Regions: Kuwait / Saudi Arabia / Egypt
Researcher Profile
Through the Faculty of Letters at Keio University and the Master's Program in the Graduate School of Letters, I studied Eastern history, with a particular focus on the history of the Middle East. Within that field, I am especially interested in the modern and contemporary history of the Persian Gulf region — in particular, the history from the decline of the natural pearl harvesting economy in the 19th to early 20th century through to the discovery of oil. I have lived in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and while serving at the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait in August 1990, I encountered the Gulf Crisis, experiencing the rare circumstance of being unable to leave Baghdad for four months as an "Iraqi guest" (hostage, perhaps) of sorts.
At JIME Center, as a visiting researcher I survey the Middle East as a whole, while personally following the politics and economics of contemporary Arab countries centred on the Gulf region. I also pursue research in areas that have received relatively little attention in Japan: jihadist thought and movements, Middle East media theory, and popular culture such as video games and manga.
Career
- 2026 — Visiting Researcher, JIME Center (current)
- 2026 — Senior Research Fellow, Research Innovation Center, Waseda University (current)
- 2024–2026 Research Advisor, JIME Center
- 2010–2024 Research Director, JIME Center
- 1992–2001 Researcher, Middle East Research Institute
- 1991–1992 Specialist Researcher, Embassy of Japan in Saudi Arabia
- 1989–1991 Specialist Researcher, Embassy of Japan in Kuwait
- 1982–1984 Master's Program, Graduate School of Letters, Keio University
Selected Works
- BookMonograph: Ibn Abd al-Wahhab: Founder of Wahhabism (Yamakawa Shuppansha, 2026)
- BookMonograph: Jihadism: From Al-Qaeda to the Islamic State (Iwanami Shoten, 2017)
- BookMonograph: Cyber Islam: The Transcending Public Sphere (Yamakawa Shuppansha, 2014)
- BookMonograph: The Iraq War and the Changing Middle East World (Yamakawa Shuppansha, 2012)
- BookCo-authored chapter in Contemporary Middle East Resource Development and Environmental Considerations: The Future of National Strategies in the SDGs Era (Nawata Hiroshi ed., Horitsu Bunka-sha, 2021)
- ArticleArticle series: "Reading Jihadism (1)–(7)" (Security Forum, 2019)
- ArticleArticle: "Magic, the Supernatural, and Miracles in the Middle East: The Periphery of 'Modernisation'" (Shisou, 2023)
Recent Media Coverage
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