Japan Memo

In the second episode of Japan Memo season 4, Robert Ward hosts Higashino Atsuko, a Professor at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, James Brown, a Professor of political science at Temple University, Japan campus, and Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, the IISS Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia. Robert, Atsuko, James and Nigel discuss Japan and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Topics discussed include: 

• Japan’s response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine over the past two years; 
• Japan's possible military aid to Ukraine amid growing aid fatigue among Western allies; 
• Japan’s unflagging support for post-war rebuilding to Ukraine in the wake of the bilateral reconstruction conference in February 2024; 
• Japan’s defence and energy policy amid rising security and geopolitical tensions with Russia 

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

• Kanji Akagi, Kokusaianzenhoshou ga wakeru gaidobuku, (Japan Association for International Security, 2024), 288 pp. 
• Mazower Mark, Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century, (Penguin Group, 1999), 512 pp. 
• Muminov Sherzod, Eleven Winters of Discontent: The Siberian Internment and the Making of a New Japan, (Harvard University Press, 2022), 384 pp. 
• Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon, (KADOKAWA, 1950)  

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

Date of Recording: 1 March 2024 

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

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

Robert, Professor Sato, Aaron, and Evan discuss Japan’s relationship with ASEAN.

Topics discussed include: 

• Japan’s shifting diplomatic and economic relationship with ASEAN amid the rapid growth of ASEAN countries; 
• Japan-ASEAN security relationship in the increasingly complicated geopolitical landscape in the region; 
• Japan’s defence policy in ASEAN amid rising competition between the US and China; 
• ASEAN’s policy on navigating the great powers competition in the region. 

The episode's transcript can be found on https://www.iiss.org/podcasts/japan-memo/2024/02/japans-relationship-with-asean/

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

• Wilhelm Vosse (ed.) and Paul Midford (ed.), Japan's new security partnerships: Beyond the security alliance, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2018), 264 pp. 
• Sakai Hidekazu (ed.) and Sato Yoichiro (ed.), Re-rising Japan: Its Strategic Power in International Relations, (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2018), 264 pp. 
• Danny Orbach, Curse on This Country: The Rebellious Army of Imperial Japan, (New York: Cornell University Press, 2017), 384 pp. 
• Robert Ward and Yuka Koshino, Japan’s Effectiveness as a Geo-Economic Actor: Navigating Great-Power Competition, (London: Routledge, 2022), 168 pp. 
• Gerald L Curtis, The Logic of Japanese Politics: Leaders, Institutions, and the Limits of Change, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 336 pp. 

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

Date of Recording: 31 January 2024 

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

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

In the twelfth episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward and Yuka Koshino host Professor Taniguchi Tomohiko, a Visiting Professor at Takushoku University's Institute of World Studies and a Senior Fellow at the Alliance of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and former Special Advisor to Prime Minister Abe's Cabinet and also as a Councillor in the Cabinet Secretariat (April 2013 to September 2020), where he contributed to crafting foreign policy speeches for Prime Minister Abe.

Robert, Yuka, and Professor Taniguchi discuss Abe’s Grand Strategy, especially focusing on his landmark speeches.

Topics discussed include:

Role of diplomatic speechwriter under the Abe administration

Former Prime Minister Abe’s grand strategy and diplomatic legacies

Significance of former Prime Minister Abe’s diplomatic speeches

Abe administration’s legacies in Japan’s foreign and defence policies

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

Crown Prince Naruhito, translated by Sir Hugh Cortazzi, The Thames and I: A Memoir by Prince Naruhito of Two Years at Oxford (Folkestone: Renaissance Books Ltd, 2019)

Geoffrey Bownas, Japanese Journeys: Writings and Reflections: Writings and Recollections (Epsom: Global Oriental; Illustrated edition, 2005)

Fukuzawa Yukichi, The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa (Tokyo: Library of Japan, 2000)

Ian Buruma, A Tokyo Romance (London: Atlantic Books, 2019)

Christopher Ross, Mishima's Sword: Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend (London: Fourth Estate Ltd. 2006)

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice.

Date of Recording: 15 November 2023

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

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

In the eleventh episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward and Togashi Mariko host Professor Tanaka Koichiro, a professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University, and Dr Hasan Alhasan, Research Fellow for Middle East Policy at the IISS.

