Meet the Fellows: Cohort 7 Program (2024-2026)

Tyffani Barlow currently serves as the Japan Country Director at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. She is a former Mansfield Fellow, (23rd Class), and U.S. Air Force Foreign Area Officer, specializing in East Asia with Japan language ability. Her thesis, Bella Gerant Alii: Japan’s Article IX and Constitutional Reform, discusses the impact that changing defense policy has on regional security. Major Barlow has written on interpersonal relationships, field research in Japan as a Mansfield Fellow, and sustainable ways to strengthening alliances and partnerships critical to regional security. Her work has been published in the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs. Major Barlow has an undergraduate degree in pre-law from the United States Air Force Academy, where she also minored in Philosophy and Japanese and later obtained her master’s degree from American Military University in International Relations with emphasis in Conflict Resolution.

Justin K. Chock is a Juris Doctor Candidate at Yale Law School. He was previously a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy and senior instructor in the Political Science Department at the U.S. Naval Academy. At Yale Law, his research focuses on the nexus between U.S.-Japan Alliance policy and each country’s respective national security laws, as well as U.S.-Japan comparative legal studies. His prior postings have included the Chief Military Liaison for the U.S. Forces Japan J2 Directorate for Intelligence, where he led intelligence-related engagements, cooperation, analysis, planning, and exercises with the Japan Ministry of Defense, Japan Self-Defense Forces, and U.S. interagency counterparts. He also served as the Gunnery and Ordnance Officer onboard USS CHUNG-HOON (DDG 93) homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi. He received a B.S. in Political Science from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Oxford, with additional studies at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.

Jordan Hamzawi is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, specializing in political parties and elections. He was previously a visiting professor at St. Olaf College and Mount Holyoke College and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard University. Dr. Hamzawi’s research focuses on electoral competition, the nature of political parties, the candidates that compete within them, and what motivates voters to choose them, with special attention given to Japan. He holds a B.A. in International Relations and a B.A. in Japanese from Brigham Young University, an M.A. in Area Studies: Japan from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Davis.

Yuko Kakazu is the Education, Outreach, and Broader Impacts Manager and Scientist at the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory and National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Originally from Okinawa, she is the first Ph.D. astronomer from the region. Her research specializes in galaxy formation and evolution in the early Universe. Dr. Kakazu has led STEM education and engagement initiatives for large international S&T projects including the Subaru Telescope, Thirty Meter Telescope, and Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Foundation. Her current focus revolves around exploring the intersection between science, culture, and society. She is actively involved in nurturing U.S.-Japan relations, serving as a Board of Councilor at OIST, Trustee and Education Ambassador for the OIST Foundation, Director and Education Committee Chair for the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaiʻi, as well as Council Leader for the U.S.-Japan Council. Dr. Kakazu received a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from Tohoku University, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Hirofumi Kawaguchi is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University. He specializes in Japanese politics with a particular focus on agriculture. His recent book in Japanese, Agricultural Politics and Farmers in Postwar Japan: Organization, Mobilization, and Loyalty (Yoshidashoten, 2025), examines how Japanese farmers’ organizations (Japan Agricultural Cooperatives) were established and developed in the 1940s–1960s in terms of their partisanship and the loyalty of their members. He also analyzes public opinion on agricultural trade issues and has published papers in journals such as the Review of International Political Economy. Prior to joining Keio University, he was a Project Researcher at the University of Tokyo, a JSPS Research Fellow (PD) at Hokkaido University, and an Associate Professor at the University of the Ryukyus. He holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University and an LL.B., LL.M., and Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, where he received the highest dissertation award.

Kyla Kitamura is an Analyst in International Trade and Finance at the Congressional Research Service (CRS). She focuses on trade issues related to Japan and the Indo-Pacific, critical minerals agreements, Canada, and the auto industry. Prior to joining CRS, Kyla was the Director of Government and Public Affairs at the U.S. office of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). Kyla also previously served as the Assistant to the Chancellor at Hawaii Tokai International College and was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Hongseong, South Korea. She developed her international relations expertise at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the State Department, and the Foreign Commercial Service. Kyla has a B.A. in Asian Languages and Civilizations from Amherst College and an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Rina Komiya a Ph.D. candidate at Tokyo Metropolitan University, offers a fresh anthropological outlook on refugee studies, focusing on Congolese refugees in Tanzania and the United States, as well as challenges faced by Muslim immigrants in Japan. She has published several academic articles in journals in Japan. Beyond academia, she has a decade of experience in international development and refugee protection and has worked with foundations, NGOs, and international organizations, including UNICEF and UNHCR, in countries such as Tanzania, Jordan, and Bangladesh. Currently, she is also working as an International Peace Cooperation Program Advisor at the Cabinet Office of Japan. She holds a BA in Law from Waseda University, an M.Sc. in Human Rights from the London School of Economics, and an M.St. in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford. She is Japan’s only Development Fellow with The Asia Foundation, and a Salzburg Global Fellow in the Japan-India Transformative Technology Network’s second cohort.

