Levi McLaughlin

asianstudies.orgNEAC Distinguished Speakers Bureau — Japan Speakers - Association for Asian Studies← Back to DSB program overview Jump to a Speaker

I'm honored to have just been added to the Association for Asian Studies' Distinguished Speakers Bureau. Happy to join a list of stellar scholars. www.asianstudies.org/grants-award...

17 June

This is a great initiative by the Northeast Asia Council: if you teach at a U.S. college or university (or Canada, if you're looking for Korea content), you can apply to get an expert on Japan or Korea to come do talks, workshops, and other events with your students and faculty.

asianstudies.orgNortheast Asia Council Distinguished Speakers Bureau - Association for Asian StudiesThe Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies (NEAC) solicits applications from American colleges and universities (for Japanese studies) and any U.S. and Canadian colleges and unive...

17 June

Nice range of topics and exciting new research on deck here. Info on the program: www.asianstudies.org/grants-award...

linkedin.comWelcome to Humanities at The University of Manchester, Professor Levi McLaughlin! Levi is a Simon Visiting Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. He will contribute to a… | Eri...Welcome to Humanities at The University of Manchester, Professor Levi McLaughlin! Levi is a Simon Visiting Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. He will contribute to a worksh...

15 Apr

Beginning my month at the University of Manchester, where I'm a visiting professor. A busy and exciting series of seminars and presentations on deck: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

la-croix.comJapon : la « dissolution juridique » de la secte Moon confirmée par la justiceLa Haute Cour de Tokyo a confirmé début mars 2026 la dissolution juridique de l’Église de l’unification, dans le viseur des autorités depuis l’assassinat de l’ex-premier ministre Shinzo Abe. Ses dirig...

16 Mar

I was interviewed by a reporter from the French newspaper La Croix about the the legal dissolution of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (Unification Church). It's mostly behind a paywall, alas, but the coverage is clear and helpful. www.la-croix.com/internationa...

rijs.fas.harvard.eduReligion and Politics in Japan Today: How Nippon Kaigi and Soka Gakkai Inform Elections and Policymaking | Reischauer Institute of Japanese StudiesFaced with political upheaval, aging support bases, rising regional security concerns, and harsh economic realities, how are influential religion-linked activists now seeking to shape Japan? What are ...

4 Mar

Coming up on Friday, I'll be speaking at Harvard about my recent work on religion/politics intersections in Japan. If you're in Boston/Cambridge, come on down: rijs.fas.harvard.edu/ja/node/1423

munkschool.utoronto.caReligion and Politics in Japan Today: New Perspectives from Grassroots-Level Activists

21 Feb

On Tuesday, I'll be speaking at the University of Toronto on religion and politics in contemporary Japan. Plenty of fresh insights drawn from the past two months I've spent with activists within Soka Gakkai, Nippon Kaigi, and the Unification Church: munkschool.utoronto.ca/event/religi...

22 Jan

On March 6th, I'll be speaking at Harvard about recent upheavals in Japan and why we must attend to religion to fully comprehend realignments now taking shape within Japanese politics. Thanks to Paula Kolata for making this event happen: rijs.fas.harvard.edu/events/relig...

munkschool.utoronto.caReligion and Politics in Japan Today: New Perspectives from Grassroots-Level Activists

13 Jan

On 2/24 I'll be at the University of Toronto to speak how religion-affiliated activists are influencing recent changes in Japanese politics. Sincere thanks to Phillip Lipscy for making this happen: munkschool.utoronto.ca/event/religi...

Levi McLaughlin reposted

Critical Asian Studies

@criticasianstds.bsky.social

8 Dec 2025

Commentary | Levi McLaughlin raises questions about Japan's uncertain politics/religion future as new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's support for Shinto-linked nationalists alienates erstwhile Liberal Democratic Party allies in the Sokka Gakkai-backed Kōmeitō criticalasianstudies.org/commentary/2...

criticalasianstudies.orgCommentary | Levi McLaughlin, Sanae Takaichi and Japan’s Uncertain Politics/Religion Future — Critical Asian StudiesLocal-Level Religious Activists Recently Upended Japan’s Political Order Japan ranks among the least religious countries in the world—according to recent survey data, as many as 80% or 90% of respon...

9 Dec 2025

I've put a few thoughts together on religious dimensions of recent political upheavals in Japan. These are now up on Critical Asian Studies. criticalasianstudies.org/commentary/2...

9 Dec 2025

This short piece lays out a general overview of religion in Japan today and its political intersections. It explains why we need to attend to religion to understand the rise of Takaichi Sanae, recent Japan-China conflicts, and the recent end of Japan's longstanding coalition government.

9 Dec 2025

Hopefully useful as a lively-enough read for nonspecialists and a piece one could assign students.

link.springer.comJapan Decides 2024This book provides a coherent overall explanation for understanding in the election in both historical and comparative perspective

When there's a Japan's House of Representatives race (Lower House), where the Prime Minister sits, a team of political scientists puts together a volume in the Japan Decides series (published by Springer) to cover the election's lead-up and results (thread) link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

The book is otherwise packed with useful contributions from top folks in the field, based in North America, Japan, and Europe. Thanks always to Robert Pekkanen, Dan Smith, and Kenneth McElwain for their excellent job editing.

link.springer.comA Costly Coalition: Kōmeitō’s Enduring Partnership with the LDPThis chapter provides an overview of Kōmeitō’s electoral performance since 2021, focusing on reasons for the party’s poor 2024 general election results. Our analysis shows that K...

