Japan Program at APARC - News
Japan Program News
The Asahi Shimbun's GLOBE+ features the latest findings from the Stanford Japan Barometer, a periodic public opinion survey co-developed by Stanford sociologist Kiyoteru Tsutsui, which unveils nuanced preferences and evolving attitudes of the Japanese public on political, economic, and social issues. Its recent experiment revealed that Japanese people have become wary about accepting foreign workers in recent years. Political influences are behind this trend.
A Stanford Japan Barometer experiment reveals that invoking Japan's energy dependence on Middle Eastern oil, rather than the Japan-U.S. alliance, increases the Japanese public’s support of deploying the Self-Defense Forces to the Strait of Hormuz, but does not overcome the underlying opposition to military action in the crisis.
In an experiment during Japan’s February 2026 Lower House election, policy stances dominated AI chatbots’ voting guidance, and left-leaning stances caused five AI models to recommend the Japanese Communist Party. The results are driven by which sources models can access and have significant implications for democratic systems as they grapple with the future of elections in the AI era.
The latest findings of the Stanford Japan Barometer show that the Japanese public’s opinion on immigration depends heavily on applicants' skills, language ability, and country of origin, and on whether politicians emphasize economic benefits or stoke security and cultural anti-immigration rhetoric.
At the 2026 Oksenberg Conference, scholars and foreign policy experts assessed how Indo-Pacific powers are coping with a less predictable United States as China pursues selective leadership and Russia exploits Western divisions.
This article examines how international students can play a strategic role in “rebalancing” national talent portfolios in countries with strong ethnonational identities facing demographic decline. In Japan and South Korea, “brain linkage” facilitated through international students’ transnational social capital offers a pathway to leverage foreign talent without requiring immediate, large-scale immigration reforms.
![Rapidus factory under construction in March 2024 [Wikimedia Commons]](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/328x223_x2/public/2026-03/JP_chip_factory.png?h=f0fb51a5&itok=_A8AV5bY)
Economist Jun Akabane, APARC visiting scholar and professor at Chuo University, examines the validity of Japan's ongoing semiconductor industry revitalization strategy under the banner of economic security, presenting a comparative analysis of the different outcomes of two major projects: TSMC Kumamoto and Rapidus.
As Nuclear Threats Resurge, Documentary Chronicles Multigenerational Human Toll of Atomic Bombings
The documentary Atomic Echoes captures the voices and untold stories of the last remaining American atomic veterans and Japanese survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, bearing witness to the enduring psychological and physical trauma of nuclear warfare.
At Stanford University, APARC’s Japan Program convened industry leaders, creators, and heritage-based family business successors to examine how Japan’s film, anime, music, and traditional crafts industries sustain global relevance and expand their international appeal through innovation, localization, and intergenerational continuity.
In a new APARC Briefing explainer, APARC and Japan Program Director Kiyoteru Tsutsui analyzes how Takaichi secured a landmark supermajority in a landslide election win for her party and what this outcome means for Japan's fiscal policy, constitutional change, its relationship with China, and its alliance with the United States.
From the practices of higher education institutions to diaspora networks, talent return programs, and immigration policies of central governments, a comparative analysis by Stanford sociologist Gi-Wook Shin shows how different national human resource strategies shape economic success.
"Trump Tries to Rule, Not Govern": Rahm Emanuel on America's Political Crisis and Fading Alliances
In a Stanford fireside chat and on the APARC Briefing podcast, Ambassador Rahm Emanuel warns of squandered strategic gains in the Indo-Pacific while reflecting on political rupture in America, lessons from Japan, and the path ahead.
Speaking on the APARC Briefing video series, Larry Diamond and Oriana Skylar Mastro analyze the strategic implications of the U.S. operation in Venezuela for the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait, Indo-Pacific security, America’s alliances, and the liberal international order.
In a special feature story, Japanese news publisher Nikkei spotlights the life and career of Stanford sociologist Kiyoteru Tsutsui.
Sponsored by Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the annual award recognizes outstanding journalists and news media outlets for excellence in covering the Asia-Pacific region. News editors, publishers, scholars, and organizations focused on Asia research and analysis are invited to submit nominations for the 2026 award through February 15, 2026.
Stanford sociologist Kiyoteru Tsutsui, director of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Japan Program, evaluates Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's first month in office.
Award-winning filmmaker Ema Ryan Yamazaki discussed her documentary portrait of a large Japanese elementary school in suburban Tokyo and reflected on the delicate balance between community and self.
Stanford sociologist Kiyoteru Tsutsui, director of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Japan Program, explains the path to power of Japan’s first female prime minister and what her leadership means for the country's future.
At the second annual Sushi Hackathon, teams of student innovators joined technology professionals and entrepreneurs at Stanford to explore ethical AI and showcase AI-powered solutions to promote sustainability and efficiency in the fisheries industry.
The center offers multiple fellowships in Asian studies to begin in fall quarter 2026. These include a postdoctoral fellowship on political, economic, or social change in the Asia-Pacific region, postdoctoral fellowships focused on Asia health policy and contemporary Japan, postdoctoral fellowships and visiting fellow positions with the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab, and a visiting fellow position on contemporary Taiwan.
Within Asia, World War II memories and commemorations are not only different from those in the United States but also divided and contested, still shaping and affected by politics and nationalism. Only when U.S. and Asian leaders come together to mark the end of the Asia-Pacific war can they present a credible, collective vision for the peace and prosperity of this important region.
As global audiences and digital platforms reshape cultural exchange, APARC’s Japan Program convened leading creators, producers, and scholars at Stanford to examine the creative ecosystems driving the international success of Japan’s content industries and their growing influence on innovation, fandom, and international collaboration.
Shinichi Kitaoka, a visiting scholar at APARC and Japan Program fellow, teaches a spring quarter seminar that brings students and scholars together to examine Japanese political history from the Yedo period to the present through a global and comparative lens.
As geopolitical uncertainty deepens and traditional alliances are tested, APARC’s Japan Program and the United States-Japan Foundation convened thought leaders at Stanford to explore the shifting bilateral cooperation across areas spanning global democracy, economic resilience, civil society and governance, and the unexpected power of baseball diplomacy.
Tsutsui, whose research focuses on globalization, human rights, social movements, and political sociology, currently serves as deputy director of the center, and has been the director of the Japan Program since 2020.