U.S.-Japan Relations and Japan Today

Left: Pokemon wedding in Japan from The Pokemon Company | Right: Military training exercise from Japan Maritime Photography 

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Educators are invited to join our workshop focusing on the evolving U.S.-Japan relationship, especially now that both countries have new leaders, and on changing political values and society in Japan. The workshop will include presentations and discussion with Japan specialists and brainstorming on how the ideas examined might be brought to life in K-12 classrooms. Presentations and speakers include: 

Japan-U.S. Relations in the Age of Kishida and Biden

Prof. Kazuto Suzuki teaches international political economy at the University of Tokyo. His most recent article is “U.S.-China Technological Hegemony and Japan’s Security.” His earlier book on Space Development and International Politics (宇宙開発と国際政治) earned the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities. Prof. Suzuki served as an expert for the Iran Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.  

Japanese Conceptions of Security in the 21st Century

Prof. Tom Le teaches political science at Pomona College and is the author of Japan’s Aging Peace: Pacifism and Militarism in the Twenty-First Century. He’s recently published an op-ed in the Washington Post: “Tokyo wants to upgrade Japan’s defense capacity. A demographic crisis could get in the way.”

Japan and the Gender Problem: How the Division of Labor Shapes Japanese Society

Prof. Amy Borovoy teaches anthropology and East Asian Studies at Princeton University. She’s currently working on a book entitled A Living Laboratory: Japan in American Social Thought. Her first book was The Too-Good Wife: Alcohol, Codependency, and the Politics of Nurturance in Postwar Japan.

Click here to register. 

There is another free workshop on December 4, 9-12pm, that focuses on Japan’s Economic Rise and America’s Wartime Fears. Teachers are encouraged to sign up and attend both workshops, but are also welcome to just attend one. 

with financial support from an anonymous donor and the Freeman Foundation.