Program on U.S.-Japan Relations names fellows

Harvard’s Program on U.S.-Japan Relations has recently selected 15 fellows for the 2004-05 academic year. Founded in 1980, the program enables outstanding scholars and practitioners to come together to conduct independent research and participate in an ongoing dialogue with other members of the Harvard and Greater Boston communities.

While at Harvard, fellows enjoy the status of University officer; take part in seminars, colloquia, and other functions of the program; attend classes and other activities at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; prepare a major research paper; and publicly present the results of their research.

The following fellows will be in residence at Harvard:

Kiyoshi Aihara earned a B.A. in English education at Waseda University in 1988, before joining the Yomiuri Shimbun, where he has served as an international news correspondent since 1994. Based in Cairo from 1997 to 2000, Aihara covered Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and south Lebanon. He reported from Jordan and Iraq from November 2002 to February 2003, and returned to cover the postwar situation from April to June 2003. Aihara recently co-authored a book titled “The Era of Saddam Hussein.” His research at Harvard will examine U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East since 9/11.

Jennifer Chan-Tiberghien earned a B.A. in business from the University of Hong Kong in 1988, an M.B.A. from France’s ´Ecole de Hautes Etudes Commerciales in 1990, and a Ph.D. in international comparative education from Stanford in 2001. She now serves as an assistant professor of education at the University of British Columbia. Her forthcoming book is titled “Gender and Human Rights Politics in Japan: Global Norms and Domestic Networks.” While at Harvard, Chan-Tiberghien will examine Japanese NGOs in the alternative globalization movement.

Naotaka Fujita earned a B.A. in law at Kyoto University in 1994, before joining the Asahi Shimbun as a staff writer. He has worked at the political news department since 1999, covering such stories as U.S.-Japan cooperation against terrorism after 9/11, and the North Korean-Japan summit meeting of 2002. He contributed to the series “The Failure of Back-Room Diplomacy,” which was a candidate for the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association Prize in 2002, and verified for the first time the holding of secret territorial negotiations between Japan and Russia after the Cold War. Fujita’s research at Harvard will deal with the post-9/11 U.S.-Japan alliance. He will focus on public diplomacy.

Tsutomu Harada earned a B.A. and an M.A. in business administration from Hitostubashi University in Tokyo in 1989 and 1991, and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford in 1997. He is currently an associate professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration of Kobe University. The most recent of his three books is “M.B.A. Training for Analyzing and Planning Corporate Strategy.” Harada’s research at Harvard will compare the effects of information technology on corporate strategy, organization, and productivity in the United States and Japan.

Yoshinao Ikeda earned a B.A. from the faculty of law at Kyoto University in 1987. After completing his studies, he joined the Development Bank of Japan, where his most recent position was director of the planning department for regional development. Ikeda has published articles on development issues, including “The Competitiveness of Cities in the Chugoku District.” His research at Harvard will examine local governments’ regional development efforts in the United States and Japan.

In-Sung Jang earned his B.A. and M.A. at Seoul National University, and a Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo (all in international relations) before assuming his current position in the Department of International Relations at Seoul National University. His publications include “Topos and International Political Thought: Confucian Thinkers in the Changing East Asian Order of the Nineteenth Century.” While at Harvard, Jang will research the international system, globalization, and national identity in Japan.

Masanori Kondo earned a B.A. in economics at Keio University in 1990, and an M.Sc. in economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1993. With the exception of a stint at the Embassy of Japan in Jordan from 1996 to 1999, he has served in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications since 1990. Among other papers, Kondo published an article titled “Implications of the Digital Divide.” While at Harvard, he will research the decision-making process for Internet-related issues.

Tomitake Maruyama earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Keio University in 1989, before joining Tokyo Electric Power Company. He has a wide range of experience within the field of thermal energy, including feasibility studies, development and design, project management, site supervision, and performance testing. His last post was deputy manager for the Overseas Project Group. While at Harvard, Maruyama will examine how companies can nurture great leaders.

Keiichi Murayama earned a B.A. in law at Tohoku University in 1992, before joining the Business News Department of Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) as a staff writer. He has covered the information and telecommunications, medical, automotive, non-bank banking, and electronic businesses, and contributed to the books “The Nissan Revolution” and “The Medical Industry in a New Age.” While at Harvard, Murayama will compare the Japanese and American health care systems.

Akihiro Ogawa earned a B.A. in history from Temple University in 1993, an M.A. in political science from Columbia in 1999, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Cornell in 2002 and 2004, respectively. Before doing his graduate work, he was a reporter for Kyodo News. Ogawa’s recent publications include the article “Invited by the State: Institutionalizing Volunteer Subjectivity in Contemporary Japan.” While at Harvard, he will conduct an anthropological analysis of modernity in the making of civil society.

Toru Ogino earned a B.A. in law at Tokyo University in 1982, before embarking on a career in the National Police Agency. He worked in the Legal and Planning Administration Office, the Administrative Reform Council of the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Cabinet Legislation Bureau before assuming the post of director of the First District Headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo. While at Harvard, Ogino will examine juvenile delinquency in the United States and Japan.

Jinbao Qian earned a Ph.D. in history and East Asian languages from Harvard in 2004. From 1989 to 1994, before coming to Harvard, he worked as an assistant archivist at the Number Two Historical Archives of China in Nanjing. There, he participated in archival projects concerning the Nanjing Massacre (or “Rape of Nanking”) and the educator James Yen, and published articles on Chinese archival policies, among other topics. While at the U.S.-Japan Program, Qian will investigate Sino-Japanese wartime negotiations during the period 1937 to 1945.

Toshio Suzuki earned a B.S. in civil engineering at Tokyo University in 1989, before he joined Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corp. He worked in the International Operations and System Development Divisions before assuming the post of chief manager of the Systems Planning Division, where he planned and managed software system projects. While at Harvard, Suzuki will research possibilities for the overseas outsourcing of systems development by Japanese banks.

Atsunori Takeuchi joined the Tokyo Gas Company in 1990 after earning a B.A. in economics at Keio University. He worked in the Kanagawa Enterprise Headquarters and the Corporate Planning Department before joining a project to develop business plans in the Residential Sales and Service Department. His research at Harvard will focus on the relative strengths and weaknesses of Japanese and American industries, and possible collaboration between these two nations in third countries.

Keiichi Yumoto graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology with a master’s of engineering in 1993, before entering the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. He served in the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy, the Trade Bureau, and the Minister’s Secretariat before assuming the post of deputy director of the Chemical Management Policy Division. At Harvard, Yumoto will examine the application of risk-management methods to environmental issues by comparing regulatory and nonregulatory approaches.