Conrad Yu Hirano
Conrad Yu Hirano
PBRC Postdoctoral Fellow 2026-27
Advocates of coal smoke abatement understood pollution as both a domestic and a global problem—intertwined with resource scarcity, imperial expansion, and public welfare—and actively engaged with counterparts in the West, introducing international scientific knowledge, technological innovations, and policy frameworks to Japanese audiences.
Dr. Conrad Hirano is the 2026–27 Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Pacific Basin Research Center, Soka University of America. Conrad earned his PhD in History from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL), where his doctoral dissertation offered the first comprehensive study of how Japanese people perceived and addressed urban air pollution and anti-smoke campaigns from the 1880s to the 1990s. Previously, he received an MA in History from Montana State University (Bozeman, MT), where he examined the century-long history of smoke abatement efforts in modern Japan, and earned his BA as an undergraduate at Soka University of America. His research has been supported by numerous awards, including the Japanese Studies Doctoral Fellowship from the Japan Foundation. Additionally, Conrad has taught at Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago, IL), and North Central College (Naperville, IL). At Soka, he is teaching courses in the Humanities concentration as well as sections of Introduction to the Pacific Basin.