Club Lunch: Japan’s National Security Policy: Challenges in Asia

Monday, November 2, 2015
12:45pm – lunch
1:10pm – address
1st Floor

Speaker: Professor Naoyuki Agawa
Keio University, Former Advisor to the Government of Japan

Was Japan willing and capable of playing a bigger and more active role in contributing to peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, under the recently passed legislation for peace and security? The answer seems to be yes. However, Prime Minister Abe had to struggle to persuade the people of Japan that the new security laws were necessary. Pacifism and passivism were strongly held beliefs in Japan. The speaker covered in what ways Japan’s proactive foreign and security policy in the Asia-Pacific region was expected to evolve under the new security laws; how Japan’s new security policy influenced the peace and security in the region; and to what extent pacifism and passivism in Japan could restrain Japan’s new security policy.

Mr. Naoyuki Agawa taught American constitutional law and history as well as the history of Japan-U.S. relations as a professor of the Faculty of Policy Management of Keio University in Japan. Previously, Mr. Agawa served as the Minister for Public Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. Mr. Agawa had also served as an advisor to the government of Japan. He was also the author of numerous publications and books, including The Friendship on the Sea: United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. He was licensed to practice law in the State of New York and the District of Columbia.

The speaker was arranged with the cooperation of the Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong.