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Special Events

Thank you for your interest in this event. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have postponed this event.

The U.S.-China trade war and the ongoing COVID pandemic continue to rattle worldwide supply chains. In addition, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is further exacerbating matters, as Japan and Western nations impose economic sanctions against Russia. The International Monetary Fund has slashed its expectations for global growth forecast, due to the Ukraine war and sanctions on Russia. In particular, the current geopolitical situation associated with the Russia-Ukraine war is expected to further severe the global supply chain, instilling an urgency for many countries to discuss the restructuring of supply chains. What are the short- and long-term impacts of this supply chain disruption? How will it affect the United States and Japan? In this program, experts discuss the current geopolitical tensions, the impact of economic sanctions on Russia on the global supply chain, and the outlook for 2022 and beyond.

This event is for corporate members only.For more information about corporate membership, please click here.

Speakers
Ken-ichi Kawamoto, President, JETRO New York
Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, Managing Director & Vice Chair, SVC Public Affairs, Sard Verbinnen & Co.; former Deputy and Acting U.S. Trade Representative; former Special Assistant to the President at the National Security Council, and at the State Department

Moderator
Joshua W. Walker, Ph.D., President & CEO, Japan Society

Agenda

  12-12:30 pm: Registration & Reception
12:30-1 pm:  Luncheon (Buffet)
1-2 pm:  Discussion and Q&A

Program Details
This is a corporate member only event. Free admission for corporate members (up to a designated number of tickets), with advance registration required. Corporate member code is required to register for the event. If you don’t know your corporate member code, please contact Corporate Membership at corp-membership@japansociety.org.

Please note that seating is limited and on a first come, first served basis.

For more information, please contact the Business and Policy Program at register@japansociety.org.

Global Supply Chains Outlook: Geopolitical Risks & COVID-19

Live Webinar
Thursday, July 14, 7-8 pm ET | Calculate your local time

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest serving prime minister, was assassinated during a campaign appearance in Nara, Japan on July 8, 2022. At the time of his death, though no longer prime minister, he was one of Japan’s most powerful and influential figures. In this webinar, Dr. Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Columbia University and Dr. Ryo Sahashi, Associate Professor of International Relations, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at The University of Tokyo, in conversation with Japan Society Chair Merit E. Janow, discuss former Prime Minister Abe’s legacy and the impact  of his murder on Japanese society and foreign policy.

Speakers

Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Columbia University; Chairman, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation; Core Faculty, Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School; Distinguished Research Fellow, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research; Member of the Board of Directors, Japan Society

Ryo Sahashi, Associate Professor of International Relations, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo; Research Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange

Moderator
Merit E. Janow, Dean Emerita, School of International and Public Affairs; Professor of Practice in International Economic Law and International Affairs, Columbia University; Chair of the Board of Directors, Mastercard; Chair of the Board of Directors, Japan Society

Agenda
7-8 pm ET &emsp;&emsp;	Conversation and Q&A Session

Program Details
This is a free event, with advance registration required. The program will be live-streamed through YouTube, and registrants will receive the viewing link by email the day before the event. Participants can submit questions through YouTube during the live stream.

About the Speakers

Gerald L. Curtis  is Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Columbia University, Chairman of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Senior Research Scholar and former longtime Director of Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute.

Professor Curtis is the author of numerous books and articles dealing with Japanese politics, society, and foreign policy, written and published in English and in Japanese.  His commentaries are published frequently in newspapers and magazines in the US, Japan, Australia, Britain and other countries.

Professor Curtis is the recipient of the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize, the Chunichi Shimbun Special Achievement Award, the Japan Foundation Award, the Marshall Green Award of the Japan-America Society of Washington D.C., and the Eagle on the World Award of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York. He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Emperor of Japan, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Japanese government.

Professor Curtis serves on the Board of Directors of the Japan Society of New York, the Japan Center for International Exchange in Tokyo and its affiliate JCIE USA in New York, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He has served as Special Advisor to Newsweek for Newsweek Japan, the international advisory board of the Asahi Shimbun, columnist for the  Chunichi and Tokyo Shimbun, the advisory council for the Center for Global Partnership of the Japan Foundation, the Board of Directors of the US-Japan Foundation, and Director of the US-Japan Parliamentary Exchange Program.  He serves as consultant and advisor to numerous public and private organizations in the US and Japan.

