Kenji E. Kushida is a senior fellow for Japan studies in Carnegie’s Asia Program, directing research on Japan, including a new Japan-Silicon Valley Innovation Initiative at Carnegie. He was formerly a research scholar with the Japan Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.
Kushida’s research and projects are focused in five streams: (1) Japan's transforming political economy; (2) how politics and regulations shape the development and diffusion of information technology such as artificial intelligence; (3) institutional underpinnings of the Silicon Valley ecosystem, (4) Japan's startup ecosystem, and (5) the role of foreign multinational firms in Japan. He has published several books and numerous articles in each of these streams and is the author of books and monographs in Japanese and English.
Kushida has appeared in media including the New York Times, Washington Post, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Nikkei Business, Diamond Harvard Business Review, NHK, PBS NewsHour, and NPR. He is also a trustee of the Japan ICU Foundation, an alumnus of the Trilateral Commission David Rockefeller Fellows program, and a member of the Mansfield Foundation Network for the Future.
Kushida holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. He received his MA in East Asian studies and his BA in economics and East Asian studies with honors, all from Stanford University.
The United States and Japan continue to make technology collaborations a core pillar of their bilateral relationship, but many governmental discussions around trade and investment are framed by traditional and increasingly outdated notions of what is happening on the ground.
This volume digs into South Korea’s experiences with digital standards and standardization and draws attention to Korea’s distinctive digital policy. It then compares Korea’s experiences to those of the United States and other Asian players, notably Malaysia and Japan—grading all four countries in key areas.
Concerns about Nippon Steel's plans to acquire U.S. Steel are reminiscent of the anti-Japanese industry sentiment of the 1980s and early 90s.
Sectors that were out-competed by Japan - a lot of them did get decimated, but the entrepreneurial dynamism of the U.S. created higher-value-added industries - software, computers.
The Silicon Valley model offers lessons for regions around the world as they look to grow their own startup ecosystems.
Japanese entrepreneurs face high hurdles to compete in Silicon Valley. Among many factors, three stand out.
This series offers a deep dive into the Silicon Valley ecosystem, its continuing evolution, and its connections to the world amid new waves of technological innovation and geopolitical disruption.
Top leaders in both the US and Japan continue their commitments to put innovation as a core pillar of the bilateral relationship, but not enough is known about how this cutting-edge collaboration is actually driven more by the private sector.
Carnegie senior fellow Kenji Kushida will discuss how Washington and Tokyo can harness the cutting-edge collaborations taking place in Silicon Valley to help transform the vital U.S.-Japan alliance.
Japan’s startup ecosystem has arrived at a pivot point: for the first time, it is able to draw top-tier talent to high-growth startups at a scale that was not possible just 15 years ago.
