Project Researcher

Amane TANAKA is a Project Researcher at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), the University of Tokyo.

His research interests include Contemporary Chinese Politics and China-Central Asia relations. He is a co-editor of Changing Politics and Social Groups in China: The Challenges of Transition (2013, in Japanese) and Chinese Muslims Area Studies (2012, in Japanese). In addition, he has published articles on China-Central Asia relations through the lens of the security-development nexus, China’s state-building processes under the CCP rule, and regional autonomy in Xinjiang in the 1950s.

Professor, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
Specialised in international relations theory, European international politics, EU Eastern enlargement and external relations.

Professor, Faculty of Law, Department of Political Science
Specialised in Humanities and Sociology / Political Science / Politics of former Soviet states, particularly Russia.

Project Director, Research and Analysis Department, Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC)
Diplomacy and security, international, nuclear and energy

Fumiaki INAGAKI is a Professor at the Graduate School of International Resource Sciences, Akita University. 

His research interests are International Relations and Resource Policy in Eurasia, mainly Central Asia. Since 2021, he has been a principal investigator of JICA/JST SATREPS, “The Project for the Development of Decarbonized Heat Energy Supply System using Ground Heat Source.” He is also a co-editor of Resource Geopolitics (in Japanese). Moreover, he has published articles on Central Asian Politics from the perspectives of geopolitics, nation-building process, and water conflict after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He co-authors the articles related to Ground Heat Source Pump technology. 

Managing Director, Energy Economics and Society Research Institute LLC

After participating in student entrepreneurship, he joined ELEX Corporation in 2012. He worked in the Sales Department and Corporate Planning Department, where he was in charge of building the agency system, responding to the simultaneous equivalence of planned values in 2016, VPP business research and system liaison. After working for ABeam Consulting Ltd, where he was in charge of research and business support for domestic and international power markets and systems, he joined DeNA Co. in 2019. He continued to be in charge of research on domestic and international electricity markets and systems, and was also involved in the development of distributed power supply projects.He has been in his current position since March 2021.He is a member of CIGRE, a regular member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan, a member of the Public Utilities Society and the Energy and Resources Society.

Associate Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts Department of International and Cultural Studies, Tsuda College

Head of America, Europe, and Russia Division, Regional Studies Department, National Institute for Defense Studies
Specialised in politics and security in Russia and the former Soviet Union regions.

Project Assistant Professor/Project Research Associate of RCAST, the University of Tokyo

Research Fellow, The Japan Institute of International Affairs
Formerly a researcher at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation's Security Projects Group, Foreign Affairs Officer at the Office of the Strategic External Dissemination Centre, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a researcher at the Future Engineering Research Institute. He specialises in international public policy, public diplomacy, strategic communications, disinformation campaigns, media studies and soft power.

Maria Tanaka is a Specially-appointed Assistant Professor at Akita University Graduate School of International Resource Sciences. Her research interests focus on China’s foreign policy, China - Central Asia relations and IR theory. Her recent publications include “Greening the Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia: The Case of Uzbekistan’s Renewable Energy Sector” (Conference Proceedings: The Twelfth International Convention of Asia Scholars, 2022); “China’s Security Engagement with Greater Central Asia (GCA): The Case of Afghanistan” (co-authored; Roles Review, 2022); and “Debating and Implementing Epidemic Prevention in China: Ancient and Modern Perspectives” (Shizen to Jitsugaku, vol. 8, 2023).

Associate Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Iwate University
International politics between the USSR and East Asia. 

The President and CEO, Dafna Co. Ltd.
After finishing his career as a professional rugby player, he joined Dentsu Inc. For more than 10 years, he was in charge of all aspects of communications in the information and communications and retail industries. From 2011 to 2014, he also participated in the launch of a public interest foundation established to support reconstruction following the Great East Japan Earthquake, planning and promoting reconstruction assistance projects in Fukushima From 2017, he was appointed project manager responsible for developing services utilising cutting-edge technology. In 2021, he was appointed to his current position.

