Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
sfujihira.bsky.social
Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
@sfujihira.bsky.social
Executive Director, Program on US-Japan Relations @harvardusjapan.bsky.social. Living on the borders of IR and CP, political economy and security studies, Asia and Europe, theory and practice.
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Watch the recent online discussion, "Japan's New Prime Minister: What Can We Expect?" co-sponsored w/ the Asian Institute & the Centre for the Study of Global Japan, University of Toronto; and the 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (JPSI), Indiana University. youtu.be/7gaIGL_kVfI?...
21JPSI Virtual Seminar - Japan's new Prime Minister, what can we expect?
YouTube video by Hamilton Lugar School at Indiana University
youtu.be
November 12, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Tomorrow, 8-9 pm ET: Join us for #JPOSS #57 to discuss Erik Wang's @erik-h-wang.bsky.social paper, “Too Much But Never Enough: Administrative Capacity and Backlashes to State-building in Medieval Japan,” w/ Emily Sellars, Jun Yamasaki, & Christina Davis. Paper & registration: shorturl.at/HQsg1
Erik Wang (New York University), “Too Much But Never Enough: Administrative Capacity and Backlashes to State-building in Medieval Japan” – JPOSS
jposs.org
November 12, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
i want to repeat this: mamdani and spanberger have run similar campaigns tailored to their respective electorates and it is maddening to watch political journalists attempt to create some broad contrast where none exist
the other thing about this is that there is no reason to pit these candidates against each other? each are good fits for their respective electorates and each shows the value of vigorous campaigns focused on the stated material problems of voters.
November 4, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
If anyone needed another reminder of how deeply unpopular the Trump-MAGA Republican agenda is, tonight was the night.

But we cannot relent and we cannot become complacent.

The midterms are right around the corner.
November 5, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the nation’s top diplomat, making deals
just catching up on Bill Belichick’s disastrous year as UNC coach and discovering the exact mechanics of how he secured the job. www.theringer.com/2025/10/31/c...
November 2, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Want to read what I really think about the Trump administration and the Asia Pacific? Here you go. It’s a goddamn catastrophe for U.S. national interests and for the regional economic and diplomatic order.
A United States that is disintegrating and no longer a leader in Asia
As Trump 2.0 hollows out US state capacity, the Asia Pacific must prepare for a world without US leadership
eastasiaforum.org
November 2, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Wut. This is actually way more puzzling than Trump's tweet. 🤔 How on earth are we going to build ROK nuclear-powered subs in... *checks notes*... Philadelphia? If it were that easy we wouldn't be having so much difficulty building our own and the ones we owe Australia.
www.ft.com/content/a6ee...
Donald Trump says South Korea can build nuclear-powered submarines in US
Announcement could rattle China and follows pressure from Seoul to build up its nuclear capacity
www.ft.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
On his nearly week-long swing through Asia, President Donald Trump accepted glittering gifts. But there was one thing the president wanted that he didn’t get: a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Free link to our analysis on the one gift that got away:
wapo.st/4hx23ba
Analysis | Trump wanted one gift in Asia he didn’t get: A visit with Kim Jong Un
The North Korean leader has grown closer to Moscow since he and Trump met in 2019 and did not respond to the U.S. president’s public push for a meeting.
wapo.st
October 30, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Private equity gave $10M to Trump's inauguration. He gave them greater access to Americans' 401(k)s.

DuPont and Dow Chemical gave $750K. Trump exempted them from an air pollution rule.

Intuit gave $1M. Trump killed the IRS Direct File Program.

Everything is for sale.
October 30, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Tuesday, 11/4, 8-9PM ET: Join Director Christina Davis and our Faculty Associates Amy Catalinac, Saori Katada, @adampliff.bsky.social, @lipscy.bsky.social, @profdansmith.bsky.social online to discuss "Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi: What Can We Expect?"
munkschool.utoronto.ca/event/japans...
Japan's New Prime Minister Takaichi: What Can We Expect?
munkschool.utoronto.ca
October 30, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
I’m not sure “divided” means what Politico thinks it means. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
October 30, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
So glad that Harvard is continuing its US-Japan Fellowships. Please consider applying!
Apply to become a Postdoctoral Fellow | Weatherhead
us-japan.wcfia.harvard.edu
October 30, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
To recap: Trump is spending money Congress never appropriated to pay federal employees with guns, and cutting programs and grants even when Congress has appropriated funds.
They literally have a contingency fund for SNAP that they are refusing to use.
No Speaker has done more to weaken Congress.
October 30, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
BREAKING: Inspired by Trump, Utah moves forward with plan to force homeless people into detention camps.

“It’s what they did in World War II in Japanese detention camps--similar to rounding up Jews or other people Nazis didn’t like.” @jesserbnwtz.bsky.social
buff.ly/0B3ndrk
In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape
State officials promise large-scale involuntary addiction and mental health treatment at Salt Lake City’s edge. Critics see “a prison, or a warehouse.”
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
There’s now four times as much solar power as the IEA expected 10 years ago. Last year alone, the world installed 553 gigawatts of solar power—roughly as much as 100 million U.S. homes use—which is 1,500% more than the IEA had projected www.fastcompany.com/91430305/ren...
Renewable energy and EVs have grown so much faster than experts predicted 10 years ago
A decade after the Paris agreement, climate action is moving quicker than you might think.
www.fastcompany.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Please apply to join our super-fun and engaged social science community @harvardusjapan.bsky.social at @weatherheadcenter.bsky.social for the next 2026-27 academic year!!
For the 2026-27 academic year, we will offer two types of postdoctoral fellowships, with support from the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and the Japan Foundation. Please see details and ARIeS application portals here: us-japan.wcfia.harvard.edu/apply-become...
Apply to become a Postdoctoral Fellow | Weatherhead
us-japan.wcfia.harvard.edu
October 30, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Japanese politics was rocked on Friday as the Kōmeitō announced it would leave its coalition with the LDP after twenty-six years. To understand why this happened and what it means, I wrote a guide for the perplexed.

open.substack.com/pub/observin...
Kōmeitō quits the coalition
A guide for the perplexed
open.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Ishiba's address on the eightieth anniversary of the end of the war is really worth reading:

japan.kantei.go.jp/content/0001...
japan.kantei.go.jp
October 10, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
This is a big deal. Congrats to Zurich.
I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7
October 10, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Japan, ostensibly one of the least religious countries in the world, had its political order upended by the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai. That is THE story about Friday's epochal shift in Japanese politics (thread follows):
October 10, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
What a day! First the ruling coalition in Japan splits up and now we are gearing back to full trade-export control war on U.S.-China relations 🍿🍿: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
In Retaliatory Move, Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs on Chinese Goods
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Shinju Fujihira, PhD. 藤平新樹
Read Rieko Kage's (2005-06) new article, "Challenging the State? Lawyers and the Reformed Administrative Appeals System in Japan," in the latest issue of Law and Social Inquiry. doi.org/10.1017/lsi....
Challenging the State? Lawyers and the Reformed Administrative Appeals System in Japan | Law & Social Inquiry | Cambridge Core
Challenging the State? Lawyers and the Reformed Administrative Appeals System in Japan
doi.org
October 9, 2025 at 3:25 PM