Education

• LL.B., Doshisha University
• M.A., University of Toronto
• Ph.D., Princeton University

Research and Supervision Fields

• Japanese Foreign Affairs and Politics
• Grand Strategy
• International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
• Canada-Asia Relations
• International Relations Theory

Teaching Streams

• Diplomacy, Defense and Development

Biography

I am a professor of international politics. My teaching covers international relations theory, international relations of the Asia-Pacific region and Japanese politics. I have acquired many perspectives on teaching over my 25 years at SFU. So, in addition to the regular content of these courses, I help students develop skills important for their long-term success, such as how to write a good research paper, how to prepare for graduate school and how to maximize their chances of acquiring relevant employment after graduation.

While my primary research focus is on Japan’s relations with other countries, I have broader interests in the Asia-Pacific region and trans-Pacific relations, including Canada-Asia relations.  I also study “grand strategy”—the government’s holistic plan to use defense, economic and cultural policies as a set. I love to read and use historical materials, including diplomatic archives in my research.

A bilingual and bicultural scholar, I conduct my professional activities both in Canada and in Japan: I publish work in English and Japanese journals; I give professional talks in Canada and Japan; and I collaborate with Canadian and Japanese scholars, policymakers, media and think-tanks.

Publications

• 2019. Daisenryakuron: Kokusai chitsujo wo meguru tatakai to Nihon (On Grand Strategy: The Struggle over International Order and Japan) (Tokyo: Keiso Shobo).
• 2019. “Japan’s Grand Strategy: In Defense of the Liberal Western Pacific Order,” Ken Coates et al., eds., Japan’s Future and a New Meiji Transformation: International Reflections (London: Routledge).
• 2016. “Where Does Canada Fit in the US-China Strategic Competition across the Pacific?” International Journal 71 (2): 214-230.
• 2015. Shakaikagaku to shiteno Nihon gaiko kenkyu: Riron to rekishi no togo wo mezashite (Social Scientific Research on Japanese Foreign Policy: Toward the Unity of Theory and History) (Kyoto: Minerva Shobo).
• 2012. “The Rising Sun Was No Jackal: Japanese Grand Strategy, the Tripartite Pact, and Alliance Formation Theory,” in Jeffrey W. Taliaferro et al., eds., The Challenge of Grand Strategy: The Great Power and the Broken Balance between the World Wars (New York: Cambridge University Press).