Professor Curtis has held appointments at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London; the College de France, Paris; the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore; and in Tokyo at Keio, Tokyo and Waseda University, the Graduate Research Institute for Policy Studies and the Institute for International Economic Studies.

Dr. Ryo Sahashi specializes on international politics in East Asia. His recent book is In a Search for Coexistence: the United States and Two Chinas during the Cold War (Tokyo: Keiso, 2015). In English, he recently edited Looking for Leadership: The Dilemma of Political Leadership in Japan (Tokyo and New York: Japan Center for International Exchange, 2015), and wrote on the impact of rising China on Asian order, Japan’s security policy and Japan-Taiwan relations. Now he is writing his next book on US-China competition and leading two group studies on the alliance and order after the end of the Cold War.

Concurrently, he serves as Research Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange. He regularly contributes to NHK, Nikkei, Asahi, Mainichi, Yomiuri and other major media outlets.

Dr. Sahashi has taught at Kanagawa University as professor until March, 2019 and has been Visiting Associate Professor, Walter H. Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center, Stanford University and Shigeru Yoshida Chair, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). He joined University of Tokyo from April, 2019, and concurrently, Associate Professor, Future Vision Research Institute, the University of Tokyo.

He also served as adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Tokyo Foundation-German Marshall Fund of the United States Partnership Fellow, and Guest Researcher for First Special Committee Research Office, House of Councilors. He is the member of UK-Japan 21stCentury Committee.

He received his B.A. from International Christian University and his Ph.D. from the Graduate Schools for Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo. He also studied at Department of Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

About the Moderator
Merit E. Janow is an internationally recognized expert in international trade and investment. She has extensive experience in business, academia and government, and has had life long involved with Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.  Janow has been on the faculty of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and Columbia Law School since 1994, and served as Dean of SIPA from July 2013 until December 2021. She has written three books and numerous articles.   Professor Janow has had three periods of government service: In December 2003, while at Columbia University, she was elected as one of the seven Members of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body.  In the course of her four years of service, she reviewed more than 30 appeals. From 1997-2000, Janow served as the Executive Director of the first international antitrust advisory committee to the Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust of the US Justice Department.  From 1989 to 1993, prior to joining Columbia, Janow served as Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China in the Executive Office of the President. Janow has also had extensive corporate and nonprofit board experience. She currently serves on the board of Mastercard (Chair), several boards within the American Funds/Capital group, and Aptiv. She was previously Chair of the Nasdaq Stock Market for nearly a decade, Trimble Corp. and Rockefeller Financial.  Janow also serves on non profit boards of Japan Society and the National Committee on US China Relations. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. She is on the global advisory council of MUFG and was an inaugural member of the international advisory council of China’s sovereign fund, the China Investment Corporation (CIC).  Early in her career, Janow was a corporate lawyer specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York. She grew up in Tokyo, Japan and speaks Japanese. She has a JD from Columbia Law School where she was a Stone Scholar and a BA in Asian Studies with honors from the University of Michigan.-->

Register

The Legacy of Shinzo Abe & the Aftermath of His Assassination 

OKINAWA IN FOCUS SERIES open_in_new

Live Webinar
Wednesday, June 8 at 7-8 pm ET | Calculate your local time

As part of Okinawa in Focus, a special year-long series commemorating the 50-year anniversary of Okinawa's reversion to Japan from the United States, this webinar explores the crucial role Okinawa has played in U.S.-Japan security relations, serving both Japanese and American strategic interests. Due to the islands' geo-strategic location, Okinawa is host to a significant number of U.S. military bases in Japan that maintain peace and security in the region. What is Okinawa’s role in the U.S.-Japan security relationship? Will it remain a strategically important hub? As the war in Ukraine brings a historic spotlight on the importance of strengthening geopolitical alliances and strategic interests across the globe, our U.S.-Japan security experts discuss the current geopolitical situation, Okinawa’s significance today, and its future role in U.S.-Japan relations.

View the full program below:




Video Message
The Honorable Yasuhiro “Denny” Tamaki, Governor, Okinawa Prefecture

Speakers
Masaaki Gabe, Emeritus Professor, The University of the Ryukyus
Sheila A. Smith, John E. Merow Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Moderator
Joshua W. Walker, Ph.D., President & CEO, Japan Society

Agenda
7-8 pm ET – Video Message, Discussion and Q&A Session

Program Details
This is a free event, with advance registration required. The program will be live-streamed through YouTube, and registrants will receive the viewing link by email the day before the event. Participants can submit questions through YouTube during the live stream.

