Economic interdependence within the North Pacific - including Japan, Korea, China, and Russia, as well as the United States - has deepened markedly over the past decade. Crucial issues of war and peace have emerged on the Korean peninsula, between Japan and China, and elsewhere, together with energy and environmental questions. Converging political - economic patterns within the region have made cross-national comparison increasingly fruitful. The Northeast Asia Political Economy Seminar seeks to deepen scholarly understanding of all these trends, through focused, policy-relevant research and publication.
Each semester the Reischauer Center invites a series of major scholars and policy practitioners from across the United States and the Pacific region to Washington D.C. to discuss emerging issues relating to Northeast Asian economic and security affairs. Among the major topics to be considered during the coming year are: the trilateral role of the U.S., Japan and Canada in the North Pacific; the future of the Korean Peninsula and the Sino-Japanese relationship; Asian energy security; and prospects for Japanese political-economic reform. Recent presentations in the Northeast Asia Political Economy Seminar include the following.
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Tokyo-Reischauer Group: Online Trans-Pacific Discussion on US-Japan Relations
The Reischauer Center co-sponsors the Tokyo-Reischauer Group, a real-time online discussion group concerning US-Japan relations, for young professionals, including academics, government officials, and researchers, in cooperation with the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies, Temple University Japan campus. To further mutual trans-Pacific understanding among young professionals, it conducts focused internet dialogues, dealing with a varaety of complex global issues, including terrorism, sea-lane security, global warming, and economic development, as well as North Pacific regional matters, especially those relating to China and North Korea.
Recent Publications/ Presentations:
Paul Scalise made a presentation on the energy policy of Japan. His handout is available here.
Five members of this Tokyo-Reischauer Group, Yukie Yoshikawa of the Reischauer Center, Robert Dujarric, Takekuni Kurosawa, Devin T. Stewart, and Jemelyn Tayco have written a policy memo on Japan policy addressed to the Obama Administration.
Ken Jimbo, Keio Univeristy, a member of the Tokyo-Reischauer Group, made a a presentation on the future of Japan at the April 2009 session. Here is a summary of his presentation.
Tsuneo Watanabe, Tokyo Foundation, a member of the Tokyo-Reischauer Group, made a presentation on the future of Japan at the March 2009 session. Here is a summary of his presentation.
Yoshihide Soeya, Keio University has made a presentation on the future of Japan at the January 2009 session. Here is a summary of his presentation.
For more information, please contact the organizer, Yukie Yoshikawa, at:
yyoshik1@jhu.edu
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Visiting Scholars Program
The Reischauer Center hosts a total of up to fifteen scholars, senior journalists, and policy practitioners annually from the major nations of the North Pacific, in Washington D.C. Visiting scholars spend from several months to a year at the Reischauer Center conducting independent research, working with individual faculty, and participating in ongoing Reischauer Center activities, including the Northeast Asia Political Economy Seminar and various forms of US-Japan policy dialogue. They also lecture on occasion and make submissions to the Asia-Pacific Policy Papers series.
For more information, please contact Director Kent Calder, at: kcalder@jhu.edu.
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Reischauer Memorial Lectures
Capitalizing on a strategic Massachusetts Avenue location in Washington D.C., this series features distinguished policymakers, scholars, and cultural figures from throughout the North Pacific, speaking on key issues of public concern, relating to both economics and security.
In March 2009, we welcomed Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki who spoke on "Challenges, Changes, Chances," an evaluation of emerging opportunities for US-Japan global cooperation, at Kenney Auditorium. To hear his talk, click here.
About the speaker: Born on July 10, 1947, in 1969 Fujisaki joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving in various posts including Jakarta, Paris (Delegation to OECD), London, and Washington D.C. In 1999 became Director-General, North American Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2002 he was appointed Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs (including responsibilities as the Prime Minister's personal representative (Sherpa) to the G8 Summit, Japan's chief negotiator for FTA, and in 2005 Ambassador , Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva. Since 2008, Fujisaki has served as Ambassador of Japan to the United States of America. He is married to Yoriko Fujisaki, with two daughters.
In February 2006, we welcomed Japanese Ambassador Ryozo Kato for his address on "US-Japan Relations in a Globalizing World at the Kenney Auditorium of SAIS, JHU.
Yasuhiro Nakasone, former Prime Minister of Japan, also spoke on "Postwar Japanese Politics and Current Affairs" along with Kent Calder, at the Kenney Auditorium in November 2004.
Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank, and former Japanese Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, also spoke on "Japan's Economic Recovery and Structural Reform” at the Reischauer Center in February 2004.
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International Conferences
The Reischauer Center also furthers trans-Pacific dialogue through periodic international conferences on current topics of policy and academic concern.
