معرفی
Takeshi Akiba is Professor at Waseda University’s School of International Liberal Studies (2025–) and concurrently serves as Part-time Lecturer at Chūō Law School. He previously held positions at Akita International University (2007-2019) and Waseda as Associate Professor (2019-2025). His comparative research explores constitutional law, judicial politics, and the sociology of law, with particular attention to same-sex marriage litigation, voting-rights disputes, and the legal status of foreign residents in Japan.
Education
- Ph.D. Jurisprudence & Social Policy, University of California, Berkeley, 2010
- M.A. Political Science, Waseda University, 2007
- M.A. Human Rights, Waseda University, 2001
- B.A. Politics, Waseda University, 1999
Research Interests
Akiba’s scholarship links constitutional doctrine with socio-legal analysis. He examines how rights-based litigation acts as a vehicle for social change, comparing marriage-equality suits in Japan and the United States, one-person-one-vote challenges, and nationality-law cases affecting stateless children. A second stream investigates local governance of migration, drawing on field studies in Akita of foreign care-worker programmes.
Recent Publications
His 2024 lead article in Comparative Law Review asks whether alternatives to marriage can satisfy equality demands, while a 2023 piece analyses Roberts-Court conservatism. Empirical studies of Japanese same-sex marriage filings and US Supreme Court health-care decisions illustrate his cross-national approach.
Awards & Grants
- Book Award, Japanese Association of Sociology of Law, 2018
- Article Award, Japanese Association of Sociology of Law, 2015
- JSPS KAKENHI (C) “Vote-Weight Disparity in Japan”, 2024-2027
- JSPS “Social Inclusion & Heritage in a Depopulating Society”, 2018-2022
Advising & Diversity Leadership
As Director of Waseda’s Student Diversity Center he oversees the Gender & Sexuality Center, Accessibility Resource Center, and Intercultural Communication Center, embedding inclusion into campus policy and advising students on rights awareness.
Labs & Teams
He leads the Waseda Institute of Comparative Law research cluster on judicial policymaking and convenes an international working group on comparative same-sex union litigation.
