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Event 1: Opportunities and Challenges in the U.S.-Japan Alliance

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 3 (Wed.) 10:00am-11:30am

Venue

Ambassador Room, The Embassy Row Hotel
2015 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036

Abstract

Since becoming Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo has sought to lead Japan in a major effort to reform Japan’s approach to national security and to demonstrate a renewed commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance. Yet uncertainties over impending revisions to the U.S.-Japan defense guidelines, Japan’s ability to develop and implement a legal framework to enable collective self-defense, the ultimate success of Abe’s economic reforms, and Japan’s ability to complete negotiations on TPP remain potential impediments to Abe’s ambitions.
Dr. Michael Green (Center for Strategic and International Studies and Georgetown University) and Dr. Hiroshi Nakanishi (Kyoto University) will examine the challenges and opportunities facing the US-Japan alliance and identify the steps policymakers in Tokyo and Washington should take to further strengthen this essential relationship. The discussion will be moderated by Mr. Abraham Denmark (The National Bureau of Asian Research).

Moderator

Abraham Denmark
Vice President for Political and Security Affairs, The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR)

Speakers

Hiroshi Nakanishi
Professor, Kyoto University
[Presentation Slides (0.4MB)]

Michael J. Green
Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies / Associate professor, The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Co-host by

The National Bureau of Asian Research

Event 2: Translational Research Based on Molecular Craniofacial Developmental Biology and Development of Related Clinical Activities in Dentistry

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 3 (Wed.) 1:00pm-2:30pm

Venue

Conference Room, Building 30, National Institutes of Health
9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892

Abstract

Cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) is the most common congenital craniofacial anormally in the world. The prevalence of CLP ranges 1 out of 500 to 700 all over the world with some regional variation. Huge amount of medical resources are needed to treat these patients to habiritate the deficient function, such as speech, eating and breathing because of the tooth, bone, muscle and skin deficiency. So far, those patients are mainly treated with symptomatic treatment which would not provide sufficient outcome. Some of the patients can access to current treatment modality in the developed countries, while those who in the developing countries would not.
On the one hand, remarkable development of regenerative medicine based on the research outcome of molecular biomedical science has been revealed to overcome those problems. Specifically, US-Japan exchange of researchers has largely contributed to the development of regenerative medicine, which will be enhanced more and more in the near future. Recently, exchange of researchers and dentist among U.S,, south-east Asian countries and Japan has become more active than before. On the basis of this background, further and strong activation of these relationship in pan-pacific region is expected. In the present seminar, we would like to demonstrate the present conditions and problems.

Moderator

Ichiro Takahashi
Operating Adviser, USJI / Professor, Kyushu University

Speakers

Harold C. Slavkin
Founding Director, USC Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology
Professor, Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC
[Outline (115KB)] [Presentation Slides (1.0MB)]

Yoshihide Mori
Professor and Chair, Kyushu University(Canceled)
[Presentation Slides (1.2MB)]

Coordinator

Yoshihiko Yamada
Senior Investigator / Section Chief , National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research / NIH

Co-hosted by

NIH Japanese fellow meeting (Kinyo-kai)

Supported by

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

Event 3: Networking Reception(Invitation Only)

Date

Sep. 3 (Wed.)

Host

Katsuichi Uchida
President , USJI / Vice President , Waseda University

Supported by

NISSAN GLOBAL FOUNDATION

Event 4: Social Innovation through Railroad Innovation: Japan’s Experience and Possibilities for U.S.-Japan Cooperation

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 4 (Thu.) 10:00am-11:30am

Venue

Ambassador Room, The Embassy Row Hotel
2015 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036

Abstract

Half a century ago, just before the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, the world’s first high speed railway, the “Shinkansen”, started its operation. The Shinkansen railroad network has expanded steadily since its birth, and will connect all of Japan from north to south with the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen in 2015 and the Hokkaido Shinkansen in 2035. JR East’s railroad lines spread widely throughout the Eastern Japan area, which is approximately 440 miles from north to south. There are 300 to 400 Shinkansen trains per day, which have maximum speeds of 200 miles per hour and connect major cities in the area within, at most, about three hours.
Additionally, JR East urban railway lines have the responsibility of being the essential transportation infrastructure in Tokyo, the world’s largest mega city with 33 million people and an annual GDP of 1.8 trillion USD. The JR East network includes approximately 700 miles of railroad line within a 30-mile radius from central Tokyo, and trains operate at two-minute intervals during the peak time.
Nowadays, Japanese railroads support local economies, societies, and people’s daily lives as a nationwide arterial network. This is because Japanese railroads have changed along with the development of the country, and have continued train service and made technological innovations to fit Japanese local needs, climate, and culture throughout the long history of the railroads. In this half century, the Shinkansen has accomplished energy saving, noise reduction, and an increase in operation speed from 125 miles per hour to 200 miles per hour. The Shinkansen has never had any fatal accidents in situations such as earthquakes and typhoons. Urban railroad lines have innovated their service also, such as by introducing IC cards and expanding station retail businesses, while maintaining and improving the safety and punctuality of the trains. Japan, which introduced its first railroad system 130 years ago and developed high speed railroads 50 years ago, regards railroads as social infrastructure of the country, and has grown its railroad systems by collecting the knowledge and wisdom of each era.
In this session, we will review the current history of Japanese railroads, including the Japanese National Railways reform of 1987, which has been called the largest reform of a governmental body since WWII. We will introduce services and technologies that JR East has innovated, from transport businesses such as high speed rail and urban railroads, to non-transport businesses, such as station retail businesses and the Suica IC card, and will explain JR East’s role in country development by making use of its basic strengths.
Finally, we will discuss whether there is any indication that this could contribute to innovation in US society, whether there is any area where contributions can be made to both railroads and society by cooperation between the US and Japan, and whether there is any way in which JR East can support US railroads.

