The winner's speeches.
The 2025 Gold Award
Dhini AFIATANTI
Good afternoon, distinguished guests, respected scholars, and colleagues.
It is a great honor for me to be here today and to receive the Gold prize for the Best Article Award for the
AJI Journal of 2025 for my paper entitled "Strategic Diplomacy in the 1960 Karel Doorman Incident: How
Economic and Reputational Concerns Shaped Japan's Choices."
First of all, I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt gratitude to the editorial board of the
Asia-Japan Research Institute for recognizing my work and presenting this prestigious award. I must sincerely
say that I never imagined I would receive this award, and I am truly honored. As a doctoral student still in
the early stage of my academic journey, and someone who was initially unfamiliar with the peer-review
publication process, this recognition holds profound personal meaning. Throughout the writing, review,
revision, and publication stages, I learned an immense amount, not only about academic standards but also
about scholarly dialogue and responsibility.
Moreover, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my doctoral supervisor, Professor Miyawaki Noboru,
for his invaluable guidance, patience, and unwavering academic support. His supervision and critical insights
greatly shaped the direction and quality of this research.
I am also deeply grateful to the reviewers, whose insightful and constructive comments played a crucial role
in strengthening this paper. Their feedback challenged me to refine my main arguments and sharpen my
analytical framework. In particular, I would like to thank Professor Anthony Brewer and Mr. Khashan Ammar for
their patience and generous support throughout the writing and submission process. I would also like to
acknowledge the Asia-Japan Research Institute for its clear editorial standards and well-structured timeline,
which greatly facilitated a smooth and transparent publication process.
My paper examines the dynamics of relations among Indonesia, Japan, and the Netherlands surrounding the
planned visit of the Dutch aircraft carrier Karel Doorman to Japan in 1960, amid the escalating West Irian
dispute between Indonesia and the Netherlands. I highlight Japan’s distinctive diplomatic approach in
navigating this sensitive situation by carefully balancing economic interests, reputational considerations,
and the broader international climate of the time. The study draws on primary sources from the archives of
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as Indonesian parliamentary records that have not been previously
utilized in this context.
This research aims to address a gap in the historical narrative of early postwar Japan–Indonesia relations,
particularly during the early 1960s, a period that remains underexplored, especially from an Indonesian
scholarly perspective. I believe this topic still offers vast potential for further investigation, whether
through deeper examination of Indonesia–Netherlands relations, Japan–Netherlands interactions, comparative
national perspectives, or the contemporary diplomatic implications that continue to resonate even today.
Encouraged and honored by this award, I am committed to further developing this research and completing it as
part of my doctoral dissertation. I sincerely hope that this study can contribute, even in a small way, to a
deeper understanding of historical diplomacy and to ongoing scholarly dialogue in Asia-Japan studies.
Once again, thank you very much for this honor.
The 2025 Gold Award
Prof. Dr. Mikio NISHIZAWA (Award Speech), Prof. Mariko ARATA, Dr. Yuto NISHIDONO,
Dr. Dinia Rizqi DWIJAYANTI, Prof. Andi KURNIAWAN, Prof. Muhammad Sasmito DJATI, Prof. Ken TANAKA, Prof. Nashi
WIDODO
Good afternoon, distinguished guests, respected scholars, and colleagues.
It is a great honor to receive the Gold prize for the Best Article Award for the AJI Journal of 2025. On
behalf of all the authors, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the AJI Journal editorial committee
for selecting our article.
Our project is a collaboration between Brawijaya University, Indonesia, and Ritsumeikan University.
Traditional Indonesian (Jamu) medicines resemble traditional Japanese (Kampo) medicines, which are organized
and well investigated. In contrast, most empirical blending and prescribing of Jamu medicines is not
scientifically understood.
First, we have noticed that many local-language names are used to refer to the same plant in Indonesia, such
as standard Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), Javanese, and Sundanese. For example, “banana” is called Pisang
(Bahasa Indonesia), Gedang (Javanese), and Cau (Sundanese). Thus, it is difficult to assign scientific names
to the local names of Indonesian medicinal plants.
Second, most of the plants used in Jamu medicines are consumed by Indonesians. Professor Mariko ARATA
(Ritsumeikan University) indicated these intriguing facts.
Our approach of assigning scientific names to the local names of Indonesian medicinal plants will facilitate
the analysis of their constituents, elucidate their pharmacological activities, and provide a basis for
investigating the plants for jamu medicines. We hope that this investigation leads to the development of new
pharmaceuticals in the future.
