
Daan studied Japanese language and culture in Maastricht and Leiden. In 2003 he graduated with honors from Leiden University, on the topic of surimono (Japanese woodblock prints from around 1800 incorporating both poetry and illustrations). For his PhD research, he continued his investigation of surimono, including poetry books commissioned by the same groups of poets. This research was conducted in collections in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Currently, Daan coordinates a large-scale digitization project of the Japanese prints and books in the collections of Museum Volkenkunde.