"Draw a Clear Line with Putin’s Russia"

Born in Yamanashi prefecture in 1958. Professor, School of International Relations, University of Shizuoka. Graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, in 1986. Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986. From 1989-1993 and 2000-2004, he worked at the Embassy of Japan in China, and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association from 1996-1998. Completed his Master’s program at the Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, Nihon University in 2004. He was an assistant professor, School of Language and Culture, Hokkaido University, in 2004, and then associate professor, International Media and Communication Studies, Hokkaido University, in 2007. He has been in his present position since 2008. His works include The Cadre Policy of the Chinese Communist Party-Party and Government Cadres and Nonparty Organizations (Japan Association for Asian Studies, 2004), Chugoku kyosanto kenryoku no kongen (The Roots of Chinese Communist Power), Sanwa Shoseki, 2012, and Standing committee of the National People’s Congress and survival of the Communist Party of China, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization, 2015.

He received his DPhil in 1988 from Sussex University, and later spent several years as Visiting Scholar at the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, Harvard University, Peking University, and at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. Before joining The University of Tokyo, he taught at J. F. Oberlin University and Rikkyo University. He served as President of the Japan Association for Asian Studies, and as the Secretary General of the New Japan-China Friendship 21st Century Committee. He currently serves as Senior Adjunct Fellow of the Japan Institute of International Affairs, Distinguished Research Fellow of the Japan Forum on International Relations and Director of JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development. His publications include The Politics of Wage Policy in Post-Revolutionary China, (Macmillan, 1992), and Japan-China Relations in the Modern Era, (co-authored, Routledge, 2017).

Graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1985 and completed his Master’s program (area studies) at the University of Tsukuba in 1998. Joined the Maritime Self‐Defense Forces in 1985 and became a helicopter pilot. Stationed in China between 2003 and 2006 as a naval attaché. Became chief of the intelligence section, MSDF Maritime Staff Office, Ministry of Defense, in 2006 and commanding officer of the 21st Flight Squadron, MSDF, in 2009. Worked at IHS Jane’s from 2011 as an analyst and business development manager and joined The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research in 2013, and became the Director of Policy Research in 2016 before assuming his present position in June 2017. His works include Chugoku no gunji senryaku (China’s Military Strategy), Toyo Keizai Inc., co-author of Magari kado ni tatsu chugoku (China at a Turning Point), NTT Publishing, Beichu shin reisen no makuake (After Sharp Power), Toyo Keizai Inc., and Yoku wakaru gendai chugoku seiji (Contemporary Chinese Politics), Minervashobo, Taiwan yuji no shinario: Nihon no anzenhosho wo kenshosuru (Scenarios for a Taiwan Contingency: Appraising Japan’s Security), Minervashobo.