Takatoshi Oyama

Associate Professor, Institute of Liberal Arts, Kyushu Institute of Technology *Profile is at the time of the award.

2024Inamori Research GrantsHumanities & Sociology

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Research topics: The Transformation of the 'Peaceful Nation' from the Global South Perspective: Dialogues with Stakeholders in Aid and Development within the Mekong Region

Keyword

Summary: Since around the mid-2010s, Japan's development cooperation policy has undergone a qualitative transformation. Regarding this policy transition by the Japanese government, this study examines how it has materialized in the specific context of the Mekong region, while investigating how aid actors from Thailand, China, and international NGOs have perceived Japan's changes. Through international collaborative research that highlights the parallax surrounding the Mekong region, positioned at the core of the Japanese government's Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision and having become an arena for international aid competition, we examine what kind of international impact Japan's transition in development cooperation policy has had.

Message

This research will be conducted with three collaborators: Satoru Matsumoto (Hosei University), Soyeun Kim (Sogang University), and Muyun Wang (University of Tokyo). Through exchanging information and opinions, we will proceed with the research, aiming to capture the parallax that has not been grasped in Japanese or English.

Outline of Research Achievments

Japan’s development cooperation has undergone a dual transformation: from the “peaceful nation” ideal toward both security-oriented aid and population governance as a domestic policy instrument. This study examines the ramifications of this shift in the Mekong region through the perspectives of Japan, China, NGOs, and local communities. The findings reveal divergent donor perceptions of Japan’s securitisation turn, the politicisation of knowledge around Mekong water resources, local criticism of donor-led “sustainability” narratives as “Fake Green,” and a modern historical genealogy of development cooperation as a mechanism for managing Japan’s demographic pressures. The research highlights a deepening gap between donor-driven strategies and the knowledge and practices of local communities.

Kim, S., Yoo, Y. (2025) Contextualising pluriversal critical sustainabilities through Southeast Asian Area Studies (in Korean 동남아시아 지역연구를 통한 다편적 비판지속가능성 고찰), Journal of Global and Area Studies 9(3) pp.89-114. DOI : 10.31720/JGA.9.3.4

汪牧耘（2025）「第十章日本国际发展合作——二战后八十年的转型与挑战」商务部国际贸易经济合作研究院国际发展合作研究所編『透视与展望——中国与国际发展报告 2025－2026』中国商务出版社有限公司、95-104頁

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Humanities & Sociology

Miki Mochizuki

Shizuoka University