Isami Sawai is a PhD candidate at the Department of International History, London School of Economics and Political Science. He received a LL.B. (2013) and M.Phil. in Political Science (2015) from University of Tokyo. In 2015-16, he worked as a research associate at the University of Tokyo. His research interests lie in modern East Asian international history, particularly in China and Japan’s transformation of foreign relations in the late 19th century. Sawai was a visiting research student at Peking University (Beijing) and at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica (Taipei), in 2017-18.
Thesis provisional title
Between ‘Foreign Relations’ and ‘Diplomacy’: The Transformation of China and Japan’s Cultures of Foreign Policy-Making 1858-1881
Expertise
East Asian History, Foreign Relations, International History, World History, History of International Law, Japanese Diplomatic History
"What is ‘Diplomacy’?: The Struggle for Modern Foreign Relations in the Early Meiji Era" British Association for Japanese Studies Conference 2018, 7 September, 2018 (Sheffield, UK)
"Meiji 1-2 nen Nagasaki no Gaikoku-kosai to Sawa Nobuyoshi: Sawa Nobuyoshi ‘Kyushu jiken narabini Nagasaki saibansho goyou karidome nikki’ wo chushin ni 明治元・二年長崎の外国交際と沢宣嘉：沢宣嘉『九州事件並長崎裁判所御用仮留日記』を中心に [Gaikoku-kosai in Nagasaki and Sawa Nobuyoshi 1868-69: with a Focus on his Diaries]" Meiji Ishinshi Gakkai Reikai 明治維新史学会例会 [Research seminar of the Society of the History of the Meiji Restoration], 14 July, 2018 (Tokyo, Japan)
"‘Jiaoshe交渉’ and ‘Kosai交際’: Reconsidering China and Japan’s Transformation of Foreign Relations 1868-1873" AAS-in-Asia 2018, 7 July, 2018 (Delhi, India)
"From Kosai交際 to Gaiko外交: Revisiting Japan's foreign relations in the Meiji Restoration" 24th Annual Japan Studies Association Conference, 4 January 2018, (Honolulu, USA)
"Reconsidering the ‘Standard of Civilization’: The Communications and Negotiations between Western International Lawyers and East Asian Practitioners" European University Institute Summer School: Comparative and Transnational History, 20 September 2017 (Florence, Italy)
"Western International Lawyers and China and Japan’s Informal Diplomacy: the Mutual Formulation of the ‘Standard of Civilization’" Asian Society of International Law 6th Biennial Conference Junior Scholars’ Workshop, 24 August, 2017 (Seoul, South Korea)
"The ‘Establishment’ of the ‘Standard of Civilization’: Japan, China, and Western International Lawyers 1873-1881" King’s College London World History Student Conference, 6 May, 2017 (London, UK)
Research
LSE Partnership PhD Mobility Bursaries (2017)
LSE PhD Studentship (2016-2020)
Yoshida Scholarship Foundation Scholarship for Studying Abroad (2016-2019)
Valedictorian (Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, 2015)
Japan Student Services Organization Scholarship for Graduate Student with Extremely Excellent Record (2013-2015)
Valedictorian (Department III, Faculty of Law, The University of Tokyo, 2013)
