Faculty of Economics, Tohoku University
Prof. Yoh Kawana(Ph.D. University of Leicester）



Economic and Urban History

East Asian ・ West European Perspectives


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Profile and Research Interests

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Professor Kawana specializes in economic, social and urban history and has extensive research experience in UK universities. His recent studies have revealed significant areas of informality in early modern English towns and he is now working on a project on the pre-modern English economy, following the publication of a monograph on 'formality' and 'informality' in early modern Leicester. He is also exploring new ideas in the context of much broader historical issues, such as the emergence of modern European and Asian economies in comparative perspectives.

Opportunities for International Students
Lectures and seminars are on offer in English for both home and international students. Professor Kawana is currently running an English lecture series on “Comparative Economic History” for the GPEM programme. Students are encouraged to understand the differences and similarities between Asian and European economies from a wider historical perspective. Prospective research students should contact the Faculty of Economics for further information. Those who wish to study the Comparative History of Asia and Europe are especially welcome.
Lectures and Seminars
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In this lecture series, students are expected to come to understand the basic concepts and tools used in the study of Economic History, but more importantly, to recognize the power of the historical past and how it shaped the structure of advanced capitalist economies in the world. To assist our global learning process for international students, each class will be taught in both English and Japanese.

Undergraduate
Introduction to Economic History
Economic History（bilingual）
Economic History of Western Europe（bilingual）
Specialist Reading Class（bilingual）
Postgraduate
Comparative Economic History（English only）
Economic History of Western Europe（bilingual）
Economic and Business History
GPEM Workshop（English only）



Publications and Conference Papers
Books
A Mixed Sphere of Public and Private: Individuals and Civic Corporations in Early Modern England (Toyko, 2024)

The Formality and Informality in Early Modern English Towns (Tokyo, 2010)

Articles
‘The transformation of poor relief and caring facilities in medieval England. A history of urban hospitals’, The Keizai Gaku, Annual Report of Economic Society, vol. 76 (2018)

‘The growth of handicraft industries in medieval and early modern England: An urban history’, The Keizai Gaku, Annual Report of Economic Society, vol. 74 (2014)

‘State formation during the 'long seventeenth century': recent studies on public authority and civility in early modern England,’Socio-Economic History, vol. 73 (2007)

‘Trade, Sociability, and Governance in an English Incorporated Borough: 'Formal' and 'Informal' Worlds in Leicester, c.1570-1640,’ Urban History, vol. 33, 3 (2006)

‘A survey of urbanization in the English Midlands, c.1550-1750,’ The Keizai Gaku, Annual Report of Economic Society, vol. 65, 47-58 (2004)

‘Urban process in early modern England: The case of county town Leicester,’ The Comparative Urban History Review, vol. 19 (2000)

‘The impact of London's growth in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries: A new approach,’ Annual Report of the Economic Society of Tohoku University, vol. 61（1999）, 353-67		 Chapters

‘Commercialisation in medieval and early modern England: From the point of view of Urban History,’ in T. Nakano et al., eds., Exploring urban spaces in eighteenth-century English towns (Tokyo, 2012)

‘The changing economic foundation of an early modern English town: The case of an inland town, Leicester,’ in Studies on English Urban History: Towns and Regions, co-edited by the Study Group of English Urban and Rural Communities and the Tohoku University Study Group of Economic and Business History (Tokyo, 2004)

Conference Papers

The 7th International Conference on Urban History, ‘The urban foundation of the regional economy peripheral towns in the English Midlands, c.1550-1700,’ Athens, Oct. 2004

The 6th International Conference on Urban History, Session Organisaer, ‘The formal and informal economies in early modern European and Asian cities,’ Edinburgh, Sept. 2002




　　　
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