Much of my research to date concerns the origins, history, character, role and evolution of Japan's Self Defense Forces, especially the National Police Reserve (1950-1952). This topic fits within my broader research on the US Occupation era (1945-1952). This period, which saw significant changes in almost all aspects of Japanese life was arguably the defining era of postwar Japan, and studying it gives me and my students insight into various fields including: US-Japan Relations, Modern Japanese History, Japanese Politics and Foreign Relations. I am also currently researching the British military garrison of Yokohama (1864-1875), as part of a broader JSPS funded research project I am leading on UK-Japan peacetime military links from the 1860s to the present.

I am happy to supervise Master theses on the modern political, diplomatic, and military history (especially on Japan between the years of 1868 and around 1972), as well as on Japan's contemporary politics and foreign relations.

Some areas within which I welcome applications for doctoral research are:
The Occupation of Japan (1945-1952)
The Korean War
The history of the Japanese Communist Party 1945-1956
US and/or UK relations with East Asia circa 1850-1960
Western military links with Japan / East Asia
Japanese political, diplomatic, and military history circa 1850-1960
The Early Cold War (1944-1962)

• Nihonjinron on Ice: Foreign/Japanese Identities Within the 1998 Japanese Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team
• Reconstructing the Past to Build the Future
• Big Men and Small Talk: Personality and the Personal of Japanese Prime Ministers and U.S Presidents and the Influence on U.S-Japan Relations
• Japan in the World. Analysis of Postwar Japanese Attitudes and Security Behavior in International Relations
• Trade Wars and Boycotts: Japan and South Korea’s Hot Economics-Cold Politics Relations
• Matching existing trends in films or sport? Chinese censorship of video games