Robert, Mariko, Professor Tanaka, and Hasan discuss Japan’s relationship with the Middle East. Topics discussed include:

• Japan’s key strategic interests including energy security in the Middle East.
• Japan’s standpoint and communication strategy regarding the Israel and Hamas conflict.
• Geopolitical and economic motivations of great powers in the Middle East.
• The perspectives of Gulf countries towards great-power geopolitics in the Middle East.
• The outlook for Japan’s relationship with the Middle East.

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

•  Mohammed Jaber Al-Ansari, a prominent Bahraini philosopher and political thinker who is fascinated by the Japanese experience of being able to rise as a global industrial powerhouse.
• Dr Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, an associate professor of economics at Tokai University and a vice president and co-founder of the International Society for Energy Transition Studies (ISETS).

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice.

Date of Recording: 09 November 2023

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

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

In the tenth episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward and Yuka Koshino host Professor Kotani Tetsuo, a professor of global studies at Meikai University and a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs; and Dr Lynn Kuok, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the IISS. 

Robert, Yuka, Tetsuo, and Lynn discuss Japan’s response towards expanding grey-zone situations in the Indo-Pacific region.

Topics discussed include: 

• The historical background of grey-zone activity and its definition. 
• The tactics and objectives of Chinese grey-zone activity in the East and the South China Seas. 
• Japan’s perspective and policy on Chinese grey-zone coercion in the Indo-Pacific region. 
• The issue facing Japan when dealing with Chinese grey-zone tactics. 
• The future possibilities of grey-zone escalation and the possible measures taken by regional and international organisations. 

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

• Takahashi Sugio, Nippon de Gunji o Kataru To Iu Koto— Gunji Bunseki Nyūmon [Talking about the military in Japan: an introduction to military analysis] (CHUOKORON-SHINSHA, 2023) 

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice. 

Date of Recording: 06 October 2023 

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

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

In the ninth episode of Japan Memo season 3, Robert Ward and Yuka Koshino host Ambassador Sujan Chinoy, the Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi who served as the Indian ambassador to Japan from 2015 to 2018; and Ambassador Masafumi Ishii, a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Gakushuin University who was the Japanese ambassador to Indonesia from 2017 to 2020. 

Robert, Yuka, Ambassador Chinoy and Ambassador Ishii discuss Japan’s relationship with the Global South countries to navigate the complex international security and geo-economic environment amid Russia’s War in Ukraine and the US-China great power competition. The guests provide their insights on the evolving significance of the Global South, Japanese policies towards India and Indonesia, and the opportunities and challenges looking ahead.

Topics discussed include: 

• The growing importance of the Global South in international affairs; 
• Japan’s engagement with ASEAN countries to deal with the Russian and Chinese challenges to rules-based international order; 
• The political motivation of Japan for engaging with India and Indonesia to tackle global security issues; 
• Potential role of Japan as a bridge between the West and the Global South as the chair of this year’s G7; and 
• Speaker perspectives on the opportunities and challenges in the future cooperation between Japan and the Global South. 

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

• Edwin O. Reischauer, Japan, The Story of a Nation, (Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1988) 
• Ruth Benedict, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, (Indianapolis: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1946) 
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We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice. 

Date of Recording: 24 August 2023 

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

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

In the eighth episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Yuka Koshino hosts Ben Schreer, Executive Director at the IISS-Europe and Head of European Security and Defence Programme, and Tsuruoka Michito, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management in Graduate school of Media and Governance at Keio University, as well as Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University Strategic & Defence Studies Centre (SDSC).

Yuka, Ben, and Michito unpack the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the developments around Japan-NATO cooperation and Japan’s responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Topics discussed include:

• Key takeaways from the 2023 NATO Summit and the impact of Prime Minister Kishida’s second attendance at a NATO summit;
• Assessment of the Individually Tailored Partnership Programmes (ITPP) between NATO and Japan for 2023-26, next steps for implementation;
• Implications of Japan’s adoption of NATO standards for defence equipment supply chain;
• NATO’s approach on China and engagement in the Indo-Pacific, including the debates over the potential opening of its liaison office in Tokyo.

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

Tsuruoka Michito, Abe Shinzo Kaikoroku [Abe Shinzo’s Memoir] (Tokyo: Chuokoron-Shinsha, 2023)

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice.

