Listening to Abe

On Friday afternoon in the basement of CSIS, the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe will give a presentation (Webcast). He will have just come from lunch and talks with US President Barack Obama.

It will not the first time that Abe has given a speech in Washington. And it is likely he will deliver it in English. At the recent Davos conclave, he sent in an English-language message to the attendees. He observed that "democracy is on the wax among assin' nations."

Abe is again getting public relations advice from Tomohiko Taniguchi who was recently appointed Naikaku Shingikan (Cabinet Councillor) for Public Relations. In the first Abe Administration, Taniguchi was Deputy Press Secretary for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A former Nikkei reporter, Taniguchi has spent the last few years as an adviser to the head of JR Central Kasai and the company's magazine The Wedge. In 2006, Taniguchi gave a presentation on Abe's foreign policy at The Brookings Institution where he described Abe as "one of the most relaxed lawmakers, a very much approachable figure, thereby winning bi-partisan support."

Abe has spoken publicly a number of times in Washington: AEI (2004), Brookings (2005 and 2009), and Hudson (2010). At times he startles his audience with awkward references to American literature or values.

In 2004, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), he explained that Japan needed to change its Constitution and rid itself of the "mind control" imposed by the Americans.

Perhaps it was because of the trauma of defeat that postwar Japan looked upon its Constitution as an immutable code of laws. In this climate, the dominant sentiment was one that claimed that the Constitution should not be touched or changed in any way. In a sense, the whole nation was victim to a form of mind control. I believe that these tendencies must definitely be abolished.

Abe relaunched his political career at The Brookings Institution on April 17, 2009* with a speech entitled A New Era Requires a New Political Will.

Last time I gave a speech here was four years ago in 2005.  To end that speech, I quoted from Miles to Go, a book by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  That quote went like this:  “Politics is almost always in some measure an argument about the future and persons claiming to be knowledgeable in this regard will almost always find an audience among politicians.”  For me, this quote means that you must have the courage to swallow bitter medicine if it is from someone really knowledgeable.  I am engaged in politics only to build a better future for Japan and for the world.

Most Americans would interpret that passage as a warning to be wary of those who claim to know the future as the only ones who believe them are politicians looking for a quick fix.

Still, he ended his speech identifying himself as a statesman, a topic that came up several times in his remarks.

In democracies, statesmen are a critical part of the system. They hear the vox populi, and do what ought to be  done, though it may be bitter, rather than easy to digest. Therefore, the strong wills of the statesmen count most. That is what I tell myself, every day when I wake up.

At the Hudson Institute in October 2010, Abe failed to understand that the founder of the Institute Herman Kahn was a proponent of thermo-nuclear warfare. He opened his luncheon speech by noting his “deep admiration for Dr. Herman Kahn, the founder of the Hudson Institute.” He said

The phrase that he coined, ‘thinking the unthinkable,’ has provided me much food for thought throughout my career as a member of the Diet. My own interpretation of the phrase 'thinking the unthinkable' is as follows: 'to provide hope for the future, based on a clear understanding of the past and an accurate perception of the present.'

The audience, which included Herman Kahn's daughter, wondered how the thought of surviving a thermal-nuclear war had provided Abe with “hope”?

*1996: Japan and the United States signed the “Joint Declaration of the Japan-US security”

What Abe Can Do in Washington

ADBC Memorial Society

February 15, 2013

VIA FAX and U.S. MAIL 

The Honorable Joseph Y. Yun

Acting Assistant Secretary of State

Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs,

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20520 

Dear Mr. Yun:

As representative of the surviving POWs of Japan, their families, and descendants, the ADBC Memorial Society asks you to encourage Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his visit next week to continue and expand his government’s visitation program to Japan for American former POWs.

The POW/Japan Friendship Program only initiated in 2010 has brought immeasurable benefit to the former POWs, their families, and to the U.S.-Japan relationship. As you can see from this representative note to our newsgroup, it has brought closure and peace of mind to its participants:

This program has really helped my Dad.  For years, Dad would have nightmares after any talk, show, or sometimes just because of his years as a POW.  Since our visit his nightmares have gone.  I cannot really put in words what that day at the Japanese Factory in Takaoka, Toyama, Japan did.  He has not forgotten or totally forgiven but there is now a peace to his remembrance. If you are able please consider participating in this program.  My Dad's memory is failing on his daily activities but he continues to recall his trip to Japan.  Now when he talks about his POW experience he can now add closure.  The audience is amazed at his story.  I was honored to go with Dad to Japan.  If you are a descendant please talk with your parent about the program.  It truly is a life changer.

                                    Debra Bergbower-Grunwald

                                    Daughter of Harold Bergbower, Past National Commander, ADBC

Impressions of former POWs who have participated in the POW/Japan Friendship Program are on the Outreach section of our website at www.dg-adbc.org.  The program is a solid example of a successful acknowledgement by Japan of Imperial Japan’s injustices. The Japanese government offered an official apology and followed it up with a program that confronts the past while preserving the dignities of both Americans and Japanese.  

It concerns us that the Abe Administration wants to limit the program to former POWs and possibly end the program this year.  Widows, children, and other descendants have also been affected by the former POW experience of their relative in Japan and they should be included in future programs.  We are concerned about how little the Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicizes the program’s accomplishments.  Most important, we are troubled by the Japanese companies that have refused to allow our nonagenarian POWs to visit the sites of their imprisonment and slave labor.

The success of this visitation program should encourage Japan to do more.  Still we wait for Japan’s great multi-national corporations to acknowledge their use of POW labor.  Still we wait for Japan to create national memorials to the POWs who slaved and died on Japanese soil.  And still we wait for Japan to establish a fund to continue this visitation program and expand it, as it did for other Allied POWs in 1995, to include research, documentation, and people-to-people exchanges.