This paper would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of Prof. WIDODO (Rector of
Brawijaya University, previous Senior Scientist of Asia-Japan Institute), Prof. Muhammad Sasmito DJATI
(Previous Vice-Rector), Prof. Andi KURNIAWAN (Vice-Rector), and Prof. Ken TANAKA (Ritsumeikan University), who
supported our project.
Dr. Dinia R. DWIJAYANTI (Lecturer) was a member of my laboratory and graduated from the Graduate School of
Life Sciences at Ritsumeikan University. With Dr. Yuto NISHIDONO (Ritsumeikan University), she collected local
names and classified them based on their pharmacological effects.
We also thank Mr. Takahiro Nishibayashi and the Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University, for supplying
photographs of a Relief of Borobudur Temple.
Dr. Siti M. ULFA (Brawijaya University) and Dr. Yudi PURNOMO (University of Islam Malang, Indonesia) provided
information about jamu medicines, and Dr. Yukinobu Ikeya (Daiichi University of Pharmacy) gave us invaluable
advice about kampo medicines.
Again, we thank you for this incredible honor.
The 2025 Silver Award
Dr. Marika TSUKAHARA
Good afternoon, distinguished guests, respected scholars, and colleagues.
It is a great honor to receive the Silver prize for the Best Article Award for the AJI Journal of 2025. First,
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of the AJI Editorial Board for selecting my paper
for such a wonderful award.
In this article, I examined the development of Japan’s next support fighter by the Japan Air Self-Defense
Force during the 1980s and 1990s as a case study, in order to clarify the role of the defense industry in
Japan’s security policy and to explore the ideological background behind their strong commitment to the
domestic development of fighter aircraft. My research demonstrates that the defense industry was not merely a
technical or operational actor, but also played an important political role as an advocate of indigenous
development, actively voicing its position and influencing Japan’s security policy.
Furthermore, it became clear that this commitment to domestic development was grounded in the defense
companies’ strong sense of pride and responsibility as enterprises entrusted with national defense, as well as
in their deep confidence in their own technological capabilities. At the same time, I found that their sense
of responsibility was closely tied to the belief that defense technologies, having been developed with public
funds, did not belong solely to individual companies, but should instead be understood as “technologies for
the nation.”
This is my first paper in English, and it was a challenging task due to my limited English skills. I could not
have completed it as a final paper without the advice and suggestions I received through the AJI advanced
support program for academic writing in English. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere
gratitude to Professor Anthony Brewer, Dr. Khashan Ammar, and Professor Yasushi Kosugi for their support in
writing the paper. I am also convinced that the extremely precise and detailed opinions of the reviewers
dramatically enhanced the significance of this paper. I am also very grateful to the reviewers for their
careful peer review.
Once again, I would like to thank all the professors and staff of the Asia-Japan Research Institute. Thanks to
your continued support for early-career researchers in various ways, I was able to achieve this wonderful
accomplishment. I would like to express my sincere and deepest gratitude.
The 2025 Silver Award
Prof. Miho YAMASHITA
Good afternoon, distinguished guests, respected scholars, and colleagues.
I am truly honored and deeply grateful to receive this prestigious award. I was both surprised and filled with
appreciation when I learned of this recognition.
Although I am an English teacher, in recent years I have often written my academic papers in Japanese. I had
long hoped to write a full paper properly in English; however, I found myself constantly occupied with my
daily responsibilities and was unable to devote sufficient time to it. Last year, I learned about the English
Academic Writing Support Program offered by the Asia–Japan Research Institute and decided to apply. Through
the careful monthly guidance and warm encouragement I received, I was able to complete my paper in English. I
am sincerely grateful that this work has led to such an award.
I would like to express my heartfelt
gratitude to Professor Anthony Brewer of the Asia–Japan Research Institute and Professor Ammar Khashan of the
Asia–Japan Research Organization for their invaluable support and mentorship. Without their help, I would not
have been able to achieve this accomplishment.
In this particular study, I compared undergraduate and graduate students who used generative AI and machine
translation in their academic writing. The findings suggest that students with relatively lower English
proficiency and limited knowledge of academic genres tend to accept machine-generated output without
sufficient critical evaluation. As the number of students using generative AI continues to grow, I believe it
is increasingly important not to rely solely on AI tools. Rather, we should foster learners who can think
critically, engage with AI output reflectively, and ultimately develop the ability to express themselves
independently in a foreign language. This is the educational commitment that underlies my
research.
