Tomoko Takahashi is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University/ a Visiting Scholar at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University (September 2025- September 2027). Her research in International Relations focuses on international institutions from the perspective of states, with a particular emphasis on China, Japan, and the Global South. She examines the dynamics of norm-initiating behavior in the context of power politics, state autonomy, coalition politics, and international bureaucracy. Methodologically, she employs statistical analysis, multilingual archival research, and interviews. She earned her Ph.D. (2023), M.A. (2018), and LL.B. (2016) from the University of Tokyo, as well as an M.A. with Honors (2020) from the University of Chicago. In 2017, she was a Visiting Student at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.  She was also a Visiting Researcher at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center (Global Governance Unit) from September to October 2023, and has been a Cohort 7 member of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future since 2024 led by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and Japan Foundation.