Professor of Laboratory of Slavic-Eurasian Studies, Hokkaido University
Specialises in the economic and political situation in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries of the former Soviet Union.
After working as an expert researcher at the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Belarus and as the director of the Russian NIS Trade Association and the Russian NIS Institute, he has been in his current position since October 2022.

Mihoko KATO is a Lecturer at Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City University. 

Areas of Expertise

International Relations, International Politics in Northeast Asia, Russian Foreign and Security Policy

 

Research themes 

1)    The restoration and strengthening of Russia’s bilateral relations with former Soviet friends/allies such as China, India, Vietnam, and North Korea in terms of shaping a new Eurasian international order.

2)    The development and changes in Russian-North Korean relation since 2000 and their impact on Northeast Asia.

3)    The development of dialogue mechanisms and strategic partnership between Russia and ASEAN.

4) The change in the interpretation of state sovereignty norms over the past twenty years and its use in Russia’s foreign policy.

 

Publications

Mihoko Kato, “Competing Sovereignty Regimes within Northeast Asia” In Geo-Politics in Northeast Asia, edited by Akihiro Iwashita, Yong-Chool Ha, and Edward Boyle, 157-170. London: Routledge, 2022.

Mihoko Kato. "Competing sovereignties: increasing tensions over maritime border in Northeast Asia," Pathways to Peace and Security 58, no. 1 (2020): 63-77.

Mihoko Kato. "Sinocentrism in Russia's Reorientation to the East: Re-examining Russian Foreign Policy under the Third Putin Administration (2012-2018)." Chung-Ang Saron (Journal of Chung-Ang Historical Studies), no. 49 (2019): 115-154.

Михоко Като, "Особенность и задачи развития Росийско-Вьетнамского стратегического партнерства (2000 – 2014 гг.)," Вьетнамские исследования [Vietnamese Studies], no. 5 (2015): 55-72.

Mihoko Kato, "Japan and Russia at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century: -New Dimension to Maritime Security Surrounding the 'Kuril Islands'." UNISCI Discussion Papers, no. 32 (2013): 205-213.

Mihoko Kato. "Russia’s Multilateral Diplomacy in the Process of Asia Pacific Regional Integration: The Significance of ASEAN for Russia." In Eager Eyes Fixed on Slavic Eurasia Vol. 2, edited by Akihiro Iwashita, 125-151. 2007.

 

Mirzosaid Sultonov is a full-time professor at the Faculty of Global and Regional Studies at Toyo University. His research interests focus on macroeconomic and financial issues concerning Eurasian countries, with a particular emphasis on Central Asian nations.

Mitsuko Watanabe is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Understanding, Faculty of International Studies, Bunkyo University.

She specialises in the geography and area studies of Asia. She is co-editor of Toward a Sustainable Society in Central Eurasia: An Historical Perspective on the Future. Her research interests include changes in resource use and community transformation due to agricultural and social development, and she conducts research from a multi-scale perspective.

Professor, Faculty for the Study of Contemporary Society Department for the Study of Contemporary Society, Kyoto Women's University
In 2001, she was appointed assistant professor at the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University; in 2002, she was also a visiting researcher at the National Development Research Institute, National Taiwan University; in 2003, she was appointed assistant professor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies; in addition, she was a visiting researcher at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan; in 2007, she became associate professor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies. In 2010, she was appointed Associate Professor at the Faculty of International Studies, Tenri University, and in 2014, Professor at the same Faculty. She specialises in comparative politics, contemporary Taiwanese politics, Sino-Taiwanese relations and East Asian political economy.

