2025 JPSA-APSA Working Group on “Civically Engaged Research for Critical Issues in Society”
Tokyo, Japan | October 9-12, 2025
The second JPSA-APSA Working Group on “Civically Engaged Research for Critical Issues in Society” was held alongside the 2025 JPSA Annual Meeting, from October 9-12, in Tokyo, Japan. The program theme was Political Transitions in Aging Societies, and included topics such as elder care, family planning, depopulation in rural areas, youth participation in society, and labor diversification, among others.
This year brought together 16 scholars, four co-leaders, and three guest speakers focusing on issues of demographic change and civic engagement. The program was facilitated by Kenneth McElwain (University of Tokyo), Yosuke Sunahara (Kobe University), Naoko Matsumura (Kobe University), and Ken Hijino (Kyoto University).
Participants included:
– Serika Atsumi, The University of Tokyo
– Dimitri Courant, Harvard University
– Cecille de Laurentis, University of California, Berkeley
– Kostanca Dhima, Georgia State University
– Etienne Gagnon, Princeton University
– Giseung Lee, Old Dominion University
– Angela Danso Gyane, University of Missouri-Columbia
– Yoonseok Lee, University of California, Riverside
– Helix Lo, The University of Tokyo
– Melissa Lyon, University at Albany
– Patrick McSweeney, Georgetown University
– Go Nakagawa, Okinawa International University
– Kenta Ohnishi, Hitotsubashi University
– Yuri Oki, Institute of Science Tokyo
– Hironao Yoda, The University of Tokyo
– Yijing Yuan, Doshisha University
Guest speakers Naoko Hashimoto (International Christian University) and Ryushun Kiyofuji (The University of Kitakyushu) further enriched key themes through presentations of their independent research. Hashimoto provided an overview of her work analyzing asylum policy-making processes in Japan and South Korea, while Kiyofuji offered a glimpse into his work around the religious lives of migrants, especially Vietnamese Buddhism in Japan and abroad. The program also featured an engaging discussion on aging society in rural Japan with local community practitioner Hiroko Akiyama (Kamakura Living Lab and Professor Emerita, University of Tokyo).
APSA and JPSA are grateful for the opportunity to engage with such phenomenal scholars. Thank you to all who made this program a success!
Read about the 2025 program in Political Science Today 6.1: “APSA and JPSA Connect Scholars of Civically Engaged Research in Japan“ (January 23, 2026).
Click here to access a PDF version of the 2025 Program Agenda. Click here to access the 2025 Call for Applications.