This research has given me great momentum. I have continued writing in English this year and have submitted
another paper to an international journal. Although it is still under review, I hope to build on this
achievement and continue publishing actively.
While I consider myself more of a senior researcher, I believe this program provides an especially valuable
opportunity for early-career scholars and international researchers. If Ritsumeikan University is to further
strengthen its position as a globally engaged research university, writing and publishing in English is
essential. I sincerely hope that the AJI Journal will continue to develop as a platform that connects our
scholars with researchers overseas and showcases the outstanding achievements of Ritsumeikan University to the
world.
I will continue to refine my research by making full use of this support program and by striving to publish
further work in the AJI Journal. At the same time, I hope to raise awareness of this valuable initiative so
that many more colleagues and researchers will take part in it.
Once again, thank you so much to all AJI members and everyone here today for this great honor.
The 2024 Gold Award
Dr. Kazutaka SOGO
I am surprised to have received this prestigious award again this year, and I would like to express my
sincere gratitude to the editorial committee members who selected my article. I am very happy to have received
the Gold Award this year, following on from last year's Silver Award.
As a senior researcher at AJI, my goal has been to clarify the impact that Japan's possession of colonies as
an empire had on Japan's domestic politics. I believe that this paper is one of the most important discoveries
I have reached in the three years I have been here. I think it is significant that I have been able to
demonstrate the impact of the fact that, by founding the puppet state of Manchukuo, pre-war Japan turned the
administration of Manchuria, which had previously been an external matter, into an internal problem for the
central government, based on changes in the actual political process.
Furthermore, I believe that this can provide some insight into the larger question of why the military was
able to expand its influence in the 1930s. There are still many issues to be addressed, but I would like to
continue to study the meaning of Japan's colonial rule by continuing to build on my research.
Like last year's article, I would not have been able to write this article without the support of the English
Writing Support Program. I would like to express my gratitude once again to Professor Anthony Brewer, Dr.
Ammar Khashan, and Professor Yasushi Kosugi for their cooperation.
I am leaving AJI at the end of March to take up a new position. There is no doubt that the opportunities I
have had to disseminate my research in English have helped my research to grow dramatically. To be recognized
in this way at the end of my time here is a great source of confidence, and it has made me determined to
continue to present the results of my research on Japanese history to an international audience. Finally, I
would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me, especially the staff at AJI. Thank you
all very much.
The 2024 Gold Award
Dr. Shunto KIMURA, Dr. Jietao LIAN, Dr. Yi SUN, Prof. Yuko YATO
It is a great honor to receive the Best Article Award for AJI Journal of 2024 (Gold). When I first heard the
news, I was truly surprised. At the same time, this recognition reaffirmed the value of our research project,
and I am deeply grateful for that. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation
to everyone who contributed to this paper.
This paper would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of many individuals. First, I
would like to sincerely thank Professor Yuko Yato, my co-authors, and all the members of the Ibaraki Cohort
Project. Their valuable advice, from project management to data analysis, was instrumental in completing this
study. Without their guidance, I would not have been able to write this paper.
I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to our research participants. Since 2016, many individuals
have taken part in this project, and I deeply appreciate their long-term commitment. Participating in ongoing
research is never an easy task, and their dedication has been invaluable. Without their cooperation, we would
not have been able to publish this paper or any of our other research findings. I sincerely thank them once
again.
Furthermore, the insights and feedback from the reviewers played a crucial role in improving the quality of
this paper. They not only provided critical academic perspectives but also carefully reviewed my imperfect
English expressions. Thanks to their thoughtful suggestions, we were able to refine our paper and make it even
more meaningful.
In this study, we analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mothers' quality of life and parenting
stress, and we discussed necessary child-rearing support measures. Our project is dedicated to evidence-based
parenting support, and we firmly believe that it is a research initiative with both academic and social
significance. Encouraged by this award, we will continue to share our research findings and contribute to
society through child-rearing support initiatives.
Thank you once again for this incredible honor.
The 2024 Silver Award
Dr. NGUYEN Thi Thuong, He HUANG, Maho ODA, Prof. Satoshi SODA
Good afternoon, everyone! It is an incredible honor to be here today and to receive the Best Article Award for
my paper, “Constructed Wetlands Planted with Iris for Treatment of Wastewater Simulating a Typical Mine
Drainage in Japan: Effects of Organic Feeding on the Removal of Zn and Cd.”
