Photo of Kenji Kushida

Kenji E. Kushida, MA, PhD

  • Former Research Scholar, Japan Program

Biography

Kenji E. Kushida was a research scholar with the Japan Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center from 2014 through January 2022. Prior to that at APARC, he was a Takahashi Research Associate in Japanese Studies (2011-14) and a Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow (2010-11).
 
Kushida’s research and projects are focused on the following streams: 1) how politics and regulations shape the development and diffusion of Information Technology such as AI; 2) institutional underpinnings of the Silicon Valley ecosystem, 2) Japan's transforming political economy, 3) Japan's startup ecosystem, 4) the role of foreign multinational firms in Japan, 4) Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster. He spearheaded the Silicon Valley - New Japan project that brought together large Japanese firms and the Silicon Valley ecosystem.

He has published several books and numerous articles in each of these streams, including “The Politics of Commoditization in Global ICT Industries,” “Japan’s Startup Ecosystem,” "How Politics and Market Dynamics Trapped Innovations in Japan’s Domestic 'Galapagos' Telecommunications Sector," “Cloud Computing: From Scarcity to Abundance,” and others. His latest business book in Japanese is “The Algorithmic Revolution’s Disruption: a Silicon Valley Vantage on IoT, Fintech, Cloud, and AI” (Asahi Shimbun Shuppan 2016).

Kushida has appeared in media including The New York Times, Washington Post, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Nikkei Business, Diamond Harvard Business Review, NHK, PBS NewsHour, and NPR. He is also a trustee of the Japan ICU Foundation, alumni of the Trilateral Commission David Rockefeller Fellows, and a member of the Mansfield Foundation Network for the Future. Kushida has written two general audience books in Japanese, entitled Biculturalism and the Japanese: Beyond English Linguistic Capabilities (Chuko Shinsho, 2006) and International Schools, an Introduction (Fusosha, 2008).

Kushida holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. He received his MA in East Asian Studies and BAs in economics and East Asian Studies with Honors, all from Stanford University.

publications

Books
May 2018

Japan Decides 2017: The Japanese General Election (Book Chapter)

Author(s)
cover link Japan Decides 2017: The Japanese General Election (Book Chapter)
Books
March 2018

Reinventing Japan: New Directions in Global Leadership (Book Chapter)

Author(s)
cover link Reinventing Japan: New Directions in Global Leadership (Book Chapter)
Working Papers
March 2018

Abenomics and Japan's Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Is the Third Arrow Pointed in the Right Direction for Global Competition in the Digital Era of Silicon Valley?

Author(s)
cover link Abenomics and Japan's Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Is the Third Arrow Pointed in the Right Direction for Global Competition in the Digital Era of Silicon Valley?

In The News

iaea fukushima original
News

Fukushima: Japan’s political leadership helped save country from worst-case disaster, Stanford researcher says

cover link Fukushima: Japan’s political leadership helped save country from worst-case disaster, Stanford researcher says
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News

Syncretism: The Politics of Economic Restructuring and System Reform in Japan

cover link Syncretism: The Politics of Economic Restructuring and System Reform in Japan
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News

Containment of Fukushima Leaks Poses Massive Challenges

cover link Containment of Fukushima Leaks Poses Massive Challenges