I have been studying the ruling style of the Suharto regime in Indonesia, which lasted for more than 30 years until May 1998. My research focuses on why the regime, while based on the institutional rule supported by the military and bureaucracy, periodically unleash the state-sponsored violence. The research results so far have been published as a monograph in Japanese by the University of Tokyo Press in 2024.

I am currently developing my research in two directions. The first is to analyze the trajectory of post-Suharto Indonesia. What has changed and what has not after democratization? The landslide victory of Suharto's former son-in-law in the presidential election in 2024 makes the issue even more pressing.

The second is comparative study of governing philosophy and violence in Southeast Asia. The cases of the state’s violence against civilians are not uncommon in the area, such as former Philippine President Duterte's war on drugs and Myanmar's military bombing of civilian targets. I will analyze comparatively what logics on state-society relations lie behind such violence, what their origins are, and what kind of reaction such governing philosophies generate from society.