Japan Memo

Robert Ward hosts Professor Suzuki Kazuto, Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, and Dr Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp, Director at Agora Strategy Group, to explore Japan’s economic security policy.

Robert, Professor Suzuki and Dr Pohlkamp discuss: 

• Recent developments in Japan’s economic security strategy
• The European perspective on Japan’s economic security policy
• Key differences between Japan and Europe’s economic security approaches
• The future of Japan-China economic relations

The following books are recommended by our guests to gain a clearer picture of the topics discussed: 

• Aoyama Michiko, What You Are Looking for Is in the Library, (New York: Doubleday, 2023), 256pp.
• Okamoto Yukio, Japan and the United States: The Journey of a Defeated Nation - A Diplomat’s Memoir by Yukio Okamoto, (Vermont: Tuttle Publishing), 388pp.

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Date recorded: 30 January 2025 

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 

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Robert Ward hosts Dr Sheila Smith, Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and Dr Jeffrey Hornung, the Japan Lead for the RAND National Security Research Division.  

Robert, Sheila and Jeffrey discuss:   

• Japan’s strategic landscape under Trump 2.0, including insights for PM Ishiba from Abe’s successful approach 
• Japan’s defence policy challenges under Trump 2.0, including potential US demands for increased financial contributions to the security alliance. 
• The future of minilateral security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific under Trump 2.0, notably QUAD and AUKUS 

The following books are recommended by our guests to gain a clearer picture of the topics discussed:   

• Abe Shinzo, Abe Shinzo Kaiko Roku [Abe Shinzo Memoir] (Tokyo: Chuokoron-Shinsha, Inc., 2023), 480pp. 
• Funabashi Yoichi, Shukumei no Ko Volume 1: Abe Shinzou Seiken Kuronikuru [Destiny Child on Abe Shinzo Administration Chronicles Volume 1] (Tokyo: Bungeishunju Ltd., 2024), 560pp. 
• Funabashi Yoichi, Shukumei no Ko Volume 2: Abe Shinzou Seiken Kuronikuru [Destiny Child on Abe Shinzo Administration Chronicles Volume 2] (Tokyo: Bungeishunju Ltd., 2024), 640pp. 
• John W Dower, Embracing Defeat – Japan in the Wake of World War II, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000), 688pp.  
• Nakae Chomin, A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government, (Tokyo: Weatherhill Inc., 1992), 144pp.  

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected].  

Date recorded: 4 December 2024   

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.   

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward is joined by Bill Emmott, Chairman of the IISS Trustees, Murano Masashi, a senior fellow with Hudson Institute’s Japan Chair, and Dr Baldauff Nanae, Non-Resident Senior Associate Fellow at the NATO Defense College to discuss Japan and deterrence.

Robert, Bill, Masashi and Nanae discuss:  

·        The strategic definition of deterrence, from what it entails to how it works

·        Nuclear deterrence, including Japan’s strategy amid the nuclear arms race in East Asia

·        Integrated deterrence, including Japan’s efforts to deepen and integrate operations with allies and partners

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected]. 

Date recorded: 31 October 2024  

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Axel Berkofsky, Associate Professor at the University of Pavia, Professor Hatakeyama Kyoko, Professor of International Relations at University of Niigata Prefecture, and Professor Takenaka Harukata, Professor of Political Science at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

Robert, Axel, Kyoko and Harukata discuss: 

·        Review of the Kishida administration’s security and foreign policy

·        The Ishiba administration’s foreign policy amid intensifying US-China competition

·        The Ishiba administration’s defence policy in Japan’s deteriorating security environment

·        The Ishiba administration’s economic security and domestic economic policies

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Date recorded: 08 October 2024 

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Dr Matsuda Takuya, Adjunct Lecturer at Aoyama Gakuin University, Dr Vida Macikenaite, Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of International Relations of the International University of Japan, and Dr Wrenn Yennie Lindgren, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Centre for Asian Research at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

Robert, Takuya, Vida and Wrenn discuss: 

• The recent development of Japan’s relationship with the Nordic and Baltic states
• Japan’s security cooperation with the Nordic and Baltic states from defense equipment to cyber security
• The Nordic and Baltic approach to authoritarian powers, including their eyes on the potential cooperation between Russia and China in the High North
• The similarities and differences in the security architecture of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific regions

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Date recorded: 6 September 2024 

