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Satoshi Shirai

しらい さとし

Shirai Satoshi

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1977-09-05 （Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
historian of thought, political scientist, university lecturer, author
Active Years
2001-
Affiliations
Kyoto Seika University, Waseda University (adjunct/guest lecturer), Bunka Gakuen University (assistant professor)
Influenced By
Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Sigmund Freud, Georges Bataille, Kazimir Malevich, Carl Schmitt, Antonio Negri, Wataru Hiromatsu, Shinichi Nakazawa

Education

Waseda University, School of Political Science and Economics
School of Political Science and Economics / Department of Political Science
Degree: Bachelor
Period: 199?-2001
Year of Graduation: 2001
Country: Japan
Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of Social Sciences
Graduate School of Social Sciences / Department of Sociology (Master's program)
Degree: Master
Period: 2001-2003
Year of Graduation: 2003
Country: Japan
Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of Social Sciences
Graduate School of Social Sciences / Doctoral program (completed credits and withdrew; later awarded PhD)
Degree: PhD (Sociology)
Period: 2003-2010
Year of Graduation: 2010
Country: Japan
Awarded Doctor of Sociology in 2010 by thesis. Records indicate withdrawal from doctoral course after credits in 2006.

Awards

Ikeru Hon Taisho (4th)
2013
Work: The Theory of Permanent Defeat: The Core of Postwar Japan
Result: winner
Ishibashi Tanzan Prize (35th)
2013
Work: The Theory of Permanent Defeat: The Core of Postwar Japan
Organization: Ishibashi Tanzan Memorial Foundation
Result: winner
Kadokawa Foundation Arts and Culture Prize (12th)
2013
Work: The Theory of Permanent Defeat: The Core of Postwar Japan
Organization: Kadokawa Foundation
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Unfinished Lenin: Reading the Thought of 'Force'

2007 political thought / intellectual history

A study of Lenin's political thought, focusing on the concepts of force and political theory.

Leninismpolitical thought

Towards an Uprising of 'Matter': Lenin and the Thought of 'Force'

2010 political thought / intellectual history

An essay collection reconsidering Lenin's thought from the perspective of materiality.

Leninismmaterialism

The Theory of Permanent Defeat: The Core of Postwar Japan

2013 political critique

Argues that postwar Japan operates under a 'permanent defeat regime,' analyzing US-dependence and the erasure of wartime responsibility.

postwar historyUS-dependencepolitical criticism

Ending Postwar Politics: Beyond the Theory of Permanent Defeat

2016 political critique

Summarizes problems of the postwar system and suggests directions for future politics.

critique of postwar systempolitical reform

On Kokutai: The Chrysanthemum and the Stars and Stripes

2018 political thought

Reads Japan's national polity and Japan-US relations through symbolic motifs.

kokutai (national polity)Japan–US relations

Capital as a Weapon

2020 intellectual introduction

A contemporary rereading of Marx's Capital and its practical significance.

MarxismCapital

Long-term Corrupt Regime

2022 political critique

Analyzes structural, long-term corruption in Japanese politics and society.

corruptionpolitical criticism

Thinking for the Present: Marx — Capitalism That Swallows Life

2023 intellectual introduction

An accessible introduction to Marx, examining contemporary capitalism from the perspective of life.

Marxismcritique of capitalism

Bibliography

  • Unfinished Lenin: Reading the Thought of 'Force'
  • Towards an Uprising of 'Matter': Lenin and the Thought of 'Force'
  • The Theory of Permanent Defeat: The Core of Postwar Japan
  • Epitaph of the 'Postwar'
  • Ending Postwar Politics: Beyond the Theory of Permanent Defeat
  • On Kokutai: The Chrysanthemum and the Stars and Stripes
  • Capital as a Weapon
  • Long-term Corrupt Regime
  • Thinking for the Present: Marx — Capitalism That Swallows Life

Translations by Author

  • Slavoj Žižek, Iraq: Funeral for a Utopia (co-translator)
  • Moishe Postone, Time, Labor, and Social Domination (supervising translator / co-translator)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
essayisticcriticalacademic
Recurring Motifs
permanent defeat regimeUS-dependencedenial of wartime responsibilityre-examination of Leninism

Legacy

A public intellectual influential among both academia and general readers. Regarded as a leading voice on postwar Japan while occasionally provoking controversy through media statements.

In Popular Culture

  • Public appearances on television, radio and YouTube

Quotes

  • Postwar Japan, through a 'permanent defeat regime,' has attenuated its sense of wartime responsibility.
    Source: The Theory of Permanent Defeat: The Core of Postwar Japan (2013)

Trivia

  • His father is Katsuhiko Shirai, the 15th president of Waseda University.
  • In 2020 a social-media remark caused controversy and led to an apology by his university employer.