Revitalizing Japan-US Strategic Partnership for a Changing World
On February 22, the New Shimoda Conference convened top leaders from Japan and the United States in Tokyo to discuss how to strengthen Japan-US relations at a crucial point in our bilateral relations. Participants consisted of senior figures and promising, emerging leaders from politics, business, and the policy community. At a time when US-Japan parliamentary dialogue has waned, this included a six-member delegation of US Congressional members—one of the largest Congressional delegations to visit Japan in recent years—as well as leading Diet members from all of the major political parties.
In 1967, the initial Shimoda Conference brought together top Japanese and American leaders from different walks of life for the first high-level policy dialogue between the two countries. This meeting and JCIE’s subsequent Shimoda Conferences, which were held at important turning points in US-Japan relations, came to be seen as a symbol of Japan’s emergence on the international stage and as the starting point for a more equal and vibrant partnership with the United States. With US-Japan relations at another critical turning point, the New Shimoda Conference was intended to help build new momentum for both countries to rededicate themselves to investing in the long-term future of the bilateral relationship and to expand their joint regional and global contributions. The conference was convened on the occasion of JCIE’s 40th anniversary.
The main conference was followed the next day by a meeting of emerging leaders in the field of US-Japan relations. In April, a follow-up meeting was held in Washington DC to further expand the discussions. The meetings resulted in a publication, New Shimoda Conference: Revitalizing Japan-US Strategic Partnership for a Changing World.
Opening Session
Opening by Convenor:
Tadashi Yamamoto, President, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE)
Opening Remarks:
Hon. Diana DeGette, Member, US House of Representatives
Hon. Motohisa Furukawa, Member, House of Representatives of Japan; former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Session I: Taking Stock of the Japan-US Relationship
Summary of Background Paper:
Hitoshi Tanaka, Senior Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange; Chairman, Institute for International Strategy; former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan
Session II: The Role of Japan-US Relations in a Changing Asia
Luncheon Meeting
Remarks:
H.E. Ichiro Fujisaki, Ambassador of Japan to the United States
Keynote Speech:
Hon. Jim Webb, Member, US Senate; Chairman, US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Chairman, Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel
Session III: Deepening Japan-US Cooperation on Global Issues
Session IV: The Agenda for Japan-US Relations: What Needs to be Done?
Wrap-up Remarks:
Hon. Motohisa Furukawa, Member, House of Representatives of Japan; former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Hon. Diana DeGette, Member, US House of Representatives
Tadashi Yamamoto, President, JCIE
Dinner Hosted by Foreign Minister of Japan
Special Address for New Shimoda Conference
Hon. Seiji Maehara, Foreign Minister of Japan
| Barnett Baron | Executive Vice President, The Asia Foundation |
| David Bowen | Deputy Director, Global Health Policy and Advocacy, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Darren Buckley | Representative Director, President and CEO, Citigroup Japan Holdings; Representative Director, President, and CEO, Citibank Japan; Director, Citigroup Global Markets Japan |
| Kent E. Calder | Director, Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University |
| Steve Davis | Psychiatrist |
| Susan A. Davis | Member, US House of Representatives (Democratic Party, California); Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee on Military Personnel |
| Diana DeGette | Member, US House of Representatives (Democratic Party, Colorado); Ranking Member, House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation; Chief Deputy Minority Whip, House Democratic Leadership |
| Martin E. Fackler | Correspondent in Tokyo, New York Times |
| Robert Alan Feldman | Managing Director, Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities |
| James Foster | Director, Corporate Affairs, Microsoft Japan; former Director, Korean Peninsular Affairs, US Department of State |
| Glen S. Fukushima | Chairman and Director, Airbus Japan; former Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for Japan and China |
| James Gannon | Executive Director, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA) |
| Mazie K. Hirono | Member, US House of Representatives (Democratic Party, Hawaii); House Committee on Education and the Workforce; House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure |
| Daniel M. Kliman | Visiting Fellow, Center for a New American Security |
| Charles D. Lake II | Vice Chairman, US-Japan Business Council; Chairman and Representative in Japan, Aflac Japan |
| Phillip Lipscy | Assistant Professor, Stanford University |
| Nita Lowey | Member, US House of Representatives (Democratic Party, New York); Ranking Member, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations |
| Stephen Lowey | Chairman, Lowey Dannenberg Cohen & Hart |
| Marta McLellan Ross | Legislative Assistant, Foreign Policy, Office of Senator Jim Webb |
| Charles Morrison | President, East-West Center |
| Leighton Oshima | Partner, Wong Oshima Law Office |
| Saadia M. Pekkanen | Job and Gertrud Tamaki Professor, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington |
| Tom Petri | Member, US House of Representatives (Republican Party, Wisconsin); Chairman, House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation |
| Thierry Porte | Operating Partner, J. C. Flowers and Company; US Chairman, US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) |
| Amy Searight | Senior Advisor, Asia Bureau, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) |
| Jacob Schlesinger | Japan Editor-in-Chief, Tokyo bureau, Wall Street Journal /Dow Jones Newswires |
| Hong Le Webb | |
| Jim Webb | Member, US Senate (Democratic Party, Virginia), Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Chairman, Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel |
| James P. Zumwalt | Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the United States of America in Japan |
Keiichiro Asao | Member, House of Representatives (Your Party) |
Yutaka Aso | President and CEO, Lafarge Aso Cement |
Keiko Chino | Columnist, Sankei Shimbun |
Ichiro Fujisaki | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States of America |
Hidetoshi Fujisawa | Chief Commentator, NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation |
Motohisa Furukawa | Member, House of Representatives (Democratic Party of Japan: DPJ); former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary |
Susumu Harada | Senior Director, US Meat Export Federation |
Paul Hajime Hasegawa | Chairman and Executive Director, COSMO |
Yoshimasa Hayashi | Member, House of Councillors (Liberal Democratic Party: LDP); Deputy Chairman, General Assembly of LDP Members in the House of Councillors; former Minister of Defense |
Keiko Honda | Director, McKinsey and Company |
Yuichi Hosoya | Associate Professor, Keio University |
Hisayoshi Ina | Foreign Policy Columnist, Nikkei Inc. |
Koichi Kato | Member, House of Representatives (LDP); former Chief Cabinet Secretary |
Hideko Katsumata | Managing Director and Executive Secretary, Japan Center for International Exchange |
Iwao Kimura | Project General Manager, Overseas External Affairs Division, Toyota Motor Corporation |
Kazuyuki Kinbara | Director, International Affairs Bureau, Nippon Keidanren |
Shuhei Kishimoto | Member, House of Representatives (DPJ) |
Yotaro Kobayashi | Former Chairman of the Board, Fuji Xerox |
Shinjiro Koizumi | Member, House of Representatives (LDP) |
Jun’etsu Komatsu | Managing Director, Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation |
Taro Kono | Member, House of Representatives (LDP) |
Kenji Kosaka | Member, House of Councillors (LDP); Secretary-General for the LDP in the House of Councillors; former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology |
Fumiaki Kubo | A. Barton Hepburn Professor of American Government and History, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, University of Tokyo |
Minoru Makihara | Senior Corporate Advisor, Mitsubishi Corporation; Cochair, US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) |
Satoru Mori | Professor, Hosei University |
Hiroyuki Nagahama | Member, House of Councillors (DPJ); former Senior Vice-Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare |
Akihisa Nagashima | Member, House of Representatives (DPJ) |
Osamu Nagata | Managing Officer, Toyota Motor Corporation |
Toshihiro Nakayama | Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University |
Takeshi Niinami | President & CEO, Lawson |
Masashi Nishihara | President, Research Institute for Peace and Security |
Mie Oba | Commissioner, Atomic Energy Commission; Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Science |
Yoshinori Ohno | Member, House of Representatives (LDP) |
Masao Okonogi | Professor, Keio University |
Ryo Sahashi | Research Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange; Associate Professor, Kanagawa University |
Ken Shibusawa | CEO, Shibusawa and Company |
Masahide Shibusawa | President, Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation; Representative Director, MRA Foundation |
Akihiko Tanaka | Professor, International Politics and Executive Vice-President, University of Tokyo |
Hitoshi Tanaka | Senior Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange; Chairman, Institute for International Strategy, Japan Research Institute |
Naoki Tanaka | President, Center for International Public Policy Studies |
Shinji Tarutoko | Member, House of Representatives (DPJ) |
Vivian Tokai | Chief Diversity Officer, Citibank Japan |
Kiyomi Tsujimoto | Member, House of Representatives (Independent); former Senior Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism |
Kazuyoshi Umemoto | Director-General, North American Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
Koji Watanabe | Senior Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange; Former Ambassador to Russia |
Taizo Yakushiji | Research Counsellor, Institute for International Policy Studies; Visiting Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) |
Tadashi Yamamoto | President, Japan Center for International Exchange |
Kunihiko Yamaoka | Vice Chairman of Editorial Board, Yomiuri Shimbun |
Yukio Yoshimura | Executive Officer, Head of Government Affairs, Citigroup Japan Holdings |
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Roundtable Following Up on the New Shimoda Conference
On April 7, 2011, JCIE and the US-Japan Council co-sponsored a roundtable on Capitol Hill with US Congressional members and experts on US-Japan relations. Discussions centered on how to strengthen US-Japan relations in order to meet future challenges and how to create a more robust and meaningful partnership between the two countries.
JCIE Publications | New Shimoda Conference: Revitalizing Japan-US Strategic Partnership for a Changing World
This conference report details the ideas of the participants of the New Shimoda Conference. Their findings include reflections on the evolvement of the US-Japan relationship since 1967 and the United States’ role in ensuring a bilateral relationship.
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