We are grateful for the State Department’s past efforts to encourage the Japanese government to do the right thing by initiating a process of reconciliation.  This issue is even more poignant today as two Abe Cabinet members have family ties to companies that used POW slave labor during the war.

We ask that the Obama Administration insist that Japan preserve its visitation program for former POWs and expand this remarkable program to include family members and to initiate a plan to preserve their history.

Sincerely,

Joseph A. Vater, Jr.

President

cc:        Daniel Russel, National Security Council

Steve Pomper, National Security Council

Darianne Page, The White House

Marc Knapper, Japan Desk, Department of State

Anne Debovoise, Japan Desk, Department of State

The Honorable Robert Menendez

The Honorable Bob Corker

The Honorable Ben Cardin

The Honorable Marco Rubio

The Honorable Bernie Sanders

The Honorable Richard Burr

The Honorable Edward Royce

The Honorable Eliot Engel

The Honorable Steve Chabot

The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega 

The Honorable Jeff Miller

The Honorable Michael H. Michaud

The Honorable Mike Honda

Mr. Barry Jersinoski, Disabled Veterans of America

February 22, 2013 Maps

Kuribayashi's Map

February 22nd, 71 years after President Franklin Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines to ensure that he would not be captured by the invading Japanese, Japan remains a topic of concern in Washington.

In Japan, on the 22nd, nationalists will gather in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture to celebrate Takeshima Day. The event marks the incorporation on Feb. 22, 1905 of the rocky islands (Dokdo to the Koreans) in the Sea of Japan as Japanese territory. The ruling LDP is sending its executive acting secretary general, Hiroyuki Hosoda who is a Matsue native and its director of the LDP’s Youth Division former Prime Minister Koizumi's popular son Shinjiro Koizumi, who also attended the event last year. They will be accompanied by a record 18 Diet members. The Abe Administration, reneging on a promise not to send an official representative, plans to have Parliamentary Secretary Aiko Shimajiri from the Cabinet Office present.  She is elected from Okinawa. This would be the first time anyone from among the top three posts in a ministry will attend the ceremony since it began in 2006. Shimajiri is a member of the Diet members' group that promotes official visits to Yasukuni Shrine on August 15.

In New York City, Bonhams will hold an auction of items from the Pacific theatre of World War II. Offered for sale are items ranging from monuments and medals to ship models and samurai swords. Top lot is the original 1945 Iwo Jima Monument model unveiled in Washington in November 1945 and possibly the original Iwo Jima map used by Commander Tadamichi Kuribayashi for the defense of the island by the Imperial Japanese Army, February - March 1945. Kuribayashi's grandson, Yoshitaka Shindo, who is Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications in Abe's Cabinet. Shindo is well-known as an outspoken advocate for Japan's territorial rights and is one the legislators that landed on a Senkaku islet in August 2012. He was also one of the signatories of the November 4, 2012 FACTS advertorial in the New Jersey Start Ledger dismissing the claims of the Comfort Women as fabrications designed to dishonor Japan.

And in Washington Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will have his first meeting with U.S. President Barak Obama. Later in the day, at 4 o'clock, he will give a speech entitled Japan is Back in the basement of CSIS to selected and vetted Japan and Asia experts and CSIS contributors. He plans to map out his plan to revive Japan's economy.

President's Day China Events

PRIVATE CHINESE INVESTMENT IN AFRICA: MYTHS AND REALITIES. 2/18, Noon-2:00pm, Washington, DC. Sponsor: SAIS, Johns Hopkins. Speaker: Xiaofang Shen, visiting scholar in the SAIS China Studies Program. 

ON BECOMING A NORMS MAKER: CHINA AND PEACEBUILDING IN AFRICA. 2/18, Noon-1:30pm, Arlington, VA. Sponsor: School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason Unviersity. Speaker: Chris Alden, co-head of the Africa International Affairs program at the London School of Economics. 

CHINA'S ASAT (ANTI-SATELLITE) & MISSILE DEFENSE PROGRAMS: A REVIEW OFPROGRAMS, PLANS, AND MOTIVATIONS. 2/19, 9:00-11:00am, Washington, DC. Sponsor: George C. Marshall Institute and the TechAmerica Space Enterprise Council. Speakers: Dean Cheng, research fellow in the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation; Mark Stokes, executive director of the Project 2049 Institute; and Scott McMahon, senior defense research analyst at RAND Corp. 

Radar Incident Obscures Beijing’s Conciliatory Turn toward Japan

Analysis by Andrew Chubb
First published in the Jamestown Foundation's China Brief Volume: 13 Issue: 4, February 15, 2013

Nationalists are Not Restraining Beijing from Stepping Back

On February 5, Japanese Defense Minister Onodera Itsunori told the world that a Chinese Navy frigate had pointed “something like fire-control radar” at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) destroyer some 100-150 kilometers north of the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands on January 30. He said the same may have happened to a MSDF helicopter on January 19, though this remained unverified (Daily Yomiuri, February 7; Sydney Morning Herald, February 7).

This marked the first direct involvement of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy ships in the ongoing confrontations around the islands since Japan's government purchased three of them from a private Japanese owner on September 10 last year. Accordingly, much reportage and analysis has characterized this as part of an ongoing series of escalatory Chinese actions in the East China Sea. Yet the radar incidents ran counter to a distinctly conciliatory trend since mid-January in China’s official rhetoric, diplomatic action, media discourse and even maritime activities.

