EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY / CULTURAL EVOLUTION

Spatial
Cultural
Dynamics.

Ayaka Onohara（小野原 彩香）

Cultural traits evolve in structured space.

From the perspective of evolutionary anthropology and cultural evolution, I study Spatial Cultural Dynamics — the dynamics of cultural traits in structured space.
Focus: Japanese dialects (pitch accent, lexicon) & emotion maps of place  ·  Methods: Bayesian phylogeography · text embeddings · generative models

Explore projects ↗

01 / PROFILE

About

Affiliation: Hokusei Gakuen University, School of International Studies, Associate Professor (Apr 2026–present); scheduled to join the new Faculty of Information Science in AY2027
Research areas: Linguistics, language evolution, cultural evolution, speech & pitch accent, GIS, quantitative/statistical modeling
Education: Ph.D., Culture and Information Science, Doshisha University, March 2014

CV (appointments, grants and teaching)

News

2026.11.01
Conference Poster: Poster presentation of "大規模言語モデルが生成する地理空間CLIコマンドの実行検証－応答の変動と実行環境への依存性－" (with Nobusuke Iwasaki) at the 35th Annual Conference of the GIS Association of Japan (GISA 2026), P2-26, Institute of Science Tokyo, Ookayama Campus.
2026.09.13
Teaching: Released A Guide to Statistical Thinking (table of contents and eight concepts, in Japanese and English).
2026.09
Conference Talk: Presented "Examining the Relationship Between Tatara Iron Production and Grassland Distribution in Western Japan" (with Takatora Bito and Nobusuke Iwasaki) at FOSS4G 2026 Hiroshima.
2026.07.07
Public Lecture: Delivered the first lecture in Hokusei Gakuen University's 2026 public lecture series, 「AIは「こころ」のパートナーになれるか？ ～進化人類学で読み解く、人間と機械の新しい絆～」. Slides (Speaker Deck) ／ DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21260420 ／ Event information
2026.04.30
Publication: Proceedings paper "GAN-Based Modeling of Emotional Dynamics in Cultural Evolution and Niche Construction: An Integrated Empirical Approach" (with Hiroki Ouchi) was published in Proceedings of WCTP 2025 (Atlantis Press, pp. 499–519) (DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6239-638-8_25).
2026.04.01
Appointment: Started as Associate Professor at the School of International Studies, Hokusei Gakuen University. Currently teaching "Introduction to Information."
2026.04.01
Publication: Single-authored paper "Dialogue with the Inner Other: A Practical Report on Learning Support in Statistics Exercises Using Generative AI" was released as an advance publication in Journal of the Japan Association for Developmental Education (DOI: 10.18950/jade.2026.03.10.01).
2026.03.26
Conference Talk: Presented "大規模言語モデルの地理的ドメイン知識とハルシネーションの予備的評価" (with Nobusuke Iwasaki) at the 2026 Spring Meeting of the Association of Japanese Geographers.
2026.03.18
Outreach: As a member of the FOSS4G 2026 Hiroshima Local Organizing Committee (LOC), released the Childcare & Family-Friendly Policy.
2025.12.01
Conference: Presented "GAN-Based Modeling of Emotional Dynamics in Cultural Evolution and Niche Construction" (with Hiroki Ouchi) at Workshop on Computation: Theory and Practice (WCTP) 2025.
2025.11.19
Conference: Presented "Evaluating LLMs as Intermediaries for FOSS4G CLI-based Geospatial Analysis" (with N. Iwasaki) at FOSS4G 2025.

Career

Apr 2026–present
Hokusei Gakuen University, School of International Studies, Associate Professor
Apr 2022–Mar 2026
Rikkyo University, Center for Social Information Education and Research, Assistant Professor
Apr 2018–Mar 2022
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Science, JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow (PD)
May 2019–Mar 2021
Research interruption (childbirth and childcare, 2nd child)
Oct 2016–Mar 2018
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Science, JSPS Research Fellow (RPD)
Apr 2015–Sep 2016
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Science, JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow (PD)
Oct 2013–Mar 2015
Research interruption (childbirth and childcare, 1st child)
Apr 2013–Mar 2014
Doshisha University, Graduate School of Culture and Information Science, JSPS DC2 Fellow

Full career history (researchmap)

Awards

Oct 2023
Best Poster Award — "Estimating vineyard suitability using machine learning"
GIS Association of Japan | N. Iwasaki, T. Tanaka, A. Onohara, K. Hayashi, M. Katori, T. Oguchi
Dec 2016
Young Researcher Award — "Role of population size in lexical/grammatical gain and loss"
Japan Human Behavior and Evolution Society | A. Onohara, Y. Ihara
Oct 2016
Best Poster Award — "Environmental and social factors associated with language loss and gain"
GIS Association of Japan | A. Onohara

Research Keywords

linguisticslanguage evolutioncultural evolutionSpatial Cultural Dynamicsspeech & pitch accentGISstatistical modelingBayesian phylogeneticsphylogeographyemotion mapslanguage phylogeneticscognitive maps

Theoretical Framework

Theoretical framework

Spatial Cultural Dynamics

How cultural traits evolve in structured spaceCultural change, in turn, reshapes the social and spatial environment

01
Where
Space / Environment
place · population · network · geography
G1Population and dialect lexical gain/loss D1National pitch-accent GIS dataset F1Tatara iron production and grassland
02
Mechanism
Perception / Interaction
affective evaluation · environmental perception · cooperation · social interaction
W3Place × emotion data M1Streetscape and affect J1Place and emotion (psychology) S4Accent and cooperation games
03
Object of study
Cultural Traits
accent · lexicon · emotional expression · behavior
S1Automatic accent classification P1Phylogenetic signals: emotion vs. action
04
Form of change
Evolutionary Dynamics
diffusion · divergence · convergence · phylogeny · cultural evolution
W1GAN model of emotional dynamics L1Mainland and Ryukyuan accent phylogeny