Welcome Remarks

Hon. Kenichiro Sasae
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States of America

Moderator

Yoshiaki Abe
Operating Advisor , USJI / Emeritus Professor, Waseda University

Speakers

Satoshi Seino
Chairman, East Japan Railway Company
[Presentation Slides (9.7MB)]

Karen Hedlund
Deputy Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration
[hedlund_20140904 (1.6MB)]

Event 5: Improving Policy and Practice on Return Migration after Natural Disasters

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 4 (Thu.) 3:00pm-4:30pm

Venue

Ambassador Room, The Embassy Row Hotel 2015
Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036

Abstract

From Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, to the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and the ensuing tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown, governments in the United States and Japan have had to engage in massive restoration and cleanup efforts to address significant loss of life, tremendous economic damage, and displacement of entire communities. Disasters often provoke immediate responses and aid. For displaced populations, however, the disruptive effects may continue for years as they struggle to return to affected areas. In Japan, decision-makers and scholars have noted that many evacuees are not returning to their homes following the Great East Japan Earthquake, and that those who have returned face tremendous challenges. In the United States, return of evacuees to New Orleans and surrounding areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina has been uneven (and often inequitable). Increasingly, questions are being raised whether damaged areas should be rebuilt in the same way, whether they should be rebuilt differently, or whether people from vulnerable areas should not return to their previous areas of residence. Even when policymakers decide to encourage return, persons displaced by a disaster may decide not to return. Conversely, even if policymakers decide to discourage return, displaced persons may fervently seek to return. This seminar features policy priorities, public perceptions, and policy options for addressing post-disaster return migration in the United States and Japan.

Moderator & Speaker

Mikiyasu Nakayama
Operating Advisor , USJI / Professor, The University of Tokyo
[Presentation Slides (1.0MB)]

Speaker

Carl Bruch
Senior Attorney; Co-Director, International Programs, Environmental Law Institute(ELI)
[Presentation Slides (0.3MB)]

Commentator

Nicholas S. Bryner
Visiting Associate Professor, George Washington University

Co-host by

Environmental Law Institute

Event 6: Politics and Financial Markets

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 5 (Fri.) 10:00am-11:30am

Venue

Ambassador Room, The Embassy Row Hotel 2015
Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036

Abstract

Politics dictates economies and financial markets in some recent episodes such as Euro crisis and Abenomics. Elections may be the most important political event in democratic societies but are sometimes subject to populism. The next U.S. presidential election and the general election in Japan will be approaching. This panel will discuss how these political events will affect economies and financial markets even before the election dates.

Moderator & Speaker

Nobuhiko Hibara
Associate Professor, Waseda University
[Presentation Slides (0.2MB)]

Speaker

Alicia Ogawa
Senior Advisor, Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School
[Presentation Slides (0.1MB)]

Event 7: Dynamism of Domestic Politics and Regional Integration Policy among China, Japan and the US

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 5 (Fri.) 1:00pm-3:00pm

Venue

Ambassador Room, The Embassy Row Hotel 2015
Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036

Abstract

Examining the causal links between domestic politics and international trade negotiations has been a predominant research approach to the understanding of dynamics of regional integration process. This panel intends to illuminate the inter-linked relationship between domestic politics and international behaviors among three key states in the Asia-Pacific regional integration politics: China, Japan and the United States. The power of the domestic politics in pushing forward their interests to the negotiating table, while accommodating competing demands from their negotiating counterparts, can be viewed as one of the key junctures of regional integration process. Even major powers such as China, Japan and the United States inevitably confront a pressure at regional integration negotiations which occasionally requires deregulations at home, and the panel features issues related to state-owned enterprises, agriculture, and automobiles, respectively, as focal points of their engagement in regional integration. This approach helps to promote the better understanding on why negotiations of major regional integration frameworks, such as TPP and RCEP, have tended to be bogged down by paying a special attention to the activities and influences of resistant as well as supportive actors of regional integration in the domestic political front.

Moderator & Speaker

Takashi Terada
Operating Advisor, USJI / Professor, Doshisha University
[Presentation Slides (0.1MB)]

Speakers

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
[Presentation Slides (0.1MB)]

Discussant

Mireya Solis
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies

Event 8: Women and Foreign Workers: New Stakeholders of Abenomics?

