Takeya Mizuno is a professor in the School of Political Science and Economics at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan. His research centers on the history of Japanese American journalists in Hawai’i and the mainland United States.

In 2025, Mizuno received a microgrant to examine licensing and censorship of the Japanese “enemy language” press in Hawai’i during World War II. Drawing on archival material, he is examining the press licensing system, censorship, and how Japanese newspapers and readers reacted to stringent press control.

Your paper from last year’s conference won the Diversity Paper Award — tell us a bit about that project and where it’s headed.

My paper “Stricter Self-Censorship under Compulsory Censorship: Self-Restraint of the Japanese ‘Enemy Language’ Press in Hawai‘i during World War II” examined how the Japanese press in Hawai‘i strictly restrained itself under the military government’s formal, compulsory censorship in the earliest phase of World War II. It illustrated how a combination of coercive and voluntary control can effectively nullify the press freedom. For future research, I would like to extend the time frame to the entire war period.

What drew you to historical research, and how did you get started?

I do not remember exactly how I got started, but I assume it developed rather gradually. The more I did, the more I came to realize that I am a long-distance type, not sprinter. It seems historical research simply fitted my personality.

Is there anything you’ve uncovered that you think journalism and media history has overlooked, or that you’d like to see more scholarship on?

I can think of two main contributions which I think I made to journalism history. One is uncovering of self-restraints of journalists, and the other is uncovering of non-English (Japanese-language) news media. I suppose both are relatively difficult fields to explore and I want to see more scholarship on.

Do you see any connections between the history you study and the present day?

Yes. Roughly saying, the past is the present and future as well because basically they all consist of what we human beings do.

What advice would you give to fellow historians?

Try not to compare yourself with others. This human nature is too deep-rooted to completely resist, but that effort definitely makes one’s research and life far easier.