↺ Niche construction　cultural change shapes the next social and spatial structure

Research Themes

ACoreThe main arena of Spatial Cultural Dynamics (space × cultural traits × dynamics): language change, emotion, phylogeny, and diffusion.
BCore-adjacentSpace × computation (GeoAI, deep learning, implementation) that can connect to the core.
CPeripheralGeneral informatics and statistics education, not directly tied to the core.
DEducation & OutreachTeaching materials, serial articles, and educational practice.
A

Phylogenetic Analysis of Language Evolution

Using Bayesian phylogenetics to quantitatively reconstruct the evolutionary history of pitch-accent systems in Japanese dialects.

A

Speech & Pitch Accent Research

Developing novel analytical methods based on accentual class merger to investigate mechanisms of language change.

B

Geographic Information Science (GIS)

Integrating geospatial and linguistic data to analyze environmental and social factors associated with language loss and gain.

A

Evolutionary Approach to Emotion & Place

Investigating the emotional relationship between speech and place from an evolutionary perspective, examining the interaction between language and cognition.

Research Trajectory

Research Growth Tree

Interactive research phylogeny

Research Growth Tree

A phylogenetic diagram showing the growth of my research from roots to branches. From foundational work in 2010 to current AI-assisted educational applications.

  • 2010–2013: Dialect distribution & cultural region analysis
  • 2013–2017: Mathematical approaches to language dynamics
  • 2018–2023: Population-structure models of language change
  • 2024–: AI-assisted speech & educational applications
View interactive research tree

Teaching

Courses

I teach statistics, data science, and related topics including:

Python ProgrammingData analysis and visualization, fundamentals to applications
Generative AI ApplicationsEffective use in research and educational settings
Geographic Information SystemsSpatial data analysis and visualization

Courses and course sites (Statistics I & II, Social Research, Behaviormetrics, and more)

A Guide to Statistical Thinking (table of contents and eight concepts)

Full teaching history (researchmap)

Selected Publications

Representative Papers

  • A GAN-Based Modeling of Emotional Dynamics in Cultural Evolution and Niche Construction: An Integrated Empirical Approach.
    Ayaka Onohara; Hiroki Ouchi. Proceedings of the Workshop on Computation: Theory and Practice (WCTP 2025), Atlantis Press, pp. 499–519, 2026.
    Role: Lead author  |  Peer-reviewed
    DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6239-638-8_25
  • A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of pitch-accent systems based on accentual class merger: a new method applied to Japanese dialects.
    Takuya Takahashi; Ayaka Onohara; Yasuo Ihara. Journal of Language Evolution, 8(2):169–191, 2024.
    Role: Co-author  |  Peer-reviewed
    DOI: 10.1093/jole/lzae004   Zenodo DOI
  • A Inferring the temporal and spatial evolution of accent systems in Japanese dialects: a phylogeographic approach.
    Takuya Takahashi; Ayaka Onohara; Yasuo Ihara. Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Language Evolution (JCoLE), 2022.
    Role: Co-author  |  Peer-reviewed
    DOI: 10.17617/2.3398549
  • B Client-Side Web Mapping System for Vineyard Suitability Assessment.
    N. Iwasaki; K. Hayashi; T. Tanaka; M. Katori; A. Onohara; T. Oguchi. ISPRS Archives, 2022.
    Role: Co-author  |  Peer-reviewed
  • A 言語の消失と獲得に関連する環境・社会的要因 [Environmental and social factors related to language loss and gain].
    A. Onohara. Theory and Applications of GIS (GIS－理論と応用), 24(2), 2016.
    Role: Lead author  |  Invited

Research Grants

  • A Elucidating the emotional relationship between speech and place using an evolutionary approach (2024–2027)
    PI | KAKENHI 24K16071
  • A Elucidating the function and role of accent using an evolutionary approach (2022–2024)
    PI
  • A Mathematical study of language change processes considering population structure (2018–2023)
  • A Quantitative evaluation of factors and genealogy of language change (2016–2019)

Full publication list    researchmap

Data & Code

I prioritize reproducible research and make data and code publicly available.

Pitch-accent phylogeography data & code

Full dataset and analysis code for "Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of pitch-accent systems…" (Journal of Language Evolution, 2024).

Zenodo CC BY 4.0
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.11154180

Emotional dynamics GAN: code & data

Full code and data for "GAN-Based Modeling of Emotional Dynamics in Cultural Evolution and Niche Construction" (Proceedings of WCTP 2025, 2026), and the implementation package PlaceEmotion-GAN.

Zenodo / GitHub Code: MIT · Data: CC BY 4.0
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.16756127 DOI 10.5281/zenodo.17401002

Tatara & grassland spatial analysis

Analysis code for "Examining the Relationship Between Tatara Iron Production and Grassland Distribution in Western Japan" (ISPRS Archives, L-4/W1-2026): a reproducible open-source geospatial workflow.

Zenodo / GitHub Code: MIT · Outputs: CC BY 4.0
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19042339

GIS CLI command benchmark for LLMs

A benchmark that executes and verifies geospatial CLI commands generated by LLMs, with full trial logs (supplementary material for a GISA2026 presentation).

GitHub Code: MIT · Data: CC BY 4.0

GitHub Repositories

Analysis code, teaching materials, and data preprocessing scripts.

aonoa68

Contact

I welcome inquiries regarding collaboration (cultural evolution / language evolution / GeoAI), lectures, and media interviews.