Wilson Center Awards Japan Scholarship to Isao Miyaoka

WASHINGTON -- The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars today announced the appointment of Associate Professor Isao Miyaoka as the Wilson Center's new Japan Scholar. Professor Miyaoka will spend two months in residence at the Wilson Center, beginning in February 2009, carrying out a research project on the U.S.-Japan alliance and its evolution from an expedient alliance to a robust security community.

Miyaoka is Associate Professor at the Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University. He worked as an official of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1995, serving as an attaché and then Third Secretary for political affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Wellington, New Zealand. After receiving a D.Phil. in politics from St. Antony's College, Oxford in 1999, he was an Associate in the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations (1999-2000) and the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies (2000-2001), both at Harvard University. He also holds political science degrees from Canterbury University, New Zealand and Keio University, Japan. He is the author of Legitimacy in International Society: Japan's Reaction to Global Wildlife Preservation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).

Miyaoka will be the Wilson Center's first Japan Scholar. The Japan Scholar competition was established in 2008 to provide Japan's most eminent thinkers with opportunities to participate in international deliberations on current and future issues facing Japan through dialogue with global opinion leaders and policymakers, scholars, and other experts. The competition seeks to promote non-partisan scholarship and to encourage free, informed and serious dialogue on issues of public interest to Japan and the United States.

The Japan Scholar competition is a major aspect of the Wilson Center's new Japan initiative. The competition is open to men and women who are Japanese citizens or are currently legal residents of Japan. Two scholars will be appointed each year. Applications are accepted from individuals in academia, business, journalism, government, law, and related professions. Candidates must be pursuing research on key public policy issues facing Japan, including U.S.-Japanese relations and East Asian political, security, and economic issues. For additional information on this scholarship opportunity, go to http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.item&news_id=470468.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the living national memorial to President Wilson, established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Center establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. It is a nonpartisan institution, supported by public and private funds and engaged in the study of national and world affairs.