Does this display of effort affect voters' evolution of politicians? Kenshin Takagi addresses this question for the case of #Japan. This new article reports the results of a vignette experiment testing how effort cues improve voters’ evaluations of politicians: academic.oup.com/ssjj/article...

Do effort cues improve voter evaluations of politicians? Evidence from Japan

Abstract. What factors determine voters’ evaluations of politicians? Previous studies have focused on two categories—policy-based and non-policy factors. H

academic.oup.com

In our current issue, Jeremy Yellen discusses Peter Mauch's new monograph Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan’s Most Controversial World War II General, published by Harvard University Press. The full review is available here: academic.oup.com/ssjj/article...

Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan’s Most Controversial World War II General, by Peter Mauch

Perhaps no major leader in the global history of World War II is as understudied as Tōjō Hideki—the Imperial Japanese Army General and Prime Minister who p

academic.oup.com

In our current issue, Ashu Okada and Kazunori Inamasu explore the factors that determine negative public responses to political comments by celebrities in #Japan. The full paper is available here: academic.oup.com/ssjj/article...

Norms for apolitical celebrities?

Abstract. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that determine negative reactions to political comments by celebrities in Japan. In a democratic

academic.oup.com

In our current issue, Björn-Ole Kamm reviews Ben Whaley's newly published Toward a Gameic World: New Rules of Engagement from Japanese Video Games, published by University of Michigan Press. The full text is available here: academic.oup.com/ssjj/article... #Japan #Gaming #BookReview #SSJJ

Toward a Gameic World: New Rules of Engagement from Japanese Video Games, by Ben Whaley. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2023, 186 pp., $19.96 (ISBN 9780472056149).

Ben Whaley’s Toward a Gameic World proposes a novel way of understanding player engagement in video games through new conceptual vocabulary, most notably t

academic.oup.com

In their new paper, Matthew Linley and David Green of Nagoya University examine how the participation of immigrants in local communities affects the life satisfaction of foreign residents in Japan, building on extensive new survey data. The study is available here: academic.oup.com/ssjj/article...

Neighborhood participation and foreign resident life satisfaction in Japan

Abstract. Research on immigrant life satisfaction rarely examines Japan’s rapidly expanding foreign population. Applying social production function theory,

academic.oup.com

Hello all! I did a podcast with the fantastic @galendruke.bsky.social on the state of Japanese politics these days. He was a great interviewer---super prepared, interesting questions---so any kudos go to him. Hopefully it'll be useful to some of my friends as well. www.gdpolitics.com/p/can-a-popu...

Can A Popular Prime Minister Fix What Ails Japan?

Japan's prime minister Sanae Takaichi has a sky-high approval rating. Can she translate that into tangible results?

gdpolitics.com

We are excited to share our first article of 2026. Yukiko Nishikawa reflects on the scandal surrounding Johnny Kitagawa and explains how social constructs like seken and social scripts, such as kuki o yomu and sontaku, have perpetuated sexual abuse in Japan: academic.oup.com/ssjj/article...

The silent majority and the power of social constructs: how the Kitagawa scandal perpetuated sexual violence

Abstract. This study examines Japan’s prolonged public silence despite widespread awareness of Johnny Kitagawa’s decades-long sexual abuse, a prominent bus

academic.oup.com

Features contributions from top scholars of Japan, including @kmcelwain.bsky.social (co-editor with Robert Pekkanen and me), Axel Klein & @levimclaughlin.bsky.social, @robfahey.net, @profvekasi.bsky.social, Ko Maeda, Kuniaki Nemoto, Masahiro Zenkyo, Masaki Taniguchi, Saori Katada, & many others.

How did #Japan respond to #COVID-19? Discover more in our Virtual Special Issue on the pandemic’s political and social impact: academic.oup.com/ssjj/pages/c...

What drives public support during global health crises? Yida Zhai compares Japan and China’s COVID-19 responses, showing how state performance and economic aid shape approval—while revealing the fragility of China’s reliance on material support. 🔗 academic.oup.com/ssjj/article...

In his new paper, Till Knaudt traces the history of The Tribes, a hippie commune on Suwanose Island, revealing its links to the Californian Beat scene, West Coast Zen, the Japanese New Left, and environmental activism in Japan: academic.oup.com/ssjj/article...

Dark Green Religion, trans-Pacific counterculture, and the ethno-environmental politics of Japanese Hippies on Suwanose Island and Amami Ōshima, 1965–1989

Abstract. In the 1970s, the political theory of the Japanese New Left merged with the countercultural and religious practices of the Japanese hippie moveme

academic.oup.com

In their new article, Julia Gerster and Akihiro Shibayama of Tohoku University provide a detailed analysis of the intricate local dynamics surrounding the preservation of schools as memorial sites for the victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake #OpenAccess: academic.oup.com/ssjj/article...

School memorials as sites of memory and the dynamics of remembrance after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract. Across the world, memorial museums commemorate losses from wars and other traumatic events, often after years or decades of discussion. In contra

academic.oup.com

Takaichi wins, with Koizumi falling surprisingly short in the lawmaker votes - he didn't even win all of Hayashi's votes. Probably in part down to lawmakers not wanting to ignore the constituency votes, but also a pretty clear sign of a party running scared of populist challenges from its right.

What's the difference between @epssnet.bsky.social and the "old" EPSA, and why you should come to our conference in Belfast in June 2026: epssnet.org/uncategorize...

⏳Due Sunday! Submit your JPSA-APSA Working Group application by June 1st. Explore civic research on demographic change in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2025. #PoliSci #JPSA #APSA 🔗Apply today! buff.ly/5lbML1t #PoliSci #JPSA #APSA

Call for Applications: 2025 JPSA-APSA Working Group on Civically Engaged Research for Critical Issues in Society “Political Transitions in Aging Societies” -

The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Japanese Political Science Association (JPSA) are pleased to announce a Call for Applications for early-career scholars from the US and Japan…

buff.ly

As @ykshrt.bsky.social wrote, our paper (with Saki Kuzushima, now on the job market!) on how international law, backed by constitutional principles, can persuade citizens to support political reforms is now out (Open Access). A true pleasure to work with these fantastic colleagues and friends.

Public preferences for international law compliance: Respecting legal obligations or conforming to c...

Despite significant debate about the ability of international law to constrain state behavior, recent research points to domestic mechanisms that deter non-compliance, most notably public disapproval ...

link.springer.com

47 years after its publication, McKelvey’s chaos theorem is having it’s day in the House Republican Conference. The social choice theory states that majority rule decisions in a two-dimensional space are unstable. Any point in the space can be reached through a sequence of majority votes. There …

But I'm going to start with self-promotion! New paper with my wonderful colleagues K Kawata and M Nakabayashi in Political Psychology. Narrative>statistical evidence in increasing support for poverty relief spending, using info treatments & conjoint analysis. OA at doi.org/10.1111/pops...! polisky

Trained myself out of posting on the other site a ways back, so slowly getting back into the swing of things here. I'll mostly oscillate between cute animals, rugby (for the next few months at least), and new/cool research (mine and others). Happy to rejoin a cool community!