Japan Related Events In Washington

The following events are organized by the U.S.-JAPAN Research as a part of "USJI Week" from September 7-10, 2010.
If you happen to be in town, feel free to stop by. Admission is free.

Cyber Security in East Asia and Policy Cooperation Between Japan and the United States

September 8, 2010, Wednesday

10:30am-12:00pm

Ambassador Room, Hilton Washington Embassy Row, 2015 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC, DC 20036

Dr. Motohiro Tsuchiya Associate Professor, Keio University

Mr. David Hoffman, Director of Security Policy and Global Privacy Officer, Intel Corporation

Dr. Lance J. Hoffman, Distinguished Research Professor, The George Washington University

Mr. Tomohiko Yamakawa Producer of NTT Corporation, Cyber Security Project,
Research and Development Planning Department

On the Independence Day of the United States in 2009 cyber attacks in a massive scale against major web sites broke out without warning. Soon thereafter, similar attacks began in South Korea and they continued in a wavelike fashion. Experts found that these attacks were conducted by the same group, but could not find who they were. As Japan maintains close relationships with both the United States and South Korea, these attacks made the Japanese government realize seriousness of emerging threats in cyberspace. In this session, they will discuss possible defense methods against cyber attacks, which are expected to increase in number in the near future, and necessary policy cooperation and coordination between Japan and the United States.

How the LDP was Defeated in 2009 and How the DPJ was Defeated in 2010 in Japan?

September 8, 2010, Wednesday

3:00pm-4:30pm

Ambassador Room, Hilton Washington Embassy Row, Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC, DC 20036

Dr. Aiji Tanaka USJI Operating Adviser, Professor, Waseda University

Dr. Michael A. Bailey Professor, Georgetown University

Mr. Fred Hiatt Editorial Page Editor, The Washington Post

In this short presentation, Prof. Aiji Tanaka is going to point out the following characteristics of Japanese voters in recent national elections. First, some macro data of the voters in Japan suggest that those unorganized voters who turned out to vote for the LDP led by Koizumi in 2005 were approximately the same unorganized voters who made the DPJ led by Hatoyama in 2009. Second, their public opinion data (Yomiuri Newspaper and Waseda University collaborated a series of nation-wide public opinion surveys from October 2008 through June 2010) show how disappointed those Japanese voters who supported the DPJ in 2009 were at the DPJ in 2010. Third, the same public opinion data also suggest how those unorganized voters felt toward the LDP, and suggest little possibility that the LDP may come back to the government.

Commitment to Development Index: Its meaningfulness and Policy Implications

September 9, 2010, Thursday

10:30am-12:00pm

Ambassador Room, Hilton Washington Embassy Row, 2015 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC, DC 20036

Dr. Yoshiaki Abe USJI Operating Adviser, Professor, Waseda University

Mr. David Roodman Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development

Mr. Hiroto Arakawa Senior Special Advisor, Japan International Cooperation Agency; JICA

The annually prepared index from 2003, the Commitment to Development Index, rates 22 rich countries on how their foreign aid, trade and other policies help or hurt development efforts of the developing countries. Japan US have been rated low. The key points are related to how to quantify various policies and how to weigh different policy execution.

The Partisanship and Bipartisanship in Contemporary US Politics

September 9, 2010, Thursday

3:00pm-5:00pm

Ambassador Room, Hilton Washington Embassy Row, 2015 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC, DC 20036

Dr. Fumiaki Kubo USJI Operating Adviser, Professor, the University of Tokyo

Dr. Kazuyuki Sugawara Associate Professor, Kushiro Public University of Economics

Presentation "Did President Obama's Appointments Overcome Ideological Differences?"

Mr. Takeshi Umekawa Fox International Fellow, Yale University

Presentation "Presidential Signing Statement and Conservative lawyers"

Mr. Rentaro Iida Ph.D. Candidate, Georgetown University

Presentation "Interest Groups, Polarization, and the Structure of Abortion Debate"

Ms. Ayako Hiramatsu Ph.D. Student, the Johns Hopkins University

Presentation "Ideology Caucuses in the House of Representatives"

Dr. Shoko Kiyohara Lecturer, Meiji University

Dr. Clyde Wilcox Professor, Georgetown University

The ideological polarization is one of the most noteworthy features of contemporary American politics. At the same time, we should not ignore some of the real and earnest efforts to regain or pursue bipartisanship even in this hyper-partisan atmosphere, especially on such issues as foreign policy, fiscal policy, social security, or health care reform. In this perspective, four research designs and preliminary results will be presented on various topics ranging from Presidency, Congressional Caucus, to interest groups.

This seminar will be held as a midterm presentation of USJI research project.