Founding Chair of ROLES and Professor of Religion and Global Security of RCAST of the University of Tokyo

Satoshi Ikeuchi is Professor of the Division of Religion and Global Security at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) of the University of Tokyo. He is the founding chairperson of the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES).

He is a scholar on Islamic political thought and the Middle East politics. As a leading public intellectual in Japan, he has been vigorously publishing on the Middle East and Islamic affairs.

His first publication based on his doctoral studies, Gendai Arabu-no Shakai Shiso: Shumatsuron-to Isramu-shugi (Contemporary Arab Social Thought: Eschatology and Islamism), was published in 2002 and earned Osaragi Jiro Prize for Critical Works. He also earned Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities in 2009 for his book Islamu Sekai-no Ronjikata (Methods of Discussing Islam).

His book on the Islamic State Isulamu Koku no Shogeki (The Impact of the Islamic State) published in January 2015 was a nation-wide best seller in Japan and awarded Mainichi Publishing Cultural Prize. His recent publication includes Saikusu Piko Kyotei: Hyakunen no Jubaku (Sykes-Picot Agreement: One Hundred Years of Obsession) in 2016 and Shiiaha to Sunniha (Shite and Sunnite) in 2018 both published from Shinchosha. He is the recipient of the 12th Nakasone Yasuhiro Prize in 2016 for his academic works and social engagements.

His collection of literary essays and book reviews Shomotsu not Unmei (The Fate of Books) published in 2006 and earned Mainichi Book Review Award for the year.

He was a visiting professor at the Alexandria University 2007-2008, Japan Scholar chair visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 2009 and Visiting Fellow at the Clare Hall, University of Cambridge in 2010. 

For the year 2022-2023, he was Senior Visiting Scholar in Residence at the Moshe Dayan Center (MDC) for Middle Eastern and African Studies of Tel Aviv University. He was also affiliated with the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) as a Senior Visiting Fellow on July 2023.

Project Professor

Project Researcher of RCAST, University of Tokyo

Project Researcher of RCAST, University of Tokyo
Ph.D. in International Public Policy (Osaka University)

-Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Geopolitics Initiative, based in the University of Oxford
-Refugee Examination Counsellor, Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Ministry of Justice

Specialized in international relations, conflict studies, European & former Soviet studies.

Dr. Shu Uchida Joined the University of Tokyo RCAST as a project researcher after diverse professional experiences in diplomacy and academia, including service as an Attaché at the Embassy of Japan in Georgia; a Short-Term Observer for an OSCE/ODIHR mission; a Visiting Fellow at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University; a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow of the European Union at the Centro de Estudos Sociais, Universidade de Coimbra; and an Assistant Professor at the Organization for Regional and Inter-regional Studies, Waseda University. 

online CV is available here

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

Working Group 2 on Middle Eastern and Islamic Alternatives

Working Group 5 on Indo-Pacific Transport Security (Assistant Coordinator)

Sub-Working Group 2 on Tabletop Exercises (Assistant Coordinator)

Twitter: @toyodadesuyo

Senior Advisor of ROLES
Advisor of Division of Religion and Global Security, RCAST of the University of Tokyo

Akio Miyajima is a former diplomat who was Japanese Ambassador to Turkey and Ambassador to Poland. 

Born in Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture, he graduated from Waseda University's Faculty of Political Science and Economics. He entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 1981 and served there until October 2024. He holds a M.A. degree in International Relations from Yale University. 

He has held a series of posts addressing successive challenges and opportunities of Japan's foreign affairs, including Director of Oceania Division (July 1999 – November 2001), Director of First North America Division (November 2001 - August 2003), Counsellor (August 2003 – January 2005) and Minister of the Embassy of Japan at the Republic of Korea (January 2005 – January 2007), Minister of the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations (January 2007 - January 2011), Deputy Director-General of Foreign Policy Bureau and Ambassador in charge of UN Affairs (January 2011 - January 2013), Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Embassy of Japan in Great Britain (February 2013 - July 2014). 

He was Special Advisor to the Governor on International Affairs at Tokyo Metropolitan Government (July 2014 – February 2016) while Tokyo was preparing to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

After taking up the post of Director-General of International Peace Cooperation Headquarters at the Cabinet Office (February 2016 - August 2017), he became Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Turkey (August 2017 - October 2020) and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Poland (November 2020 - October 2024) where he was faced with the Russian aggression on Ukraine in February 2022 and met the surprise visit of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Ukraine in March 2023. 

 He is Advisor of Division of Religion and Global Security of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) of the University of Tokyo. He is concurrently Senior Advisor to RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES) since July 2025.

[日本語 Japanese]

Associate Member of ROLES
Associated Researcher of RCAST, The University of Tokyo
Visiting Fellow, The Strategy, Statecraft, and Technology (Changing Character of War) Centre (SST-CCW), The University of Oxford

Areas of Expertise:

Conflict Resolution, Countering Violent Extremism, Peacebuilding, Frontline Negotiations, Strategic Dialogue

 

Dr. Yosuke Nagai is the Executive Director of Accept International, and Founder of the Global Taskforce for Youth Combatants. Since 2011, he has dedicated himself to implementing deradicalization, reintegration, and rehabilitation programs for disengaged combatants of non-state armed groups worldwide, and also actively fostered dialogue and reconciliation in some countries. Dr. Nagai holds a PhD in Social Science from Waseda University and a Master’s degree in Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, has served as a visiting fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, currently serves as a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford, and is a member of a Youth Advisory Board, an Expert Group Meeting, and a Technical Working Group within various UN agencies.

