Sixteen Associates Join the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations

September 23, 1999

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HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

The Program on U.S.-Japan Relations welcomes 16 associates, including government officials, businesspeople, journalists, and scholars. They are primarily from Japan and the United States, but the Program has also hosted Associates from Australia, Canada, the People's Republic of China, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Panama, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

Junichi Araki
Air Self-Defense Force

Research project: the future role of military force in the context of the U.S.-Japan security relationship

Araki has served in the Air Self-Defense Force since he graduated from the National Defense Academy in 1983. He was an F-15 fighter pilot until 1990, and went on to become an instructor pilot and then head of the Administrative Section of the 304th Fighter Squadron. He spent three years as an exchange officer at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and since 1998 has been at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy getting his M.A. in international security studies. Araki’s research at Harvard will concentrate on the future role of military force and its influence on security strategy in the context of the U.S.-Japan alliance.

Koki Hayakawa
Tokyo Gas

Research project: future systems of employment in the Japanese and U.S. labor markets

Hayakawa began working at Tokyo Gas after graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1984 with a degree in economics. A manager in the General Administration Section of the Negishi liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal since 1997, he has also worked in the Production Department as a deputy manager in the General Administrative Section and an assistant manager in the Planning Section. Hayakawa’s research at Harvard will delve into issues surrounding Japanese and U.S. systems of employment.

Kazumasa Higashi
Yomiuri Shinbun
Research project: devolution and regional competitiveness

After sping a year at the State University of New York thanks to the Exchange Program of the Ministry of Education, Higashi earned a B.A. in education from the University of Tsukuba in 1985. He has been a staff writer at the Yomiuri Shinbun since 1987, serving in the Morioka branch office, the Domestic News Department, the Niigata branch office, and, most recently, in the Economic News Department covering the Ministry of Transport. Higashi’s research at Harvard will investigate devolution and regional competitiveness.

Osamu Hoshi
Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corp.

Research project: lessons for Japanese banks from the strategies of American financial institutions

Hoshi joined the Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation after earning a B.A. in economics from Waseda University in 1985. He has served in Mitsubishi Trust’s Business Division, its International Operations Division in New York City, and its Capital Markets Division. Since 1995, he has worked in the Planning and Coordination Division and the Corporate Risk Management Division. Hoshi’s research at Harvard will analyze what Japanese banks can learn from the strategies of American financial institutions.

Nobuo Ino
Japan Development Bank

Research project: regional governments’ management of sustainable development

Ino graduated from the University of Waseda in 1987 with a B.A. in law. Upon joining the Japan Development Bank, he worked in the Loan Department’s Bureau for Urban Development. He then became a research analyst in the Japan Economic Research Institute and, in 1996, the deputy director of planning and research development in the Bureau for Regional Development. Ino’s research at Harvard will compare the financial structures of regional governments in the United States and Japan, and explore a management method for regional governments suitable for sustainable government.

Takashi Kageyama
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries

Research project: strategies for improved communication in international negotiations

Kageyama joined the Economic Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries after earning a B.A. in economics from the University of Tokyo in 1984. He spent three years in the liaison office of the Japan Silk Association in Lyon, France, and in recent years has served as deputy director of the Policy Planning Division, the Environmental Policy Coordination Office, and the Division of International Cooperation Planning. Kageyama’s research at Harvard will investigate ways to take account of social, cultural, and historical backgrounds in negotiations between the United States and Japan.

Kuninori Kuroishi
The Export-Import Bank of Japan

Research project: problems in Japan’s official financial assistance

In 1986, Kuroishi graduated with a B.A. in economics from Keio University and joined the Export-Import Bank of Japan. He served in the Treasury and Controller’s Department, the Loan Department, the Project Finance Department, and the Multilateral Cooperation Division of the Economic Cooperation Bureau in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before becoming deputy director of the Personnel Department. Kuroishi’s research at Harvard will examine the problems of Japan’s official financial assistance and contrast it with the U.S. model.

Yasuhiro Maki
Ministry of Finance

Research project: the role of Japan and the United States in establishing a more desirable foreign exchange regime in Asia

Maki earned a B.A. in law from the University of Tokyo in 1987 and an M.Phil. in economics from the University of Oxford in 1991. He joined the Ministry of Finance in 1987. Recently, he has served as deputy director of the Research Department in the Institute of Fiscal and Monetary Policy and the International Bureau’s Research Division. Maki’s research at Harvard will examine how Japan and the United States might help create a more desirable foreign exchange regime in Asia.