Part of Xi's Plan?

Chinese officials told the Lowy Institute's Linda Jakobson that a Diaoyu response leadership task force formed in September under Xi Jinping's leadership devised a step-by-step plan to force the Japanese government to acknowledge the existence of the sovereignty dispute. According to Dr. Jakobson, “the most recent escalation reflects the next step” in the implementation of such a plan (The Diplomat, February 8; Asahi Shimbun, February 4; Sydney Morning Herald, December 5, 2012).

There are compelling reference points to support the idea of a centrally-mandated Chinese strategy of steadily increasing pressure on the Japanese position in the waters and skies around the islands. The most salient are the regularization of previously-occasional maritime law enforcement patrols in contested waters since September; the first-ever recorded incursion by a PRC government plane into Japan-administered territorial airspace on December 13; and the scrambling of PLA fighter jets to confront Japanese F-15s on January 10 and 19 (Asahi Shimbun, February 6; South China Morning Post, January 11; Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MOFA], December 18, 2012).

Beijing’s official reaction to Japan's allegation—more than two days of silence followed by flat denials by both the foreign and defense ministries—however, raises the possibility that the radar incidents were not a continuation of this pattern of deliberate escalation. Upon finding its voice on February 8, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) accused Japan of “completely creating something out of nothing,” while a Ministry of National Defense statement confirmed both encounters but said fire-control radars simply had not been used. These responses contrasted sharply with the ministries' usual refrain when Chinese behavior in such areas has been questioned—namely, asserting that such activities are “routine” and “completely normal.”

The long silence would seem to imply that the incidents were a product of decisions made by actors outside the party center, possibly a mid-level PLA Navy commander was responsible. The MFA and MND’s effective disavowals of the PLA's actions are not the only signs that the Chinese central leadership may have adjusted its approach to the Diaoyu crisis. Indeed, a range of conciliatory behavior over the past few weeks also suggests such a shift. 

Sino-Japanese Diplomatic Thaw

From January 14, starting with Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying's meeting with Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Senator Kenji Kosaka, a succession of visits by China-friendly Japanese politicians were accorded prominent coverage in the official and popular media, dressed in positive imagery and photo-ops with Chinese leaders. Beijing also invited former Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio for a four-day visit, and his January 16 meeting with Jia Qinglin ran on both CCTV's flagship 7pm national news bulletin and the front page of the People's Daily (People's Daily, January 17; CCTV, January 16; Daily Yomiuri, January 12). Hatoyama's apology the following day for crimes committed by Japanese soldiers during the Second World War was hailed by CCTV as “unprecedented,” and images of his visit to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall were splashed across the front pages of major daily newspapers (Japan Times, January 19; CCTV, January 17).

Next, and most importantly, came Yamaguchi Natsuo, leader of the New Komeito party, a junior coalition partner in Abe Shinzo's government, who arrived on January 22 carrying a handwritten letter from the Japanese prime minister. His arrival was reported immediately in state television news updates, and the Chinese MFA spokesman Hong Lei quickly welcomed the visit by saying: “This facilitates both sides to step up communications, settle disputes and promote healthy bilateral ties” (South China Morning Post, January 23).

Chinese media coverage presented Yamaguchi as a powerful, moderate element in a Japanese government previously depicted as beholden to “rightists” with militarist ambitions. CCTV's evening current affairs magazine show ran a segment that emphasized the New Komeito party's positive historic role in Sino-Japanese relations, and told viewers it was now “once again a ruling party” that would directly influence the LDP's judgments. The show even presented Japanese newspaper analyses stating Abe's decision to send Yamaguchi “expressed the Japanese government's intention to improve bilateral ties” (CCTV, January 22). In a further illustration of Beijing’s intention to shape the public mood to become more amenable to warming ties, a People's Daily commentary questioning the sincerity of Japan's stated intention to mend relations appeared only in the paper's overseas edition (South China Morning Post, January 24).

Aside from scheduled meetings with two Chinese government-affiliated friendship associations, Yamaguchi's itinerary was not declared publicly, and it remained unclear whether party General Secretary Xi Jinping would agree to meet with him or receive Abe's letter. At one point on January 24, major internet news portals displayed leading headlines proclaiming “Japanese envoy visits China for two days with no result, has not obtained audience with Xi Jinping.”

On January 25, the last day of the trip, Xi did receive Yamaguchi in the Great Hall of the People. According to the People's Daily's front-page, top-right, photo-illustrated lead report on the meeting, Xi Jinping said China “remains committed” to Sino-Japanese relations and urged both sides to “look at the big picture.” Invoking the legacies of Zhou Enlai and Tanaka Kakuei, who re-established Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations in 1972, Xi said: ”Like the older generation of leaders, we should show a sense of national and historical responsibility and political wisdom, overcome the difficulties in bilateral relations and push relations forward.” (People's Daily, January 26).

Determined to De-escalate?

The high-profile, high-volume Chinese media coverage of the warming diplomatic ties indicates the leadership perceived little in the way of constraints on their freedom of action resulting from oppositional public or party opinion. Between Hatoyama's arrival on January 16 and Yamaguchi's meeting with Xi on January 25, a number of negative bilateral developments occurred, any of which may have prompted Xi to decline to meet with Abe's emissary had the leadership been worried about a domestic backlash. <On January 15, Defense Minister Onodera implied that Japanese fighter planes may fire warning shots at Chinese aircraft in airspace above the disputed islands (Asahi Shimbun, January 16). Popular Chinese media reported this as “explicit confirmation” that tracer bullets would be fired, spurring discussion of Japan's hostility and the likelihood of war breaking out.

