Michitaro Tada was born in 1924 in Kyoto, Japan, and died in 2007, is recognized as a pioneer of cultural studies in their country. He graduated from Kyoto University in 1949, majoring in French literature. Soon he joined the Institute for Humanistic Studies, where the most innovative thinkers promoted interdisciplinary work. Tada was noted for his lucid treatises on French thought and by the contribution of new perspectives on traditional Japanese arts, especially poetry haiku. He studied with the popular culture of academic rigor: among other topics has analyzed the aesthetics of food, folk songs, fashion, gossip and gestures. As no intellectual of his generation, Tada brought a new vision of Japanese identity.