About the Speakers

Professor Masaaki Gabe is a specialist in international politics, having previously taught courses on International Relations, including U.S.-Japan relations at several universities. He is a native Okinawan. He studied at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, and completed his Ph. D. in Asian Studies in 1983.  Furthermore, he served as Special Assistant to the Ambassador at the Japanese Embassy in Manila, Philippines from 1985-1986. After joining the University of the Ryukyus, he expanded his academic work to focus on security studies.  He received the US-Japan Friendship grant, conducting research at the Sigur Center at George Washington University, and publishing his work on how the Okinawa Reversion was carried out in 1972. In addition, Gabe published numerous works on U.S.-Japan relations and East Asia’s security issue from a politico-military standpoint. He was Director of International Institute for Okinawan Studies at the University of the Ryukyus from 2010-2013, and a board member of the Japan Association of International Relations in 2013-2014. He devoted a year of sabbatical leave in 2014-2015 to research and publish on the Okinawa Reversion based on archival records from both governments. Furthermore, he was appointed as Emeritus Professor at the University of the Ryukyus in March 2020. His new book entitled U. S. Military Transformation in the Northeast Asia: Focusing on Korean Peninsula and Japan (in Japanese with co-author) will come out this summer.

Sheila A. Smith is John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, she is the author of Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power, Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China (released in Japanese as 日中 親愛なる宿敵: 変容する日本政治と対中政策), and Japan's New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance. She is also the author of the CFR interactive guide Constitutional Change in Japan. Smith is a regular contributor to the CFR blog Asia Unbound and a frequent contributor to major media outlets in the United States and Asia. Smith joined CFR from the East-West Center in 2007, where she directed a multinational research team in a cross-national study of the domestic politics of the U.S. military presence in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. She was a visiting scholar at Keio University in 2007-08, where she researched Japan’s foreign policy towards China, supported by the Abe Fellowship. Smith has been a visiting researcher at two leading Japanese foreign and security policy think tanks, the Japan Institute of International Affairs and the Research Institute for Peace and Security, and at the University of Tokyo and the University of the Ryukyus. Smith is chair of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the U.S. advisors to the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON), a binational advisory panel of government officials and private-sector members. She teaches as an adjunct professor at the Asian studies department of Georgetown University and serves on the board of its Journal of Asian Affairs. She also serves on the advisory committee for the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future program of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. Smith earned her MA and PhD from the political science department at Columbia University.


About the Moderator

Joshua W. Walker, Ph.D., is President and CEO of Japan Society and has held positions of leadership at Eurasia Group, the USA Pavilion of the 2017 World Expo, the APCO Institute and APCO Worldwide. He has served in the State Department and the Defense Department; is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress; co-founded the Yale Journal of International Affairs; and attended the University of Richmond, Yale and Princeton Universities.


The Okinawa & U.S.-Japan Security Alliance in Critical Times

Live Webinar
Monday, May 9 at 7-8 pm EST | Calculate your local time

The present conflict between Ukraine and Russia is altering the global geopolitical landscape, bringing about a major shift in relations between Russia and Western nations. In addition, as China’s influence continues to grow in Asia and around the world, U.S.-China relations are increasingly strained, with the major powers disagreeing on trade, technology, security and, more recently, the future of Taiwan. How does the current uncertainty affect U.S.-Japan relations and what are the priorities for the U.S.-Japan alliance? How will the Quad impact Asia’s geopolitics? In this webinar, speakers examine the current state of world affairs, and discuss the implications for Japan and the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

Watch the full program:

Speakers
Nobukatsu Kanehara, Professor, Doshisha University; Senior Advisor, The Asia Group; former Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Joseph Nye, University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus & former Dean, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

Moderator
Takako Hikotani, Professor, Gakushuin University International Centre; Visiting Professor, School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California at San Diego

Agenda
7-8 pm EST – Discussion and Q&A Session

Program Details
This is a free event, with advance registration required. The program will be live-streamed through YouTube, and registrants will receive the viewing link by email the day before the event. Participants can submit questions through YouTube during the live stream.

