Born in 1960. From 1994 to 2015, he taught at Hitotsubashi University, and since 2015, he has been a faculty member at the Department of Global Politics, Faculty of Law, Hosei University. His area of specialization is Thai politics. Since 1981, he has visited Thailand several times every year. From 1985 to 1988, he studied at Thammasat University in Thailand. He also has a strong interest in relations between Thailand and its neighboring countries. From 2015 to 2019, he served as President of the Japanese Society of Thai Studies. He has also frequently visited Cambodia, and he is deeply concerned about the deterioration in Cambodian-Thai relations since 2025.

Specialty is modern African politics. Completed a doctoral course at the University of York’s Centre for Southern African Studies (DPhil). He has worked on political change in southern Africa, civil society in Africa, collapsed state focusing on Somalia, international relations in the Horn of Africa in the field of comparative politics and international relations. He is the author of works such as Hokai kokka to kokusai anzenhosho: Somalia ni miru aratana kokkazo no tanjo (Collapsed State and International Security: Experiences of Somalia and New Sovereign Statehood) and co-editor of works such as African Potentials Series: African Politics of Survival Extraversion and Informality in the Contemporary World.

Koji Horinuki is a Executive Researcher at the JIME Center, The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ). His research focuses on the evolving political, diplomatic, social, and energy dynamics of the Gulf states, with particular expertise in the politics and foreign relations of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. He received his Ph.D. in Area Studies from the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, in 2011.

Professor of Political Science at Temple University, Japan Campus. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Utah in 2015. Since 2013, he has taught courses such as Middle East Politics and Comparative Politics at Temple University, Japan Campus. His research focuses on Turkish domestic politics, foreign policy, and security. Since 2009, he has also served as a collaborative researcher at the JIME Center, a unit of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ). His publications include the co-authored volume The Abe Legacy: How Japan Has Been Shaped by Abe Shinzō (Lexington Books, 2021) and the Japanese translation of M. Şükrü Hanioğlu’s Atatürk: An Intellectual Biography (Misuzu Shobo, 2020).

Kenji Kuroda specializes in Middle Eastern studies, Islamic studies, and cultural anthropology. His research focuses in particular on the mechanisms by which the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to survive. Drawing on fieldwork among Shiite Islamic scholars and retired members of the Basij, both of whom have played significant roles in sustaining the Iranian political order, he has examined the internal logic, social foundations, and modes of political engagement of the non-Western liberal constituencies that have supported the regime. His recent publications include Contemporary Iranian History: From the Islamic Revolution to the Nuclear Problem and the Twelve-Day War (Chuo Koron Shinsha, 2025, in Japanese).

Naonori Kusakabe is an Associate Professor at the College of Intercultural Communication, Rikkyo University. He specializes in Bangladesh studies, South Asian studies, international cooperation, and development sociology. Based on long-term fieldwork in Bangladesh, his research focuses on Rohingya refugees, child labour, disaster vulnerability, and the roles of NGOs and religious organizations. He has also published extensively on Bangladeshi politics and foreign affairs. In addition to his academic research, he is engaged in policy dialogue, international development projects, and peacebuilding initiatives, working to connect field-based knowledge with practical efforts to address social and political challenges in Bangladesh and the wider South Asian region.

Hotaka Machida is executive fellow at Panasonic Research Institute. He also serves as visiting senior fellow in Institute of Geoeconomics at International House of Japan. Prior to working in the private sector in 2022, he served as a career diplomat in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2001, focusing on Japan-China relations. He studied at Nanjing University in China, followed by working in China Mongolia division in the Ministry as well as at Embassy of Japan in China twice. He holds a M.A from the Graduate School of Arts and Science at Harvard University, and a Bachelor from Law Faculty at Tokyo University. His main focus includes Japan-China relations and China’s foreign policy.

Professor Emeritus at Osaka University, specializing in conflict studies. Conducting fieldwork in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, he focuses on themes such as the right to self-determination, political killings, and human rights violations. Major publications include "History of East Timor's Independence" (2002, in Japanese). He has served as an electoral officer (in the referendum) for the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), a historical research advisor for the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR), and an International Advisory Council member for the CAVR follow-up mechanism, the Chega! National Centre (CNC).

Masaki Mizobuchi is Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Law at Meiji Gakuin University. Born in Kagawa Prefecture in 1984, he holds a Ph.D. in Area Studies from Sophia University. Before joining Meiji Gakuin University, he held research and teaching positions at Harvard University, Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, and Hiroshima University. His research focuses on the politics, military affairs, and security of the Middle East, international relations involving the region, and Islamic politics. His recent publications include Oil, War, and Alliances: How America Shapes Its Middle East Strategy (Keio University Press, 2025).

