A scholar of the religious, social, and political history of early modern and modern Japan, she seeks to understand the intersection of religious ideals and practices with the myriad stresses of everyday life. She is the author of Rearranging the Landscape of the Gods: The Politics of a Pilgrimage Site in Japan, 1573-1912 (University of Chicago Press, 2005), as well as several articles and essays on Shinto in modern Japan. She is at work on a book project entitled Hagakure and "The Way of the Samurai."