As a follow-up to our online Japan 101 Online Course for Congressional staff, JCIE/USA hosted a number of staff for a lunch briefing on US-Japan relations. This event featured Tomoaki Ishigaki, Minister for Congressional Affairs, Embassy of Japan in Washington DC, as well as two experts from the Congressional Research Service, Emma Chanlett-Avery and Mark Manyin, who briefed nine Congressional staff who had participated in JCIE’s programs. The wide-ranging discussion covered a number of key issues for the US-Japan relationship, from responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to energy issues, trade and investment, Japan-South Korea relations, immigration, and COVID-19 response.  This type of update on key developments for the relationship is especially valuable at a time when opportunities to travel between the two countries are still limited.