Policy in Japan: September in Washington

Prime Minister Abe campaigning

US-Japan Research Institute (USJI) holds an annual week of programs in Washington, DC on Japanese public policy featuring speakers from the Institute's associated universities in Japan.

September 3 - 9 is this year's week of presentation and discussion. 

USJI's  mission is to produce practical research results based on a sound academic base, and to strategically establish a leading-edge research base in Washington, DC from which to announce its results and contribute to the policy discussion.

USJI is an APP member and APP interns will be assisting USJI interns at the events. Please say hello!

You can find more information and locations by clicking on each seminar's title.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN THE US-JAPAN ALLIANCE. 9/3, 10:00-11:30am. Speakers: Hiroshi Nakanishi, Professor, Kyoto University; Michael J. Green, Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, CSIS.  What are the steps policymakers in Tokyo and Washington should take to further strengthen this essential relationship?

TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH BASED ON MOLECULAR CRANIOFACIAL DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELATED CLINICAL ACTIVITIES IN DENTISTRY. 9/3, 1:00-2:30pm. Speakers: Harold C. Slavkin, Founding Director, USC Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology and Professor, Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC; Yoshihide Mori, Professor and Chair, Kyushu University.  Discussion of the present conditions and problems in furthering the exchange of medical researchers between the US, Japan, and Southeast Asia. 

SOCIAL INNOVATION THROUGH RAILROAD INNOVATION: JAPAN'S EXPERIENCE AND POSSIBILITIES FOR US-JAPAN COOPERATION. 9/4, 10:00-11:30am. Speakers: Satoshi Seino, Chairman, East Japan Railway Company; Karen Hedlund, Deputy Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration.  An overview of the postwar history of Japanese railroads and how JR East's can use its experience to contribute to innovation, especially high speed rail, in the US.

IMPROVING POLICY AND PRACTICE ON RETURN MIGRATION AFTER NATURAL DISASTERS.  9/4, 3:00-4:00pm.  Speakers: Mikiyasu Nakayama, Operating Advisor , USJI / Professor, The University of Tokyo; Carl Bruch, Senior Attorney, Co-Director, International Programs, Environmental Law Institute(ELI); Nicholas S. Bryner, Visiting Associate Professor, George Washington University. Discussion of policy priorities, public perceptions, and policy options for encouraging post-disaster return migration in the United States and Japan.

POLITICS AND FINANCIAL MARKETS (Tentative). 9/5, 5:00pm.  Speaker: Nobuhiko Hibara, Associate Professor, Waseda University.

DYNAMISM OF DOMESTIC POLITICS AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION POLICY AMONG CHINA, JAPAN, AND THE US.  9/5, 1:00-3:00pm. Speakers: Takashi Terada, Operating Advisor, USJI and Professor, Doshisha University; Matthew P. Goodman, William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy and Senior Adviser for Asian Economics, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Min Ye, Professor, Boston University; Mireya Solis, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies, Brookings Insitution. Explores the inter-linked relationship between domestic politics and international behavior among China, Japan and the United States in Asia-Pacific helping and hindering regional integration.

WOMEN AND FOREIGN WORKERS: NEW STAKEHOLDERS OF ABENOMICS?   9/8, 10:00-11:30am.  Speakers: Keiji Nakatsuji, Operating Advisor , USJI  and Professor, Ritsumeikan University; Junya Tsutsui, Professor, Ritsumeikan University; Apichai W. Shipper, Adjunct Associate Professor, Asia Studies Program, School of Foreign Services, Georgetown University; Linda Hasunuma, Assistant Professor, Franklin and Marshall College. Discussion of the obstacles that women and immigrants confront in the Japanese workforce.

THE CHALLENGES OF JAPAN-US RELATION IN EAST ASIAN COMMUNITY: TOWARD NORTHEAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA. 9/8, 3:00-4:30pm.  Speakers: Toru Oga, Associate Professor, Kyushu University; Yoichiro Sato, Professor, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. Discussions of the security problems in Northeast  and Southeast Asia, and how U.S.-Japan relations have been able to contribute to the construction of an East Asian community.

TEACHING THE JAPANESE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN.  9/9, 10:00-11:30am.  Speakers: Jane H. Yamashiro, Visiting Scholar, Asian American Studies Center, University of California; Curtiss Rooks, Professor, Assistant Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies, Loyola Marymount University; Mitch Maki, Vice Provost, Academic Affairs, California State University Dominguez Hills; Yasushi Watanabe, Professor, Keio University. Examines the academic narrative of the history of Japanese American communities and how Japan can connect to them.