Date of Recording: 19 July 2023

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

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

In the seventh episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward hosts Sakata Yasuyo, Professor of International Relations at the Kanda University of International Studies; Dr Mireya Solís, Director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies, Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies, and a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings; and Dr Chung Min Lee, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Professor at the Institute of Convergence and Security Affairs, Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology. Dr Lee is also the Chairman of the IISS Advisory Council and a IISS Trustee.

Robert, Sakata-sensei, Dr Lee and Dr Solís explore the factors spurring tension and reconciliation in the bilateral Japan-Republic of Korea (ROK) relationship, conventional and new challenges facing their relations, the status of bilateral and trilateral US-Japan-ROK cooperation and offer perspectives on ways forward for sustaining the recent rapprochement.

Topics discussed include:

·        speaker perspectives on the drivers behind the recent bilateral rapprochement;

·        the impact of the Shangri-La Dialogue on bilateral and trilateral US-Japan-ROK relations;

·        areas of alignment between both countries’ Indo-Pacific strategies and potential areas of cooperation;

·        potential for economic, economic security and traditional security cooperation; and

·        speaker perspectives on the sustainability of the relationship and rapprochement.

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

·        Mireya Solis, Japan’s Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2023) (Forthcoming)

·        Yoichi Funabashi, The Peninsula Question: A Chronicle of the Second Korean Nuclear Crisis (Washington, DC: Brookings Institute Press, 2007).

·        Kishida Fumio, Kakuheiki no Nai Sekai e – Yūki Aru Heiwakokka no Kokorozashi [Towards a World without Nuclear Weapons: Aspirations of a Courageous and Peaceful Nation] (Tokyo: Nikkei BP, 2020).

·        Edited by Michael Raska, Richard A Bitzinger, The AI Wave in Defence Innovation: Assessing Military Artificial Intelligence Strategies, Capabilities, and Trajectories (London and New York: Routledge, 2023)

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice.

Date of Recording: 28 June 2023

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

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

In this special edition of Japan Memo season 3, Robert Ward, Yuka Koshino and Mariko Togashi, report live on the 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue from Singapore.

Robert, Yuka and Mariko interview Bill Emmott, Chair of the IISS Trustees, Dr Valerie Niquet, Senior Research Fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research and Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the Japan Institute of International Affairs and Dr Jimbo Ken, Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University, to gain their insights on key developments in the Dialogue.

They also delve into the significance of this year’s Dialogue taking place amidst Russia’s war on Ukraine and the deepening connections between Western and Indo-Pacific security, accelerating strategic competition between the US and China, and Japan’s increasingly pro-active role in regional and global defence and diplomacy. Topics discussed include:

• Highlights from the Dialogue and how it differs from last year
• An analysis of Japanese Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu’s speech
• Japan’s views on discussions surrounding economic security during the Dialogue
• Ministerial-level debates on critical and advanced technology
• What the 2023 IISS Shangri-La Dialogue says about Japan’s evolving role in the Indo-Pacific and beyond

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice.

Date of Recording: 4 June 2023

This episode of Japan Memo was recorded and produced in Singapore at the 2023 IISS Shangri-La Dialogue.

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In the fifth episode of Japan Memo season 3, Robert Ward hosts Dr Fukushima Akiko, senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research and non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute.

Robert and Dr Fukushima delve into the history of Japan’s engagement with multilateralism and multilateral institutions, examine Japan’s role in multilateralism for the age of the great power competition, particularly its presidency of this year’s G7 summit, and analyse Japan’s strategic thinking towards multilateralism as a means to further enmesh itself across the globe.

Topic discussed include:

• The importance of multilateralism and multilateral institutions to Japan’s national interests after the Second World War;
• the significance of Japan’s 2023 G7 presidency;
• Japan’s ability to work on numerous international security agendas as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council;
• Japan’s deepening ties with NATO and its future with the security alliance; and
• the value-added of Japan’s non-member participation in multilateral forums such as ASEAN.

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

• Fukushima Akiko, ‘A New Logic of Multilateralism on Demand’, in: Hare, P.W., Manfredi-Sánchez, J.L., Weisbrode, K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Diplomatic Reform and Innovation (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), 435-454
• John D. Ciorciari and Kiyoteru Tsutsui, The Courteous Power: Japan and Southeast Asia in the Indo-Pacific Era (Ann Arbour: University of Michigan Press, 2021)
• Amy Stanley, Stranger in the Shogun's City: A Japanese Woman and Her World (New York: Scribner, 2020).

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice.

Date of Recording: 3 May 2023

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

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