On January 18, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking at a joint press conference alongside Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, stated for the first time that the United States was “oppose[d]” to acts that “seek to undermine Japanese administration” of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands (U.S. State Department, January 18).

On January 22, Abe declared Japan would continue to send military aircraft to Senkaku/Diaoyu airspace whenever it so wished, and reiterated the position that no dispute over the islands' sovereignty existed, rejecting Yamaguchi's well-publicized proposal of “shelving” the island dispute (South China Morning Post, January 24).On January 24, Japan Coast Guard (JCG) vessels used water cannons on a Taiwanese fishing boat carrying Diaoyu activists, which was under escort from the Republic of China Coast Guard, 17 nautical miles from the islands. Dramatic footage and photographs of the skirmish were aired on China’s commercial television and widely published online.

Yet the Xi-Yamaguchi meeting not only went ahead, the stream of visits by Japanese statesmen continued afterwards with the arrival of former Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi along with other current LDP politicians on January 29. More upbeat remarks from Chinese officials followed, including the Chinese Ambassador at Geneva Liu Zhenmin saying the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute could be “controlled”, and PLA Deputy Chief of Staff Qi Jianguo telling U.S. lawmakers “China will never cause a maritime conflict by choice” (Asahi Shimbun, February 4; AP, January 25).

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule Jan 21-27

January 21, 2012 (MON)

AM
09:07 Imperial palace, report of return
10:02 Office
10:30 Mr. Iijima, Cabinet Office Special Advisor
10:46 Mr. Kishida, Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Hiramatsu Foreign Policy Bureau Director General
11:07 National Council on Social Security System Reform
11:50 Issue an appointment letter for Mr. Hiroto Izumi as Special Adviser for PM

PM
01:05 Mr. Amari, Minister for Economic Revitalization; Mr. Matsumoto, Administrative Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; and Mr. Matsuyama, Cabinet Secretariat Councillor
01:58 Mr. Sekou, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
02:09 Mr. Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Kato, Mr. Sekou, and Mr. Sugita, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries
04:00 Mr. Kitamura, Director of Cabinet Intelligence
04:37 Mr. Ogasawara, Administrative Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication; Mr. Junichi Tanaka and MR. Ryo Ooishi, Councillors, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication; and Mr. Sakurai, Director General, Global ICT Strategy Bureau
04:56 All leave
07:18 Video message shoot for the Davos World Economic Forum annual meeting [very funny]
07:51 Shooting ends
09:43 Mr. Sugita, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
10:13 Mr. Sugita leaves
10:49 Meeting of the Response Headquarters for the Japanese Nationals Abducted in Algeria
11:12 Home in Tomigaya

January 22, 2013 (TUE)

AM
09:16 LDP Headquarters
09:32 LDP Executive meeting
10:01 Office
10:03 Ministerial meeting
10:29 Mr. Nishikawa, Administrative Vice Minister of Justice
11:05 Mr. Adachi, Administrative Vice Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry; and Mr. Takahara, Director-General, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy
11:41 Mr. Sato, Administrative Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation

PM
12:12 Mr. Sato leaves
02:08 Mr. Shimomura, Minister of Education; and Mr. Yamanaka, Ministry of Education Councillor
02:34 Mr. Yamaguchi, Director of LDP Accounting Office
02:41 Receives a Report from Mr. Taro Aso, Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Akira Amari, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, and Mr. Masaaki Shirakawa, Governor of the Bank of Japan; Mr. Suga attends
02:50 Make comments for the press
02:57 LDP Headquarters
03:00 LDP Local Secretaries meeting
03:41 Office
03:43 Mr. Kaneko, Administrative Vice Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare; Mr. Okazaki, Director, Employment Security Bureau, Ministry of Health; and Mr. Muraki, Social Welfare and War Victims' Relief Bureau Director General
04:25 Mr. Amari, Minister for Economic Revitalization
04:47 Mr. Suzuki, Senior Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Hiramatsu, MoFA Foreign Policy Bureau Director General
05:10 Mr. Suzuki and Mr. Hiramatsu leave
06:13 Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
06:53 Meeting neds
09:29 TV Asahi, Roppongi, Tokyo
09:54 Appear on a news program
11:03 Home in Tomigaya

January 23, 2013 (WED)

AM
08:24 Office
08:31 Industrial Competitiveness Council
09:40 Meeting ends
09:42 Professor Heizo Takenaka of Keio University
09:53 Mr. Katsuyuki Kawai, Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair
10:06 Mr. Kitamura, Director of Cabinet Intelligence; and Mr. Nishi, Director General, Defense Policy Bureau, MoD; and Mr. Kinomura, Director of Defense Intelligence Headquarters
10:20 Mr. Nishi and Mr. Kinomura leave
10:40 Mr. Kitamura leaves
10:50 Mr. Taniuchi, Cabinet Office Advisor
11:08 Mr. Matsumoto, Administrative Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; Mr. Shimizu and Mr. Matsuyama, Councillor of Cabinet Office

PM
12:01 Mr. Lee Sung-yoon and Hideo Watanabe, Vice Chairs, Japan-Korea Cooperation Committee
12:17 All leave
01:01 Mr. Aso, Minsiter of Finance
01:32 Ministerial Council on Monthly Economic Report and Other Relative Issues
02:03 Mr. Minagawa, Administrative Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery
02:43 Mr. Moriguchi, Administrative Vice Minister of Education
03:19 Presentation Ceremony of the Prime Minister's Award to the Winner of the Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize
03:56 Mr. Nemoto, Minister of Reconstruction
04:18 Mr. Yamamoto, Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs
04:39 Mr. Ishihara, Minister of Environment; Mr. Saito, Parliamentary Secretary of Environment; and Mr. Ikeda, Director, Nuclear Power Regulatory Agency
05:24 Mr. Kawai, Administrative Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Saiki, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
06:11 Mr. Kawamura, LDP Election Affairs Council Chief
06:25 Mr. Kawamura leaves
07:49 Mr. Yonemura, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management
08:45 Mr. Yonemura leaves
09:02 Home in Tomigaya

