Areas of Expertise

Party politics, Japanese politics, emotion in politics, conspiracy beliefs 

Teaching Interests

  • Comparative politics
  • The interpretation of meaning in politics (identity, historical remembrance, ideology, …)
  • Academic writing

Research

  • The emotional dimensions of Japan’s political opposition in the Abe era  
  • The role of conspiracy narratives in politics,  
  • Politics and the social media influencer industry 

Representative Publications

R. Marcantuoni and R. A. Fahey, “Fighting the Cabal from the Diet: Sanseitō and the Role of Conspiracy as Political Ideology,” The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, Sep. 2025, (Forthcoming). 

R. Marcantuoni, “Sanseitō no taitō to minshushugi no shinkyokumen” 参政党の台頭と民主主義の新局面, Chihei [地平], October. 2025, (Forthcoming). 

R. Marcantuoni, “Sanseito brings far-right populism to Japan,” Nikkei Asia, Jul. 16, 2025. î url: https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Sanseito-brings-far-right-populism-to-Japan 

R. Marcantuoni, “The Melancholy of Japan’s Liberal Opposition: Politician- penned Books and Their Narratives of Redemption,” The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, vol. 22, no. 1, Jan. 23, 2024. url: https://apjjf.org/2024/1/Marcantuoni.html 

R. Marcantuoni, “Book Review: Sengo nihon no ‘kakushin’ seiryoku—teikō to suibō no seijishi (Reformists in Postwar Japan: A Postwar History of Opposition and Decline),” Social Science Japan Journal, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 259–262, Oct. 11, 2023. doi: 10.1093/ssjj/jyad006

Education

PhD in International Studies (expected graduation March 2026), Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University

MA in Japanese Studies, Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven (Belgium)

BA in Japanese Studies, Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven (Belgium)