About the Speakers

Mr. Nobukatsu Kanehara served as Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from 2012 to 2019. In 2013, Mr. Kanehara also became the inaugural Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat, a role which he held until his retirement from government service in 2019. He also served as Deputy Director of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
Mr. Kanehara’s role in the Cabinet built on a distinguished career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served in a number of notable positions. These included the Director-General of Bureau of International Law, Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Policy Bureau, Ambassador in charge of the United Nations and Human Rights, He served abroad as Deputy Chief of Mission in Seoul, Republic of Korea and Political Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Washington. He was decorated by the president of Republic of France with l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur.


Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He received his bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. He has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Chair of the National Intelligence Council, and a Deputy Under Secretary of State.  His most recent books include The Powers to Lead, The Future of Power, Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era, and Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Academy of Diplomacy. In a recent survey of international relations scholars, he was ranked as the most influential scholar on American foreign policy, and in 2011, Foreign Policy named him one of the top 100 Global Thinkers. In 2014, Japan awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun.


About the Moderator

Takako Hikotani  is Professor at Gakushuin University International Centre, and concurrently Visiting Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California at San Diego and Policy Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute / Asia Society Japan. From 2016 to 2021, she was the Gerald L. Curtis Associate Professor of Modern Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy at Columbia University, and has previously taught at the National Defense Academy of Japan. Her publications (in English) include, "The Japanese Diet and defense policy-making," International Affairs, 94:1, July, 2018; "Trump's Gift to Japan: Time for Tokyo to Invest in the Liberal Order," Foreign Affairs, September/October 2017. Takako received her B.A. and M.A. from Keio University, M.A. from Stanford　University, and Ph.D. from Columbia University where she was a President's Fellow.


Asia’s Geopolitical Landscape: China’s Rise & U.S.-Japan Relations

Live Webinar
Thursday, February 17 at 7-7:45 pm EST | Calculate your local time

Asia’s trade landscape is undergoing seismic shifts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, as well as the U.S.-China trade dispute. It is further complicated by the establishment of two massive trading blocs: the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest trade deal with 15 member countries including Japan and China, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which China, Taiwan and South Korea have signaled interest in joining. Neither include the United States as a member. How will these trade blocs affect trade between the U.S. and Japan and the Asian region? In this webinar, U.S.-Japan experts discuss trade in the Asia-Pacific region, the significance of RCEP and CPTPP, and the future of trade in Asia.

Speakers
Akira Amari, Advisor, Research Commission on the Tax System; Head, Headquarters for Economic Security Measure, Policy Research Council; former Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy; Member of the House of Representatives
Michael Froman, Vice Chairman & President, Strategic Growth, Mastercard; Member of the Board of Directors, Japan Society; former U.S. Trade Representative (2013-2017)


Moderator
Merit E. Janow, Former Dean, School of International and Public Affairs; Professor of Practice in International Economic Law and International Affairs, Columbia University; Chair of the Board of Directors, Mastercard; Member of the Board of Directors, Japan Society

Agenda
7-7:45 pm &emsp;&emsp; Discussion and Q&A Session

Program Details
This is a free event, with advance registration required. The program will be live-streamed through YouTube, and registrants will receive the viewing link by email the day before the event. Participants can submit questions through YouTube during the live stream.



About the Speakers

Akira Amari is currently Advisor of the Research Commission on the Tax System, Head of the Headquarters for Economic Security Measure for the Policy Research Council, and Member of the House of Representatives. He also served as Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy.

He was born on August 27, 1949, in Kanagawa, Japan, located just south of Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University with a major degree in political science, he joined Sony Corporation in 1972. Two years later, he started working for his father Tadashi Amari, who served as the Member of the House of Representatives. In 1983, Amari began his own political career. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time, and is currently serving his twelfth consecutive term.

Amari has held numerous positions in multiple administrations and in the Liberal Democratic Party including:
-Minister of Labor (1998-Obuchi administration)
-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (2006- Abe administration, Fukuda administration)
-Minister of State for Regulatory Reform, Administrative Reform, and Civil Service Reform (2008- Aso administration)
-Chairperson, Policy Research Council, LDP (2012-)
-Chairperson, Headquarters for Promoting Administrative Reform, LDP (2017-)
-Chairperson, Election Strategy Committee, LDP (2018-)

In December 2012, Amari was appointed as the Minister for Economic Revitalization, and the Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Amari’s responsibilities covered policy-making and implementing Abenomics, negotiating and reaching agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal, and initiating corporate tax reform. He has been chosen as one of the "50 Most Influential" people in global finance in the 2013 edition of Bloomberg market magazine. Amari is currently the Chairperson of the Research Commission on the Tax System for the Liberal Democratic Party and leads fundamental tax reforms to make Japanese Economy digitally cutting edged and innovative.

