Center for Negotiation Studies (SU)

Center Director: Jiro Tamura (Professor, Faculty of Law)

Campus: Mita

This research center aims to establish methodologies for the effective resolution of global conflicts, such as serious social and economic conflicts and friction. Specifically, it conducts multifaceted research from interdisciplinary perspectives—including law, political science, psychology, communication studies, and brain science—to determine the most appropriate approaches for fostering constructive dialogue and communication to resolve serious conflicts and disputes between nations or global conflicts faced by corporations and individuals, and for forming highly sustainable agreements that appropriately adjust the interests of the parties involved. The research center collaborates with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard University to conduct joint research. It also recruits researchers from diverse backgrounds and promotes personnel exchanges with corporations to establish itself as a central hub for negotiation studies. The center also encourages the participation of companies and organizations that support its research objectives. In its research activities, the center aims to contribute to society through its research outcomes from two perspectives: a research division and an education and human resource development division.

The research division conducts studies on global governance, including international politics and economics, from the perspective of conflict resolution and negotiation, incorporating various viewpoints, including international comparisons. For example, in response to the research findings of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard University, the division incorporates ideas and concepts for East-West cultural exchange found in the philosophy of Yukichi Fukuzawa at Keio University. It also advances its research by introducing new perspectives from various fields, such as the historical study of negotiation in Japan—not only in diplomacy but also in private business, including the negotiation techniques of the Omi merchants.

The education and human resource development division works on developing educational programs to apply these outcomes to the cultivation of the next generation of talent. Currently, in collaboration with Harvard University and Keio University, it holds events such as a speaker series introducing the insights of individuals with valuable experience in international negotiations. It also plans to establish and implement educational methods based on systematized negotiation studies.

Negotiation Studies, Conflict Resolution, Communication Studies, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Behavioral Economics, Brain Science, Human Resource Development, Decision-Making Theory, Foreign Policy, Trade Policy, Policy Formation

In fiscal year 2010, based on the research results of fiscal year 2009, we will further strengthen our collaboration with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard University to advance our research. Specifically, we will proceed with a full-scale joint research project with Associate Professor Daniel Shapiro of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard University, aiming to publish the research results within this fiscal year. Furthermore, as Mariko Gakiya, a senior academic advisor at the same program, will be in residence at Keio for a certain period, it will be possible to conduct joint research with various researchers from Harvard University. In particular, we will work closely with researchers from Harvard University to report on our research findings, aiming to integrate the studies of psychology and negotiation and to explore the potential of negotiation studies as part of legal education and research.

Additionally, through the participation of the principal investigator in regularly held study groups at the Global Conflict Program of the World Economic Forum, we will conduct interview-based surveys and promote the international dissemination of our research findings. In theoretical research, we will conduct studies on the interdependence of international economic relations and its negotiation-related aspects based on game theory. In parallel with these research outcomes, and as part of our educational contribution, we will continue to provide these findings primarily through the Fukuzawa Bunmei Juku at Keio University. We will also continue to hold seminars and other events to widely disseminate the educational aspects of our research to external audiences. Next, in fiscal year 2010, to compile our research results, in addition to submitting articles to academic journals, we plan to host the Japan Association of Persuasion and Negotiation at Keio University in August 2010, where we will hold presentations and a symposium on negotiation studies. At the end of the fiscal year, we also plan to report our research findings through a symposium, lecture, or workshop.

In fiscal year 2009, the Center Director, in collaboration with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard University, participated in the World Economic Forum's Global Conflict Program. Through active exchanges of opinions with a wide range of overseas researchers and practitioners at the forefront of international negotiations, such as diplomats and politicians, he conducted research on methodologies for the effective resolution of global conflicts, including serious social and economic conflicts and friction. As a result of this research, in March 2010, the Center Director, along with Mariko Gakiya, a researcher at Harvard University, and Gerald McAlinn, a professor at our Law School, were invited to participate in the Global COE Symposium, where they reported on the current status of the research center's work. A representative educational achievement of this research at Keio University was a seminar conducted as part of professional training in the Fukuzawa Bunmei Juku project.

In addition, Koji Sumida, a visiting researcher at this research center, conducted a seminar on negotiation studies based on the latest research findings at the Keidanren Green Forum in November 2009. He also held a seminar at the College of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, working to disseminate the educational methods of this research center.

Furthermore, as an achievement, a book co-authored by Koji Sumida and the Center Director, "Bijuaru Kaisetsu Koshogaku Nyumon," will be published by Nikkei Inc. in March 2010 to promote the popularization of negotiation studies in an accessible way for the general public. Additionally, as a theoretical research report on the findings of fiscal year 2009, an article co-authored by Koji Sumida and the Center Director is scheduled to be published in the journal "Chizai Kanri" in May 2010. As described above, we believe that the center has achieved its intended objectives for its research in fiscal year 2009.