Kohei is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tokyo. He received his Ph.D. from Humboldt University in Berlin. He works on ecology and political economy from a Marxist perspective. His recent best-selling book, Capital in the Anthropocene, has been credited with sparking a resurgence of interest in Marxist thought throughout Japan. Wanting to continue his research on post-capitalism and the Anthropocene, he felt the need to interact with theories and practices that are rapidly developing in Europe, especially in Germany, in response to the deepening climate and economic crises.

Kohei joins THE NEW INSTITUTE in the academic year 2024/25 as chair of the program Beyond Capitalism: War Economy and Democratic Planning.

Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism, 2023

‘’Capital’’ in the Anthropocene, 2020

Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism: Capital, Nature and the Unfinished Critique of Political Economy,
New York: Monthly Review Press, 2017