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Department of Japanese History, Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan
About Kiyotaka Maeda
At the Ohio State University, the United States
I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Japanese History, Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan. I hold a Ph.D. in Economics from Keio University.
I specialize in cliometrics, a vital field in economic history, focusing on the commodity market in the Japanese Empire from the late 19th century through World War II. I have expanded my research to include Japanese colonies such as Taiwan, Korea, and Manchuria, examining the relationships among markets across the empire. My work uses time-series analysis, a common econometric method, applying high-frequency price data from historical documents stored in various archives.
I have collaborated with scholars from Japan, the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea on multiple research projects. My colleagues and I present our findings at international conferences, such as the World Economic History Congress and the European Business History Association, and publish papers in international journals, such as The Economic History Review and Business History.
By exploring the role of markets from a historical perspective, my study aims to deepen our understanding of market function and contribute to their improvement.
For more, please see "Research" and my CV.
E-mail: k-maeda AT keio DOT jp
(Please replace "AT" and "DOT" with "@" and ".", respectively.)
Research Fields
Cliometrics
Keywords: time-series analysis, commodity exchange, futures trade, daily price data
Economic History of Modern Japan
Keywords: primary products, commodity distribution, urbanization, trade statistics
Business History of Modern Japan
Keywords: financial statements, corporate finance, business analysis
Economic History of the Japanese Empire
Keywords: colony, Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, agriculture, colonial government
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
October 2025 (forthcoming)
October 2025 (forthcoming)
Book
Modern East Asian Economic History of Cereal
Editors: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Takuto Shinone (Keio University)
Publisher: Keio University Press
"The pricing of rice markets in Osaka and Kumamoto"
Author: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: Japanese
June 2025
June 2025
Working Paper
Colonial pricing for the metropole's market: Taiwanized rice prices in Japan during the 1930s
KEO Discussion Paper (Keio Economic Observatory), 191, pp. 1-50
Authors: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Lung-Pao Tsai (National Taipei University)
Language: English
April 2024
April 2024
Working Paper
KEO Discussion Paper (Keio Economic Observatory), 179, pp. 1-64
Author: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: English
September 2023
September 2023
Book
Editors: Shigehiko Ioku (Keio University) and Satoru Nakanishi (Keio University)
Publisher: Keio University Press
"The expansion of product portfolio and low-end market in an indigenous industry: The selling of knockoff brands to rural areas by the Takanashi family, a soy sauce manufacturer, from the 1890s to the 1910s"
Author: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: Japanese
April 2023
April 2023
Journal Article
Business History, 65 (3), pp. 502-524
Author: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: English
RECENT TALKS
November 2025
November 2025
Seminar on the Japanese Macro Economy in the Medieval Period
Irrigation System and Rice Production in Korea During the Interwar Period (TBA)
Speaker: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: Japanese
Venue: Fukui City Community Plaza, Fukui, Japan
November 30, 2025
Association for Regional Agricultural and Forestry Economics
2025 International Symposium "Financialization of the food system: Contextualization in Japan and developing a research agenda"
Session Organizers: Nina Takashino (Ritsumeikan University) and Motoi Kusadokoro (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology)
Rice as financialized food in the Japanese Empire
Speaker: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: English
Venue: Shimane University, Matsue, Japan
November 2, 2025
July 2025
July 2025
World Economic History Congress
Session #64954 "Feeding the empire: Food consumption and trading patterns across the metropole and colonies of the Japanese Empire"
Session Organizers: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Howard Kahm (Yonsei University, South Korea)
From paddy to port: The role of northwestern Korean rice cultivation in interwar Japan
Speakers: Howard Kahm (Yonsei University, South Korea) and Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: English
Venue: Lund University, Lund, Sweden
July 29, 2025
World Economic History Congress
Session #64954 "Feeding the empire: Food consumption and trading patterns across the metropole and colonies of the Japanese Empire"
Session Organizers: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Howard Kahm (Yonsei University, South Korea)
Colonial pricing for the metropole's market: Taiwanized rice prices in Japan during the 1930s
Speakers: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Lung-Pao Tsai (National Taipei University)
Language: English
Venue: Lund University, Lund, Sweden
July 29, 2025
June 2025
June 2025
Mita Historical Society
From paddy to port: The role of northwestern Korean rice cultivation in interwar Japan
Speakers: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Howard Kahm (Yonsei University, South Korea)
Language: Japanese
Venue: Keio University, Tokyo, Japan
June 28, 2025
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