On December 17th and 18th, 2020, the 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI*) hosted its second annual “Japan and the World” academic manuscript workshop. Six experts on Japanese foreign policy from North America and Japan convened virtually to present and receive critical feedback on academic works-in-progress analyzing various aspects of contemporary Japanese foreign relations. Each working paper was the subject of a dedicated session designed to provide the paper’s author with critical feedback from an assigned discussant and other participants.
At the “Japan and the World” workshop’s first session, Dr. Adam Liff (Indiana University) presented a working paper on the development of Japan-Taiwan relations over the past fifty years. Dr. Liff is an associate professor of East Asian international relations at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School, and director of 21JPSI. Professor Yasuhiro Matsuda from the University of Tokyo served as the discussant on Dr. Liff’s paper.
During the workshop’s second session, Dr. Yinan He (Lehigh University) presented an article manuscript focused on Japan-China relations since the Trump era. Dr. He is a professor of international relations at Lehigh University. Professor Madoka Fukuda from Hosei University served as the discussant.
At the workshop’s third session, Ms. Ayumi Teraoka (Princeton University) presented a chapter from her PhD dissertation focused on “The ‘Taiwan Clause’ and the U.S.-Japan Triangle,” from which she extracted contemporary implications for U.S.-Japan alliance management. Ms. Teraoka is a Ph.D candidate at Princeton University and has previously worked at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 21JPSI Director Adam Liff served as the discussant on Ms. Teraoka’s paper.
During the workshop’s fourth session, Dr. Phillip Lipscy (University of Toronto) presented a draft manuscript assessing the foreign policy legacy of the Abe government and its implications for the “post-Abe” era. At the University of Toronto, Dr. Lipscy is an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre for the Study of Global Japan. Ayumi Teraoka from Princeton served as the discussant.
During the penultimate session, Dr. Yasuhiro Matsuda (University of Tokyo) gave a presentation on Japan’s China policy after the resignation of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Professor Matsuda is a professor of international politics at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia. Professor Phillip Lipscy of the University of Toronto served as the discussant.
The workshop concluded with a presentation by Dr. Madoka Fukuda (Hosei University) on the legacy of developments during the term of the recently deceased Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui for Japan’s security policy in the Taiwan Strait. Dr. Fukuda is a professor of international politics and China studies at Hosei University. Prof. Yinan He of Lehigh University served as the discussant during the final session.
*The 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI) was launched at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies in 2018. Under the leadership of Founding Director and HLS faculty member Adam Liff, 21JPSI aims to invigorate and expand research, teaching, and programming on contemporary Japanese politics, society, and international (esp. U.S.-Japan) relations, and to educate, raise awareness, and debate policy responses to the various political, social, and foreign policy challenges that Japan faces in this extremely dynamic era of 21st-century change. Supported by a generous $900,000 grant from the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, in its first five years 21JPSI has enabled a new tenure-track faculty search; new courses on contemporary Japan; a speaker series on Japanese Politics and Society; biennial conferences on U.S.-Japan relations; graduate research fellowships, and faculty travel grants. For more information, please see https://jpsi.indiana.edu/ or write to jpsi@iu.edu