Interested readers can see abstracts for my chapters here: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1... link.springer.com/chapter/10.1... Honestly odd to see how these analyses anticipated some of the chaos that has unfolded in recent weeks...

link.springer.comJapan Decides 2024This book provides a coherent overall explanation for understanding in the election in both historical and comparative perspective

We've done that here. And I have supplied an update on responses to the Unification Church following the assassination of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō into the October 2024 Lower House election up to the court decisions to proceed with removing the religion's status as a juridical person.

Is this stuff already out of date? You bet! Is it useful background material for understanding Japanese politics right now? Also yes!

link.springer.comJapan Decides 2024This book provides a coherent overall explanation for understanding in the election in both historical and comparative perspective

Komeito is out and a new conservative coalition partner, Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), is in government. Reasons for this upheaval stem from the October 2024 results.

I've contributed to the last few Japan Decides volumes, and I have some contributions in this one as well. My stalwart colleague Axel Klein (prof at Duisburg-Essen in Germany) and I regularly write up the latest we can find on Komeito.

link.springer.comJapan Decides 2024This book provides a coherent overall explanation for understanding in the election in both historical and comparative perspective

In October 2024, Japan faced a particularly consequential election, one that saw the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito shunted into a minority government. Today, we have a new regime in place led by an LDP headed by the conservative firebrand PM Takaichi Sanae.

n the coming days, I'll be working on a proper op-ed reflecting on the political upheaval triggered by Komeito's split with its long-time Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) partner. In the meantime, I'll share some updates (thread)

It's a cost these candidates will probably have to pay: even diminishing Gakkai-member vote-gathering power likely beats out the ground game of any other political party in Japan. And this probably includes Ishin and Sanseitō.

Or does it? Lots to discover as these new alliances unfold.

In other words, Japan's most powerful political institution might become the party of local Japan. That is, unless LDP Diet members figure out how to up their vote numbers.

In Tokyo, this means LDP Diet members are likely going to continue to curry favor with Komeito to gain Gakkai support. This gives Komeito, and specifically the Women's Division of Soka Gakkai, a lot of clout when it comes to vetting LDP candidates.

asahi.com公明連立離脱で「2万票なくなる」　選挙への影響に頭抱える自民幹部：朝日新聞公明党が自公連立政権から離脱した。千葉県内でも自公は原則として選挙協力をしてきており、影響は必至だ。　連立離脱が明らかになった10日、公明党県本部の平木大作代表はX（旧ツイッター）で「自民党の不祥事…

The Asahi is breaking down costs of losing Soka Gakkai voters: www.asahi.com/articles/AST...

Losing Gakkai voters could well mean that the LDP loses ALL its seats in Tokyo. And pairing up with Ishin means sacrificing LDP seats in and around Osaka.

But losing the Gakkai vote -- while perhaps still relying on it -- might be THE story for how the new, strongly nationalist LDP-Ishin coalition shapes up.

The TV station TBS and other outlets have calculated that, without Komeito supporter (read Soka Gakkai) efforts, the LDP would have won 52 fewer seats in the October 2024 election, putting it behind the Constitutional Democratic Party. This doesn't account for other opposition party wins.

There does seem to be a requirement that you could credibly audition for a boy band if you head up Ishin no Kai. www.asahi.com/articles/AST...

Because religion remains a strong taboo in Japan's public discourse, it's not a surprise to me that consequences of making light of Soka Gakkai vote-gathering have been largely pushed off the front page.

Securing this vote comes at great cost to the LDP. To get the votes needed to confirm Takaichi as Japan's leader, the LDP is hammering out a shaky new coalition agreement with Ishin no Kai, a conservative party that maintains an Osaka stronghold but otherwise struggles in national-level races.

shin has recently been bleeding Diet members, losing them to a breakaway parliamentarian group and also to the VERY conservative upstart party Sanseitō. The party also has a habit of fighting internally and switching out leaders on the reg.

we approach Tuesday, when a vote in Japan's National Diet appears set to confirm Takaichi Sanae as the country's first woman Prime Minister.

youtube.com【激白】「私は公明党を潰そうとした...」反公明のドン・亀井静香が語る公明党潰しの真実とは！？YouTube video by 公明党のサブチャンネル

14 Oct 2025

Now this is a sign of political shifts: on Komeito's YouTube and Instagram pages, party leader Saitō Tetsuo meets with Kamei Shizuka, veteran LDP politician and leader within the Shigatsukai (April Society), a movement once aimed at Komeito and Soka Gakkai. www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8nZ...

It's quite something to see the almost 89-year-old Kamei essentially repent to his long-term political rival.

Of note: Saitō is not only a long-time Diet member colleague but is also Kamei's kōhai (junior) from the same high school. In Japan, these kinds of relationships mean a lot...

youtube.com【激白】「私は公明党を潰そうとした...」反公明のドン・亀井静香が語る公明党潰しの真実とは！？YouTube video by 公明党のサブチャンネル

14 Oct 2025

For details on mid-90s political upheaval and the role Soka Gakkai played in it -- REALLY resonant in many ways with what's unfolding now -- I recommend looking at Axel Klein's excellent 2012 Japanese Journal of Religious Studies article "Twice Bitten, Once Shy": nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/journal/6/is...

nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jpNIRC

The LDP politician who vilified Soka Gakkai and Komeito in harsh terms that amplified social stigma of their followers just declared on camera that he was "stupid," that his opinions about religious groups lacked study, and that Japan needs the moderate conservatism of Komeito to unite the country.

youtube.com【激白】「私は公明党を潰そうとした...」反公明のドン・亀井静香が語る公明党潰しの真実とは！？YouTube video by 公明党のサブチャンネル

14 Oct 2025

This really is an amazing meeting. For clarity, in 1994, Kamei Shizuka was at the heart of what was then an embattled Liberal Democratic Party seeking to regain its dominance over Japan's National Diet.