Toshiaki Yoshida

Research Project: Local Industries, Social Movements, and Nuclear Power Plants before the Great East Japan Earthquake

Dr. Yoshida received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Northeastern University, a Master of Science in Social Research from the University of Edinburgh, and a BA in Business from Meiji University. His research interests lie in comparative politics, environmental politics, and public policy. His current research agenda focuses on contentious siting and disaster recovery, using cases of Japan’s nuclear power plant program and large-scale disasters like the Great East Japan Earthquake. Substantively, he examines how pro-facility and anti-facility groups develop their siting and civic engagement strategies through contentious siting processes. He employs mixed- and multi-method approaches, including archival research, fieldwork, and the analysis of intermediate-N and large-N data. In the spring of 2026, he will teach a course on “Government and Politics of Modern Japan,” in the Department of Government.