Sawako Shirahase previously held positions as a Junior Research Fellow at Columbia University, Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, and Assistant Professor at Tsukuba University, and Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo. She is now a Research Professor and the founding director of the Endowed Research Unit for Inclusive Global Future Studies at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo. She earned her D.Phil. degree in sociology from the University of Oxford.
Her primary research interests include social stratification and inequality, demographic change, gender and family dynamics, and social security systems, examined from cross-national perspectives. She currently leads a research initiative focused on building inclusive futures by addressing well-being across multiple levels—ranging from countries and regions to communities and households. She has served as principal investigator on several large-scale, longitudinal research projects and has authored numerous books and academic articles on these topics.
From 2019 to 2021, Professor Shirahase was a member of the Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science (CFRS) of the International Science Council. She also served as Vice-President for Finance and Membership of the International Sociological Association (ISA) from 2018 to 2022.
The page was updated in June 2025.