January 24, 2013 (THU)　

AM
08:31 Office
08:33 Mr. Inada, Minister in charge of Administrative Reform
09:15 Regulatory Reform Council
09:47 Mr. Ryuhei Maeda, new Ambassador for Switzerland and Lichtenstein; and other new Ambassadors
10:02 Education Rebuilding Implementation Council
11:08 Meeting ends
11:35 Interview with Kyodo News

PM
12:06 Mr. Yamamoto, Minister of State for Space Policy
01:00 Mr. Aso, Minister of Finance; Mr. Manago, Administrative Vice Minister of Finance; and Mr. Tanaka,Director General, Tax Bureau, MoF
01:09 Mr. Furusawa, Director General, Financial Bureau, MoF, joins
01:37 All leave
01:38 Mr. Amari, Minister for Economic Revitalization; Mr. Matsumoto, Administrative Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; and Mr. Matsuyama, Cabinet Office Councillor
01:59 Reiyukai, Azabudai, Tokyo,”Inner Trip” meeting
02:19 LDP Headquarters: Photo shoot with the candidates for Tokyo Assembly election: Mr. Ishiba attends
03:08 Office
03:10 Mr. Kitamura, Director of Cabinet Intelligence
03:16 Mr. Hiroshi Inouye, Chair of the private broadcasting company federation
03:47 Ms. Junko Kawaguchi, LDP Okinawa development research board chair; and Mr. Fukushiro Nukaga, former Minister of Defense
03:57 Mr. Aso, Minister of Finance; Mr. Manago, Administrative Vice Minister of Finance; and Mr. Kinoshita,
0431 Courtesy Call from Representatives of the Ship for World Youth (SWY) Program
05:03 Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
05:54 Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting
06:17 Mr. Amari, Minister of Economic Revitalization
06:42 Mr. Motegi, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry
07:44 Residence: Dinner with Mr. Kimura, Isozaki, and Eto, Special Advisors of PM
09:34 Home in Tomigaya

January 25, 2013 (FRI)

AM08:20 Office
08:21 Mr. Nemoto, Minister of Reconstruction
08:46 Mr. Kishida, Minister of Foreign Afairs; Mr. Suzuki, Senior Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Kawai, Administrative Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
08:58 The Seventh Meeting of the Response Headquarters for the Japanese Nationals Abducted in Algeria
09:16 National Security Council
09:37 Strategic Headquarters for Space Development
10:02 Ministerial Meeting
10:27 Headquarters on the Abduction Issue
10:44 Headquarters for Japan's Economic Revitalization
11:08 Mr. Shunichi Tanaka, Chair of Nuclear Regulatory Committee; and Mr. Ikeda, Director, Nuclear Regulatory Agency

PM
12:00 Mr. Yuuji Yamamoto, the Lower House Budget Committee Chair
12:16 Lunch with Mr. Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary
01:31 Mr. Sugita, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
01:41 Mr. Shindo, Minster of Internal Affairs and Communications
02:02 Meeting with newspaper and broadcasting editors
02:29 Meeting with private broadcasting analysts
02:55 Cabinet Press Club members
04:10 Interview with Mainichi Shimbun
04:53 Mr. Yneda and Mr. Katagiri, Old and New National Police Agency Director
05:00 Mr. Nishimura and Mr. Higuchi, New and Old Superintendent General
05:15 Mr. Kitamura, Director of Cabinet Intelligence
05:25 Mr. Onodera, Minister of Defense; Mr. Nishi, Defense Policy Bureau Director General; and Mr. Kimizuka, GSDF Chief of Staff
05:50 Mr. Fujii, Cabinet Office Secretariat Councillor; and Mr. Izumi, Special Advisor for PM
06:30 Teleconference with Prime Minister Merkel of Germany
07:16 Residence: Dinner with Mr. Hamada and Mr. Honda Cabinet Office Secretariat Councillors
08:51 Mr. Ihara, North American Affairs Bureau Director General, MoFA; and Mr. Sakurai, Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
09:57 Home in Tomigaya

January 26, 2013 (SAT)

AM
08:50 Keio University Hospital; medical checkup

PM
02:29 Home in Tomigaya
03:12 NHK International’s Studio in the Japan Amway Headquarters Building; Attend the World Economic Forum (Davos Meeting) TV meeting
03:56 Residence
03:57 Mr. Yamaguchi, President of New Komei Party; Mr. Ishii, Komei’s Policy Research Chief; and Mr. Nishida, Komei’s Parliamentary Affairs Chief
04:21 Mr. Kinouchi, Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Suga; Mr. Sugita, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Yonemura, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management; and Mr. Kitamura, Director of Cabinet Intelligence
04:54 Give comments to the press
05:14 Home

January 27, 2013 (SUN)

AM
Home in Tomigaya

PM
04:39 Ryougoku Sumo Wrestling Arena
04:41 Kitanoumi, Chair of Japan Sumo Wrestling Association
04:53 Watch the sumo matches
05:44 Presentation ceremony for the champion
06:32 Home
08:33 Office
08:35 Mr. Aso, Minister of Finance; and Mr. Manago, Administrative Vice Minister of Finance
09:02 Ruling party meeting for the FY2013 budget
09:18 Mr. Suga
09:21 Mr. Amari, Minister for Economic Revitalization
09:57 Home

Monday in Washington - February 11

National Foundation Day [Empire Day] in Japan.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society holds a 9:00am news conference in at the National Press Club in Washington to announce legal action being taken against Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research a "government subsidized front" for commercial whaling. On February 7, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, released a report, The Economics of Japanese Whaling, asserting that the whaling industry is heavily government subsidized and challenging assertions by the Japanese government that whaling is a tradition with wide support among Japanese consumers.

THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF DEMOCRACY AND AUTOCRACY IN INDIA AND CHINA. 2/11, 12:30-2:00pm. Sponsor: Center for Global Development (CGD). Speakers: Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development; Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow and Director of the Understanding India Initiative, Center for Global Development.

MARITIME SECURITY IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC. 2/11, Noon-2:30pm. Sponsor: Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University, Japanese Student Union of DC, and the Organization of Asian Studies. Speakers: Professor Takeshi Sakadearun, Associate Professor of Economics, The Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University; Professor Mike Mochizuki, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, APP Board member; Professor Robert Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University; Takamasa Ito, Shoki Oyabu, Shoko Kawata, Kyoto University Student Presenters. 

ABE’S FOREIGN POLICY: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE U.S. 2/11, Noon-1:30pm. Sponsor: Sasakwa Peace Foundation USA (SPF). Speaker: Rust Deming, Adjunct Professor of Japan Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. 

SECURITY IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION. 2/11, 5:00-6:30pm. Sponsor: Johns Hopkins SAIS. Speaker: PK Singh, director of the United Service Institution of India.

Happy New Year

Sumi-e Serpent Painting by Kendo Kanai

A contemporary master of Yamabushi Zen Buddhist 

Single Stroke Serpent Painting is Dorje Kirsten -Shinno

Comfort Women and Asian American Vote

Memorial

On January 29, the New York State State adopted a Legislative Resolution recognizing a small stone monument in Nassau County dedicated to the myriad women in Asia who were forced to become sex slaves to Imperial Japan's Armed Forces and their contractors. A majority of these women were likely Korean who were procured through by a number of means and then trafficked to the war zones.

Many will simply see this simple act as another reminder of the horrors both East and West of World War II. The story is really bigger. The resolution is the second local resolution in the United States in memory of the Comfort Women. It follows one passed in the California State Senate in 1999 (Assembly Joint Resolution 27) and the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007 (HRes 121).

It signifies greater participation and influence of the Asia American Pacific Island Community in American politics. Today nearly 6 percent if the U.S. population is AAPI and expected to reach 10% by 2050. The number of Asian-Americans jumped from 11.9 million in 2000 to 17.3 million in 2010, a 46 percent growth rate that outpaced even that of Hispanics, according to the Census Bureau. The AAPIC has become the swing vote with 40 to 50% participation rates and growing.

Second, the issue of violence against women and children in international conflict and human trafficking have become an important policy concerns to the American people and the Obama Administration. At its base, the Comfort Women issue is about what happens when policies do not exist to help this vulnerable population. The Obama Administration has made establishing mechanisms to assist women in conflict regions a priority. See: National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, US State Department.

Further, preserving the memory of the women (and boys) who were sex slaves to the Japanese military during World War II is part of preserving the memory and lesson of that terrible conflict. The governments of Canada, European Union, South Korea, and the Netherlands all passed resolutions to their memory.

Below is the text of J304-2013: Memorializing a Memorial Monument in the State of New York that pays tribute to those who have become known to the world as 'Comfort Women' 

WHEREAS, During the Japanese colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through the duration of World War II, approximately 200,000 young women were coerced into the Comfort Women system of forced military prostitution; and 

WHEREAS, On June 16, 2012, the Comfort Women Memorial Monument was established in the Veterans Memorial at Eisenhower Park in Westbury, New York, to honor and commemorate the victims of the Comfort Women system; and  

WHEREAS, The Memorial Monument, being the second memorial of its kind in the United States, symbolizes suffering endured by comfort women and serves as a reminder of the crime against humanity committed through the Comfort Women system; and 

 WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize historical monuments within the State of New York that are established to increase awareness of serious events that have taken place in history; and  

WHEREAS, The United Nations reports that 2.4 million people across the globe are victims of human trafficking at any one time, and 80 percent of them are being exploited as sexual slaves; now, therefore, be it  

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize a Memorial Monument in the State of New York that pays tribute to those who have become known to the world as 'Comfort Women'; and be it further 

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the Korean American Public Affairs Committee, the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Korean American Civic Empowerment.

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule Jan 14-20

January 14, 2012 (MON)

AM
Home in Tomigaya

PM
12:05 Hotel Okura, Toranomon, Tokyo; Lunch with former Democrat Senator and Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle and former White House NSC Senior Asia Director Torkel Patterson, at a Japanese Restaurant Yamazato
01:46 Residence
02:02 Mr. Suga and Mr. Sokou, Chief and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries; Mr. Saiki, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Sasaki, Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry; Mr. Ishizu, Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation; Mr. Yamazaki, Director General, Ministry of Finance International Affairs Bureau; and Mr. Tomohiko Taniguchi, former MoFA Deputy Press Secretary
02:44 Mr. Taniguchi leaves
03:55 All leave
05:43 Home

January 15, 2013 (TUE)

