The following description comes from the event organizer.

The PSU Center for Japanese Studies presents a free talk buy Professor Koichi Nakano, Sophia University
at Portland State University Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 338 (Vanport Room)

The contemporary rise of populist far right movements and politicians have drawn a lot of attention and concerns in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and, of course, the United States. In political science, the phenomenon has spawned a growing literature on “competitive authoritarianism” and a parallel popular discussion on the crisis, even death, of democracy. Oddly, Japan—a country known for its perpetual conservative one-party rule—has been largely missing from the picture. If anything, Japan has been receiving praises for standing up for the defense of the liberal democratic order in recent years. Why is this? Is there really no far right in Japan today, or is it just invisible to the West?

Koichi Nakano is Professor of Political Science, and former Dean (2017-2021) at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University. He specializes in the comparative politics of advanced industrial democracies, particularly Japan and Europe, and in political theory with a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Tokyo; B.A. in philosophy and politics from the University of Oxford; and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University. His research has focused on a variety of issues of contemporary Japanese politics from comparative, historical, and philosophical perspectives and he has multiple published books and journal articles.

Please enter Smith Memorial Student Union at the Broadway entrance (other doors will be locked).