Bio

I earned my DPhil in Politics at Oxford University in 1989 and have taught at UVA since 1990. My research and teaching focus on the politics, political economy, and foreign relations of Japan in a comparative and global context.

My research has been concentrated in four areas:

1. The Political Economy of Low Fertility Rates in Japan
2. The Effects of Housing Markets on Residential Mobility and Civic Engagement
3. The Evolution of Japan’s Party System
4. The Role of Japanese Domestic Politics in Shaping the Outcomes of US-Japan Economic Bargaining

I have published books, articles, and/or edited volumes in each of these topic areas, supported by research grants and scholarships from the Rhodes Scholarship, Fulbright, Social Science Research Council, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Japan Foundation.

I teach classes on Japanese Politics, the International Relations of East Asia, Comparative Public Policy, as well as more specialized seminars such as a new first-year seminar on Where Have All the Babies Gone.

My service to the profession has included multi-year stints on the US-Japan Friendship Commission, the Japan Foundation American Advisory Board, Fulbright selection committees, and senior advisor for the Mansfield Foundation’s US-Japan Network for the Future program. In many of these roles, I worked to maintain and build support for Japanese Studies in American institutions of higher education and educational exchange between the two nations. 

In 2025, my works as a teacher, mentor, and scholar was recognized by the Japanese Government with an award in the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.