Federica Costantino

Research Topic

My research investigates the worldmaking project of lawyer Sumioka Tomoyoshi, a well renowned figure in 1930s Japan but today largely forgotten. His “Destiny Community”, as he put it, was one of the most far-flung vision in 1930s Japan, encompassing US black people, Egypt, Hungary, and Ethiopia.

While Sumioka himself left little written on his ideas and practices of racial equality, my research examines his followers and his actions, which ultimately paved the way for an understudied trajectory of transnational efforts aiming at connecting Japan and the wider world.

My research is generously supported by, among others, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, the Faculty of History, and the Queen’s College.

B.A. Japanese Studies, La Sapienza University of Rome

M.A. Japanese Politics and International Relations, L'Orientale University of Naples

M.A. East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University 

Publications:

Costantino, Federica. “‘The First Step towards Racial Equality’: The Kuroda-Araya Engagement and the Dream of a Transnational Non-White Alliance.” Modern Asian Studies, 2025, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X24000507.

Supervisor: Professor Sho Konishi