On May 20 and 21, more than 40 Japanese and German politicians, policy experts, business leaders, and journalists participated in a virtual forum to discuss key issues for Japan, Germany, and their bilateral relationship. The series of virtual meetings included discussions on domestic challenges for each country, their relations with the US, and lessons from the pandemic. This year’s focus was the latter session, which discussed how both countries can work together to remedy the world which was damaged by COVID-19 by fostering multilateral efforts. Another highlight was a video message from Chancellor Angela Merkel that was shared during the forum, where she pointed out the 160 year long history of German-Japan relations and emphasized the importance of the partnership for safeguarding democracy with the same value for the rest of the world.
JCIE serves as the Japanese secretariat for the program, while the Japanese-German Center Berlin acts as the German secretariat.
Thursday, May 20
Session I: Domestic Challenges and Political Response
Chair: Matthias NASS (Die Zeit)
German perspective: Prof. Dr. Karl-Rudolf KORTE (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Gerhard WIESHEU (Partner, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG)
Japanese perspective: MIURA Toshiaki (Asahi Shimbun)
Session II: Restart in the Relations with the US and German-Japanese Strategies in the Indo-Pacific
Chair: Matthias NASS (Die Zeit)
German perspective: Dr. Thomas BAGGER (Foreign Affairs Directorate-General at the Office of the Federal President)
Petra SIGMUND (Directorate-General for Asia and the Pacific, Federal Foreign Office)
Japanese perspective: Dr. KITAOKA Shinichi (President, JICA)
Friday, May 21
Session III: The Lessons of Corona― How to be better prepared for the next pandemic?
What can Japan and Germany learn from COVID-19?
How can we work together for the future?
Chair: Kobayashi EIZŌ (Itōchu Corporation)
Japanese perspective: Prof. KATSUMA Yasushi (Waseda University)
German perspective: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Ilona KICKBUSCH (Global Health Centre, The Graduate Institute Geneva; Director, Kickbusch Health Consult)
Sabine DITTMAR (Member of the German Bundestag, SPD Parliamentary Group, Speaker on Health Policies) tbc
Video message from Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela MERKEL
CHAIRMAN | |
Matthias NASS | Chief International Correspondent, Weekly Newspaper DIE ZEIT |
PARTICIPANTS | |
Dr. Thomas BAGGER | Director General of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Federal President |
Dr. Matthias BARTKE | MP (SPD) |
Prof. Dr. Verena BLECHINGER-TALCOTT | Vice President/Professor of Japanese Politics and Political Economy, Free University Berlin |
Prof. Dr. Karl-Rudolf KORTKE | Professor/Director of the NRW School of Governance, Duisburg-Essen University |
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Ilona KICKBUSCH | Global Health Centre, The Graduate Institute Geneva; Director, Kickbusch Health Consult |
H.E. Ina LEPEL | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany |
Gerda MEUER | Director of Programming, Deutsche Welle, Bonn/Berlin |
Frank MUELLER-ROSENTRITT | MP, FDP |
Dr. Julia MÜNCH | Secretary General, Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB) |
Lars NICOLAYSEN | Tokyo Bureau Chief, German Press Agency |
Thorsten SCHÄFER-GÜMBEL | Management Board, GIZ |
Petra SIGMUND | Director General, Asia and the Pacific Division, Federal Foreign Office |
Dr. Sabine STRICKER-KELLERER | Lawyer, SSK Asia |
Dr. Johann D. WADEPUHL | MP, CDU/CSU |
Prof. Dr. Franz WALDENBERGER | Director, German Institute for Japanese Studies |
Hanno D. WENTZLER | President and Chief Executive Officer of Freudenberg Chemical Specialities, SE & Co. KG. |
| Dr. Jasper WIECK | Director for East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific, Federal Foreign Office |
Gerhard WIESHEU | Partner, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG |
Christian WULFF | Former Federal President of Germany |
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CHAIRMAN |
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Eizo KOBAYASHI |
Director Emeritus, ITOCHU Corporation |
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PARTICIPANTS |
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Prof. Dr. Ken ENDO |
Professor, Department of Politics, School of Law, Hokkaido University |
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Yasunori FUJI |
Advisor, Tsumura & Co. |
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Yoriyuki KASHIWAGI |
Managing Executive Officer, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. |
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Koichiro GEMBA |
Member, House of Representatives, The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan |
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Nobuo INABA |
Chair of the Board, Ricoh Company, Ltd.; Executive |
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Prof. Dr. Yoko IWAMA |
Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) |
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Izuru KATO |
President & Chief Economist, Totan Research Co., Ltd. |
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Prof. Dr. Yasushi KATSUMA |
Professor, Graduated School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda |
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Prof. Yoko KAWAMURA |
Professor, Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Seikei University |
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Dr. Shinichi KITAOKA |
President, Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) |
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Minoru KIUCHI |
Member, House of Representatives, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) |
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Makiko KOMATSU |
