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Monday in Washington, November 30, 2015

BEYOND THE BUDGET DEAL: A CONVERSATION WITH DOD COMPTROLLER MIKE MCCORD. 11/30, 8:30-9:30am. Sponsor: CSIS. Speaker: Mike McCord, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer.

HOUSING, INCLUSION AND SOCIAL EQUITY: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. 11/30, 8:30am-2:30pm. Sponsor: Brookings Institution. Speakers: Martin S. Indyk, Executive Vice President, Brookings; William (Sandy) Darity, Director, Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equality, Duke University; Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore; Jack Markell, Governor, State of Delaware; Setti David Warren, Mayor, Newton, Massachusetts; Xavier de Souza Briggs, Vice President, Ford Foundation.

INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY’S WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK 2015. 11/30, 1:00-2:30pm. Sponsor: CSIS. Speaker: Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA); Moderator: Sarah Ladislaw, Director and Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS.

11/30-12/11 - UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP21), Paris,

November 25 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Statement by
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC

Today we celebrate the many stories of courageous and bold action to end gender-based violence— the nuns helping people escape sex trafficking, the men in Argentina teaching boys in football clubs to treat women with respect, the businesswomen in Detroit raising money to test rape kits, and the college students in India speaking out against gender-based violence and advocating for stronger enforcement of laws and public safety.

This cause is deeply personal to me. When I was a prosecutor outside Boston in the 1970s, I worked to put people behind bars for rape and sexual assault. We were one of the very first jurisdictions in America to set up a witness protection program so that people weren’t twice victimized – once by the crime and once by the system. And we put together a priority prosecution unit that took such cases and put them on a fast track for trial. Because no matter who you are or what you do: “No” means “no”; “against will” means “against will”; and force is never acceptable.

But the truth is that far too many cases of violence continue to occur—the wife beaten by her husband in Papua New Guinea, the college student sexually assaulted on campus in the United States, the women raped by government soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 15-year-old girl in Europe at risk of female genital mutilation/cutting, the young Afghan stoned to death because she refused to be married, and the thousands of minority women and girls enslaved by Daesh and subjected to serious human rights abuses.

Gender-based violence is a problem in every country around the globe, including the United States. One in three women around the world will experience gender-based violence in her lifetime. For older women, women with disabilities, transgender women and women in marginalized communities, the reality is even worse. And all of this comes at a terrible cost, not only for women, but for families, communities, economies, and countries the world over.

Each and every one of us can do something to end gender-based violence. The United States is committed to tackling these issues by strengthening the rule of law, extending a hand to survivors, and working to change outdated attitudes about women and girls. We're also working with global partners to eradicate conflict-related sexual violence, and we welcome a new G7 report highlighting the power of collective action.

The bottom line is that we do this work every day, 365 days a year. But on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and over the next few weeks during the 16 Days of Activism, we shine a spotlight not only on the deplorable instances of gender-based violence, but also the heroes working to end it. And we pledge to continue our efforts to support survivors, work toward prevention, and make crystal clear that gender is never a justification for violence.

Publication of the G7 Report on the Implementation of the G8 Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, November 25, 2015

The Chair of the G7 has the honour to present the G7 Report on the Implementation of the G8 Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.

The Declaration was made in April 2013 to address the prevalence of systematic and widespread sexual violence in situations of armed conflict. We set out to work together, in a concerted campaign, to strengthen prevention and response. Better support needed to be provided to victims, more capacity needed to be built for prevention. We sought to remove barriers that prevent effective monitoring and reporting of sexual violence and improve accountability and access to justice.

This report illustrates the progress that has been made by providing a selection of concrete actions by G7 members and highlighting other major international efforts with G7 participation. It represents an intermediate step and serves as a symbol of renewed commitment by the G7 to the Declaration.
G7 Report on the Implementation of the G8 Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict PDF | 394 KB (9 pages)

Japan as noted in the G-7 report

In the same year [2014], Japan held a public symposium in Tokyo with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to discuss and deepen understanding of the main challenges and responses to sexual violence in armed conflict.

Japan made a voluntary contribution of approximately €600,000 to the Trust Fund for Victims at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to support survivors of sexual violence. An additional €400,000 is earmarked to support survivors of SGBV.

