Trading Places

Joshua Walker

Congratulations to Joshua Walker who leaves the presidency of the New York Japan Society at the end of July 2026 to become head of the US Chamber of Commerce's international affairs department. He has also been appointed the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress' David M. Abshire Chair. The Center works closely with many Japanese organizations researching trade and security issues. Expect Joshua to acquire many more honors and board appointments while at the Chamber.

He is joining Jay Sapsford, the Chamber's Senior Vice President for Global Intelligence. Jay worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and as the chief of staff to the Morgan Stanley's Japan's country head. He was the Journal's Washington Deputy Bureau Chief prior to joining the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Like Joshua, Jay grew up in Japan as the son of Christian missionaries. Both men are fluent in Japanese. 

The Chamber has a history of hiring Japan hands for its senior leadership positions. The best known example was Stanton Anderson who was a close friend of the Chamber's longtime president Thomas J. Donohue (d. 2024). The New York Times identified Anderson as "Japan's most influential lobbyist in Washington." As an adviser to Donohue, Anderson helped shape the Chamber’s pro-free trade policies and strong stand on tort reform. Both remain important interests of Japanese companies in the U.S. He served as the Chamber’s executive vice president and chief legal officer from 2003 to 2010 as well as chairman of the Chamber’s Campaign for Free Enterprise. Never during his tenure as a Chamber official did he resign or recuse himself from his consulting firm, his law firm, or his Japanese clients. He remained of counsel to the DC law firm McDermott Will & Emery and on the board of consulting firm Global U.S.A. Mr. Anderson, 84, passed away on Sunday, January 12, 2025, at his home in Santa Barbara, California.