My research centers on the psychological underpinnings of mass and elite political behavior in Japan in a cross-national, cross-cultural perspective. I have extensively published journal articles, books, and book chapters on issues related to political communication and persuasion, political leadership, and political culture. Most recently my research projects have focus on the language of politicians (and other decisionmakers and officials) from an interdisciplinary, critical, and analytical viewpoints. This empirically-based research aims at analyzing and detailing the role, function, and effects of the discourse used by politicians (decisionmakers and officials) in Western and non-Western societies. This includes the language employed or broadcast live in venues such as parliamentary debates and deliberations, election campaign assemblies, political party conventions, press conferences, media interviews, and even non-broadcast (but later reported) speeches in front of support groups or during international negotiations – in traditional as well as social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter). Such a language includes polite, respectful, and deferential public speaking, or conversely, impolite verbal discourse, debasing and derisive comments, and the use of crude, vulgar, or abusive terms – including curses and obscenities – through irony, sarcasm, cynicism, ridicule, and mockery, to demean, degrade, humiliate, and insult individuals, the political opposition, or groups in society.


Currently I am Professor of Political Psychology and Behavior at the Faculty of Policy Studies, Doshisha University, Kyoto. Previously I have held teaching and research positions in Leipzig University, Germany; The University of Queensland, Australia; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; the Mershon Center, Ohio State University, USA; University of York, UK; Tel Aviv University, Israel; University of British Columbia, Canada; Kyoto University, Japan; Naruto University of Education, Japan; University of Tsukuba, Japan; Ibaraki University, Japan; University of Tokyo, Japan; and Keio University, Japan.


As present I am the co-Editor-in-Chief of a book series entitled Politische Psychologie: Themen, Herausforderungen, Perspektiven [Political Psychology: Issues, Challenges, and Prospects], published by Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden, Germany. I also serve as the Series Editor in Springer’s Book series The Language of Politics.


In 2001 I was elected Honorary Chair of the Research Committee on Political Psychology, International Political Science Association.