Sato Lab (Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo)

AboutAbout the lab

Questioning how resources and aid are governed, from Southeast Asia

Sato Lab studies how resources and aid are governed, with Southeast Asia as its main field.
It looks at the "resources" found in a given place and the "aid" brought in from outside, considering how each is governed and how the two are combined.
The lab also reviews the history of Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) and draws implications for future development cooperation.
In the master's program, students are expected to take on concrete problems, collect primary data themselves, and wrestle with the "problem" while also taking the perspectives of the people directly involved into account.

ResearchResearch themes

The lab studies the governance of resources as "what is found in a place" and of aid as "what is brought in from outside," in the context of Southeast Asia. It also works on a new view of history based on diversity and interdependence, and on a vision of development studies grounded in Asian experience.

*Illustrative image

Governance of resources and aid in Southeast Asia↗

The lab examines how people in Southeast Asia have used resources with local knowledge and resisted the state, and how the relationship between state and society took shape around resource administration. It also reviews the history of Japan's ODA and draws implications for future development cooperation.

VoicesStudent voices

Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.

Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.