Jiangcheng Wu, Ph.D., is a Lecturer at the School of Japanese and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University. He received his doctorate in sociology from Kyoto University. His research focuses on East Asian societies, cultural sociology, media, and the middle class. He is the author of The Formation of Urban New Middle-Class Culture in Contemporary China: The Construction of the Xiaozi (2024, Tokyo: Akashi Shoten), and has published extensively in academic journals such as Shakaigaku Hyōron (Sociological Review), Media Studies, and the Asian Journal of Social Science. His current research explores the reproduction of middle-class culture, cultural shifts among East Asian youth, and the discursive construction of area studies, aiming to advance interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approaches in the social sciences.