I was born in Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture in 1957. I grew up in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture. After graduating from Chuo University (Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law) in 1981, I worked as an employee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (from 1981 to 1986), studied at Chuo University Graduate School (from 1985 to 1995), and worked as an employee of the History Compilation Office of the Tama City Hall, Tokyo (FY1998) before taking up a post at Ritsumeikan University in April 1999. At present, I serve as Director of the Ritsumeikan Center for Korean Studies and Manager of the Media and Document Sector, Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Ritsumeikan University.
I studied Japanese political history at the graduate school under Professor Samon Kimbara and Professor Morikuni Sugawara. In my master’s thesis, I discussed the relationship between the leadership for the labor movement by Kanju Kato (Minister of Labor of the Ashida Cabinet) in the Taisho period (from 1912 to 1926) and political activities. In the history compilation project of Tama City, Tokyo, in which I started to participate when I was a student of the doctor’s course, I was engaged in local surveys and developed an interest in problems in rural areas and local development.
In 2004, I had an opportunity for off-campus research at Dong-A University in Busan, South Korea. I studied the modern and contemporary history and politics of South Korea and developed an interest in Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. In 2005, I participated in the establishment of the Ritsumeikan Center for Korean Studies, where I now serve as director. Based on this experience, I endeavor to redefine research on Japanese political and diplomatic history in the context of international relationships in East Asia beyond the framework of the history of a single country.

I conduct research on the strife between Japan’s colonial rule in East Asia and anti-Japanese independence movement. I also continue surveys on various aspects of the Peace Preservation Act (1925) and its applications.

With research in South Korea as a new beginning, I conduct joint research with South Korean researchers about Japan’s modern history and the history of Japan Korea relations. I also participate frequently in international academic conferences in Japan, South Korea, and China. I have often accepted international students from East Asia in Japanese-based classes. I have organized the graduate school classes to internationalize academic research on Japan, South Korea, and China on our campus. Of the international students for whom I served as a supervisor in the doctor’s course, three South Korean students acquired the doctor’s degree.

Political science, Japanese political and diplomatic history, historical awareness and mutual understanding in East Asia, research on the East Asian Community