On September 17th, the Hamilton Lugar School’s 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI)* was honored to host Ambassador Masafumi Ishii for a series of on-campus engagements, including a public lecture to 21JPSI’s multidisciplinary “Japan Politics and Society” speaker series. One of Japan’s most distinguished former career diplomats and current thought leaders on foreign policy, Ishii previously served as Japan’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Ambassador to Belgium, and as Head of the Mission of Japan to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), among many other posts in DC, Tokyo, and beyond. This trip marked his first visit to Indiana and second-ever to the Midwest, having visited Chicago once before.
In addition to his public talk (“Japan’s Deepening Cooperation with Europe: Implications for the U.S.-Japan Alliance”), Ambassador Ishii also joined 21JPSI Director Adam Liff for a series of private engagements with Hamilton Lugar School deans, faculty members, and students. As a testament to the extraordinary degree of interest in Japanese foreign policy at IU, his public event attracted an in-person audience of 79 individuals, including several members from the community. During his prepared remarks and the audience Q&A that followed, Ishii shared his personal assessment of the rapidly deepening political, economic, and security partnership between Japan and Europe, the reasons for it, and the implications for the future of U.S.-Japan relations.
All discussions were held under the Chatham House Rule, which precludes a detailed summary of their substance in this public recap. Suffice it to write that Ambassador Ishii’s remarks were deeply thought-provoking and left a deep impression on the audience. Numerous students even lined up after each engagement to ask him additional questions, exchange contact information, and take photos together.
Ishii’s other engagements in Bloomington included a courtesy call with HLS Dean John Ciorciari, a 21JPSI-hosted dinner with other HLS administrators and faculty, a discussion with undergraduate and Master’s students in Professor Liff’s “U.S.-Japan Relations” class, and a catered lunch with students interested in Japan, East Asia, and U.S. foreign policy.
*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 and thanks to significant financial support from the Japan Foundation, from its base in the Midwest 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 today.
For more information about 21JPSI, please visit https://jpsi.indiana.edu/ and sign up for our event announcement mailing list.
21JPSI is dependent on external philanthropy to create opportunities like the event described above. If you are interested in making a charitable contribution to support 21JPSI’s important mission at a flagship public university in the U.S. heartland, please contact HLS’ Senior Director of Development