In 2015, Japan allocated an additional $2.55 million in 2015, to support the work of the Team of Experts in the DRC and the Central African Republic. Japan became the largest donor to the Office of SRSG on SVC in 2014, with a contribution of $2.15 million in order to bolster the judicial systems in the DRC and Somalia.
Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Page on Women

Prime Minister of Japan’s Schedule May 25-31, 2015

Monday, May 25, 2015

AM
08:00 At private residence (no visitors)
08:43 Depart from private residence
08:56 Arrive at office
09:30 The second meeting of the Cyber Security Strategy Headquarters
09:35 Meeting ends
09:41 Receive a proposal from the Science and Technology Parliamentary Association
10:01 End reception
10:12 Meet with Secretary-General of Headquarters for Abduction Issue Ishikawa Shoichiro
10:27 End meeting with Mr. Ishikawa
10:29 Meet with Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen, Director of National Security Council (NSC) Yachi Shotaro, MOFA’s Director-General of International Legal Affairs Bureau Akiba Takeo, and Ministry of Defense (MOD)’s Director-General of Bureau of Defense Policy Kuroe Tetsuo

11:32 End meeting with Mr. Nakatani, Mr. Yachi, Mr. Akiba, and Mr. Kuroe

PM
12:12 Depart from office
12:19 Arrive at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery. Attend the Ceremony of Reverence, lay a wreath
12:45 Depart from Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery
12:54 Arrive at office
01:36 Film video message for medical science-related activity
01:59 End filming
02:01 Meet with Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Amari Akira, Vice-Minister of Cabinet Office Matsuyama Kenji, Cabinet Office Director-General for Policies on Cohesive Society Maekawa Mamoru, Cabinet Office Director-General for Policies on Cohesive Society Habuka Shigeki, Cabinet Office’s Director-General for Policies on Cohesive Society Tawa Hiroshi
02:34 End meeting with Mr. Amari, Mr. Matsuyama, Mr. Maekawa, Mr. Habuka, and Mr. Tawa
02:35 Meet with Former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Masuda Hiroya
03:12 End meeting with Mr. Masuda
03:20 Meet with Administrative Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Nagamine Yasumasa
04:02 End meeting with Mr. Nagamine
04:03 Meet with Ministry of Finance (MOF)’s Deputy Vice-Minister Fukuda Junichi and MOF’s Director-General of Tax Bureau Sato Shinichi
04:29 End meeting with Mr. Fukuda and Mr. Sato

Suga and Yamaguchi think shirt itches

04:33 Presentation of Kariyushi Shirt from the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture Takeshi Onaga. Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide and Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Yamaguchi Shunichi also attend
04:45 Presentation ends
04:53 Depart from office
04:54 Arrive at Diet
04:55 Enter LDP Secretary-General’s Conference Room
04:56 Endorse the Governor candidate for Gunma Prefecture. Photograph Session
04:58 Leave LDP Secretary-General’s Conference Room
04:59 Enter LDP President’s Office
05:01 LDP Officers Meeting
05:20 Meeting ends
05:38 Speak with Chairman of LDP Election Strategy Committee Motegi Toshimitsu
05:42 Leave LDP President’s Office
05:43 Depart from Diet
05:45 Arrive at office
06:14 Reception for Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak. Commemoration Photograph Session.
06:15 Ceremony by the guard of honor
06:21 Ceremony ends
06:23 Japan-Malaysia Summit Meeting with Prime Minister Najib Razak
07:19 Summit meeting ends
07:22 Joint Press Announcement
07:36 Joint Press Announcement ends
07:37 Depart from office
07:38 Arrive at the official residence. Banquet hosted by Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and wife Akie
08:56 Send off Prime Minister Najib Razak and his spouse Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor
08:58 Send-off ends

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

AM
12:00 At official residence (no visitors)
07:27 Depart from office
07:32 Meet with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seko Hiroshige
08:13 End meeting with Mr. Seko
08:24 Cabinet meeting
08:40 Cabinet meeting ends
08:41 Meet with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu
09:53 End meeting with Mr. Kato
09:54 Depart from office
09:56 Arrive at Diet
09:57 Enter Upper House Committee Room No. 43
10:00 Meeting of the Committee on Health, Labour, and Welfare of the Upper House

