The University of Tokyo Islamic Area Studies center is comprised of two research groups, Group 1: Islam and Politics in Central Eurasia and Group 2: Structural Changes in Middles Eastern Politics. Their shared objective is empirical research that takes comparative and inter-relational approaches to the thought and political activism of Central Eurasia and the Middle East from the 18th century to the present day.

Also at Group 2, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies associate professor Aoyama Hiroyuki and others are carrying out the applied research project "Relation between Political Changes and Stereotypes in the Middle East". Here, research is conducted with the goals of clarifying how recent political changes have altered the political awareness of people in the Middle East, and offering clues for the future prospects of politics in the region.

As center reinforcement projects, we are engaged in various research-related activities such as holding international conferences, and publishing the results of our investigators and their collaborators. We employ two specially appointed researchers to maintain and supplement the work of this center.