Junya Otani is Project Researcher at the Turku School of Economics (TSE), University of Turku in Finland. He holds a BIT in Information Technology and Business (Cyber University, Japan) and an MSc in Maritime Law and Policy (World Maritime University, Sweden). His research is currently focused on maritime transport, maritime business as well as maritime policy.

Before TSE, he worked for the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, in the UK. He carried out the Secretariat’s duties related to international meetings of the Maritime Safety Committee and the Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue. He also led IMO’s capacity building program in South Africa for senior maritime administration officers.

He has served in numerous positions at the Japan Coast Guard (JCG). After completing a specialized course at the JCG Academy for service as an executive officer, he was assigned to the international section at JCG Headquarters where he was responsible for capacity-building assistance in the maritime security field in Southeast Asia and Africa (2017-2018), coordinating international coast guard meetings (2019-2020), and drafting international strategies (2021-2022). During his tenure, he also served for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as maritime expert in Sri Lanka and Seychelles to tackle transnational maritime crime.