PM
12:03 Meeting adjourns. Leave Upper House Committee Room No. 43
12:04 Depart from Diet
12:06 Arrive at office
12:36 Depart from office
12:38 Arrive at Diet
12:40 Enter LDP President’s Office
12:41 Meet with Chief Representative of Japan Innovation Party Matsuno Yorihisa
12:49 End meeting with Mr. Matsuno
12:50 Leave LDP President’s Office
12:52 Enter Lower House Speaker’s Reception Room
12:55 Meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Aso Taro and Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen
12:59 End meeting with Mr. Aso and Mr. Nakatani
01:00 Leave Lower House Speaker’s Reception Room, enter Lower House Chamber
01:02 Plenary session of the Lower House
04:01 Plenary session adjourns, leave Lower House Chamber
04:02 Depart from Diet
04:04 Arrive at office
04:05 Meet with Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Miyazawa Yoichi and State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takagi Yosuke
04:23 End meeting with Mr. Miyazawa and Mr. Takagi
04:48 Meet with Director of National Security Council (NSC) Yachi Shotaro, Director of Cabinet Intelligence Kitamura Shigeru, and Director of Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center Shimohira Koji
04:56 Mr. Yachi and Mr. Shimohira leave
05:08 Mr. Kitamura leaves
05:17 Meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
06:22 Meeting ends
06:28 Ceremony to Present the Commendations for Contributors to Consumer Support for FY2015
06:40 Ceremony ends
06:56 Receive a courtesy call from a delegation led by Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee of the United States Michael D. Rogers
07:13 Courtesy call ends
07:15 Depart from office
07:32 Arrive at Italian restaurant Ristorante ASO. Dinner meeting with Chairman of the ANA Holdings Inc.’s Board Ito Shinichiro and President of ANA Holdings Inc. Katanozaka Shinya
09:01 Depart from the restaurant.
09:09 Arrive at private residence in Tomigaya, Tokyo

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

AM
12:00 At private residence (no visitors)
07:14 Depart from private residence
07:27 Arrive at office
08:54 Depart from office
08:56 Arrive at Diet
08:58 Enter Lower House Committee Room No. 1
09:00 Meeting of the Special Committee of the House of Representatives on the Legislation for Peace and Security of Japan and the International Community

PM
12:01 Meeting adjourns
12:02 Leave Lower House Committee Room No. 1
12:04 Depart from Diet
12:05 Arrive at office
12:54 Depart from office
12:55 Arrive at Diet
12:57 Enter Lower House Committee Room No. 1
01:00 Meeting of the Special Committee of the House of Representatives on the Legislation for Peace and Security of Japan and the International Community reopens
05:02 Meeting adjourns
05:03 Leave Lower House Committee Room No. 1
05:05 Depart from Diet
05:07 Arrive at office
05:13 Meeting of the Ministerial Council on the Monthly Economic Report and Other Relative Issues
05:27 Meeting ends
05:28 Speak with Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ohta Akihiro
05:30 Finish speaking with Mr. Ohta
05:43 Meet with Chairman of LDP General Council Nikai Toshihiro, former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Nishikawa Koya, and others
06:17 End meeting with Mr. Nikai, Mr. Nishikawa, and others
06:22 Depart from office
06:31 Arrive at Palace Hotel Tokyo in Marunouchi, Tokyo. Attend a party hosted by LDP faction Santo in banquet hall Aoi within the hotel, deliver an address.
06:41 Depart from the hotel
06:49 Arrive at Japanese restaurant Kurosawa in Nagata-Cho, Tokyo. Dinner meeting with President of Nippon Television Holdings, Inc. Okubo Yoshio, journalist Goto Kenji, and others
09:37 Depart from the restaurant
09:53 Arrive at private residence

Thursday, May 28, 2015

AM
12:00 At private residence (no visitors)
07:12 Depart from private residence
07:24 Arrive at office
07:26 Meet with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu
08:53 End meeting with Mr. Kato
08:54 Depart from office
08:55 Arrive at Diet
08:57 Enter Lower House Committee Room No. 1
09:03 Meeting of the Special Committee of the House of Representatives on the Legislation for Peace and Security of Japan and the International Community