President and Representative Director,Komatsu Spring Industrial Co.,Ltd. |
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Toshiaki MIURA |
Political and Diplomatic Correspondent, The Asahi Shimbun |
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Norihide MIYOSHI |
Senior Writer, International News Department, Yomiuri |
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Takeshi NAKANE |
Ambassador for Science and Technology Cooperation |
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Tetsuo NARUKAWA |
Independent Director, Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. |
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Shin NIMURA |
Executive Commentator, Japan Broadcasting Corporation |
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Akio OKAWARA |
President, Japan Center for International Exchange |
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Prof. Dr. Noriko OKUBO |
Professor, Department of Law and Political Science, Graduate School of Law of Politics, Osaka University |
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Hiroaki TAMAI |
Executive Vice President and Representative Director, DMG MORI Co., LTD |
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Dr. Fumio TATEISHI |
Chairman, OMRON Corporation |
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Hidenao YANAGI |
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Germany |
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OBSERVERS |
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Makoto ISHIKAWA |
Senior Research Associate, ITOCHU Research Institute Inc. |
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Hiroshi ITO |
General manager TOKYO BOD OFFICE Executive Assistant to Chairman, OMRON Corporation |
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Masahiro KATO |
Assistant Director, Central and South Eastern Europe Division, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Kunihiko KAWAZU |
Deputy Director-General, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Ryo KOGURE |
Assistant Director, Central and South Eastern Europe Division, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Tomoko KOMAGO |
Assistant Director, Central and South Eastern Europe Division, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Takuya NAKAJIMA |
Manager, Research and Study Department, The Policy Management Center, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. |
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Miki OTSUKA |
Secretariat, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) |
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Nobuyuki SASABE |
Manager, Research and Study Department, The Policy Management Center, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. |
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Ryohei SUDA |
General Manager, Research & Business Development Division, ITOCHU Corporation |
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Seiichiro TAGUCHI |
Director, Central and South Eastern Europe Division, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Atsushi TAKEDA |
Chief Economist, ITOCHU Research Institute Inc. |
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Masayuki TAKEUCHI |
Principal Deputy Director, Central and South Eastern Europe Division, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Kayo TERASAWA |
Deputy General Manager, Public Relations Department, Research & Business Development Division, ITOCHU Corporation |
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Julia BRÄUER |
Federal Foreign Office |
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Henning SIMON |
Federal Foreign Office |
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Dr. Jochen NEUMEYER |
German Embassy |
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Dr. Martin POHL |
German Embassy |
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Claudia SCHMITZ |
German Embassy |
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Dr. Marie-Theres STRAUSS |
German Embassy |
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Dr. Klaus VIETZE |
German Embassy |
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Dr. Dan TIDTEN |
Office of Dr. Johann David Wadephul, MP |
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Livia PUGLIS |
Büro WULFF |
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YOUNG LEADERS |
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Kiyo DÖRRER |
Business Journalist, Deutsche Welle |
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Shoko ITO |
JETRO – Japan External Trade Organization, Support Program for Japanese Start-ups (seconded from AIST) |
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Gunnar MICHEEL |
Desk Officer for Export Control of Conventional Arms and Dual-Use-Goods, Federal Foreign Office (AA) |
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Leo SAKAGUCHI |
Project Director, Sumitomo Deutschland GmbH |
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SECRETARIAT (JAPAN CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE) |
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Toshihiro MENJU |
Managing Director and Chief Program Officer, JCIE |
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Dr. Hyejin LEE |
Senior Program Officer, JCIE |
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Dai FUNAKI |
Program Officer, JCIE |
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SECRETARIAT (JAPANESE-GERMAN CENTER BERLIN) |
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Dr. Phoebe Stella HOLDGRÜN |
Head of Project Management, JDZB |
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Jorg REINOWSKI |
Project Management, JDZB |
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Sabrina WAGERLE |
Project Management, JDZB |
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Tatjana WONNEBERG |
Project Management, JDZB |
