The United States and Japan at 50: Resilience and Renewal

This workshop was cosponsored by Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Asahi-Shimbun. It took place in Washington, DC.

Widely acclaimed as the most respected and credible source of news in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, the Asahi Shimbun is one of Japan's oldest and largest national newspapers, with a daily circulation of over eight million. Based in Tokyo, its overseas network includes five general bureaus covering America from Washington DC, Europe from London, the Middle East from Cairo, Asia from Bangkok, and China from Beijing, with an additional bureau newly opened in Havana, Cuba, in 2007. It has a presence in about 30 locations worldwide with 53 correspondents. The company has a news website, Asahi.com.

This event has also been made possible by the generosity of the following corporate sponsors of CFR's Japan program: Canon USA, Mitsui & Company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Mitsubishi International Corporation, Sony Corporation of America, and Toyota Motor North America.

Sessions:

The United States and Japan at 50: Remarks by Yoichi Funabashi

Speaker: Yoichi Funabashi, Editor-in-Chief, The Asahi Shimbun
Presider: Sheila A. Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Where We Are Today

Panelists: Yoshihide Soeya, Director, Institute of East Asian Studies, and Professor of Political Science, Keio University
Edward Alden, Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Sheila A. Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Yoichi Kato, National Security Correspondent, The Asahi Shimbun

New Opportunities, New Synergies, New Challenges

Panelists: Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO, Rakuten, Inc.
Fumihiko Yoshida, Editorial Writer, The Asahi Shimbun and Lecturer, Princeton University
Sebastian Mallaby, Director, Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations
Presider: Sheila A. Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Keynote Address

Speaker: Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations