The Regional and Global Studies Division, one of three new modes of operation adopted by the United Nations University for the implementation of its 1982-87 Medium-Term Perspective, is concerned with ensuring that the results of the University's research contribute to the global debate involving the regional and international scientific and academic communities.

Professor Mushakoji, who is particularly interested in peace research, is the former Director of the Institute of International Relations at Sophia University, Tokyo, which he founded in 1969, a year after joining the Sophia faculty. He has been a visiting professor at Princeton University and Northwestern University in the U.S.A. Subsequently, he was a Senior Specialist at the East-West Center in Hawaii and Consultant to the Committee on Society, Development and Peace in Geneva.

He is Vice-President of the International Political Science Association, and a member of the Executive Board of the Japanese Political Science Association. He is also a member of the Japanese Association of International Relations, the Japanese Peace Studies Association, and the International Peace Research Association. Among his publications are An Introduction to Peace Research, Japanese Foreign Policy in a Multi-Polar World and Behavioural Sciences and International Politics.