PM
12:02 Meeting adjourns
12:03 Leave Lower House Committee Room No. 1
12:05 Depart from Diet
12:06 Arrive at office
12:47 Meet with Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide
12:54 Depart from office
12:55 Arrive at Diet
12:57 Enter Lower House Committee Room No. 1
01:00 Meeting of the Special Committee of the House of Representatives on the Legislation for Peace and Security of Japan and the International Community reopens
05:04 Meeting adjourns
05:05 Leave Lower House Committee Room No. 1
05:07 Depart from Diet
05:08 Arrive at office
05:19 National Security Council meeting
05:54 Meeting ends
06:03 Depart from office
06:11 Arrive at Hotel New Otani in Kioi-Cho, Tokyo. Attend a party hosted by LDP Lower House member Hosoda Hiroyuki in banquet hall Ho-Oh-No-Ma, deliver address
06:22 Depart from office
06:40 Arrive at Japanese restaurant Shinbashi Matsuyama in Ginza, Tokyo. Dinner meeting with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seko Hiroshige and others
07:21 Depart from the restaurant
07:27 Arrive at steakhouse Kawamura in Ginza, Tokyo. Dinner meeting with Chairman of LDP General Council Nikai Toshihiro, LDP Lower House member Kawamura Takeo, and others
09:28 Depart from the steakhouse
09:48 Arrive at private residence

Asia mostly backsliding on democratic values

BY Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies, Temple University Japan and APP member

THE JAPAN TIMES,  November 28, 2015 

In Japan, lawyers are fortunately not arrested by the state for doing their job, as they are in China. Nor are academics faced with indictment for challenging mainstream history narratives, as in South Korea.

We tend to expect the worst when it comes to China, but in democratic South Korea it is troubling to learn that professor Park Yu-ha is being subjected to a witch-hunt over her recent book, which challenges the official story of the “comfort women.” Whether she is right or not is irrelevant; in a functioning democracy scholars should have the political space needed to voice their opinions even if their ideas are unpopular.

Combined with President Park Geun-hye’s recent initiative to reassert a state monopoly on high school textbooks by 2017, and the arrest of a Japanese journalist for what amounted to shoddy journalism — thereby transforming him into an undeserving icon for press freedom — clearly the South Korean government is working overtime to tarnish that nation’s hard-won image for robust democracy. The good news is that large-scale demonstrations against the president’s gambit to white-wash history show that citizens zealously guard these rights and are not going to tolerate any conservative backsliding on South Korea’s praetorian history.

Park must envy Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He has promoted patriotic education and imposed new guidelines that give the state inordinate control over what is written in Japan’s textbooks; when it comes to touchy subjects like territorial disputes or comfort women, they must conform with government views. And Abe has accomplished this without sparking mass protests about the history lobotomy he is administering. Perhaps this is because Abe’s Japan is a target-rich environment for progressive activists as he propels reactionary agendas across the board ranging from welfare for the wealthy — aka “Abenomics” — to nuclear restarts, collective self-defense, shoving a new U.S. military base at Henoko down the throats of Okinawans, arms exports, moral education, faux “womenomics,” visits to Yasukuni Shrine and so on. With so many targets, it’s hard to focus public disaffection.

Abe’s signature initiatives and grandstanding gestures may not be popular, but a weak and fragmented opposition gives him a free hand. The mass protests this past summer, in which demonstrators rallied in defense of the Constitution and against his security legislation, followed protests against his 2013 state secrets legislation, a remarkable rollback of what limited transparency has ensued since a national information disclosure law was passed in 2001.

The government seems paranoid over international scrutiny of this secrecy legislation, as the planned December visit of David Kaye, the U.N. special rapporteur charged with examining Japan’s record on transparency and accountability, has been postponed indefinitely. No doubt the officials charged with designating state secrets are so busy making sure that none of the dirty linen sees the light of day for 60 years — yes, that is the inscrutably lengthy period for which government documents can be withheld from public scrutiny — that making time to welcome an unwelcome visitor is a low priority.

So next month, when Abe visits Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, he can offer moral support for New Delhi’s recent stonewalling of visits by U.S. State Department officials regarding human trafficking and LGBT rights. Given that Modi’s star is fading rapidly in India, underscored by a monumental setback at the state polls earlier this month in Bihar, where he had campaigned extensively, he could use a bit of Abe-teflon. Increasingly Modi has fallen back on the dark agenda of Hindutva (Hindu chauvinism) to offset the growing disenchantment with his mounting failures on the promises of national rejuvenation encapsulated in the “India Shining” propaganda. As with Abe’s historical revisionism, support for the Japan Conference (Nippon Kaigi) and Yasukuni visits, Modi finds the temptations of the primordial are hard to resist and is also dumbing down India’s textbooks. Abe will try to seal the deal on exporting Japanese nuclear technology to India and Shin Maywa’s amphibious U-2 planes, which can track Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean. He will also try to get New Delhi to buy Japanese high-speed rail technology.