Amari resides with his wife in Tokyo and is a father of two daughters. He is also blessed with two little grandchildren.

Mike Froman serves as vice chairman and president, Strategic Growth for Mastercard. In that role he is responsible for growing strategic partnerships, scaling new business opportunities, and advancing the company’s efforts to partner with governments and other institutions to address major societal and economic issues. He and his team drive financial inclusion and inclusive growth efforts and work to develop new businesses key to the company’s strategic growth.

Mike is chairman of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and is a member of the company’s management committee.

From 2013 to 2017, Mike served as the U.S. Trade Representative, President Barack Obama’s principal advisor and negotiator on international trade and investment issues. During his tenure, Mike worked to open foreign markets for U.S. goods and services, reach landmark trade agreements and enforce the rights of American workers, farmers and firms. From 2009-2013, he served at the White House as assistant to the President and deputy national security
advisor for international economic affairs.

Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Mike held several executive positions at Citigroup, including CEO of its international insurance business, COO of its alternative investments business and head of its infrastructure and sustainable development investment business. He helped shape the company’s strategy in China, India, Brazil and other emerging markets. Earlier in his career, during the Clinton Administration, he worked at the White House and the Treasury Department.

Mike is a distinguished fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company and a Member of the Board of Directors for the Japan Society.

Mike received a bachelor’s degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University, a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, and a law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.


About the Moderator

Merit E. Janow is an internationally recognized expert in international trade and investment. She has extensive experience in business, academia and government, and has had life long involved with Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.  Janow has been on the faculty of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and Columbia Law School since 1994, and served as Dean of SIPA from July 2013 until December 2021. She has written three books and numerous articles.   Professor Janow has had three periods of government service: In December 2003, while at Columbia University, she was elected as one of the seven Members of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body. In the course of her four years of service, she reviewed more than 30 appeals. From 1997-2000, Janow served as the Executive Director of the first international antitrust advisory committee to the Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust of the US Justice Department. From 1989 to 1993, prior to joining Columbia, Janow served as Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China in the Executive Office of the President. Janow has also had extensive corporate and nonprofit board experience. She currently serves on the board of Mastercard (Chair), several boards within the American Funds/Capital group, and Aptiv. She was previously Chair of the Nasdaq Stock Market for nearly a decade, Trimble Corp. and Rockefeller Financial. Janow also serves on non profit boards of Japan Society and the National Committee on US China Relations. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. She is on the global advisory council of MUFG and was an inaugural member of the international advisory council of China’s sovereign fund, the China Investment Corporation (CIC).  Early in her career, Janow was a corporate lawyer specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York. She grew up in Tokyo, Japan and speaks Japanese. She has a JD from Columbia Law School where she was a Stone Scholar and a BA in Asian Studies with honors from the University of Michigan.


Seismic Shifts: U.S.-Japan Leaders on Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region  

OKINAWA IN FOCUS SERIES open_in_new

Live Webinar
Tuesday, February 1 at 7-8 pm EST | Calculate your local time

Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface and are vital to the world economy. The ocean economy is estimated at $2.5 trillion in goods and services annually—equivalent to 5 percent of global GDP—and is the 7th largest economy in the world. However, increasing greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have had a significant impact, resulting in decline of marine life and extreme weather events. How is climate change posing a threat to the world’s oceans? What are the promises of a blue economy? In this webinar, speakers discuss how climate change is affecting marine life, with a particular focus on Okinawa’s waters, and the importance of transitioning to a sustainable ocean economy.

Speakers
Timothy Ravasi, Professor of Marine Science & Principal Investigator, Marine Climate Change Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
Charlotte de Fontaubert, Global Lead for the Blue Economy, World Bank


Moderator
Robert B. Dunbar, W.M. Keck Professor at the School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University; Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment

Agenda
7-7:45 pm &emsp;&emsp; Discussion
7:45-8 pm &emsp;&emsp; Q&A Session

Program Details
This is a free event, with advance registration required. The program will be live-streamed through YouTube, and registrants will receive the viewing link by email on the day before the event. Participants can submit questions through YouTube during the live stream.

