Symposium in Memory of the late Professor Frances McCall Rosenbluth

On June 29, a memorial symposium for the late Professor Frances McCall Rosenbluth of Yale University, who served as an external board member of Waseda University, was held at the Okuma Small Auditorium.

Presided by Professor Airo Hino of the Faculty of Political Science and Economics, the symposium was attended by a number of Waseda students and Waseda community members with ties with the late Professor Rosenbluth.

In the opening remarks, President Aiji Tanaka recounted his first encounter with Professor Rosenbluth, then a junior researcher in the field of Japanese politics, at an academic forum in 1989. He expressed his deep appreciation for her dedication and contributions to Waseda University as external member of the board from 2018 until her passing in November 2021.

Part I of the symposium featured three renowned U.S.-based political scientists with close ties to the late Professor Rosenbluth: Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political Science and Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University; Arthur Lupia, Gerald R. Ford Distinguished University Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation; and Christina L. Davis, Director of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations and Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics and Professor of Government at Harvard University. The speakers reflected on Professor Rosenbluth’s research career by recalling personal accounts of the late professor as a colleague and educator and discussed her contributions to the fields of political science and Japanese politics.

Part II featured a panel of prominent Japan-based political scientists who worked closely with the late Professor Rosenbluth, including Professor Junko Kato of　the Graduate Schools for Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo; Professor Masaru Kohno of the Faculty of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University; and Professor Rieko Kage (via a recorded video message) of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences the University of Tokyo. The speakers discussed the significant influence Professor Rosenbluth had on the study of Japanese politics and on their respective careers, and shared personal accounts of their friendships with Professor Rosenbluth.

Each presentation illuminated Professor Rosenbluth’s accomplishments as a pioneer who transformed the paradigm of research on Japanese politics by utilizing rational-choice theory from the perspective of political economy. Her early seminal work from the late 1980s to the 1990s challenged the orthodoxy in the study of Japanese politics which featured methods rooted in area studies and views on the Japanese political economy stressing the dominance of bureaucracy.
She then pursued research in a wide range of themes including comparative party politics, politics and gender, war and constitution, and democracy and judicial system. The unifying characteristic of her extensive scholarship is her readiness to question conventional wisdom by employing theory backed by empirical evidence. Through numerous joint research projects, she continued to demonstrate that Japan’s political economy should be treated as one of various models of advanced democracy, rather than a sui generis, highly relevant for rigorous comparative social science analysis.
Many speakers in Panel II remarked that this contribution of hers particularly inspired many researchers based in Japan. The speakers also shared many personal accounts which illustrated the lasting impact Professor Rosenbluth had on the field as an educator and mentor, including her role in helping junior researchers succeed through co-authorship of papers and articles. Notably, she was dedicated to helping women flourish in their academic careers, with many speakers describing her as an inspirational role model to women in academia.

After the question-and-answer session, the symposium concluded with closing remarks by Professor Tago Atsushi of the Faculty of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University. At the reception following the symposium, the guest speakers and Waseda community members gathered in remembrance of Professor Rosenbluth.