Regions: UAE / Qatar / Oman
Researcher Profile
The 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States occurred in 2001, the same year I entered university, and I was deeply shocked by the images of the World Trade Center collapsing on television. This event deepened my interest in the Middle East and the Islamic world, and after spending a year as an exchange student at UAE University, I went on to graduate school. In graduate school, I researched the political and social systems of the UAE. When I started my doctoral studies, the Gulf states — including the UAE — were a relatively "niche" field in Japanese Middle Eastern studies. However, the Gulf states were experiencing tremendous growth, and there were many research topics still to be explored, which made me feel I had found a fascinating subject of study.
I have pursued my research with broad interests covering the sustainability of monarchical systems, transformations in national identity, foreign worker issues, the diplomatic strategies of Gulf states, and Japan-Gulf relations. As an educator, I have served as a part-time lecturer at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Akita University, Osaka University, Komatsu City University, Aichi Prefectural University, Waseda University, and Keio University, teaching courses on the politics, society, economics, and energy of the Gulf states.
Career
- 2024 — Executive Researcher, JIME Center (current)
- 2017–2024 Senior Researcher, JIME Center
- 2016 Visiting Researcher, Gulf Studies Programme, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University
- 2010–2017 Researcher, JIME Center
- 2008–2010 JSPS Research Fellow (DC)
- 2006–2011 Doctoral Program, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University (Ph.D. in Area Studies)
- 2001–2006 College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University
Selected Works
- DissertationDoctoral Dissertation: "State Administration and Social Transformation in the United Arab Emirates: Formation and Development of a 'National Minority State'" (Kyoto University, 2011)
- BookBook Chapter: "Globalization-Driven Fragmentation and Integration in the Middle East: Development, Resources, and Inequality" (in Suechika Kota [ed.] A Political History of the Middle East, Horitsu Bunka-sha, 2026 *in Japanese)
- BookBook Chapter: "From Oil Weapon to Mediation Diplomacy: An Examination of the Gulf States' Responses to the Gaza War" (in H. Suzuki and K. Sakai eds. Gaza Nakba 2023–2024: Background, Context, Consequences, Springer, 2025)
- BookBook Chapter: "Informal Politics and Negotiation in the UAE: Examining the Political Reuse of Tribal Networks" (in JSCP [ed.] Informal Political Institutions and Governance, Minerva Shobo, 2021 *in Japanese)
- BookBook Chapter: "Promoting Diversity, Branding the State: Migrant-Friendly Discourses in the United Arab Emirates" (in K. F. Lian, N. Hosoda, and M. Ishii eds. International Labour Migration in the Middle East and Asia: Issues of Inclusion and Exclusion, Springer, 2019)
- BookCo-edited volume: Asian Migrant Workers in the Arab Gulf States: The Growing Foreign Population and Their Lives (Leiden: Brill, 2019)