AM
08:12 Office
08:21 Mr. Aso, Minister of Finance; and Mr. Manago, Administrative Vice Minister of Finance
08:26 Mr. Kinoshita, Ministry of Finance Director-General of the International Bureau
08:58 All leave
09:12 LDP Headquarters
09:20 Give party endorsement for the Upper House by-election candidate in Yamaguchi Prefecture
09:32 LDP Executive meeting
09:59 Office
10:01 Ministerial meeting
10:18 Mr. Aso, Minister of Finance; and Mr. Amari, Minister of Economic Revitalization
10:44 Mr. Saiki, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Tomohiko Taniguchi, former MoFA Deputy Press Secretary
11:01 Mr. Taniguchi leaves
11:18 Mr. Saiki leaves
11:36 Mr. Hironobu Takesaki, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Japan

PM
12:01Mr. Kouichi Hamada, Cabinet Office Special Advisor; Financial Affairs experts including Nobuyuki Nakahara, member of BoJ Policy Board; Mr. Aso; Mr. Amari, and Mr. Suga
01:36 Mr. Furuya, Minister for Abduction Issue; and Mr. Mitani, Deputy Director, Headquarters for the Abduction Issue
01:55 Mr. Yamamoto, Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs
02:49 The Forum for Consultations between the National and Regional Governments
02:56 Mr. Akio Shigemitsu, Chair of Lotte Group
03:11 Mr. Tomohiko Taniguchi, former MoFA Deputy Press Secretary
03:52 The Prime Minister Receives a Request from the Governors of Aomori, Iwate, Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures and Others
04:09 The Inauguration Ceremony for the Education Rebuilding Implementation Council, with Mr. Hakubun Shimomura, Minister of Education
04:21 Office
04:23 Mr. Kishida, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Suga; and Mr. Kawai, Administrative Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
05:06 Mr. Onodera, Minister of Defense; and Mr. Iwasaki, MoD Head of the Joint Staff
05:17 Mr. Naoki Inose, Governor of Tokyo
05:36 Mr. Satoshi Ishii, President of Kyodo News; and Mr. Fumikazu Yoshida, Chief Editor, Kyodo News
05:43 Mr. Amari, Minister in charge of Total Reform of Social Security and Tax
05:55 National Security Council meeting
06:32 Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting
07:04 Residence; Dinner with Mr. Yoshida, LDP Upper House Deputy Secretary General; and Mr. Sekiguchi, LDP Upper House Parliamentary Affairs Council Deputy Chief; Mr. Sekou, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, attends
07:27 Mr. Suga joins
08:40 All leave
08:41 Mr. Soichiro Tahara, Journalist
09:11 Mr. Tahara leaves
09:28 Home in Tomigaya

January 16, 2013 (WED) *First Day of the Prime Minister's Visit to Southeast Asia

AM
09:40 Haneda Airport
09:50 Press interview
10:20 Leave the airport for Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia

PM (Local Time)
Arrive at Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi, Vietnam
Welcome ceremony at Head of State Office
Meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam
Joint Press Statement
Meeting with Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam
Pay a courtesy visit to Truong Tan Sang, President of Vietnam
Meeting with elementary school students at Hotel Nikko Hanoi
Dinner party hosted by Prime Minister and Mrs. Dung at an international conference center
Stay in Hotel Nikko Hanoi

January 17, 2013 (THU)　*Second Day of the Prime Minister's Visit to Southeast Asia

AM
Press interview at Hotel Nikko Hanoi
Leave Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi, Vietnam
Arrive at Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand

PM
Meeting with local Japanese residents at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok
Observe Thai-Japan Industrial University
Converse with accompanying press
Pay a courtesy visit King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Siriraj Hospital
Welcome ceremony at Prime Minister’s office
Meeting with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
Joint press conference; gift exchange
Dinner party hosted by Prime Minister Yingluck
Teleconference with Prime Minister Sellal of Algeria
Stay in the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok

January 18, 2013 (FRI) * Third Day of the Prime Minister's Visit to Southeast Asia

AM
Leave Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok
Arrive at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia

PM
Press interview at Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta
Interview with Fuji TV
Welcome ceremony at Presidential Palace
Meeting with President Yudhoyono
Joint Press Conference
Leave Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, Jakarta

January 19, 2013 (SAT)

AM
03:54 Arrive at Haneda Airport
04:26 Office
04:28 Mr. Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Kato and Mr. Sekou, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries; and Mr. Kawai, Administrative Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
05:02 Mr. Kawai leaves
05:13 Mr. Suga, Mr. Kato, and Mr. Sekou leave
06:01 Meeting of the Response Headquarters for the Japanese Nationals Abducted in Algeria
06:20 Press interview
06:23 Cabinet Crisis Management Center, give a word of encouragement
07:15 Home in Tomigaya

PM
05:33 Office
05:46 Mr. Kato and Mr. Sugita, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries; Mr. Yonemura, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management; Mr. Kitamura, Director of Cabinet Intelligence; Mr. Saiki, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Hiramatsu, Foreign Policy Bureau Director-General
06:00 Teleconference with Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom
06:26 Press interview
06:30 The Capitol Hotel Tokyu, Nagatacho; meeting with Mr. Yamaguchi, President of the New Komei Party
06:50 Dinner with Mr. Shiozaki, LDP Policy Research Council Deputy Chief; Mr. Watanabe, President of the Your Party; and Mr. Youichi Takahashi, former Cabinet Secretary Counsellor
09:11 Office
09:25 Teleconference with Prime Minister Stoltenberg of Norway
09:35 Teleconference ends

January 20, 2013 (SUN)

