About Kiyotaka Maeda
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 My work uses time-series analysis, a common econometric method, applying high-frequency price data from historical documents stored in various archives.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
Journal Article
Rice as a financialized food in the Japanese Empire: Colonial imports and exchanges' futures trade
Journal of Rural Problems, 62 (1)
Author: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: English
Working Paper
Lucrative black marketeers in rural Japan: Entrepreneurial illicit tobacco business in the late 1940s
KEO Discussion Paper (Keio Economic Observatory)
Authors: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Jesus Solis (Harvard University, United States)
Language: English
Working Paper
From paddy to port: The role of northwestern Korean rice cultivation in interwar Japan
KEO Discussion Paper (Keio Economic Observatory)
Authors: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Howard Kahm (Yonsei University, South Korea)
Language: English
Book
Modern East Asian Economic History of Cereals
Editors: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Takuto Shinone (Keio University)
Publisher: Keio University Press
"Korean rice and the pricing of rice markets in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kumamoto"
Author: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: Japanese
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, Taiwan)
Language: English
RECENT TALKS
Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference
Session "Networks of Shadow Economies: Smuggling, Black Markets, and Informalities in Cold War Asia"
Session Organizer: Jeongmin Kim (University of Manitoba, Canada)
Lucrative black marketeers in rural Japan: Entrepreneurial illicit tobacco business in the late 1940s
Speakers: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University) and Jesus Solis (Harvard University, United States)
Language: English
Venue: Vancouver Convention Center, Fairmont Waterfront, and the Pan-Pacific Hotel, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
March 12-15, 2026
Seminar on the Japanese Macro Economy in the Medieval Period
Irrigation system and rice production in Korea during the interwar period
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, Japan) and Motoi Kusadokoro (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan)
Rice as a financialized food in the Japanese Empire: Colonial imports and exchanges' futures trade
Speaker: Kiyotaka Maeda (Keio University)
Language: English
Venue: Shimane University, Matsue, Japan
November 2, 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, Taiwan)
Language: English
Venue: Lund University, Lund, Sweden
July 29, 2025