SHIMIZU Sho

Sho Shimizu is a Research Fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) specializing in international space law. Holding a Master of Security Studies from the National Defense Academy of Japan, he works across both the commercial and the security dimensions of the field—from space resource development and the non-appropriation principle to the Artemis Accords and lunar governance, debris and ASAT, satellite constellations, and the role of soft law and intergenerational equity. Based in Tokyo, he examines these global questions from a Japanese and Asia-Pacific perspective.

Education

Master of International Security (March 2023, National Defense Academy of Japan)
Juris Doctor (March 2021, Keio University)

Professional Experience

2021 - Special Researcher, National Defense Academy of Japan
2026  - Japan Space Forum (JSF)

Selected Research Papers

Publications

• Sho Shimizu, “A study on the "Obligation to Submit Evidence" in the International Court of Justice,” Keio Law Journal, Vol. 47 (2022), pp. 281-302. (Research Note) (Peer-reviewed). 
• Sho Shimizu, “The Problem of Cyber-Attribution in a Legal Context-Re-assessment of "Problem of Unbalanced Evidence"-,” Information Network Law Review, Vol. 19 (2020), pp. 121-133. (Research Note) (Peer-reviewed).

Oral Presentations

• “The Manipulation of Public Opinion through SNS and the Principle of Non-Intervention in International Law -The Legality of Disinformation Strategies in COVID-19 Pandemic-” (The 20th Annual Conference of the Information Network Law Association Japan, 2020) 
• “Environmental Protection and ASAT―International Space Law in the Age of "Space Wars"” (64th Space Sciences and Technology Conference, 2020) 
• “Diversification of Soft Law in Space Activities and "Continuity with Hard Law"” (64th Space Sciences and Technology Conference, 2020) 
• “Space Resources Development and the Outer Space Treaty: Focusing on the Legal Structure of Granting Private Rights” (65th Space Sciences and Technology Conference, 2021) 
• “Revisiting the Concept of Intergenerational Equity for the Era of Space Resource Activities” (69th Space Sciences and Technology Conference, 2025)
  

Academic Columns

• “Dark and Quiet Skies” (Tsukuyomi Column, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, 2026), at: https://spacepolicyandlaw.com/tsukuyomi/dark_and_quiet_skies.html
• “Artemis Accords” (Tsukuyomi Column, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, 2026), at: https://spacepolicyandlaw.com/tsukuyomi/artemis_accords.html
• “Land Ownership and Space Law” (Tsukuyomi Column, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, 2026), at: https://spacepolicyandlaw.com/tsukuyomi/land_ownership.html
• “Interests for Future Generation and Intergenerational Equity in Space Law” (Tsukuyomi Column, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, 2026), at: https://spacepolicyandlaw.com/tsukuyomi/future_generations.html

Research funding

Adachi Mineichiro Memorial Scholarship (FY2022)

Current Research Projects

Center for Territory and History

Awards

Oda Shigeru Award, Japanese Society of International Law (2020)
West Law Award, West Law Japan (2022)