Daisuke Igarashi

Daisuke Igarashi is a Professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Chuo University, specializing in the History of Asia and Africa. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Chuo University and directs the Japan Middle East Society. His research examines West Asian History, Mamluk systems, and medieval Arab-Islamic socioeconomics, with publications spanning land tenure, fiscal policy, and religious endowments.

His research explores themes such as:

• Waqf (endowment) economies and their role in wealth distribution
• Rural administration during the Mamluk Sultanate
• Gender and family structures in post-Black Death Egypt/Syria

Igarashi's recent articles (2020-2024) focus on economic anthropology of religious donations, administrative reforms in medieval Egypt, and social histories of Mamluk descendants. His work frequently employs archival analysis of endowment documents to reconstruct legal and economic frameworks.

He leads major research projects including:

• JSPS Grants-in-Aid projects on Islamic welfare systems (2021-2026)
• Cross-cultural studies of Waqf economies (2020-2025)
• Post-pandemic societal structures in historical West Asia (2018-2023)

As a graduate supervisor, he oversees theses on Middle Eastern/Islamic Studies and teaches courses including Pre-Modern Middle Eastern History and Core Asian History seminars.