In commemoration of the 50-year anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, Japan Society is engaging in a dynamic year-long exploration of the archipelago’s people, culture, history, and geopolitical significance. See more upcoming events from the Okinawa in Focus series &rarr;

Climate Change & the Blue Economy: Diving into Okinawa’s Waters

OKINAWA IN FOCUS SERIES open_in_new

Live Webinar
Wednesday, October 20, 7-8:15 pm EDT | Calculate your local time

With vaccination rates increasing, businesses re-opening and countries loosening restrictions, people are slowly emerging from their homes and resuming their daily lives after over one and half years of a global pandemic. While vaccinations have helped to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and substantially reduced the severity, COVID and COVID variants continue to infect those across the globe with no end in sight. Many of us need to mentally prepare for a new normal, as we recognize that life is not the same as it was in the past. Additionally, the pandemic has created uncertainty in nearly every aspect of daily life, and has taken a toll on our mental wellbeing. What effect has the pandemic had on mental health? What are some healthy ways to cope with coronavirus-related anxiety? In this webinar, mental health experts share their insights into the psychological impact of living in a COVID-19 world in Japan and the United States, and how we can best transition to this new way of life.

View the full program below:




Speakers:
Tom Froese, Assistant Professor, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST)-->
Jeremy Hunter, Founding Director of the Executive Mind Leadership Institute & Associate Professor of Practice, Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University
Kaori Itokazu, Counselor, Ganjuu Wellbeing Service, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST)
Mark James, Philosopher & Cognitive Scientist, Embodied Cognitive Science Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST)

Moderator:
Ramona Handel-Bajema, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer, Japan Society

Agenda:
7-8:15 pm EDT &emsp;&emsp;	Discussion and Q&A

Admission:
This is a free event. You must register for the webinar to receive the login details.

For more information, please contact the Box Office at 212-715-1258 or email boxoffice@japansociety.org.

In commemoration of the 50-year anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, Japan Society is engaging in a dynamic year-long exploration of the archipelago’s people, culture, history, and geopolitical significance. See more upcoming events from the Okinawa in Focus series &rarr;

About the Speakers

Tom Froese is a cognitive scientist with a background in computer science and complex systems. He investigates the interactive basis of life and mind with a variety of methods, including evolutionary robotics, agent-based modeling, sensory substitution interfaces, artificial neural networks, and virtual reality. He is particularly known for his contributions to the field of artificial life and to the enactive approach to cognitive science. One of the central questions that guides Froese’s research is: how are agents transformed by the interactions in which they participate with others? He explores this question across various scales of analysis, including the origins of life, the origins of social awareness, the origins of symbolic communication, and the origins of large-scale social organization. Another important aspect of Froese’s research is to reveal the essential role of tools and technology, and of environmental mediation more generally, in facilitating these qualitative transitions in the complexity of life and mind. As a paradigmatic case study, he studies how the use of human-computer interfaces has the potential to transform the user’s perceptual experience, which has implications for the science of consciousness.-->

Jeremy Hunter, Ph.D. is the great-grandson of a sumo wrestler. He serves as the Founding Director of the Executive Mind Leadership Institute as well as Associate Professor of Practice at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management.  He is also a co-founder and partner of Transform LLC in Tokyo, Japan. For nearly two decades, he has helped leaders transform themselves while retaining their humanity in the face of monumental change and challenge. He created and teaches The Executive Mind, a series of demanding and transformative executive education programs. They are dedicated to Drucker’s assertion that “You cannot manage other people unless you manage yourself first.” He also co-leads the Leading Mindfully Executive Education program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and teaches the Mindfulness for Effective Leadership Executive Education track at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. He has designed and led leadership development programs for a wide variety of organizations, including Fortune 200 aerospace, Fortune 50 banking and finance, accounting, the arts and civic non-profits. Program impacts have lead to both positive professional, personal and financial outcomes for participants. Hunter has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.  He has been voted Professor of the Year eight times. His work is informed by the experience of living day-to-day for 17 years with a potentially terminal illness. When faced with the need for life-saving surgery more than a dozen former students came forward as organ donors. Dr. Hunter received his Ph.D. from University of Chicago, under the direction of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. He also holds a degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and in East Asian Studies from Wittenberg University.

