Religion and Global Security Division is one of the constitutent divisions of RCAST of the University of Tokyo. Religion and Global Security Division has initiated and established in 2020 the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES) as a research project of RCAST. 

RCAST Security Seminar/Webinar is in-person or online seminar on various security issues inviting leading scholars visiting Tokyo or virtually from all over the world.

RCAST Security Seminar series was launched in June 2018 by the Religion and Global Security Division and has been held periodically, being recognized as one of the flag-ship public events for RCAST. 

From early 2020 to the middle of 2022, under the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, RCAST Security Seminars were suspended and all the planned visits and lectures were postponed indefinately or moved to the alternative virtual format, RCAST Security Webinar, until it's resumption as in-person event in January 2023.

From December 2023, RCAST Security Seminar series has been organized jointly by Religion and Global Security Division (Satoshi Ikeuchi Laboratory) and International Security Studies Division (Yu Koizumi Laboratory) as part of the think tank project ROLES. 

In April 2024, Professor Ryo Nakai joined the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) at the University of Tokyo, as part of the affiliated Division of Global Security and Energy Transition, and established Comparative Political Dynamics Division.

The Global Security and Religion Division played a leading role in the establishment of the In Division of Global Security and Energy Transition, affiliated with RCAST, in April 2023. It has been actively involved in the initiative as part of the 'Strategic Emergence Studies Division,' centered around the activities of ROLES.

The ROLES Common Room Talk aims to provide a casual and open forum where seasoned professionals with extensive experience in diplomacy and security share their insights, experiences, and policy suggestions with researchers as well as young and mid-career practitioners from government and industry.

Supported by the research grant for diplomacy and security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies will conduct a research project from fiscal year 2023 titled, "Tides in International Principles and Order: Issues for Japan’s Security Strategy,” to examine the developments and challenges to international principles and order, and their impact on Japan’s security strategy.

Supported by the research grant for diplomacy and security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies will conduct a research project from fiscal year 2023 titled, "Historical Significance of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and the New International Order,” to examine the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the international order and Japan’s security.

Supported by the research grant for diplomacy and security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies will conduct a research project from fiscal year 2023 titled, "Establishment of an Information Platform to Support the Liberal Democratic Order,” to examine disruptions to liberal democracies.

Since June 2020, the Religion and Global Security Division of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo has been conducting a research project  “Humanitas Futura: Constructing an International Research Network for the Study of Philosophy and Religion” led by Project Researcher Koji Yamashiro. This project is based on the comprehensive agreement signed in 2019 between the University of Tokyo and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and aims to create an international network to promote academic exchanges and dialogues between Abrahamic religions and East Asian religious philosophies.

The RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies is independently conducting the research project on "Japan’s Choices in the Era of Inter-Regime Competition: Policy Proposals and Information Sharing based on Long-term Scenario Planning in Search for the Proactive Role in the Emergence of the New International Order” which is supported by the research grants for diplomacy and security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan starting from the fiscal year 2020.

Today, our world has entered an era of significant change, notably with the rise of authoritarian states like China and Russia, changes within the existing order centered on the United States and the European states, ideological and geopolitical challenges in the Middle East, as well as developments in new and emerging technologies. The Project purports to serve as a platform to work with experts to provide analysis and policy recommendations to promote Japan’s involvement in forming the new international order.

The Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) of the University of Tokyo has been pioneering academic exchanges with universities in Israel, such as Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

On March 1-5, 2021, the “Israel Week @ UTokyo Komaba Research Campus” was held online in cooperation with the Institute for Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo.

Conducted under the University of Tokyo Global Studies Initiative Caravan Project, the “Field Studies and Interactive Surveys on the International Political Dynamics among the Major Middle Eastern Powers and Other Foreign Powers” aims to understand the impact of changes in the age of global great power competition on the political circumstances in the Middle East and also the rise of regional powers, as well as the broader implications on regional and international relations. The project involves dialogues and exchanges with experts from prominent research institutions in Egypt, Israel, and Turkey to understand the regional circumstances by focusing on the changes in the Middle Eastern regional order through ideological and religious contexts.

In 2020, INPEX Solutions, LTD. established the Forum for Researches on the Middle East Region in the framework of the Academic Instructions Scheme of University of Tokyo in which departments and divisions of the University of Tokyo provide information and instruction upon requests from various industries outside the University. 

In April 2020, within the Academic Instructions Scheme,  Professor Satoshi Ikeuchi of the Division of Religion and Global Security of RCAST, together with INPEX Solutions, LTD., established the Forum for Researches on the Middle East Region which aimed at conducting anayses on the recent development in the region.

Upper-level Course at the College of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo

Satoshi Ikeuchi, "Post-COVID-19 International Order: A Japanese View" July, 2021. 
14:30-16:00(Istanbul Time)