Participants included:

Hon. AMI BERA, Member, US House of Representatives

Hon. JOAQUIN CASTRO, Member, US House of Representatives

Mr. DANNY MEZA, Chief of Staff, Office of Rep. Joaquin Castro

The program involved a series of meeting with the country’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Foreign Minister Taro Kono, and nearly 20 Diet members, as well as with some of the country’s most influential policy thinkers and business executives. The trip was organized in conjunction with the Mt. Fuji Dialogue, a high-level policy forum on US-Japan relations. The Congressional members addressed the conference and, as part of the meeting, took part in a special US-Japan Legislative Roundtable with more than a dozen senior legislators and top leaders.

Program highlights included:

• Discussion with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on US-Japan cooperation on North Korea and other key challenges
• Meeting with Foreign Minister Taro Kono
• Parliamentary roundtable with key members of the Abe Cabinet and other senior Diet members on US-Japan alliance cooperation and the prospects for deepening trade relations
• Embassy briefing with US Ambassador William Hagerty
• Site visit to Cyberdyne to view cutting edge robotics technology (ie., HAL exoskeletons being used to rehabilitate people with muscular and nerve disorders and augment manual laborers)
• Informal roundtable discussions with senior Diet members, as well as with half a dozen up-and-coming Diet members.
• High-level address to 180 senior Japanese and US officials, policy experts, and business executives attending the Mt. Fuji Dialogue as part of a special Congressional panel.
• Discussions of US-Japan trade and investment with senior Japanese business leaders
• Briefings from leading analysts on US-Japan coordination on North Korea, China policy, and other key issues in the Asia Pacific