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 8 (Mon.) 10:00am-11:30am

Venue

Conference Room, JSPS/JST Washington Office
2001 L Street NW, Suite 1050, Washington DC 20036

Abstract

Aging and decrease of population are root causes for deflation and market contraction in Japan. If so, there should be new consumers who have decent income to spend. Two major candidates in this respect are women and foreign workers. Japanese women are already significant consumers, but if more women would join as work forces, they can contribute not only more to production but also to consumption. What are necessary conditions for Japanese women to have their own carriers other than as home makers? What have prevented to realize such a possibility? Does such an economic motive of Abe administration go well with gender liberalism in Japan? The attitude of Abe administration concerning foreign workers is more cautious. Despite needs for foreign workers are obvious in factories, construction sites, and hospitals, the LDP government hates to use the word, immigrants. Will this unchanged attitude of the conservatives toward foreign workers constitute self-imposed obstruction for the success of Abenomics?

Moderator

Keiji Nakatsuji
Operating Advisor , USJI / Professor, Ritsumeikan University

Speakers

Junya Tsutsui
Professor, Ritsumeikan University
[Presentation Slides (0.3MB)]

Apichai W. Shipper
Adjunct Associate Professor, Asia Studies Program, School of Foreign Services, Georgetown University

Discussant

Linda Hasunuma
Assistant Professor, Franklin and Marshall College

Event 9:The Challenges of Japan-U.S. Relation in East Asian Community: Toward Northeast and Southeast Asia

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 8 (Mon.) 3:00pm-4:30pm

Venue

Conference Room, JSPS/JST Washington Office
2001 L Street NW, Suite 1050, Washington DC 20036

Abstract

This seminar examines the role of U.S.–Japan relations in East Asian community building. The U.S. and Japan are two of the most influential states in the Asia-Pacific and East Asian regions. The impact of U.S.–Japan relations in East Asian political, economic, and security realms is significant. This is particularly true in Northeast Asia, where there are political and security tensions, and in Southeast Asia, where there is close economic relations.
In Northeast Asia, the situation is deteriorating. Recently, there have been numerous territorial disputes among Japan, Korea, and China, most notably concerning the Takeshima and Senkaku islands. North Korea’s threatening actions have also accelerated instability in the region. U.S.-Japan relations have played a unique role in contributing to regional stability, and are especially critical in the political and security realms.
In Southeast Asia, relations are much warmer. The U.S. and Japan have maintained close ties with ASEAN member states. TPP further strengthens economic relations between the U.S., Japan, and ASEAN countries, although there are some difficulties in negotiating and adjusting economic interests. The U.S. and Japan have promoted stronger ASEAN relations in numerous ways, such as the ASEAN regional forum and East Asia Summit. U.S.–Japan relations play much more of an economic role in the region.
This seminar includes two presentations: one from Northeast Asia, the other from Southeast Asia. Through these examinations, this seminar uncovers the problems and difficulties of both regions, and then explores how U.S.-Japan relations have been able to contribute to the construction of the East Asian community.

Moderator・Discussant

James Przystup
Senior Fellow and Research Professor, National Defense University

Speakers

Toru Oga
Associate Professor, Kyushu University
[Presentation Slides (1.0MB)]

Yoichiro Sato
Professor, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
[Presentation Slides (1.4MB)]

Discussant

James L. Schoff
Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Event 10: World War ll and the Experience of Japanese Americans: The Message to Students(Students Only)

Date and Time

Sep. 8 (Mon.) 6:00pm-7:30pm

Venue

Conference Room A
2000 M Street, NW Lower Level, Conference Center Washington, D.C. 20036

Speakers

Terry Shima

Mary Tamaki Murakami

Supported by

NISSAN GLOBAL FOUNDATION

Event 11: Teaching the Japanese American Experience in the United States and Japan

[Summary]

Date and Time

Sep. 9 (Tue.) 10:00am-11:30am

Venue

Ambassador Room, The Embassy Row Hotel
2015 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036

Abstract

What is the Japanese American experience in the United States? How is this history taught throughout secondary and higher education classrooms in the United States and Japan? From the start of the Meiji period in 1868, Japanese citizens began immigrating to the United States in significant numbers and now total over 1.3 million in communities all throughout the country. This session explores and examines the academic narrative of the growing complexity and richness of Japanese American communities. Academics from the United States and Japan will discuss the status of teaching the Japanese American experience in their respective countries with a focus on the progress, challenges and potential differences in the narrative between the two countries. Special attention will be paid to the knowledge and training of teachers and professors, the accuracy and availability of materials, and interest to learn among students. The panel will also address how Japanese American history and culture are taught within the larger context of the Asian American experience and that of other minority immigrant populations.

Moderator

Jane H. Yamashiro
Visiting Scholar, Asian American Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles

Speakers

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
[Outline (0.5KB)]

Co-host by

U.S.-Japan Council