The Japan Roundtable Series examines the nature of Japan’s economic and political challenges, the viability of the current set of proposed reforms, and the likely impact of the reforms’ successes or failures for the country and the broader Asia-Pacific region. In general, this series aims to understand the nature of Japan’s financial problems; examine reforms and their implications; and anticipate and prepare for the effects of the reforms or a continued lack of corrective action. The discussions and ideas generated will contribute to a larger project examining the problems in Southeast Asian countries stemming from Japan's economic crisis and proposed measures for structural reforms. The project will look at how a decade of low economic growth, chronic deflation, and a recent recession, in combination with proposed corrective reforms will have an impact beyond Japan's borders. Specifically, the questions to be addressed include: • Why are structural reforms necessary? • What are the critical elements necessary for Japan to promulgate and implement them? • What are the possible policy implications if structural reform does or does not occur? • Are Japan’s problems political or economic: What does the United States need to know and understand about changes likely to occur as Japan pulls out of a decade-long recession and struggles with its one-party system? The project director expects to hold seven sessions of this series throughout the 2002-2003 program year.