Project Professor, RCAST, University of Tokyo

Project Assistant Professor/Project Research Associate

His areas of specializations are Asian Politics and International Relations, Strategy and Defense, Transport Security

Working Group 4 on the Emerging Issues in Security Studies
Working Group 5 on Indo-Pacific Transport Security (Chair)

Sub-Working Group 1 on Satellite Imagery Analysis Project

Sub-Working Group 2 on Tabletop Exercises (Chair)

Ryo HINATA-YAMAGUCHI is a Project Assistant Professor at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo; Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Indo-Pacific Security Initiative; and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Pacific Forum. Ryo has presented, published, and consulted on a variety of topics relating to defense and security, and transport governance in the Indo-Pacific. Ryo previously served as a Non-Commissioned Officer in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (reserve) and also held positions at the Pusan National University, Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, FM Bird Entertainment Agency, International Crisis Group Seoul Office, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Embassy of Japan in Australia, and the Japan Foundation Sydney Language Centre. Ryo received his PhD from the University of New South Wales, MA in Strategic and Defense Studies and BA in Security Analysis from the Australian National University and was also a Korea Foundation Language Training Fellow.

Twitter: @tigerrhy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tigerrhy/
Blog (Japanese): https://note.com/tigerrhy/

Associate Professor, Department of Policy Studies, The University of Kitakyushu
Specialised in comparative politics (party politics and elections, nationalism and ethnic issues).
Obtained PhD in 2012. He worked as an assistant at Waseda University, a JSPS Research Fellow and an assistant professor at Rikkyo University before assuming his current position.

Ryota SAITO is an Assistant Researcher at Institute for Russia & NIS Economic Studies.

 

His research interests include Contemporary Central Asian Studies, especially International Relations, Security studies and Development. 

 

He has published articles on Water Security issues in Central Asia, Water Resource management in Uzbekistan, and Central Asia-Afghanistan relations in the post- soviet period.

Shinji YAMAGUCHI is a Senior Research Fellow in the Regional Studies Department of the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), Ministry of Defense, Japan, located in Tokyo, and was a Visiting Scholar at Sigur Center for Asian Studies of George Washington University. He specializes in Chinese politics, China’s security policy, and contemporary Chinese history. He earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Keio University. His publications include “Strategies of China’s Maritime Actors in the South China Sea: A Coordinated Plan under the Leadership of Xi Jinping?” China Perspective, 2016 No.3, (October 2016), pp.23-31; Mou Takuto no Kyokoku ka Senryaku (Mao’s Grand Strategy to Build Strong Country) (Keio University Press, 2021, winner of the 34th Mainichi Shimbun Asia Pacific Grand Prix Award). He is a co-author of the NIDS China Security Report 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2023.

Shoichi Itoh is Senior Fellow at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), Adjunct Fellow (non-resident) at the Japan Chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Associated Senior Fellow at the Institute for Security & Development Policy (ISDP) in Stockholm. Previously, he was Visiting Professor at the Slavic-Eurasia Research Center of Hokkaido University in 2018-2020 and held visiting fellowships at the Russia and the Eurasia Program at CSIS in 2010, at the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in 2009 and at the Center for East Asian Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2006. He also served as political and economic attaché at the Consulate General of Japan in Khabarovsk in 2000-2003.

 

He has widely published on the geopolitics of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific as well as the U.S.-Japan Alliance. Among numerous publications, his recent works include “Japan’s Russia Policy at a Crossroads: New Phase for Geopolitics of Energy” in P. J. Saunders & J. S. Van Oudenaren (eds.), Change and Continuity in Japan-Russia Relations: Implications for the United States (The Center for the National Interest, 2019); “Japan’s Opaque Energy Policy toward Russia: Is Abe Being Trumped by Putin?”, in The Emerging Russia-Asia Energy Nexus (National Bureau of Asian Research Special Report #74, 2018); “Sino-Russian Energy Relations in Northeast Asia and Beyond: Oil, Natural Gas, and Nuclear Power” in Japan and the Sino-Russian Entente: The Future of Major-Power Relations in Northeast Asia (NBR Special Report #64, 2017); “The energy factor in Russia’s ‘Asia pivot’” (co-authored with A. Kuchins), in M. M. Mochizuki & D. M. Ollapally (eds.), Energy Security in Asia and Eurasia(Routledge, 2017); “Sino-Japanese competition over Russian oil” in Robert Bedeski & Niklas Swanström (eds.), Eurasia’s Ascent in Energy and Geopolitics Rivalry or partnership for China, Russia and Central Asia? (Routledge, 2012); Russia Looks East: Energy Markets and Geopolitics in Northeast Asia (CSIS, 2011).

