Activity

EJARN 2026 Program

Call for Papers

Japan and Europe in a Disorderly World

European Japan Advanced Research Network (EJARN) Conference

June 9-10, 2026

• Location: Darwin College, Cambridge University
• Conference Organizers:

John Nilsson-Wright, Cambridge University & Patrik Ström, European Institute of Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics

We welcome policy-relevant paper applications related to any aspect of EU-Japan relations, and Japan’s contemporary politics, economics, and society. We especially welcome papers related to this year’s conference theme.

How to Submit: Email a 100-200 word abstract to: eijs@hhs.se

Be sure to include “EJARN Conference Abstract” in the subject line.

At a time when, authoritarianism is on the rise, democracy is imperiled and divisive populist politics is becoming more prevalent in a wide range of polities in Europe, North American and Asia, Japan and many of the states of the European region are exploring ways to enhance their resilience and find common cause in offsetting the multiple challenges to global stability. A key source of instability is the advent of the new Trump Administration in the United States and the country’s sharp departure from many of the norms that have been at the heart of US foreign policy for decades. These norms have included support for free trade and the Bretton Woods liberal economic order, strong and sustained commitment to US alliance ties, whether with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or bilateral partners in Asia, (notably Japan and the Republic of Korea), and a general predisposition to promote democratic governance, human rights and the rules based international system.

Over a day and a half, EJARN members will consider the factors shaping the new global disorder, and how capable Japan and individual European countries, along with the European Union, are in offsetting and minimizing this disorder. We invite paper proposals that engage with these questions and especially those that explore past, present and potentially future collaborative initiatives between Japan and European states to meet these new challenges. We welcome papers from a variety of disciplines, including international relations, politics, economics and modern history, and especially contributions that have relevance for contemporary policy makers.

This year’s conference of the European Japan Advanced Research Network will convene at Cambridge University and will be hosted by the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (FAMES) and the Japan and the World subject group that is part of FAMES (https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk).

This will be the first time that EJARN has met in Cambridge. As one of the UK’s oldest and most influential of universities, Cambridge is an ideal venue in which to encourage interdisciplinary research and foster the sort of practical engagement between academia, government and the private sector that is urgently required when addressing today’s ever more complex challenges.

The EJARN conference will be hosted at Darwin College (https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk), the oldest of the university’s four graduate colleges, and will seek to draw on the broad range of academic interest in Japan that can be found in a variety of departments and faculties across the university.