The New Dynamics: Understanding Japan-US Relations from a Japanese Perspective
Toshihiro Nakayama, professor of American politics and foreign policy at Keio University in Japan, will discuss his views on Japan’s relationship with the U.S.
The following is Nakayama’s introduction to his presentation:
“The result of the 2016 US Presidential elections was a shock for Japan. However, Japan has had a far better relationship with the Trump administration than other western democracies. How is this so? Is this sustainable? The talk would focus on Japan’s ‘strategy of adaptation,’ if you could call it that, and put it into the context of regional dynamics in East Asia. I spent a year in Washington DC, from September of 2018 to August of 2019, trying to understand the new dynamics in the bilateral relations.”
Speaker bio
Toshihiro Nakayama is a professor of American politics and foreign policy at the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University. He is also an adjunct fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs. Nakayama was also a special correspondent for the Washington Post at the Far Eastern Bureau (1993–94), special assistant at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations in New York (1996–98), senior research fellow at The Japan Institute of International Affairs (2004–06), associate professor at Tsuda College (2006-10) and professor at Aoyama Gakuin University (2010–14). He was a CNAPS Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution (2005–06), Sir Howard Kippenberger Chair Visiting Professor at the Center for Strategic Studies, Victoria University in Wellington (2017) and a Japan scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center (2018-2019). Nakayama received his MA (1993) and PhD (2001) from Aoyama Gakuin University. He has written two books and numerous articles on American politics, foreign policy and international relations. He appears regularly on Japanese media. Recipient of Nakasone Yasuhiro Award (Incentive Award) in 2014.
This event is sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles and the School of International Letters and Cultures.