading good books, playing golf, and giving private batting lessons to local little league baseball players. He served as the manager of Aliso Viejo Little League All Stars team for the last two years and took the team to the state championship both times. He resides in Aliso Viejo with his wife Kiko, his twin boys, Max and Leo, who play baseball at Aliso Niguel High School, and an adorable pet dog “Kokoro” (a Maltese/Yorkie mix).