Institute Updates
This page records selected institutional developments, publications, academic engagements, and other formal updates relating to the Tobisawa Institute.
It is intended as a concise public record of the Institute’s continuing work.
Participation in the SSEASRC–CSSPR Online Symposium
9 April 2026
The Tobisawa Institute notes the participation of its Founder and Director, Dr Kazuhiro Tobisawa, in the SSEASRC–CSSPR Online Symposium held on 9 April 2026 by the South and South East Asia Security Research Centre, University of Buckingham / BUCSIS, in collaboration with the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research, University of Lahore.
He spoke from Tokyo on the theme “Regional Conflict and Wider War in East Asia: A Japanese Perspective,” addressing the strategic implications of the Taiwan Strait, the Korean Peninsula and North Korea, and Japan’s south-western islands and maritime security.
This participation formed part of the Institute’s continuing engagement with diplomacy and international security.
Publication of the Institute’s Institutional History Page
1 May 2026
The Tobisawa Institute has published its Institutional History page.
The page was prepared in order to give a more formal public account of the longer academic, intellectual, and institutional background from which the Institute emerged. It brings together selected milestones in the development of Japan-UK academic exchange, publication, and related institutional work that now form part of the Institute’s continuing record.
The page may be accessed here:
Institutional History
Publications Page Released
5 July 2026
The Tobisawa Institute has released a dedicated Publications page on its official website.
The page records the Institute’s publication-related work, including Dr Kazuhiro Tobisawa’s 2018 book,
The Influence of Civil Society on Japanese Nuclear Disarmament Policy, and the forthcoming new edition,
Legacy and Prospects: Civil Society in Japanese Nuclear Disarmament Policy – Ethical Realism and Diplomacy.
It also records the international distribution of the 2018 edition and verified library holdings identified through publicly accessible catalogues and bibliographic records.
The Publications page forms part of the Institute’s continuing work to preserve and develop the intellectual record of diplomacy, international security, civil society, nuclear disarmament policy, global governance, ethical realism, and Japan-UK academic engagement initiated in 2008.
The page may be accessed here:
Honorary Distinctions Page Released
8 July 2026
The Tobisawa Institute has released a dedicated Honorary Distinctions page on its official website.
The page records the Institute’s honorary distinctions and the individuals recognised for outstanding academic or intellectual achievement, distinguished public service, long-standing association, valued friendship, and special contribution to the Institute and its mission.
The distinctions comprise Honorary Advisors, Honorary Fellows, Honorary Members, and Special Recognition. Each category reflects a distinct form of achievement, service, or association and is conferred with care and discretion.
The page forms part of the Institute’s continuing work to preserve an accurate and enduring institutional record of the individuals whose scholarship, public service, guidance, friendship, and goodwill have contributed to its development.
The page may be accessed here:
Legacy and Prospects Published by the University of Buckingham Press
17 July 2026
The Tobisawa Institute is pleased to announce the publication of Legacy and Prospects: Civil Society in Japanese Nuclear Disarmament Policy – Ethical Realism and Diplomacy by Dr Kazuhiro Tobisawa, Founder and Director of the Institute.
Published by the University of Buckingham Press on 9 July 2026, the volume is the substantially revised and expanded second edition of Dr Tobisawa’s 2018 book, The Influence of Civil Society on Japanese Nuclear Disarmament Policy.
The new edition re-examines the role and influence of civil society in the development of Japan’s nuclear disarmament policy, while extending the analysis to changing international conditions, the relationship between state and non-state actors, and the responsibilities involved in diplomatic and security judgement.
It also develops the concept of ethical realism as an analytical approach that takes power, national interests, and security constraints seriously, while maintaining the importance of responsible judgement and ethical agency in international affairs.
The publication forms part of the Institute’s continuing work in diplomacy, international security, global governance, civil society, and ethical realism. It also represents a further intellectual outcome of the Japan-UK academic engagement initiated in 2008.
[Publication details]
Kazuhiro Tobisawa,
Legacy and Prospects: Civil Society in Japanese Nuclear Disarmament Policy – Ethical Realism and Diplomacy
Second Edition
University of Buckingham Press, 2026
ISBN: 978-1-918291-89-6
The page may be accessed here:
Tobisawa Institute Launches Official LinkedIn Page
22 July 2026
Tobisawa Institute has launched its official LinkedIn Page as part of the continued development of its institutional communications.
The Page will provide selected updates on the Institute’s research activities, publications, honorary distinctions, institutional partnerships and Japan–UK academic engagement.
The official LinkedIn Page is available here:
Tobisawa Institute and BUCSIS Sign Memorandum of Understanding
2 August 2026
Tobisawa Institute and the University of Buckingham Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (BUCSIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on academic collaboration and institutional cooperation on 21 July 2026.
The MOU establishes a formal framework for future academic collaboration and institutional cooperation between the two organisations.
The agreement builds upon a longstanding academic relationship between the University of Buckingham and Japan-based initiatives developed since 2008, and marks an important step in placing this relationship on a clear institutional foundation.
Tobisawa Institute will continue to promote selective, substantive and sustainable international academic partnerships in accordance with its mission as an independent intellectual and institutional platform.
