In October 2025, APSA and the Japanese Political Science Association (JPSA) hosted a four-day workshop in Tokyo designed to promote civically engaged research on issues of demographic change. Part of a three-year initiative generously funded by the Japan Foundation, the second annual JPSA-APSA Working Group on “Civically Engaged Research for Critical Issues in Society” was held alongside the 2025 JPSA Annual Meeting from October 9-12. The program brought together 16 early-career scholars from the United States and Japan, four project co-leaders, and three guest speakers. Open to all political science subfields, the program placed special emphasis on research undertaken in collaboration with civil society and local government partners.

The JPSA-APSA Working Group supports scholars researching the conditions that make us vulnerable to division in our societies, as well as interventions to overcome these divisions. Led by Kenneth McElwain (University of Tokyo), Yosuke Sunahara (Kobe University), Naoko Matsumura (Kobe University), and Ken Hijino (Kyoto University), this year’s theme was “Political Transitions in Aging Societies.” Attendees at the Working Group also discussed best practices and models of excellence for conducting rigorous scholarship from a community-centered approach which strives to learn from all stakeholders, including civil society groups and institutions outside of academia.

“Interacting with the other working group attendees was invaluable, and I was able to build relationships with others that I see lasting for the long-term.”

The schedule included closed sessions for program authors, conversations with members of local community-based organizations, and public sessions open to community, scholarly, and professional audiences. Closed sessions included opportunities for authors to give and receive targeted manuscript feedback on their current research. Full-group sessions led by facilitators presented an introduction to Civically Engaged Research (CER) methods, followed by an emphasis on practical applications for deeper engagement with CER, especially as applied to topics such as elder care, family planning, depopulation in rural areas, youth participation in society, and labor diversification. These sessions were then contextualized through discussions and interactive meetings with local practitioners.

Members of the 2025 JPSA-APSA Working Group gather on the final day of activities.

Guest speakers Naoko Hashimoto (International Christian University) and Ryushun Kiyofuji (The University of Kitakyushu) reflected on these themes through presentations of their independent research. Hashimoto provided an overview of her work analyzing asylum policy-making processes in Japan and South Korea, while Kiyofuji offered a glimpse into his work on the religious lives of migrants, especially Vietnamese Buddhists in Japan and abroad. The program also featured a site-visit and engaging discussion on aging society in rural Japan with local community practitioner Hiroko Akiyama (Kamakura Living Lab and Professor Emerita, University of Tokyo) at the Kamakura Living Lab in Kamakura Prefecture, Japan.

“The experience was truly transformative and inspirational.”

2025 Working Group participants included:

• – Serika Atsumi, The University of Tokyo

• – Dimitri Courant, Harvard University

• – Cecille de Laurentis, University of California, Berkeley

• – Kostanca Dhima, Georgia State University

• – Etienne Gagnon, Princeton University

• – Giseung Lee, Old Dominion University

• – Angela Danso Gyane, University of Missouri-Columbia

• – Yoonseok Lee, University of California, Riverside

• – Helix Lo, The University of Tokyo

• – Melissa Lyon, University at Albany

• – Patrick McSweeney, Georgetown University

• – Go Nakagawa, Okinawa International University

• – Kenta Ohnishi, Hitotsubashi University

• – Yuri Oki, Institute of Science Tokyo

• – Hironao Yoda, The University of Tokyo

• – Yijing Yuan, Doshisha University

APSA and JPSA are grateful for the opportunity to engage with such phenomenal scholars. Thank you to all who made this program a success!

Made possible through support from the Japan Foundation, this multi-year program brings together scholars from American and Japanese universities in a series of conference Working Groups held alongside the APSA and JPSA annual meetings. The first program took place last year alongside the 2024 APSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Philadelphia, PA.

The 2026 Working Group will take place at the APSA Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts in September 2026. The call for applications will be shared on the project website this spring. Please email asiaworkshops@apsanet.org if you are interested in getting involved. ■

The program included a site visit to the Kamakura Living Lab, an initiative exploring solutions-based community co-creation in Kamakura Prefecture, Japan.