Firstly, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the editorial board of the Asia-Japan Research
Institute for recognizing my research and bestowing this prestigious award upon me. This recognition is not
just mine but belongs to everyone who contributed to this work.
The inspiration for this research comes from the pressing environmental challenges we face today, particularly
in the context of wastewater pollution from mining activities. Heavy metals like zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd)
pose serious threats to ecosystems and public health, and I wanted to explore sustainable, nature-based
solutions to address this issue. This paper highlights the potential of constructed wetlands, planted with the
ornamental flowering plant Iris, to treat mine drainage, focusing on how organic feeding influences the
removal of these harmful contaminants.
I am deeply grateful to my mentor, Professor Soda, for his invaluable guidance throughout my journey. His
support- from experimental design to article writing, has been instrumental in shaping my work. I would also
like to thank Professors Anthony Brewer, Yasushi Kosugi, and Dr. Ammar Khashan, who edited and provided
insightful advice to improve the quality of my paper. A special thanks to Professor Brewer and Dr. Ammar, who
adjusted their schedules to accommodate mine, especially given that many of our tutorial sessions overlapped
with my conferences and business trips abroad. I truly appreciate their cooperation. I also want to thank my
kohais, Huang He and Oda Maho, for their dedicated support during my experiments.
This award inspires me to continue my mission of advancing green technologies like constructed wetlands, which
not only address pressing environmental issues but also promote sustainable and scalable solutions. I hope
this research serves as a small step toward bridging the gap between science and real-world applications,
particularly in Japan and Vietnam, where such technologies have immense potential.
Once again, thank you so much to all AJI members and everyone here today for this honor. It fuels my passion
to keep exploring, innovating, and contributing to a more sustainable future. Thank you all very much!
The 2023 Gold Award
Dr. Yi SUN
Dear All,
I am deeply humbled and immensely grateful to speak here as the recipient of the Best Article Award. This
recognition is not just a testament to my efforts, but also a celebration of the collective dedication and
passion that drives us all in the pursuit of knowledge and excellence.
Actually, I was very surprised when our article was nominated because AJI has published so many interesting
and insightful articles. Our article was just a comparison between China and Japan about the wellbeing of
mothers during the pandemic period from a micro, psychological perspective, rather than a broad view like
other AJI articles. I have always wanted to add such a perspective to our research. Therefore, I'm impressed
that the AJI judges appreciated a micro-study like ours.
Also, I would like to thank the reviewers of AJI for their sincere advice and invaluable insights. Their
comments on the social background during the pandemic in China deepened and improved the significance of our
study. Since our team specializes in psychology or early childhood education, we lacked awareness of social
policy, and we benefited greatly from the opinions of these experts from other fields, which expanded our
knowledge and prompted us to think about our relatively microscopic study from a more macroscopic
perspective.
However, even though it was a relatively small study, it took much effort and time. We encountered a lot of
difficulties in collecting data, especially during the pandemic. We really want to thank the organizations and
our research partners who assisted us in this study. This reward is shared by the coauthors of this paper and
all the people who assisted in our investigation, and I would like to give my sincere thanks to all of them.
This award is not just a validation of our work, but also an acknowledgment to all the colleagues who
participated in it. It encourages us to continue to pursue new studies in the future no matter what challenges
we may face. We will do our best to provide valuable research results, and always consider the social
significance of each research, as reminded by the reviewers of this paper.
Finally, please allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to the members of AJI for their wise guidance and
academic support. Thank you once again for this incredible honor. I am deeply touched and profoundly grateful.
The 2023 Silver Award
Dr. Kazutaka SOGO
It is a great honor to receive the Best Article Award for AJI Journal of 2023. First, I would like to express
my sincere gratitude to the members of the AJI Editorial Board, for selecting my paper for such a wonderful
award.
This is my first paper in English, and it was a difficult challenge for my poor English skills. I could not
have completed it as a final paper without the advice and suggestions I received through the AJI advanced
support program for academic writing in English. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere
gratitude to Professor Anthony Brewer, Dr. Khashan Ammar, and Professor Yasushi Kosugi for their support in
writing the paper. I am also convinced that the extremely precise and detailed opinions of the reviewers
dramatically enhanced the significance of this paper. I am also very grateful to the reviewers for their
careful peer review.