Joe McReynolds is a Senior Research Scientist at Peraton Labs, a Security Studies Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, and an Urban Studies PhD Researcher at Keio University. In his East Asian national security work, he is the lead editor and co-author of China’s Evolving Military Strategy as well as the upcoming China’s Information Warfare. Outside of his national security research, he is a researcher in Keio University’s Architecture and Urban Studies Laboratory in Japan, where he studies Tokyo’s approach to urban development and public policy. In this role, he was the research editor and co-author of the award-winning book Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City. He has expertise in a range of Asia-Pacific national security issues, including China’s technology exfiltration efforts against Japan, PRC information warfare operations, and East Asian defense science and technology development. He served as a foreign policy advisor on the Clinton 2016 and Biden 2020 presidential campaigns.

Tomoko Takahashi is an Assistant Professor at Kyoto University. She was also a Visiting Researcher at WZB Berlin Social Science Center (Global Governance Unit, September-October 2023). In the field of International Relations, she studies international institutions from the perspective of states, and especially focuses on China and the Global South. Her projects are on the dynamics of norm-initiating behavior in the context of power politics, state autonomy, coalition politics, and international bureaucrats. Methodologically, she uses statistical analysis, multilinguistic archival research, and interviews. She received her Ph.D., M.A., LL.B. at the University of Tokyo, and another M.A. with Honors at the University of Chicago and was a Visiting Student at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Ayumi Teraoka is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar with the Weatherhead East Asian Institute’s Japan Research Program at Columbia University, where she studies alliance politics and security issues in the Indo-Pacific. She teaches a course on Japanese Foreign Policy at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and is an incoming fellow with the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program. Dr. Teraoka’s current book project examines the history and interactive effects of the United States’ alliance management efforts and China’s attempts to weaken U.S. alliances in Asia. Her research has been supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the America in the World Consortium. Her writing has appeared in Pacific Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Japan Times, among others. She holds a B.A. in Law from Keio University, an M.A. in Asian Studies from Georgetown University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Security Studies from Princeton University. In the fall of 2025, she will be an assistant professor of politics at Brandeis University.

Yunchen Tian is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Saint Martin’s University and will be a 2024-26 JF-Nichibunken Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) in Kyoto, Japan. Their research focuses on the governance and discursive construction of labor migration policies in Japan and the Asia-Pacific. Tian’s work has been supported by grants from American Councils and the Japan Foundation. Their work has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Social Science Japan Journal, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and Citizenship Studies. They were recently awarded the 2023 ISS/OUP Prize in Modern Japanese Studies for their article “Workers, Neighbours, or Something Else? Local Policies and Policy Narratives of Technical Intern Training Program Participants.” Outside of academic journals, they have been published in Foreign Affairs and have spoken on immigration issues in Japan with both foreign and Japanese media sources. They received their B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and their M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University.

Jacob Vawter is a civil service officer with the State Department’s Office of Japanese Affairs. He administers bilateral economic policy coordination with Japan and serves as the lead action officer for the U.S.-Japan Economic 2+2. Prior to joining the State Department, Jake served for five years with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, leading international engagement with Japan and other Indo-Pacific partners and contributing to federal response efforts for multiple presidentially declared disasters. Mr. Vawter was an Assistant Language Teacher for three years with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme in Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture. He is originally from Washington State and is a graduate of Georgetown University’s Master of Science in Foreign Service program and studied abroad in Japan at Waseda University and International Christian University.

Scott Wilbur is Director for Japan Affairs at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, overseeing U.S.-Japan trade relations and engaging Japan on bilateral trade issues, third country concerns, cooperation in regional and multilateral trade-related fora, and labor and environment-related priorities. He has also worked on trade issues at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Treasury. Prior to joining the federal government, he held postdoctoral positions at Yale University and EHESS in France, where he researched distressed “zombie” firms in Japan’s lost decades. He holds a B.Sc. in foreign service from Georgetown University, an M.A. in political science from National Taiwan University, and Ph.D. in political science and international relations from the University of Southern California.

Timothy Yang is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and Director of the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Georgia. He specializes in the cultural and socio-economic history of modern Japan as well as Japan’s relationship to Asia and the rest of the world. His current research focuses on the politics of agriculture, environment, and capitalism in post-World War II Japan through a re-examination of land reform during the Allied Occupation from the perspective of global food security. He is the author of A Medicated Empire: The Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Japan (Cornell University Press, 2021), which was co-awarded the 2022 Hagley Prize in Business History and was shortlisted for the 2023 International Convention for Asian Scholars (ICAS) Book Prize in the Social Sciences. He holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.