PhD in Historical Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University. 
After working as a JSPS Research Fellow PD, he has been in his current position since 2018.
Specialises in contemporary Russian politics and diplomacy.

Associate Professor, Faculty of International Politics and Economics, Department of International Politics and Economics, Nishogakusha University
Specialised in the history of US-European relations and European security.

Assistant Professor at Keio University Graduate School of Law (research fellowship), researcher at EU Studies Institute in Tokyo (EUSI) (stay in Ukraine), part-time lecturer at the Maritime Self-Defence Force Staff College, before becoming a full-time lecturer at the Faculty of International Politics and Economics, Nishimatsu Gakusha University (2017-2022), current position from April 2022. . He is also a visiting researcher at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) (2017-) and a research member of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) (2017-). 

Education: Doctor of Philosophy in History Chubu University2021/09/30

Doctor of Philosophy in Economics Kobe Gakuin University2015/03

Research Areas: Humanities & Social Sciences Economic history Ukrainian Studies

Humanities & Social Sciences Historical studies in general

Research Interests

General studies of Ukraine

Ukraine Political economy of Ukraine

Ukrainian diaspora in Manchuria Harbin 

Project Assistant Professor of RCAST, the University of Tokyo
Russian politics, historical awareness, nationalism
After working as a part-time lecturer at Chikushi Jogakuen University, Kitakyushu City University and Nagasaki Prefectural University, he became a specially-appointed assistant professor at Hokkaido University's Organisation for International Cooperation before assuming his current position.

Associate Professor

Areas of Expertise:
Russian Military Thought
Russian National Security Policy
Politics and International Relations of the Former Soviet Republics
Defence Tecunologies

Previously, Yu has held various positions, including Assistant Analyst at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Research Fellow at Institute for Future Engineering (IFENG), Research Fellow at the National Diet Library, and also a visiting researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO RAN).

His publication in Japanese includes (in English translation titles): Whither Russian Military?, 2011; Putin's National Strategy: "Major Power" Russia at a Crossroads, 2016; Russia as a Military Power: New Global Strategy and Principles of Behavior, 2016. 

His book "Teikoku" Roshia no Chiseigaku (Geopolitics of Russian "Empire") published in 2019 was awarded Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities in that year.

His latest book is Gendai Russia no Gunji Shiso (Military Thought in Contemporary Russia) published in 2021.

Yu has presented and published extensively on national security policies and strategies of Russia and the former Soviet republics, as well as defense technologies.

Yu holds a BA in Social Sciences and a MA in Political Science from Waseda University.

日本

Yuan ZHOU is a Research Associate at Graduate School of Law, Kobe University. He specializes in international relations and political communication, focusing on China. His work has been published or is forthcoming in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Chinese Political Science, Social Science Computer Review, Asian Journal of Communication, Journal of Human Rights, among others. He holds a PhD in political science from Kobe University. 

Associate Professor, Graduate School of International Relations, University of Shizuoka
Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Tsuda College; Research Fellow, Institute of International Relations, Tsuda College; Visiting Fellow, Davis Centre, Harvard University; Research Fellow, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University before assuming her current position in 2019.

Areas of expertise.
International politics, history of international relations, Russian area studies

Main research themes
Russia's Eurasian identity
The phenomenon of geopolitical 'resurgence' in emerging economies
Cultural Cold War theory

Project Researcher

Yuma Tanaka is a Project Researcher at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology’s Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES), the University of Tokyo. Before joining ROLES, Yuma was an Attaché for the Political Section at the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine. He was also previously a Project Officer for the East/Central Asia and Caucasus Department at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). He also worked as an Attaché for the Economy and Economic Cooperation Section at the Embassy of Japan in Kazakhstan through 2017 to 2020. Yuma holds a M.A. from the University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanity and Sociology, and a B.A. from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.