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Assistant Professor
Yu Ajishi
Assistant Professor, Institute for Asian and Oceanian Studies
African Studies, Comparative Politics, Cultural Anthropology Specialization
Yu developed a keen interest in various issues in developing countries after being deeply impacted by Absolute Poverty by Kota Ishii, a book he happened to pick up at a library during high school. The book’s depiction of poverty in India left a lasting impression, shaping his academic pursuits.
Currently, his primary research focuses on democracy and governance, with particular attention to elections, voting behavior, and corruption. He is especially interested in how ordinary people in local communities perceive and interpret these phenomena in their daily lives.
Yu believes that when it comes to politics, there is no single "correct" answer. So rather than simply viewing the challenges faced by developing countries as problems to be solved, he sees them as opportunities to reconsider how societies—including his own—approach governance and political issues.
Biography
Yu was born in Saga Prefecture and graduated from the International Relations program at the College of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo, in 2014. He then completed the International Social Sciences program at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo, earning a master's degree. He later completed the coursework for the doctoral program in the same field before withdrawing from the program. From 2018 to 2020, he was a Research Fellow (DC2) at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
He has extensive teaching experience, having served as a part-time lecturer in International Studies at Bunkyo University and in Effective English at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. He has also worked as a tutor at the Komaba Academic Writing Center.
He has extensive teaching experience, having served as a part-time lecturer in International Studies at Bunkyo University and in Effective English at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. He has also worked as a tutor at the Komaba Academic Writing Center.
Overview of Research
Yu is currently working on his doctoral dissertation on elections and corruption, drawing on fieldwork conducted in Tanzania, an East African country. As in many other developing countries, reports indicate that during election periods—and even in everyday life—candidates and their brokers distribute a range of goods to voters, from cash to T-shirts, through various means. From an external perspective, these practices are often framed as bribery, vote-buying, or clientelism. However, his conversations with local people revealed that not all of these exchanges were perceived as bribery, vote-buying, or "dirty money"; some were regarded as entirely legitimate. Notably, the reasoning behind these distinctions was rarely grounded in legal frameworks.
Yu's research explores the criteria by which these transactions are evaluated and, more broadly, what it implies. While his current focus is on Tanzania and Africa, he hopes to expand his work to include comparative studies with other regions, including Asia.
Yu's research explores the criteria by which these transactions are evaluated and, more broadly, what it implies. While his current focus is on Tanzania and Africa, he hopes to expand his work to include comparative studies with other regions, including Asia.
Related Countries in Asia and Oceania
India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam
Message
Throughout my graduate studies, I have maintained a broad interest in various fields beyond those mentioned above. Through events like Brown Bag Seminars, KYUDAI NOW, and my work as a researcher fellow in Fukuoka, I look forward to interacting with a diverse range of people, both within and outside the university, regardless of academic discipline and across different fields.
Affiliations with Academic Societies & Committee Activities
Japan Association for African Studies
Links, Personal Pages, Videos, etc.
Key Achievements
- Yu Ajishi, 2017, “Beyond Corruption as 'Cancer': An approach to 'public' concept and its dynamism," Journal of African Studies, 91:49-46.
- Yu Ajishi, 2017, “Long-term Dynamism of the Concepts of Corruption: Personal Ethics about Different ‘Public’ Rules," 7th Humanities Korea International Conference, 13th October 2017.
- Yu Ajishi, 2023, “Clientelism and vote-buying in modern sub-Saharan Africa," Japan Association for African Studies the 60th Annual Conference, May 2023.
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- Yu Ajishi, 2024, “Modern Africa and Re-conceptualization of Neo-patrimonialism," Japan Association for African Studies the 61st Annual Conference, May 2024.