Associate Member of ROLES
Associated Researcher of RCAST, University of Tokyo

Yuki Tokunaga is an Associated Researcher at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), University of Tokyo, where he is affiliated with the Division of Religion and Global Security. He has also been an Associated Member of the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES) since April 2023. His research interests include international political economy—particularly Russia, Israel, and contemporary Africa—as well as the sustainability and transmission of traditional culture.

 

He graduated from Waseda University’s Faculty of Political Science and Economics and is fluent in Japanese, English, and Russian. After working as a Russian interpreter, he joined Mitsui & Co. in 2015, engaging in the steel products division and later serving at the Mitsui & Co. Global Strategic Studies Institute (2021–2024). He left Mitsui & Co. in July 2024 to focus on academic and cultural research.

 

In 2020, he founded Culpedia, a research initiative dedicated to the study and international exchange of traditional culture. He has conducted a comprehensive survey of Kyoto’s 74 designated traditional crafts and organized cross-cultural exhibitions connecting Japanese artisans with overseas artists. He has also interviewed more than 100 long-established Japanese firms (shinise), documenting their philosophies and adaptive strategies in response to social and geopolitical change.

 

Tokunaga’s work lies at the intersection of political economy and cultural studies, aiming to provide insights into how traditions and long-lived organizations contribute to resilience, identity, and sustainability in contemporary society.