The Japan Forum on International Relations

Foreign Policy Luncheon

What is The “Foreign Policy Luncheon”?

The “Foreign Policy Luncheon” is organized monthly to provide an occasion for members of JFIR to meet, in an informal and confidential manner, with senior officials of the Japanese government and other authorities in the field of international affairs. Speakers are invited to give a talk followed by Q&A. The meeting is conducted in Japanese. The “Foreign Policy Luncheon” is held under the co-sponsorship of JFIR with its sister organizations, the “Global Forum of Japan,” and the “Council on East Asian Community.”

List of Speakers

2023

Jul.12 SUMI Shigeki Former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine
Jun.28 SEKIYAMA Takashi

Associate Professor, Kyoto University

May.31 ITO Keiko

Professor, Chiba University

2022

Dec.14 TAKEI Shunsuke

Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs

Nov.28 WATANABE Hiroshi

President, Institute for International Monetary Affairs

Oct.14 YAMADA Seiji

Professor, National Institute of Informatics

Sep.20 SATO Takumi

Professor, Graduate School, Kyoto University

Jun.24 ITO Asei

Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo

May.27 YAMAMOTO Tadamichi
AOKI Kenta

Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan
Research Fellow, Middle East Institute of Japan

Apr.7 NISHITANI Tomoaki

Representative, N&R Associates

Feb.24 HIROSE Hiromi

International journalist

Jan.28 KITAMURA Shigeru

Former Director, the National Security Agency of Japan

2021

Dec.20 ASAO Keiichiro

Councilor, JFIR / Lecturer, Tamagawa University

Nov.30 TAKASE Junichi

Professor, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies

Oct.25 TOKIWA Shin
HAKAMADA Shigeki

Distinguished Research Fellow, JFIR
Trustee, JFIR

Sep.13 OCHIAI Yoichi

Media Artist

Jul.29 MATSUMOTO Saho

Professor, Nihon University

Jun.14 ONISHI Yasuo

Specially Appointed Research Fellow, Japan Science and Technology Agency

May.31 HIROSE Yoko

Distinguished Research Fellow, JFIR / Professor, Keio University

Apr.19 KOGA Hitoshi

Director, Fukaya Clinic

Mar.29 MATSUBARA Hitoshi

Professor, the University of Tokyo

Mar.10 OKAMOTO Takashi

Professor, Kyoto Prefectural University

Feb.26 ITO Sayuri

Director, NLI Research Institute

Feb.15 TSUCHIYA Motohiro

Professor, Keio University

Jan.13 KODAMA Kazuo

Former Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Japan to the EU

2020

Dec.23 ITO Toru

Associate professor, National Defense Academy of Japan

Nov.11 NAKAYAMA Toshihiro

Professor, Keio University

Oct.29 IWAMURA Mitsuru

Professor, Waseda University

Oct.8 MIKURIYA Takashi

Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo

Sep.9 ENDO Mitsugi

Professor, The University of Tokyo

Sep.4 ENDO Ken

Dean, Graduate School of Public Policy, Hokkaido University

Aug.26 Chi Hung KWAN

Senior Fellow, Nomura Institute of Capital Markents Research

Jul.31 SUZUKI Kazuto

Professor, Hokkaido University

Jun.3 TAKUMA Kayo

Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University

Feb.19 KANEHARA Nobukatsu Distinguished Research Fellow, JFIR / former Deputy Director, NSA of Japan

2019

Dec.26 IKEUCHI Satoshi

Professor, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo

Nov.26 KIMIZUKA Naotaka

Professor, Kanto Gakuin University

Oct.17 MORINOBU Shigeki

Professor of Law, Chuo University

Sep.27 WATANABE Yasushi

Professor, Keio University

Jul.24 SASAKI Shoko

Director General, Immigration Service Agency of Japan

Jun.10 IWASHITA Naoyuki

Professor, Kyoto University

May.23 KAMO Tomoki

Distinguished Research Fellow, JFIR / Professor, Keio University

Apr.17 YAMAKAWA Hiroshi

President, JAXA

Mar.27 IWAI Katsuhito

Economist

Feb.18 YOSHIZAKI Tatsuhiko Chief Economist, Sojitz Research Institute, Ltd.
Jan.22 TAHARA Soichiro

