Japan in 2016: A Look at the Year Ahead

The Japan-America Society of Washington, DC, in cooperation with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and the National Association of Japan-America Societies presented a one-day symposium examining the big foreign and domestic policy challenges facing Japan in 2016. Top experts from think tanks, academia, government, and the nonprofit sector considered a broad range of issues from trade negotiations to regional diplomatic tensions, and from tax hikes to economic reform. Carnegie’s James L. Schoff moderated the opening panel on international prospects.

This event was cosponsored by the Japan-America Society of Washington D.C., the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and the National Association for Japan-America Studies.

Agenda

10:00 to 10:15 a.m.
Welcome Remarks
James L. Schoff, John R. Malott

10:15 to 11:00 a.m.
Keynote Address - Another Election Year
Tsuyoshi Sunohara

11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Domestic, Political, Economic, and Social Developments: A Look Ahead
Tsuyoshi Sunohara, Yuki Tatsumi, Scott Seaman
Moderator: James L. Schoff

12:30 to 1:00 p.m.
Networking Luncheon

1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
The U.S. Government Agenda for 2016
Sung Kim
(Note: Remarks are off-the-record)

2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
Japan, Asia, and the U.S.-Japan Relationship in 2016
Wendy Cutler, Jeffrey W. Hornung, Narushige Michishita
Moderator: Rust M. Deming

Participants

James L. Schoff

James L. Schoff is senior associate in Carnegie’s Asia Program where his research focuses on U.S.-Japan relations and regional engagement, Japanese politics and security, and the private sector’s role in Japanese policymaking.

John R. Malott

John R. Malott is president of the Japan-America Society of Washington D.C. He served as U.S. ambassador to Malaysia between 1995 and 1998.

Tsuyoshi Sunohara

Tsuyoshi Sunohara is a senior staff writer for the Nikkei Newspaper in Tokyo where he covers U.S. foreign policy, the U.S.-Japan relations, and Japan’s security policy.

Yuki Tatsumi

Yuki Tatsumi is a senior associate in the East Asia program at the Stimson Center. where she focuses on Japan, Northeast Asia, strategic issues in Asia and U.S. foreign policy.

Scott Seaman

Scott Seaman is a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group, where he focuses on Japan’s economic and trade policies and foreign relations, with an emphasis on the politics and economic implications of "Abenomics."

Sung Kim

Sung Kim is the Special Representative for North Korea Policy and deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan at the U.S. Department of State.

Wendy Cutler

Wendy Cutler is vice president and managing director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Washington, D.C. office.

Jeffrey W. Hornung

Jeffrey Hornung is the fellow for the Security and Foreign Affairs program at Sasakawa USA.

Narushige Michishita

Narushige Michishita is a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Asia program and a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

Rust M. Deming

Rust M. Deming is an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International studies. He previously served as senior adviser to the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and later director of the Office of Japanese Affairs, at the U.S. department of state, and was U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia between 2001 and 2003.