Takuya Murakami is President and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies, Japan. His research focuses on international relations in the Gulf region, with particular emphasis on the foreign and security policies of the Gulf states and the regional security order. Prior to assuming his current position in 2022, he worked at the Embassy of Japan in the Sultanate of Oman, the Middle East Institute of Japan, and Mitsubishi Corporation. His publications include "A Search for New Regional Security Order in the Gulf: Militarization of GCC Security Policy and Development of Functional Cooperation," The Journal of International Security, Vol. 43, No. 3.

Professor Nishikida graduated from the University of Tokyo, subsequently earning her Ph.D. from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies. Prior to her current position, she served as an Associate Professor at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. She specialises in Middle Eastern studies, with a particular focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her recent publications include Aiko Nishikida, Chie Ezaki and Toshiya Tsujita eds. “Fragile Stability” as a Political background of October 7: Current and Foreseeable Issues in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Springer, 2025; “Islamic Globalism and Localism: Their Interaction in Palestine” in Ikuya Tokoro and Hisao Tomizawa eds. Islam and Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia, 4, 55-68, 2024; “Israeli Politics and “10/7” as a Boiling Point,” Security Studies (in Japanese), 6(1), 26-39, 2024.

Hitomi Ono is Fellow of the Center for Mediation Support at The Sasakawa Peace Foundation. Her research interests include Islamic law, gender history, and Islamic area studies. She completed her doctoral studies at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo, where she earned a Ph. D. of Letters. After serving as Specialized Researcher at the Embassy of Japan in Tunisia, she was Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo, and Project Researcher at the Office for Gender Equity, Center for Coproduction of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, The University of Tokyo. Her publications include The Ethics of Single-sex Schooling in Islam: Rethinking Gender Equity in Education (Chiheisha, 2026, co-edited), Research Handbook on Islamic Law (Seibundo, 2025, co-edited), Children and Childhood in Islamic Law: Childrearing and Family from Gender Perspective (Keio University Press, 2019).

Ayako Saito, Ph.D., is a part-time lecturer at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Sophia University. Her research focuses on Myanmar Area Studies, with a particular emphasis on the Muslim minority community. Since the transition to civilian rule in 2011, latent anti-Muslim sentiments and exclusionary trends in Myanmar have increasingly come to the fore. Her work examines the hardships faced by Muslim communities while also investigating pathways toward coexistence and mutual flourishing with the Buddhist majority.

Masato Toriya studied as a doctoral student at the Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, and holds a Ph.D. in Area Studies. After serving as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Islamic Studies at Sophia University and a Research Fellow (PD) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), he currently holds his present position. His research specializes in South-West Asian area studies and modern/contemporary history, with a particular focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Pashtun language and culture. His publications include The State Formation of Modern Afghanistan: Historical Narrative and Political Trends Around the Second Anglo-Afghan War (in Japanese).

Hiroshi Yamada is Professor at the Faculty of International Studies, Niigata University of International and Information Studies (NUIS). He specializes in Cambodian politics and comparative politics, and holds a Ph.D. in Area Studies from Sophia University. Before assuming his current position, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). His research focuses on clarifying the roles that democratic institutions such as political parties, elections, and parliaments play in the maintenance and consolidation of authoritarian rule, and on the mechanisms behind them. Since 2002, he has engaged in election observation in Cambodia seventeen times, serving as an international election observer and as a special guest of the National Election Committee.

Tomoaki Yoshida is Research Fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), Japan Ministry of Defense. His expertise includes the security of the Gulf and Yemen, especially focusing on the political & military strategies of the Houthis. Since NIDS is the institute equivalent to national defense universities of other nations, he lectures Middle Eastern affairs to MOD / JSDF staff along with research. He obtained MA in Area Studies from Kyoto University. Prior to joining the NIDS, he was Researcher at the Daiwa Institute of Research. One of his main publications is “The Houthis’ Naval Forces and Its Evolution: Naval Forces as a Tool of Struggle for Statehood,” Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Command and Staff College Review, 2023.

Born in Kyoto, Japan; Ph.D. in Political Science, Doshisha University. His research specializes in Taiwanese and Chinese politics.
During his master/doctoral studies, he was awarded competitive research grants that enabled him to conduct approximately three years of overseas research, primarily at National Taiwan University and other institutions.
Before assuming his current positions, he served as a Specialist Researcher at the Embassy of Japan in China and as a Geopolitical Risk Advisor at a multinational consulting firm. He currently serves as a Senior Researcher at a Japanese think tank, a Adjunct Lecturer at a university, and a Board Director of an general incorporated association.