Researcher

Eiki Kikuchi

Senior Research Fellow
Ph.D. in Media and Governance

■Research Area
Cultural Sociology, Theories of the Information Society, Contents Tourism, Meta Tourism, Subcultures, Community Development through Culture

My research is focused on “culture.” With the progress in informatization of society, the states of politics and economy have changed. In my opinion, the culture surrounding people has also really changed. This is the starting point of my research.
I have tackled issues on the cultural phenomena of the information society, especially both in the urban and internet space. For example, how do Japanese subcultures such as anime and manga develop in both urban and internet spaces, and how do the contents uploaded to social media like YouTube and Instagram affect behaviors such as consumption and tourism of the people living in the actual space.

Brief History

Born in Hokkaido, Japan in 1987. Ph.D. in Media and Governance. Kikuchi was a researcher at Institute for Liberal Arts, Tokyo Institute of Technology ,and a researcher at the International University of Japan before assuming his current position in 2023. He specializes in cultural sociology and theories of the information society. He is also a founder and managing director of Lab.808 Inc., a director at the The Academy of Contents Tourism, and a director of Foundation for Meta Tourism. He is currently conducting research about cultural phenomena in the information society across the urban and internet spaces.

Major Works

Kikuchi, Eiki, 2019, “A New Place that Crosses Social Media and Real Space,” Hiroshi Matsui and Takeshi Okamoto eds., Social Media Studies, Tokyo: Hokujyu shuppan, 45-52.
Kikuchi, Eiki, 2019, “Cosplay Tourism : Focus on Universality of landscapes,” Takeshi Okamoto eds., Contents Tourism Studies revised and updated: Anime, manga, games, and tourism, culture, society, Tokyo: Fukumura shuppan, 186-187.
Kikuchi, Eiki and Shizuka, Masanori, 2017, “Machi-Cos” as a Contents Tourism Phenomenon : From a Case Study of “We Love Cosplay in Miyashiro 2016,” Contents tourism review 4: 24-34.
Kikuchi, Eiki, 2015, “Otakunisation in Odaiba : Focus on Accumulation of Cultural Devices,” Bulletin of Society for Changing Customs in Contemporary Japan (16): 96-107.

Major Lectures

Kikuchi, Eiki, “Tokyo the Subcultures City: Towards the New Cultural Policy,” 6th Summer School of The Working Group for Next Generations, CIRIEC-Japan, 2018.09.01. (in Japanese)
Kikuchi, Eiki, “Akihabara as a Live Entertainment City,” Tokyo Cultural Heritage Alliance 7th Public Symposium “Greater Akiba: Crossroads of Information and Knowledge,” 2018.09.06. (in Japanese, invited keynote speaker)
Kikuchi, Eiki, “Can Akihabara Develop e-Sports?,” Mini Round Table Conference “The Potential of e-Sports in the Greater Akiba,” 2019.05.05. (in Japanese)
Kikuchi, Eiki, “Kanda Matsuri Festival and Contents Tourism,”Reiwa 1st. Myoujin Juku Private Seminar Series Vol. 22, Kanda Myoujin Shrine, 2019.10.16. (in Japanese)

Major Achievements

June 2017 – present Director, The Academy of Contents Tourism
June 2018 – present Project Manager, Greater Akiba Lab, Tokyo Cultural Heritage Alliance
December 2019 – present Director, CIRIEC-Japan

Educational Background

September, 2013 – March, 2017: Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University
September, 2011 – September, 2013: Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University

Career

2011-2016: RA, Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM), International University of Japan.
2013-2015: Research Assistant Professor, Keio University Global Security Research Institute(G-SEC), Keio University.
2015-2017: Researcher, Keio University Global Security Research Institute(G-SEC), Keio University.
2017-2019: Senior Researcher, Keio Research Institute at SFC, Keio University.
2017-2019: Visiting Research Fellow, Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM), International University of Japan.
2017-present: Visiting Researcher, Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI), Keio University.
2018-present: Managing Director, Lab.808 Inc.
2018-2019: Researcher, Institute for Liberal Arts, Tokyo Institute of Technology.
2019-2023: Research Fellow / Assistant Professor, Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan, International University of Japan.
2023-2024: Senior Research Fellow / Assistant Professor, Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan, International University of Japan.
2020-present: Director, Foundation for Meta-Tourism.
2024-present: Senior Research Fellow, Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan, International University of Japan.
2024-present: Associate Professor, Faculty of Sociology, Musashi University.