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Professor Koga Kei, Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Shiozawa Hideyuki, Senior Program Officer at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and Euan Graham, Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Robert, Kei, Hideyuki and Euan discuss: 

• Japan’s strategic approach to the Pacific Island countries
• China’s growing influence in the region
• Australia and its allies’ strategic objectives in the region
• Outlook of Japan and its allies’ approach to the region amid US-China rivalry

The following books are recommended by our guests to gain a clearer picture of the topics discussed: 

• Euan Graham, Australia's Security in China's Shadow, (Abingdon: Routledge for the IISS, 2023), 232pp.
• Yamamoto Syūgoro, 日日平安 [Hibi Heian], (Tokyo: Shinchōsha, 1965), 480pp.
• Yamamoto Tsunetomo, translated by William Scott Wilson, 葉隠 [Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai], (Boulder: Shambhala Publications Inc, 2012), 200pp. The original book was written around 1716.
• Koga Kei and Katada Saori, Japan as a Liminal Power: Evolving Grand Strategies from Meiji to Reiwa (coming soon).
• Andrew Oros, Asia's Growing Security Strategies of America's Ageing Allies, Adversaries and Partners (coming soon).

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Date recorded: 31 July 2024 

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Richard J Samuels, Ford International Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kotani Ken, Professor at Nihon University in Japan, and Hosaka Sanshiro, Research Fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security and PhD student at the University of Tartu.  

Robert, Richard, Ken and Sanshiro discuss:  

• The history of Japanese intelligence agencies 
• Japan’s current intelligence capabilities 
• Intelligence threats faced by Japan and the West 
• Outlook of intelligence operations 

The following books are recommended by our guests to gain a clearer picture of the topics discussed:  

Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Exodus to North Korea: Shadows from Japan's Cold War, (Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007), 302pp. 

John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000), 688pp. 

Kotani Ken, 日本インテリジェンス史：旧日本軍から公安、内調、ＮＳＣまで [Nihon Intelligence Shi: Kyu-nihongun Kara Kōan, Naichō, NSC Made], (Tokyo: Chuo Koron Shinsha, 2022), 296pp. 

Michael S. Molasky, 呑めば、都─居酒屋の東京 [Nomeba Miyako – Izakaya No Tokyo], (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 2016), 400pp.  

Richard J. Samuels, Special Duty: A History of the Japanese Intelligence Community, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2019), 384pp. 

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected]. 

Date recorded: 21 June 2024  

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Iwama Yoko, Professor at Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Guibourg Delamotte, Professor of Political Science at the Japanese Studies Department of the French Institute of Oriental Studies (Inalco), and Dr Alexandra Sakaki, Deputy Head of the Asia Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs at Stiftung Wissenschaft and Politik (SWP).  

Robert, Yoko, Guibourg and Alexandra discuss Japan and the EU:  

• EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific amid Russia’s war against Ukraine 
• China's growing footprint in Europe and its implications for the EU's Indo-Pacific strategy 
• The development and challenges of enhanced defence cooperation between Japan and the EU 
• Implications for the future of the similarity between Japan’s and the EU’s economic security strategies 

For more information, transcript and background reading, please visit out website IISS Podcast: Japan Memo.

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Date recorded: 24 May 2024  

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Chris Hughes, Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies at the University of Warwick, Dr Naoko Aoki , Associate Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation, and Joseph Dempsey, Research Associate for Defence and Military Analysis at the IISS.

Robert, Chris, Naoko and Joseph discuss Japan and North Korea:

• Japan’s diplomatic strategy towards North Korea
• North Korea’s strategy for its advancing missile and nuclear capabilities
• The development of Japan’s counterstrike capabilities and the challenges they face
• Implications for Japan of the strategic cooperation between North Korea, China and Russia

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected] or visit our website The International Institute for Strategic Studies (iiss.org)

Date recorded: 26 April 2024

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Alessio Patalano, Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, Veerle Nouwens, the Executive Director of IISS-Asia, and Nick Childs, the IISS Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security. 

Robert, Alessio, Veerle, and Nick discuss Japan’s maritime security policy in the Indo-Pacific.

Topics discussed include: 

• Japan’s positioning of maritime security policy in relation to other domains; 
• China’s perspective on Japan’s growing maritime capabilities; 
• Japan’s strategic navigation between different layers of partnerships; 
• The impact of Trump’s possible re-election on Japan’s maritime security policy. 

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at [email protected]. 

Date recorded: 04 April 2024 

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.