Members
5th
● Tamon SUZUKI Associate Professor
Research Interests: Modern Japanese History
Research Topic: The end of World War II and the formation of the postwar political order
Short Introduction
My research concerns Japan's decision-making process at the end of World War II. Through my research, I have realized that war is easy to start but hard to end, and thus war termination cannot be explained purely in terms of military defeat or victory. For this reason, it is my belief that peace studies must combine theoretical, empirical, and legal approaches, while also taking into consideration domestic and international political contexts. In my research, I am often faced with the difficult task of making sense of conflicting interpretations of events and situations. For example, historical materials written in Japan and other countries often present very different narratives. Even among Japanese documents, different writers sometimes tell very different stories. Thus, it is necessary to take all the varying viewpoints into account if we are to produce balanced scholarship. Reading unpublished historical materials requires an immense amount of time, but I believe it is essential to obtaining a nuanced view of history.
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