China’s recent snatching of the Indonesian high-speed rail contract came as an unpleasant surprise given close bilateral ties between Indonesia and Japan since World War II and lingering animosity toward Beijing in Jakarta for alleged (and unsubstantiated) support for a so-called communist coup in 1965. In the aftermath, the military mounted a real coup under former President Suharto (1967-98), who, with the aid of Islamic youth groups and paramilitary organizations and gangs, unleashed a wave of terror that killed up to 1 million Indonesians.

This slaughter remains controversial in Indonesia, where President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has not carried through on his pledges for a full reckoning. This might be somewhat easier now, after the U.S. State Department in September declassified materials related to Washington’s involvement in fingering targets for the death squads. But Jokowi is politically weak and has also been unable to follow through on promises to open the troubled province of Papua to journalistic scrutiny because security forces there want to keep their repressive operations under wraps. And his “boss,” Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, is now trying to kill the anti-corruption commission in one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

At a November conference in Berlin on Sino-Japanese rivalry, discussion of Abe’s recent tour through central Asia singled out his visits to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where Abe disappointed human rights activists by shifting toward a more pragmatic stance similar to China’s. Unlike his predecessors, Abe came up short by ignoring widespread concerns about political repression. Given that China’s energy deals overshadow Japan’s by far, Abe had little to lose and much to gain by standing tall on democratic values and human rights. Alas, Abe decided that “success” depended on acting more like Beijing and cozying up to despots.

Myanmar is one of the bright spots for democracy in Asia, after Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won a resounding landslide victory in the October election. It now faces the impossible task of meeting unreasonably high expectations. She doesn’t have a magic wand, however, and has to deal with ethnic problems that have proven intractable for the entire post-WWII independence period. She also needs to cope with militant Buddhist monks eager to whip up anti-Muslim violence.

Yet, the people voted out the military-backed junta for the second time in 25 years, and this time the generals indicate they will respect the outcome, a belated reward for citizens’ perseverance under a despotic regime. There is, however, an urgent need for donors to open the spigots of aid and the flow of technical assistance required to help them climb out of the very deep hole dug by an inept kleptocracy that has misruled for way too long.

Prime Minister of Japan’s Schedule May 18-24, 2015

Monday, May 18, 2015

AM
08:00 At private residence (no visitors)
09:41 Depart from private residence
09:54 Arrive at official residence
10:07 Meet with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seko Hiroshige
10:38 End meeting with Mr. Seko
11:53 Depart from office
11:55 Arrive at Diet
11:56 Enter Upper House President’s Reception Room
11:57 Leave Upper House President’s Reception Room, enter Upper House Chamber

PM
12:01 Plenary session of the Upper House begins
01:08 Plenary session of the Upper House adjourns
01:09 Leave Upper House Chamber
01:10 Depart from Diet
01:12 Arrive at office
01:32 Interview with monthly journal Seiron
02:12 Interview ends
02:19 Receive a courtesy call from Japanese Co-Chairman Kazuo Tsukuda, Acting EU Co-Chairman Danny Risberg, and other members of the EU-Japan Business Round Table
02:31 Courtesy call ends
02:45 Meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Aso Taro, Ministry of Finance’s Director-General of Budget Bureau Tanaka Kazuho, and Ministry of Finance’s Director-General of the Financial Bureau Nakahara Hiroshi
03:24 End meeting with Mr. Aso, Mr. Tanaka, and Mr. Nakahara
03:25 Meet with Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Amari Akira, Vice-Minister of Cabinet Office Matsuyama Kenji, Cabinet Office Director-General for Policies on Cohesive Society Maekawa Mamoru, Cabinet Office Director-General for Policies on Cohesive Society Habuka Shigeki, Cabinet Office’s Director-General for Policies on Cohesive Society Tawa Hiroshi
03:40 End meeting with Mr. Amari, Mr. Matsuyama, Mr. Maekawa, Mr. Habuka, and Mr. Tawa
03:47 National Security Council meeting
03:56 Meeting ends
03:57 Meet with Director of National Security Council (NSC) Yachi Shotaro, Director of Cabinet Intelligence Kitamura Shigeru, MOFA’s Director-General of Foreign Policy Bureau Hiramatsu Kenji, Ministry of Defense (MOD)’s Director-General of Bureau of Defense Policy Kuroe Tetsuro, Chief of Staff for Joint Staff Council Kawano Katsutoshi
04:20 End meeting with Mr. Yachi, Mr. Kitamura, Mr. Hiramatsu, Mr. Kuroe, and Mr. Kawano
04:32 The fourth meeting of the Council for the Protection of Information
04:57 Depart from office
04:58 Arrive at Diet
04:59 Enter LDP President’s Office
05:00 LDP Officers Meeting
05:25 Meeting ends
05:35 Leave LDP President’s Office
05:36 Depart from Diet
05:38 Arrive at office
05:39 Meet with President of the Party for Future Generations Hiranuma Takeo, Secretary-General of the Party for Future Generations Matsuzawa Shigefumi, and others
05:56 End meeting with Mr. Hiranuma, Mr. Matsuzawa, and others
06:04 Film video message for universities
06:07 Finish filming
06:32 Depart from office
06:43 Arrive at the Headquarters Building of Yomiuri Shimbun in Otemachi-cho, Tokyo. Dinner meeting with Chairman of Yomiuri Group, Inc. Watanabe Tsuneo, Yomiuri Shimbun’s Special editorial board member Hashimoto Goro, Chairman of Sankei Shimbun Kiyohara Takehiko, Nikkei Shimbun’s Chief Editorial Writer Serikawa Yoichi, President of NHK Enterprises, INC. Imai Tamaki, and Commentor Yayama Taro
09:22 Depart from Yomiuri Shimbun
09:37 Arrive at private residence