AM
12:30 Teleconference with Prime Minister Sellal of Algeria
12:53 Press interview
01:06 Home
09:34 Office
10:02 Meeting of the Response Headquarters for the Japanese Nationals Abducted in Algeria
10:23 Press interview
10:36 Ministry of Defense
10:37 Pay a flower Tribute to memorial of those fallen on duty
11:05 Prime Minister Visits the Ministry of Defense to Attend the Handover Ceremony of the Flag of the Golan Heights PKO (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF) Unit
1:37 Lunch with Mr. Onodera, Minister of Defense; and Mr. Ishiba, LDP Secretary General; Observe Central Commanding Post

PM
01:10 Office
01:29 Mr. Kishida, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Kawai, Administrative Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Ihara, Director General, North American Affairs Bureau, MoFA
02:15 Mr. Yonemura, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management; Mr. Kitamura, Director of Cabinet Intelligence; Mr. Kawai, Administrative Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Saiki, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs;
03:11 Home
05:05 Prime Minister’s residence
05:11 Mr. Ishiba, LDP Secretary-General
06:05 Mr. Ishiba leaves
06:45 Teleconference with President Holland of France
07:03 Mr. Aso, Minister of Finance; Mr. Manago, Administrative Vice Minister of Finance; Mr. Kinoshita, Director General, Budget Bureau, MoF; and Mr. Tanaka, Director General, Tax Bureau, MoF; and Mr. Furusawa, Director General, Financial Bureau, MoF
07:23 Mr. Kinoshita and Mr. Furusawa leave
07:54 All leave
08:11 Home

This week in Washington

AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS 
2/6 - 9:30am, House Science, Space and Technology Committee, Full committee hearing on "American Competitiveness: The Role of Research and Development." Witnesses: Mr. Richard Templeton, President and CEO, Texas Instruments; Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Dr. Charles Vest, President, National Academy of Engineering.

THE FUTURE OF CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS. 2/6, 2:30-4:00pm. Sponsor: CNAPS Brookings. Speakers: Mireya Solís, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies; Richard C. Bush III, Director, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy.

CHINA’S NEW LEADERSHIP AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES. 2/7, 9:00am-4:15pm. Sponsor: U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC). Speakers: Christopher K. Johnson, Senior Adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Dr. Cheng Li, Director of Research and Senior Fellow, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution; Dr. Eswar Prasad, Senior Professor of Trade Policy, Cornell University; Nicholas Borst, Research Associate and China Program Manager, Peterson Institute for International Economics; Dr. James Mulvenon, Vice-President, Intelligence Division, Defense Group, Inc.; Roy D. Kamphausen, Senior Advisor for Political and Security Affairs, National Bureau of Asian Research; LtGen Wallace ‘Chip’ Gregson, Jr. (USMC, ret.), Senior Director, China and the Pacific, Center for the National Interest; Dr. David M. Lampton, Director of China Studies, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies; Dr. Michael Auslin, Resident Scholar and Director of Japan Studies, American Enterprise Institute.

CHINA AT THE TIPPING POINT? 2/7, Noon-2:00pm. Sponsor: International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Speakers: Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University; Louisa Greve, National Endowment for Democracy; Maochun Yu, U.S. Naval Academy.

SHORING UP THE U.S.-TAIWAN PARTNERSHIP. 2/8, 9:00am-2:00pm. Sponsors: Heritage Foundation and Taiwan Benevolent Association of America. Speakers: Walter Lohman, Director, Asian Studies Center, Heritage Foundation; Ms. Taidi Fang, President, Taiwan Benevolent Association of America; Joanna Lei, Former Member Legislative Yuan; Rupert Hammond-Chambers, President, U.S.-Taiwan Business Council; Claude Barfield, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Matthew P. Goodman, Simon Chair in Political Economy, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Derek Scissors, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation; Randy Schriver, President, Project 2049; Dean Cheng, Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center, Heritage Foundation; Stephen Yates, CEO, DC International Advisory and former Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President Cheney; Vincent Wang, Professor, University of Richmond; The Honorable John Cornyn (R-TX), United States Senator.

2013 CONGRESSIONAL TRADE AGENDA. 2/8, 8:30-10:00am. Sponsor: Washington International Trade Association (WITA). Speakers: Angela Ellard, House Ways and Means Committee chief Republican trade counsel and Trade Subcommittee staff director; Jason Kearns, House Ways and Means Committee chief Democratic international trade counsel; Bruce Hirsh, Senate Finance Committee chief Democratic international trade counsel; Everett Eissenstat, Senate Finance committee chief Republican international trade counsel.

CHINA’S CENTURY? BEIJING’S ROCKY ROAD TO GREAT POWER STATUS. 2/8, 12:30-1:30pm. Sponsor: Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University. Speaker: Martin Jacques, Author of When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order. 

THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF DEMOCRACY AND AUTOCRACY IN INDIA AND CHINA. 2/11, 12:30-2:00pm. Sponsor: Center for Global Development (CGD). Speakers: Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development; Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow and Director of the Understanding India Initiative, Center for Global Development.

MARITIME SECURITY IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC. 2/11, Noon-2:30pm. Sponsor: Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University, Japanese Student Union of DC, and the Organization of Asian Studies. Speakers: Professor Takeshi Sakadearun, Associate Professor of Economics, The Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University; Professor Mike Mochizuki, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, APP Board member; Professor Robert Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University; Takamasa Ito, Shoki Oyabu, Shoko Kawata, Kyoto University Student Presenters. 

ABE’S FOREIGN POLICY: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE U.S. 2/11, Noon-1:30pm. Sponsor: Sasakwa Peace Foundation USA (SPF). Speaker: Rust Deming, Adjunct Professor of Japan Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.