The Obama Administration and US-Japan Relations
In late November, 2008, the Reischauer Center co-sponsored with the Keizai Koho Center in Tokyo and extended discussion of prospects for US-Japan relations under the Obama Administration. Participants included Dr. Kent Calder, Director of the Reischauer Center, Ambassador Rust Deming, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; and Professor Yoshihide Soeya of Keio University.
U.S.-Japan Dialogue on Korea
In August 2007, the Reischauer Center co-sponsored a major conference with Japan’s largest international wire service, Kyodo News Agency in Tokyo. “Dealing with the Korean Peninsula: Uncertainties and Options” was the theme. The speakers included Ambassador Tanaka Hitoshi, formerly Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Don Oberdorfer, author of The Two Koreas, and former Chief Diplomatic Correspondent of The Washington Post; Professor Izumi Hajime of Shizuoka University, prominent North Korea specialist; and Reischauer Center Director Kent Calder.
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US-Japan Dialogue on Energy Security
In March 2007, the Reischauer Center held a major conference on “Economic Change and Energy Security in Northeast Asia: Implications for Japan and the United States,” at the Roppongi Hills Academy in Tokyo, focusing on the critical relations among economic growth, energy security, and stable trade interdependence. Among the major speakers were METI Trade Policy Bureau Director General Toyoda Masakazu; Japan Economic Research Center President Kojima Akira; U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) President Charles Lake; and U.S. Embassy Minister Counselor for Political Affairs Michael Meserve.
US-Korea FTA and its implications for US-Japan Relations
A mini-international conference was held in October 2006, titled "Free Trade in the North Pacific? Implications of a KORUS FTA for US-Japan Economic Relations". The luncheon speaker was Kurt Tong, Director of Asian Economic Affairs in National Security Council, followed by a panel discussion. The participants included Andrew Conrad, Senior Vice President and Counsel of Aflac International Inc.; Hiroaki Ishii, Minister at the Embassy of Japan; Amy Jackson, Former Deputy Assistant for Korea Affairs, USTR and Director of C & M International; Jessica Webster, Director, Economic Section, Office of Japan Affairs, US Department of State; Joseph Winder, former President of Korea Economic Institute and President of Winder International; and Kent Calder.
US-Japan Dialogue on Geopolitical Risk
This international conference was co-sponsored between the Reischauer Center and the Policy Research Institute of the Japanese Ministry of Finance. It was held in Tokyo during February 2004, dealing with geopolitical risk and future prospects for the East Asian economy. Participants included senior scholars from the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Seoul National University, and SAIS, as well as, prominent policy practitioners. MOF Vice Minister for International Affairs Zembei Mizoguchi hosted a concluding reception.
Joint Conference with the MOF: Future Prospects for the East Asia Economy and Related Geopolitical Risk
Conference Co-Chairs: Reischauer Center Director Kent Calder along with Shigeo Kashiwagi and Haruhiko Kuroda of the MOF
David Shear - Political Minister-Counselor, US Embassy (Tokyo), and a SAIS alumnus
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US-Japan Policy Dialogue: Accent on Cooperation
Despite close security cooperation and substantial economic interdependence, US-Japan non-givernmental policy dialogue remains surprisingly limited, particularly on the subject of potential cooperation. The Reischauer Center seeks to promote exchange of practical ideas for such trans-Pacific cooperation in areas affecting the everyday lives of citizens, including:
Security
Energy
Education
Medicine and Health
Mass Transit
Both bilateral subjects and matters for broader cooperation within the Pacific region are considered.
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Annual Year Book
The Reischauer Center annually coordinates and supports the publication of a year book focusing on U.S.-Japan relations. The focus of the book is on the past year’s events in Japan that directly and/or indirectly have an effect on the United States and other major countries around the world. The book is circulated, in both English and Japanese, to the United States Congress, the Japanese Parliament, think tanks, selected universities, and various specialists in U.S.-Japan relations, as it has been for nearly two decades. This publication, now a quarter century old, is the longest continuing survey of US-Japan relations available anywhere in the world.
Both authors and editors are graduate students in the Japan Studies program at SAIS, working in cooperation with knowledgable bilingual faculty, who are also experienced foreign-policy professionals. Throughout the course of their second year, the students research and interview experts in the field of U.S.-Japan relations, after completing a rigorous academic introduction to their subject. Besides receiving academic credit for their contribution to the publication, the goal of the Japan Studies students is to help bring an understanding to contemporary U.S.-Japan relations and provide a framework for the maintenance of the U.S.-Japan relationship.
The latest edition is available here.
Requests for hard copies of the Year Book should be sent to:
The Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies
The Johns Hopkins University-SAIS
1619 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Suite 638
Washington DC 20036