Ohira Wakiko
大平和希子

Wakiko Ohira is an Assistant Professor at Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan. She received a Ph.D. in Human Security from the University of Tokyo (2023), an M.A. in International Studies from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (2014), and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of British Columbia (2008). Her research interests include African politics and history, and she is particularly interested in the relationship between traditional authorities and central/local government. Recently, she and her co-fellow at the Harvard-Yenching Institute initiated a joint research project, “China-Africa from Grassroots: Chinese Private Companies and Traditional Kingdom.” She has conducted fieldwork in Uganda and her dissertation was titled “Institutional Transformation of Traditional Authorities: The Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom and Museveni’s Regime.”