Shaun Yajima (Watanabe)

Shaun Yajima (Watanabe) is a PhD student in Economic History at the University of Tokyo and TU Bergakademie Freiberg. Shaun’s research interest lies in the history of business regulation and governance in the 20th century, with a geographical focus on Germany and Japan. From September 2026, Shaun will be visiting Prof. Sabine Pitteloud at UniDistance Suisse, supported by the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship.

During his stay in Brig, Shaun will complete his doctoral thesis, tentatively titled “The Fourth Estate against Market Power: How the Media Disciplined Cartels in Germany, 1890–1914.” His dissertation examines the role of the mass media and the public sphere in controlling industrial cartels in turn-of-the-century Germany and in so doing seeks to better comprehend the media as a control apparatus over powerful corporate entities. In addition to this project, Shaun also aims during his visit to prepare a Swiss-Japanese joint project on the history of business regulation “from below” with the perspectives of business actors put back in.