Isao Miyaoka
University of Tokyo

Research project: the effect of American wildlife preservationist pressures on Japanese economic practices

Miyaoka joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after graduating from Keio University with a B.A. in political science in 1990. He worked as an official in the GATT, Oceania, and Law of the Sea Divisions before becoming a diplomatic trainee at New Zealand’s University of Canterbury, where he earned an M.A. (Hon.) in political science in 1994. He also earned a D.Phil. in politics from the University of Oxford in 1999, and he is presently a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science at the University of Tokyo. Miyaoka’s research at Harvard will examine how U.S. pressure on wildlife preservation has affected Japanese economic practices by focusing on the concept of norm legitimacy.

Patricia Nelson
University of Warwick

Research project: the security implications of Japan’s foreign direct investment in East Asia

Specializing in international political economy, Nelson earned a Ph.D. in 1998 in politics and international studies at the University of Warwick. She holds an M.A. in international economics and Japanese studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University (1988) and a B.A. in East Asia studies from the University of Virginia (1983). She has held research positions at the Brookings Institution, the Research Policy Institute (Lund, Sweden) and the European Institute of Japanese Studies at the Stockholm School of Economics. Dr. Nelson’s research at Harvard will address the economic and military security implications of Japan’s foreign direct investment in East Asia.

Hirofumi Nishimura
Tokyo Electric

Research project: balancing the security and economics of energy

Nishimura earned a B.A. in political science and economics from Waseda University before joining the Tokyo Electric Power Company in 1988. Since 1993, he has served as a senior associate in both the Fuel Purchasing Division of the Fuel Department and the Fuel Planning Group. Nishimura’s research at Harvard will compare the circumstances surrounding and perceptions of energy security and energy economics in Japan and the United States.

Tatsuya Oishi
Idemitsu Kosan

Research project: the intercultural management of Japanese global companies

Oishi graduated with a B.A. from the Osaka University of Foreign Studies. Joining Idemitsu Kosan in 1984 as an assistant manager, he served in Seoul, Korea, as a marketing adviser and in Singapore as a lubricants manager. Since 1995, Oishi has been a regional manager in the Overseas Section of the Lubricants Department. Oishi’s research at Harvard will focus on the intercultural management of Japanese global companies.

Seiichiro Otsuka
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Research project: evolution of Japan’s postwar diplomacy on political security in Asia

Otsuka earned B.A.’s from Hitotsubashi University in 1966 and from Carleton College in 1968. Since entering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1966, he has held numerous positions, including consul general in Edinburgh, minister of the Embassy of Japan in Bangkok, and director general of the Cultural Affairs Department. Since 1997, he has served as ambassador and consul general in New York. Otsuka’s research at Harvard will examine the evolution of Japan’s postwar diplomacy on key political security issues as well as emerging security issues in northeast Asia.

Paul Talcott
Harvard University

Research project: the impact of multilateral and bilateral politics on Japanese policymaking in healthcare and tax reform

Talcott earned a B.A. in political science from Swarthmore College in 1988, and a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard in 1999. His dissertation was entitled Why the Weak Can Win: Structure and Power in Postwar Japanese Health Policy. He has delivered papers at such forums as the Association for Asian Studies, the Annual Graduate Student Conference of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and the Graduate Student Conference of International House. Talcott’s research at Harvard will examine the impact of multilateral and bilateral politics on Japanese policymaking in healthcare and tax reform in the 1990s.

Hidekazu Tanaka
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications

Research project: the effects of the digitalization of telecommunications

Tanaka earned a B.S. and an M.S. in electronic engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1978 and 1980. His most recent posts at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications include senior technical adviser in the Telecommunications Systems Division, director for safety assessment of space activities at the Space Policy Division of the Science and Technology Agency, senior adviser at the Frequency Planning Division and director of the Monitoring and Examination Office in the Telecommunications Bureau. Tanaka’s research at Harvard will investigate the effects of the digitalization of telecommunications on industry and society.

Tomoyoshi Yahagi
Ministry of International Trade and Industry

Research project: American and Japanese policies on intellectual property rights

Yahagi earned a B.A. in law from the University of Tokyo and joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1990. He served in the General Coordination Division, the Inspection and Design Policy Office, and the Industrial Finance Division before becoming deputy director of the General Administration Division of the Patent Office. In 1996, he served as deputy director of the Alcohol Division in the Basic Industries Bureau. Yahagi’s research at Harvard will compare intellectual property rights in the United States and Japan.