Modern Japan has always had a close relationship with the tense situation in East Asia, and its major
challenge was how to achieve international cooperation while securing its economic interests. This paper
reveals the vision of the Tanaka Giichi Cabinet, which sought to overcome this hard conflict by establishing
the Coronial Ministry, the ministry responsible for the colonies of the Japanese Empire. Despite the fact that
Japanese politics has been deeply intertwined with international relations, there have been very few
opportunities to present our research result in English in my field, Japanese history, due to the nature of
Japanese studies. I am convinced that for the future development of modern Japanese political history, we need
to transcend the boundaries of our field of specialization and actively engage in dialogue with researchers
overseas, especially in English-speaking countries. I am proud to have received this award, and I intend to
use this experience to devote myself to building this bridge.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude once again to all those who supported the results of this
research, especially to AJI. Thank you very much.
The 2023 Silver Award
Dr. Jinhye LEE
Good afternoon. I am very honored to receive the Best Article Award for AJI Journal of 2023 (Silver). I would
like to thank the reviewers for judging my paper and the editorial board of the Asia-Japan Research Institute
at Ritsumeikan University for their insightful and valuable comments.
My paper, entitled “Why do Diasporas Re-Emigrate to their Historical “Homelands”? A Case Study of Koryo
Saram’s “Return” from Post-Soviet Uzbekistan to South Korea” is a recent achievement and steppingstone in my
research on diasporic return.
The Koryo Saram, the main subject of the study in question, are a self-identifying Korean diaspora group who
are living in post-Soviet Union nations. The Koryo Saram have been split into various subgroups based on the
policies and cultures of their countries of origin and residence from the Soviet era to the modern era.
I have been researching the social transformation of the Koryo Saram living in the Central Asian region for
many years. In recent years, public interest has been piqued regarding the Koryo Saram whose radius of life is
expanding outside of Central Asia as they have formed a cross-border network that expands beyond their
countries of origin and residence. As a result, my research deals specifically with the topic of the
community’s return to their ancestral homeland, and my paper can be said to be the first of its kind.
By paying attention to the unprecedented increase in the number of immigrants from Uzbekistan since 2007, when
Koryo Saram began to return to their ancestral homeland as Korean descendants, I was able to present an
empirical case on the dynamics of the Central Asian minority community and the return migration of the
diaspora. It is my hope that my research will contribute positively to informing a new perspective on the
return migration of Koryo Saram in Central Asia, Korea, and elsewhere.
I would like to take this moment to pause and express gratitude to the seminars and research activities that I
participated in due to their constructive criticism that helped refine my thesis. I hope to continue expanding
my research on the diasporic return of the Koryo Saram in the future. I additionally hope that the Korean
society to which they historically belong will continue to improve its policies of accommodation and
integration, leading to stable and fulfilling their lives.
Finally, I would like to say thank you once again to all the professors and staff of Asia-Japan Research
Institute.
Thank you very much to you all.
The 2022 Gold Award
Ms. PHUAKNIAN Kanjana
I am incredibly honored to receive the Best Article Award (Gold) for the AJI Journal of 2022. I am truly
grateful to the editorial board for their insightful and valuable comments on my paper.
My paper, titled “Factors Contributing to Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction for Foreign Residents in
Japan,” is part of my thesis. As you may know, earthquakes are a frequent disaster that happens in Japan, and
the number of foreign residents residing here has been increasing. As a former foreign resident in Japan, I
experienced stress and nervousness when thinking about any severe earthquakes that could happen at any time,
even though I had Japanese friends and knew my neighbors. I realized that it would be better if foreign
residents could rely more on their neighbors and their local communities in times of crisis.
Therefore, Professor Toyoda and I conducted a study that observed the factors in various aspects of foreign
residents to enhance mutual assistance and improve disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities for foreign
residents. We hope that the study's outcomes will positively contribute to encouraging related organizations
to carry out more DRR activities that include both locals and foreigners altogether.
I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to my supervisor, Professor Toyoda Yusuke, for his guidance
and support throughout the study. I am also grateful for every comment and constructive criticism I received
from every professor and friend in my seminar, which helped me to refine my paper.
Thank you once again. I accept this award with gratitude and humility. My sincere hope is that DRR for foreign
residents will continue to be enhanced in the future.
The 2022 Silver Award
Dr. Muhammad Riza Nurdin
Good afternoon, everyone.
I am deeply honored to receive the Best Article Award (Silver) for the AJI Journal of 2022. I originally come
from Aceh, Indonesia, one of the places severely damaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Having witnessed
the massive impact of this mega-disaster, I developed my research interests in human security and vulnerable
communities, seeking answers on what can be done better to reduce losses from a catastrophe or to build back
better in the aftermath of a natural hazard. My paper, entitled “Examining the Effectiveness of Government
Agencies in Disaster Recovery: Evidence from Indonesia,” is one example of my passion for this important
research field. In this paper, I discussed various challenges faced by the governmental disaster management
agencies, such as political tensions, limited budget, the gap in institutional capacity, and the complexity of
decentralization in Indonesia. This paper also includes policy recommendations that can improve the results of
future disaster recovery programs, which I hope will be useful for the government and other practitioners in
Indonesia or other disaster-prone countries.
This paper would not have been possible without the support of several people. I am indebted to Prof. Kosugi,
Prof. Brewer, and Dr. Ammar for their continuous support during the writing process of this paper. My
sincerest gratitude to my academic advisor, Prof. Hirono, for her constant guidance and to the reviewers for
their constructive feedback. Finally, also thank you to everyone here. It has been a pleasure to be a member
of the AJI.
Thank you very much.
The 2022 Silver Award
Mr. Abu Baker Rafat KHAN
Honorable team of the editorial members of Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University. Thank you
so much for this incredible honor of being awarded the best paper silver status in this academic journal for
my research paper titled “Measuring the Impact of Travel Behavior in an Urban Form on Location Affordability
in Rawalpindi-Islamabad, Pakistan.” I am truly humbled and grateful to be recognized among such talented
scholars and researchers.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the role that my family has played in supporting me throughout my
academic journey. They have been my rock and my foundation, providing love, encouragement, and motivation when
I needed it most. Without their unwavering support, I would not be standing here today.
I also want to express my gratitude to the Almighty God for giving me the strength, wisdom, and perseverance
to pursue my academic goals. I believe that it is through God's grace and guidance that I have been able to
achieve this success, and I am forever grateful for His blessings.
This paper represents a collaborative effort between myself and my co-author, Dr Yoshida, who was also my
supervisor during the doctoral program, and I want to acknowledge his hard work and dedication in bringing
this project to fruition. We spent countless hours researching, analyzing, and refining our ideas, and I am
grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such a talented and committed professor.
I also want to thank the reviewers who provided invaluable feedback on our work. Your insights and
constructive criticism helped us to strengthen our arguments and refine our ideas, and we are grateful for
your time and effort in engaging with our work.
As academics, we have a responsibility to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in our
field. This paper represents our commitment to that mission, and I am proud to have played a small part in
that endeavor.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to the journal editors and the academic community for their continued
support and encouragement. Your willingness to engage with our work and to promote scholarly excellence is
what drives us to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
Thank you once again for this incredible honor. I am truly grateful and deeply humbled to receive this award,
and I dedicate it to my family, my supervisor, and to God, without whom this achievement would not have been
possible. Thank you, and God bless.
The 2021 Gold Award
Mr. Naoki FUJIMOTO
It is a great honor to receive the Best Article Award for AJI Journal which is established to developing a
common vision for the future of Asia and Japan. I am very grateful to the reviewers and editorial board
members. In my paper I spoke about transforming tourism into a tool to conserve nature and improve community
well-being, with a focus on small enterprises which are expected to engage more comprehensively with local
communities than traditional commercial companies. I was very fortunate to be able to work closely with a
young entrepreneur who successfully applied such ideals to revitalize his village community. My intention was
to provide practical insights into the ways that small and medium-sized enterprises in Indonesian tourism
sectors of rural areas might improve their operations by implementing the tourism social entrepreneurship
elements to empower local communities .
I would like to add that winning this award was something I never imagined would happen, as it was my first
attempt at writing an academic article in English, and posting it to academic journal. When I started out, I
faced many difficulties in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and structure, and it was hard to keep to the
schedule deadlines. This challenging situation could be overcome because of AJI Advanced Support Program for
Academic Writing in English. I really appreciate the kind support of Professor Kosugi, Professor Brewer and
Dr, Ammar. Their advice and support kept me motivated, improved my writing abilities and enabled me to present
my research in truly global contexts.
I will start doctoral program from next April, I hope I can continue to publish article in English based on
this experience and develop my research with global networks .
Thank you.
The 2021 Silver Award
Dr. Nobuyuki MATSUI
It is a great honor to receive the Best Article Award for the AJI Journal of 2021. Firstly, I would like to
thank the reviewers and the editorial board for giving me this award.
In my article I tried to grasp how human "common sense" was affected by the contemporary technological
developments derived from digitalization through a comparison between the two influential Japanese
philosophers, Nakamura Yūjirō and Karatani Kōjin. Nakamura critically investigated the technological
conditions influencing our imagination, and also provided us with a way to overcome the technological control
which affects a deep level of our perceptions and sensibilities. However, Karatani criticized Nakamura whom he
considered as a nationalist, because for Karatani as a Marxist, the basis of "imagination" has to be found in
human reciprocity grounded in a post-nationalist benevolence to others. Unfortunately, Nakamura and Karatani
never had a meaningful exchange and so I tried to find the importance of focusing on the sensual level that
underlies our imagination for reciprocity through creating a dialogue between them, with an interest in
Marxist philosophy.
In this sense, I am very pleased that my article has been accepted by the AJI Journal. I would like to add
that this would not have been possible without the help of the AJI advanced support program for academic
writing in English. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor Yasushi Kosugi and Professor
Anthony Brewer for their guidance and valuable criticism during the program. I would also like to mention my
deep appreciation for my colleague Fernand Wirtz, one of the most significant philosophers today globally. We
found a shared interest through the "International Workshop on Globally Shared Common Sense from the
Philosophy of Imagination" supported by AJI, and I hope that we can continue to discuss this theme and
collaborate further to develop our philosophies.
Once again, I would like to say thank you all to the professors and staff of Asia-Japan Research Institute. I
truly think that this award would not have been possible without their commitment to supporting each
individual researcher.
Thank you very much to you all.
The 2021 Silver Award
Dr. Polina IVANOVA
First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the editorial board of the Journal of the Asia-Japan
Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University and Professor Yasushi Kosugi, the chair of the editorial board,
and the executive editorial committee for selecting my article for the silver award. Next, I owe a debt of
gratitude to Professor Kenki Adachi, Director of the Institute of International Relations and Area Studies,
the Project Leader of the Human Security in Southeast Asia in the Era of the ASEAN Community at the Asia-Japan
Research Institute for his unfailing support of my work over the past five years and for his crucial
suggestions during the write-up of this paper. A very special thank you goes to Dr. Sabine Krajewski, Honorary
Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University, for her enthusiastic support of my research endeavors and her
invaluable help with the ethical approval of my study in Australia. Finally, I owe great thanks to all my
interviewees and study participants for sharing their challenges and insights with me. Your courage,
dedication, sincerity, and openness have been an inspiration for me and made this research possible.
This award highlights the importance of the topic of international student support and the role played by the
civil society. International students both in Japan and Australia have been facing significant challenges
exacerbated by the pandemic; yet, unlike forced migrants and economic migrants, they are usually not seen as a
population in need and their plight is often invisible.
I am very grateful for this award as it has encouraged me to continue my research in this area. I hope we can
learn from the lessons of the pandemic to move forward to a more sustainable international education sector in
a post-COVID world. I dedicate this award to all the activists who are working for the betterment of
international education worldwide, helping international students achieve their goals and thrive in their
college life. Thank you very much.
The 2020 Gold Award
Mr. Roni ARMIS (Representing the co-authors)
It is an honor to receive the best article award for AJI Journal of 2020. I would like to extend my deepest
gratitude to the editorial board for this achievement. This paper is part of my dissertation in the Graduate
School of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University. It focused on the role of the post-mining community members
in the regeneration of a post-mining city at the UNESCO World Heritage site, namely Sawahlunto in Indonesia.
During the last three years, I have been conducting research about the regeneration of post-mining cities as
tourist destinations. The competitiveness in tourism is an important attribute for many post-mining cities,
particularly small-sized post-mining cities. The bankruptcy of Yubari city, a post-mining city in Hokkaido,
was the first and still the only municipality bankruptcy in Japan. It really triggered my critical thinking in
providing a destination competitiveness model for post-mining cities.
This paper would not have been possible without the AJI advanced support for academic writing in English. I
joined this program before the submission of this paper in 2020. During the program, there were many workshops
and individual sessions designed particularly for early career researchers like me, not merely to improve
English academic writing but also to develop the logical thinking needed to make a good academic paper.
Asia-Japan Research Institute also offered a great opportunity to present my article in the International
Colloquium on Asian Paths of Civilization and Development, which took place in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on 17
October 2019. I found it very encouraging to discuss my findings with other experienced researchers. Taking
part in Asia-Japan Research Institute was a rewarding experience for me, and this award obviously exceeded my
expectations. I am deeply indebted to Professor Yasushi Kosugi, Professor Anthony Brewer, and all staff
members for these great opportunities. I expect to regularly participate in future academic activities at the
Asia-Japan Research Institute for my professional development.
The 2020 Silver Award
Mr. Yuto NISHIDONO (Representing the co-authors)
We are very honored to receive the Best Article Award for the AJI Journal of 2020. On behalf of the authors,
I'm extremely grateful to the reviewers and editorial board members.
In this study, we comprehensively clarified the chemical constituents contained in ginger and discussed the
differences in the usage of ginger in Asian traditional medicine from the perspective of chemical ingredients.
I have been studying about ginger since I was an undergraduate student, so I'm very happy that the research is
evaluated as the Best Article.
This paper was reported as one of the research results of the research project, "Increase of Healthy Life
Expectancy by Studies on Indonesian and Japanese Medical Plants". I was engaged in this project as a young
researcher and had many experiences. For example, I conducted fieldwork in Indonesia, Lao P.D.R., Thailand,
and Taiwan, and by directly experiencing the local customs such as drinking "Jamu", I realized that
traditional medicine is rooted in people's lives. In addition, I learned about the values, religion, and
culture of the country through collaborative work with local researchers. These opportunities, which I
couldn't have experienced by just doing experiments in the laboratory in Japan, became a valuable asset for me
as a researcher. I would like to thank the research project leader, Prof. Mikio Nishizawa, and all the people
involved in the Asia-Japan Research Institute for giving me the opportunity to have such a valuable
experience.
From now on, based on the platform established in this project, I would like to continue exchanges with
researchers in Asian countries and promote research aimed at "co-creation".
Thank you very much.
The 2020 Silver Award
Mr. Shoki TAKAYAMA (Representing the co-authors)
We are very honored that our paper has been selected for the Best Article Award for AJI Journal of 2020
(Silver). We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the reviewers and editorial board members for
their valuable comments and also we would like to thank to all those who were involved in this paper.
In this paper, we used Structure from Motion (SfM) to obtain three-dimensional coordinate data of the
landslide dam failure processes observed in the experiments and verified the data accuracy. We hope that the
outcomes of this paper will contribute to the development of experimental techniques and to the elucidation of
landslide dam failure mechanisms. We will make further efforts to produce even better researches in the
future.
Thank you very much for your support.
The 2019 Gold Award
Dr. Marina NISHII
I am most honored to receive the Best Article Award for the AJI Journal of 2019. I am very grateful to
Professors Yasushi Kosugi and Anthony Brewer for giving me this chance and supporting me in the AJI English
Article Writing Program, and to the professors who gave me referee comments. I really appreciate the technical
instruction I received through this program.
I have studied the post-war history of Hiroshima. Historically, Hiroshima is known as an area damaged by the
A-bomb, and has become a symbol for peace and against nuclear war. In addition, the history of the city's
reconstruction from ashes is apt to be held up as a successful example of revival from destruction. In my
article, I tried to clarify how the city's reconstruction was actually experienced from the voices of the
people who lived there. It includes the methodological challenge of how history studies can listen to the
people's silent voices.
On this occasion, I hope to enlarge the stage of my own study more. Finally, I would like to thank the
professors and the study environment in Ritsumeikan University, and all the friends and teachers I have
studied with.
Thank you for listening.
The 2019 Silver Award
Dr. Fitrio ASHARDIONO
I am very honored to receive Best Article Award for AJI Journal of 2019 (Silver) for my article submission in
the Journal of the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University. On this occasion I would like to
express my gratitude to Prof. Kosugi and Prof. Brewer for their continuous guidance and support during the
writing process.
Through the work on this article I was able to further expand my inquiry on the issue of climate change and
agriculture from the perspective of agroecology, which correlates with the ecosystem and social factors of a
particular area.
I would also like to offer my sincere gratitude to Kitamura san, Fukui san, Tsuji san, Shimizu san, and many
other tea growers in the Uji Area to whom I have been heavily indebted, for always providing me with
information which is undoubtedly very important to them.
Once again, I would like to give a huge thank you to everyone who has been continuously supporting my work,
especially during the writing process of this article.