Kaori Itokazu is a counselor at Ganjuu Wellbeing Service. She has been working at OIST since 2015 and provides services in Japanese and English. She is originally from Okinawa but obtained her training and counselor license (LPC) in Denver, Colorado. Prior to her curent role, she was a mental health clinician at Asian Pacific Development Center in Denver and mainly worked with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders population including newly resettled refugees. She has worked with diverse populations from different cultures in both settings. Kaori holds a MA in Counseling Psychology Counselor Education from University of Colorado Denver and a BS in Psychology from University of Maryland University College. She lives with her husband, her mother, and a 2-year-old son in Naha, Okinawa.

Mark M. James, Ph.D. is a currently working as a philosopher and cognitive scientist within the Embodied Cognitive Science Unit at OIST. Mark was awarded the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for his project Locating Virtual Bodies and will use findings from the COVID-19 Pandemic Experiences surveys to inquire into the role of digital mediation in enabling experiences of social connection throughout the pandemic.
Mark has published on topics related to embodied intersubjectivity, habituation, enactive cognitive science, learning, and design (See James 2020, James & Loaiza 2020). Mark was previously awarded the prestigious Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship by the Irish Research Council for his PhD project, entitled Enhabiting Participatory Sense-Making Frames. In that project, he developed an account of how the dynamics of in-person interaction enable the emergence of stable interactive patterns that both perpetuate and transform the cultural order wherein they come into being (see James 2021).
Mark has appeared in numerous public venues to speak and write about the application of philosophical insights to everyday matters, and he is the host of the recently launched Connectomics podcast, where he speaks with guests about the intersection of embodied cognitive science, philosophy, culture, technology and design.

Adjusting to the New Normal: COVID-19 & Mental Health

Live Webinar
Calculate your local time
Joe Biden became President during an extraordinarily difficult time for the U.S., with the coronavirus pandemic worsening and an increasingly grim economic outlook. His priorities will include not only addressing challenges at home but also focusing on international issues and rebuilding America&rsquo;s European and Asian alliances. What are President Biden&rsquo;s priorities for U.S. foreign policy and how will this impact Japan? What will he accomplish in his first 100 days in office? In this webinar, speakers discuss the Biden administration&rsquo;s strategies and policies, and their implications for U.S.-Japan economic and security relations.

Speakers:
Toshihiro Nakayama, Professor of American Politics and Foreign Policy, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University; Senior Adjunct Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs
Mireya Solis, Director, Center for East Asia Policy Studies; Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies; Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies, Brookings Institution
Gillian Tett, Chair of the Editorial Board &amp; Editor-at-Large, Financial Times

Moderator:
Joshua W. Walker, Ph.D., President &amp; CEO, Japan Society

Agenda:

            8&mdash;9:30 AM
            Discussion and Q&amp;A


Admission:
This is a free event. You must register for the webinar to receive the login details. Registrants will receive a link to access the live webinar one day before the event.

For more information, please contact the Business and Policy Program at 212-715-1208 or email register@japansociety.org.

GLOBAL LEADERS:


CORPORATE PARTNERS:


This program is supported by a generous grant from the National Association of Japan-America Societies, Inc.



Inside the White House: U.S.-Japan Relations under President Biden

Corporate Luncheon
Wednesday, October 4, 12&mdash;2:15 PM




After the U.S. election, President Trump reaffirmed America&rsquo;s commitment to security and economic cooperation with Japan. On the economic front, the U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue has been formed to promote prosperity for the two countries, yet the way forward remains uncertain. Will Trump remold decades-old alliance with Japan? Will Trump link economic and trade issues with security? What lies ahead for U.S.-Japan economic ties? In this program, speakers discuss Trump&rsquo;s economic policies and its impact on Japan&rsquo;s economy, the progress of the high-level economic dialogue, and ways to expand opportunities for trade and investment.

Speakers:
Koichi Hamada, Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; Tuntex Emeritus Professor of Economics, Yale University
Glenn Hubbard, Dean &amp; Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School

Moderator:
Gerard Baker,&nbsp;Editor-in-Chief, The Wall&nbsp;Street&nbsp;Journal

Agenda
12&ndash;12:30 PM &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Registration &amp;&nbsp;Reception
12:30&ndash;1 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Luncheon
1&ndash;2:15 PM &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dialogue and Q&amp;A

For more information, please contact the Business &amp; Policy program at 212-715-1208 or email register@japansociety.org.



More Info

The Trump Era: Deciphering Current & Future U.S.-Japan Economic Relations

Risk Forum 2023