 

Publication 

Nagai, Yosuke (2025) “Unique Potential of Youth Associated with Non-State Armed Groups (YANSAG): Case in Indonesia and the Philippines”, Peacebuilding in Southeast Asia, Springer, Forthcoming 

 

Harper, Erica & Nagai, Yosuke (2024) “Unpacking the Climate Migration Extremism Nexus Mapping the Coping Strategies of Kenyan Pastoralists,” Research Brief, 4, pp.1-16.

 

Nagai, Yosuke & Harper, Erica (2023) “Youths Associated with Non-State Armed Groups: A New Perspective to Youths in Armed conflicts with Non-State Armed Groups,” Academy Briefing, Vol 23, pp.1-25. 

 

Nagai, Yosuke (2023) My life towards armed conflicts and terrorism: the ambitious challenge from Japan to overcoming the chain of hatred in the world, Shogakan, Tokyo, Japan.

 

Nagai, Yosuke & Maeda, Kanu (2021) “PRACTICE-BASED EVIDENCE AND BEYOND: A CASE OF VIOLENT EXTREMIST OFFENDER CORRECTION IN A CONFLICT ZONE,” Advancing Corrections Journal, #11, pp.170-180.

 

Nagai, Yosuke (2021) “Reintegration of Al-Shabaab’s Defectors in Somalia: An Examination of Conditions for Successful Reintegration,” Peace and Conflict Studies, Volume 27, Number 3, pp.1-34.

 

Nagai, Yosuke (2021) “Re-Thinking the Role of Civil Society in the Problematic Ongoing Process of Post-Conflict Reconstruction,” Peace Studies Journal, Volume 14, Issue 1, pp.65-77.

 

Nagai, Yosuke (2020) “A Critical Analysis of ‘Security-Development’ Nexus: United Nations, Peacekeeping Operations, and Peacebuilding Framework,” NUST Journal of International Peace & Stability, 3 (1), pp.1-12.

 

Nagai, Yosuke (2017) I’m 13 years old and my mission is suicide bombing, Godo Press, Tokyo, Japan

 

Nagai, Yosuke (2016) We are talking with Somalia gangs about dream, Eiji Press, Tokyo, Japan.

 

Associate Member of ROLES
Associated Researcher of RCAST, The University of Tokyo
Visiting Researcher, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo
Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Geoeconomics (IOG)

Areas of Expertise:

International Politics

Islamic Political Thought

Economic Security

 

Prior to join UTokyo III-GSII, Koki Shigenoi held several research position include Al Jazeera Centre for Studies (2018-19), College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (2018-19), Intelligence and Analysis Services at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2019-20), Asia-Pacific Department at Konrad Adenauer Foundation (2020-21), National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) (2022-23), Graduate School of Public Policy at The University of Tokyo (UTokyo GraSPP) (2023-24).

  

·        Japan's Role for Southeast Asia Amidst the Great Power Competition: and its Implication to the EU-Japan Partnership. Hanoi: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2022.

·         “Evaluating the effect of military intervention on rebel governance in terms of disaggregated human security.” (with Wakako Maekawa) Small Wars & Insurgencies 33/6 (2022): 1059-1084.

·         “Strangeness and Strangers: An Annotated Translation and Introduction to Shāṭibī’s Iʿtiṣām.” [in Japanese] (with Nozomi Tajima) Journal of Global Studies 11 (2020): 339-372.

·         “Strangeness and Strangers: A Translation and Introduction of a Hadīth Commentary on ‘Blessed Are the Strangers’ from Ibn Qayyim's Madārij al-Sālikīn.” [in Japanese] Journal of Global Studies 10 (2019): 191-225.

·         “Strangeness and Strangers: Translation and Bibliographical Introduction on the Hadith Commentary Essay from “Majmūʿah al-Fatāwā” on “Blessed Are the Strangers” by Ibn Taymīyah.” [in Japanese] Journal of Global Studies 8 (2017): 177-204.

 

·         “The New Geopolitics of the Middle East (Part 3 & 4) : Shifts in Regional Dynamics 2001-2023.” [in Japanese] Foresight. February 16, 2025.

·         “The New Geopolitics of the Middle East (Part 1 & 2) : Syrian Revolution and Geopolitical Setback for Russia and Iran.” [in Japanese] Foresight. December 28, 2024.

·         “Small Yard, High Fence.” The Berlin Pulse 2023/2024. pp. 16-17.

·         “Economic Zeitenwende? Lessons from Japan’s Economic Security Policy.” 49 security.  December 2022.

·         “Japan’s Chinese lesson: diversifying only production is not enough.” (with Aya Adachi) Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS). November 2022.

·         “Beyond Indo-Pacific, Toward Great Power Competition: German Indo-Pacific Engagement Under the New Government.” (with Kikyo Taguchi) Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. March 2022.

·         “The Geo-economics of US-China Relations: What Does it Mean for ASEAN?” (with David Merkle) Diplomatic Briefing 4. February 2022. pp. 24-28.

Visiting Senior Research Fellow
Associate Professor, Center for the Study of Co* Design, Osaka University

Dr. Toshiya Tsujita is Associate Professor,  Center for the Study of Co* Design, Osaka University, concurrently a Visiting Senior Fellow at RCAST. 

He was a Project Research Associate/Adjunct Assistant Professor at the RCAST of the University of Tokyo from 2021-2022, working for ROLES, particularly on projects regarding Israel and the international security in the Middle East.