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

AM
12:00 At private residence (no visitors)
08:00 At private residence in Tomigaya, Tokyo (no morning visitors)
08:07 Depart from private residence
08:20 Arrive at office
08:28 Cabinet meeting
08:41 Cabinet meeting ends
09:50 Film video message for American groups
09:57 Finish filming
10:06 Meet with Chairman of LDP General Council Nikai Toshihiro and LDP Lower House member Hayashi Moto
10:33 End meeting with Mr. Nikai and Mr. Hayashi
10:34 Meet with Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Saiki Akitaka, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)’s Director-General of Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau Uemura Tsukasa, MOFA’s Director-General of Intelligence and Analysis Service Oka Hiroshi
11:03 End meeting with Mr. Saiki, Mr. Uemura, and Mr. Oka
11:05 Director of National Security Council (NSC) Yachi Shotaro, Director of Cabinet Intelligence Kitamura Shigeru, and Ministry of Defense (MOD)’s Director of Defense Intelligence Headquarters Miyagawa Tadashi enter
11:14 Mr. Yachi and Mr. Miyagawa leave
11:31 Mr. Kitamura leaves
11:32 Meet with Chairman of Young Diet Members’ Association for Promoting Japan-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Exchange Kishi Nobuo, and the Association’s Secretary-General Hagiuda Koichi
11:54 End meeting with Mr. Kishi and Mr. Hagiuda
11:55 Meet with LDP Lower House member Kawai Katsuyuki 

PM
12:04 End meeting with Mr. Kawai
12:54 Depart from office
12:55 Arrive at Diet
12:57 Enter Lower House Chamber
12:59 Speak with Senior Vice-Minister of Defense Sato Akira
01:00 Finish speaking with Mr. Sato
01:02 Plenary session of the Lower House begins
01:04 Leave in the middle of the plenary session of the Lower House
01:05 Depart from Diet
01:07 Arrive at office
01:35 Meet with MOFA’s Director-General of Foreign Policy Bureau Hiramatsu Kenji, Ministry of Defense (MOD)’s Director-General of Bureau of Defense Policy Kuroe Tetsuro
02:13 End meeting with Mr. Hiramatsu and Mr. Kuroe
05:18 The 6th meeting in 2015 of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
06:19 Meeting ends
06:23 Reception for Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama. Commemoration Photograph Session. Attend a ceremony by the guard of honor
06:30 Ceremony ends
06:32 Japan-Fiji Summit Meeting with Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama
07:31 Summit meeting ends
07:33 Joint press announcement. Exchange uniforms with Rugby representatives
06:41 Depart from office
06:43 Arrive at official residence. Dinner meeting hosted by Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and wife Akie
08:52 Send off Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama
08:53 Finishing send-off