Journalist

2018

Nov.28 OKAMOTO Shigeaki

Administrative Vice Minister, Ministry of Finance

Oct.19 HAKAMADA Shigeki

Professor, Superior Research Fellow & Trustee, JFIR / Professor, University of Niigata Prefecture

Sep.12 HYODO Nisohachi

Military Scientist

Jul.20 SUZUKI Kazuhiro

Director-General, North American Affairs Bureau, MOFA

Jun.21 KODA Youji

former Commander in Chief, Self Defense Fleet

May.24 SOEYA Yoshihide

Professor, Keio University / Intellectual Member, Policy Council, JFIR / Academic Member, GFJ

Apr.11 MAEDA Eiji

Executive Director, Bank of Japan

Mar.26 HORIMOTO Takenori

Visiting Professor, Gifu Women's University

Feb.21 NAGAOKA Yoshihiro

Editor in Chief, Newsweek Japan

Jan.16 SHINODA Hideaki

Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

2017

Dec.19 YAMANOUCHI Kanji

Director-General, Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

Oct.5 KAWASHIMA Shin

Professor, The University of Tokyo

Sep.27 NAWA Toshio

Executive Director / Senior Security Analyst, Cyber Defense Institute

Jul.24 URATA Shujiro

Professor, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University

Jul.12 UEMURA Tsukasa

Director-General, Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau

May.25 HARUNA Mikio

Journalist

Apr.21 WATANABE Hirotaka

Professor, Graduate School of Global Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Mar.9 MASUJIMA Minoru

Deputry Director General, International Cooperation Bureau

Feb.16 KAWAI Katsuyuki

Special Advisor to the Prime Minister / Member of the House of Representatives

Before 2016

Diplomatic Roundtable

What is The “Diplomatic Roundtable”?

The “Diplomatic Roundtable” is organized, taking advantage of an occasion of a visit to Japan of a person prominent in various fields of activities abroad, for the purpose of providing an occasion for the visiting speaker to meet and exchange views with JFIR members. The meeting is conducted, in principle, in English. The “Diplomatic Roundtable” is held under the co-sponsorship of JFIR with its sister organizations, the “Global Forum of Japan,” and the “Council on East Asian Community.”

List of Speakers

2024

Sep.18 Yoram EVRON

Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Haifa

Sep.11 Armen GRIGORYAN

the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia

Jun.20 Mireya Solís

Director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies / Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings Institution

Jun.17 SAHA Premesha

Fellow - Strategic Studies Programme, Observer Research Foundation

May.28 Paul Sracic

Professor of Politics & International Relations, Youngstown State University

Feb.19 Da Huong Pham

Academy of Journalism and Communication

Feb.6 Aliza Bin-Noun

Political Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel

Jan.22 Phan Cao Nhat Anh

Deputy Director General, Institute for India and Southeast Asian Studies (VIISAS) - Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

2023

Dec.18 Nguyen Khang Tran

lecturer in the Faculty of International Relations, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City

Jul.14 Lauren Richardson

Lecturer, Australian National University

Jul.3 Virginia Watson

Professor, the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies

Jun.30 Andrew G. Walder and Jean Oi

Professor, Stanford University

Apr.14 Guoguang Wu

Senior Research Scholar, Stanford University

Apr.14 Thomas Wilkins

Senior Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Mar.28 Shaurya DOVAL

Member of Board of Governors, India Foundation

Mar.27 Jie-Hyun Lim

Professor/Director, Critical Global Studies Institute, Sogang University

Feb.27 Philippe SETTON

Ambassador of France to Japan

Feb.14 Li Shuihui

President Taiwan Japan Academy

Jan.31 Purnendra JAIN

Emeritus Professor The University of Adelaide

2022

Sep.7 Seyed Abbas Araghchi

Former Iranian Ambassador to Japan

Jun.7 LEE Wondeog

Professor, the Institute of Japanese Studies, Kookmin University

Apr.12 Ioan Mircea PASCU

Former Vice-President, the European Parliament

Feb.10 Sergiy KORSUNSKY

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of UKRAINE to Japan

Jan.13 CHENG Fang-Ting

Research Fellow, Inter-disciplinary Studies Center, Institute of Developing Economies Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO)

