Researchers

MOTANI, Yusuke
MOTANI, Yusuke, PhD

Senior Researcher, JIME Center

Specialty:Politics, Economy, and Energy in North African Countries; Modern and Contemporary Arab History

At JIME Center, I am engaged in gathering and analyzing information on the situation in North African countries, with a particular focus on Libya. During my graduate studies, I conducted research on the political history of the Arab region in the 19th century, focusing on themes such as modernization, colonization, and centralization.

- Academic Background -
2014 BA in Literature, Faculty of Letters, The University of Tokyo
2016 MA in Literature, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo
2025 PhD in Literature, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo
- Professional Career -
2021 Project Researcher, Graduate School of Humanities, The University of Osaka
2025 Junior Researcher, Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University
Apr. 2026 Senior Researcher, JIME Center, IEEJ

Papers:

  • PhD Thesis: Yusuke MOTANI, "The Rule of Muhammad Ali's Regime in Syria: An Analysis of Governing Mechanisms," The University of Tokyo, 2025.
  • Yusuke MOTANI, "Financial Administration in Syria under the Egyptian Rule in the 1830s: Revisiting the “Reforms” by Muhammad Ali’s Government", Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies, 38(2), 31-61, 2023.
  • Yusuke MOTANI, "An Important Historical Source Concerning Muhammad Ali's Rule of Syria: Research on Record Register of Acts (Khulasat) Published by the Superior Council of Aleppo," Journal of Asian and African studies, 95, 201-220, 2018.
  • Yusuke MOTANI, "The Superior Council of Aleppo (1832-40): An Aspect of the Administrative Reforms during the Muhammad Ali's Rule of Syria," The Toyo Gakuho, 99(4), 29-58, 2018.

Publications:

  • Yusuke MOTANI, “Relationship Building as Seen in the Muhammad Ali Regime’s Rule over Syria,” So YAMANE (ed.), Ideology and Strategy, The University of Tokyo Press, 2025, 75–94.
  • Yusuke MOTANI, “Travel and Tourism in Syria in the 1830s: A Preliminary Study on the Impact of Muhammad Ali’s Rule,” Fumiya Kondo (ed.), Historical Developments and Contemporary Situations of Travel and Tourism in the Middle East, SIAS Center, 2022, 54–81.

Conference:

  • Yusuke MOTANI, “Conscription and Taxation in Syria under the Muhammad Ali Regime,” 14th Annual Conference of the Ottoman History, July 2025.
  • Yusuke MOTANI, “What Should the Jesuits Do? The Jesuit Mission in Syria and Connectivity with Local Political Society,” 2022 Annual Conference of the Islamic Trust Studies, March 2023.
  • Yusuke MOTANI, “Monitoring Syria from Egypt,” 17th Konosuke Matsushita International Scholarship Forum, October 2021.
  • Yusuke MOTANI, “Colonizing Syria: The Attempts and Failures of Muhammad Ali, ‘Father of Modern Egypt,’ to Rule Syria,” JSPS Cairo Research Center 6th 2020 Regular Meeting, January 2021.

Activity on Committee etc.:

  • Japan Association for Middle East Studies
  • The Historical Society of Japan
  • The Historical Science Society of Japan

Others:

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