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

AM
12:00 At official residence (no visitors)
08:00 At official residence (no morning visitors)
09:40 Depart from official residence
09:42 Arrive at office
09:43 Interview open to all media: when asked his comments on surpassing the tenure of his grandfather and former Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke, Prime Minister Abe says, “I have a long way to go. What is important is not the number of days in office but what I have achieved. I will devote myself to tackling our policies.”
09:44 Interview ends

PM
02:54 Depart from office
02:55 Arrive at Diet
02:58 Enter Lower House Committee Room No. 1
03:00 Party Leaders’ Debate
03:49 Party Leaders’ Debate ends
03:51 Leave Lower House Committee Room No. 1
03:53 Depart from Diet
03:54 Arrive at Diet
03:56 Minister of Finance Aso Taro, MOF’s Deputy Vice-Minister Fukuda Junichi, and Ministry of Finance (MOF)’s Director-General of Budget Bureau Tanaka Kazuho
04:46 Mr. Fukuda and Mr. Tanaka leave
05:00 Mr. Aso leaves
05:01 Meet with Mayor of Nagoto City, Yamaguchi Prefecture Onishi Kurao
05:05 End meeting with Mr. Onishi
05:06 Meet with Director of Cabinet Intelligence Kitamura Shigeru
05:55 Reception for President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. Commemoration Photograph Session
05:56 Attend a ceremony by the guard of honor
06:02 Ceremony ends
06:04 Japan-Mongolia Summit Meeting with President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
06:43 Summit meeting ends
06:46 Joint Press Conference
06:55 Joint Press Conference ends
06:56 Depart from office
06:57 Arrive at official residence. Dinner meeting hosted by Prime Minister Abe Shinzo
08:10 Send off President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
08:11 Finishing send-off

Thursday, May 21, 2015

AM
12:00 At official residence (no visitors)
08:00 At official residence (no morning visitors)
09:45 Depart from official residence
09:47 Arrive at office
10:00 Meet with Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Kimura Taro
10:07 End meeting with Mr. Kimura
10:09 Meet with Director of Cabinet Intelligence Kitamura Shigeru
10:19 End meeting with Mr. Kitamura
11:03 Depart from office
11:13 Arrive at Hotel New Otani in Kioi-cho, Tokyo. Host a luncheon for Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill and other guests in banquet hall Ho-Oh-No-Ma.

PM
12:40 Receive a courtesy call from Chairman of the State Duma Sergey Naryshkin
12:55 Courtsey call ends
01:04 Depart from hotel
01:10 Arrive at office
01:34 Meet with Minister of the Environment Mochizuki Yoshio
01:55 End meeting with Mr. Mochizuki
01:56 Meet with LDP Secretary-General Tanigaki Sadakazu
02:29 End meeting with Mr. Tanigaki
04:17 Meet with Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Shimomura Hakubun, Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Yamanaka Shinichi, MEXT’s Director-General of Sports and Youth Bureau Kubo Kimito
04:37 End meeting with Mr. Shimomura, Mr. Yamanaka, and Mr. Kubo
05:20 Meet with Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Saiki Akitaka, Administrative Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Nagamine Yasumasa, MOFA’s Director-General of European Affairs Bureau Hayashi Hajime, MOFA’s Director-General of Economic Affairs Bureau Saiki Naoko
05:55 End meeting with Mr. Saiki, Mr. Nagamine, Mr. Hayashi, and Ms. Saiki
05:58 Depart from office
06:03 Arrive at Imperial Hotel in Uchisaiwai-cho, Tokyo.
06:13 Receive a courtesy call from Deputy Prime Minister of Kingdom of Thailand Pridiyathorn Devakula in the banquet hall Chidori
06:21 Courtesy call ends
06:26 Receive a courtesy call from Deputy Prime Minister, Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vu Van Ninh
06:41 Courtesy call ends
06:47 Receive a courtesy call from Vice President of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla
06:57 Courtesy call ends
07:05 Attend the banquet of the 21st International Conference on the Future of Asia held in Tokyo, delivered a speech, exchange views with attendants
08:47 Finishing attending the banquet
08:49 Depart from the hotel
08:56 Arrive at Palace Hotel Tokyo. Attend a social gathering of Columbia University Business School personnel, alumni, and others
09:58 Depart from the hotel
10:14 Arrive at private residence in Tomigaya, Tokyo

Books discussed in Washington

The following books will be discussed in public programs in 

Washington, DC in the following weeks. Click on each book to order.