2021

Dec.6 Narayanan GANESAN

Professor, Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City

Nov.12 LEE Sotetsu

Professor of the Ryukoku University

Oct.18 Bashir MOHABBT

Former Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Aug.26 Cameron NOBLE

First Secretary Political, Australian Embassy, Tokyo

May.21 Zhang Linfeng

Vice President, ZTE Japan

Mar.17 Douglas H. PAAL

Nonresident Scholar, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Feb.17 LAM Peng Er

Principal Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore

2020

Dec.21 Stephen R. NAGY

Senior Associate Professor, International Christian University

Nov.27 CHEN Ching-Chang

Associate Professor, Ryukoku University

Nov.19 Nicholas SZECHENYI

Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Japan Chair; Asia Program Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

Sep.11 ZHAO Hongwei

Professor, Hosei University

Feb.12 Michael CHASE

Senior Political Scientist, RAND Cooperation

2019

Dec.9 Jeffrey WILSON

Research Director, Perth US Asia Centre

Nov.15 RA Jong Yil

Chair Professor, National Defense University / Distinguished Professor, Gachon University

Oct.18 Dmitry V.Streltsov

Head of the Afro-Asian Department and Professor of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University)

Sep.9 Thomas GRAHAM

Managing Director, the Kissinger Associates

Jul.18 PARK Cheol-Hee

Professor, Seoul National University

Jun.27 John WEST

Executive Director, Asian Century Institute

May.21 Sanjay Kumar VERMA

Ambassador of India to Japan

May.13 CHOE Wongi

Professor, and Head, Center for ASEAN-India Studies, Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security Korea National Diplomatic Academy

Apr.8 John HANCOCK

Counsellor, Policy Development, World Trade Organization

Mar.15 LIAN Degui

Executive Director, The Trilateral Cooperation Studies Center of Shanghai International Studies University

Feb.14 James SCHOFF

A US View on Maintaining Security in Asia and Managing Trump's Foreign Policy Contradictions

Jan.18 Kent E. CALDER

Asia in Washington, January, 2019

2018

Nov.7 KIM Jae-shin

How Should We Consider the Current Japan-Korea Relations

Oct.25 JIA Jinjing

Director of the Macro Research Department at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China

Sep.11 Tan Sri Rastam Mohd Isa

Chairman and Chief Executive, the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia

Jul.12 JIN Chang Soo

Director, Japan Center of the Sejong Institute

Jun.12 Joachim von AMSBERG

Professor, George Washington University

May.29 Mike MOCHIZUKI

Professor, George Washington University

Apr.18 Mireya Solís

Co-Director / Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution

Mar.30 MOON Chung-in

Special Advisor to the ROK President for Unification, Foreign and Security Affairs

Mar.26 Mira RAPP-HOOPER

Senior Research Scholar in Law, Yale Law School

Jan.29 Peter DRYSDALE

Emeritus Professor, The Australian National University

2017

Nov.30 Najib EL-Khash

Representative, Risala Media

Nov.6 Ioan Mircea PASCU

Vice-President, European Parliament

Sep.21 Thomas MAHNKEN

President, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments

Jul.10 QIN Yaqing     RONG Ying

President, China Foreign Affairs University / Vice President, China Institute of International Studies

Jun.21 KOH Young Choul

Research Professor, Takushoku University

May.19 Bilahari KAUSIKAN

Ambassador at Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore

Apr.6 David GOLDFISCHER

Associate Professor, University of Denver

Mar.10 Giovanni GANELLI

Deputy Head of Office, IMF Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Feb.22 JIN Yongming

Director, Center for Oceans Strategy Studies of China, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences

Jan.30 Reinhard DRIFTE

Professor Emeritus, University of Newcastle

Before 2016