On May 19, USJC co-hosted a virtual exchange webinar featuring legislators from Japan’s National Diet and the U.S. Congress to celebrate the binational relationship and discuss our partnership going forward. The legislators shared their experiences and expertise on a wide range of topics and issues, including the history and continued importance of U.S.-Japan legislative exchanges to their work in the Diet and Congress, the need to involve new legislators in future exchanges, bilateral security and economic recovery during and after the coronavirus pandemic, investing in the next generation and increasing student exchanges, and much more.
Speakers included Hons. Yoshimasa Hayashi and Hiromi Takase of Japan’s National Diet, and Reps. Joaquin Castro, Tim Petri, and Mark Takano (Member of the USJC Board of Councilors) of the U.S. Congress. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Sheila A. Smith (Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations).
This webinar was co-organized and co-hosted in partnership with U.S. CULCON, the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, FMC’s Congressional Study Group on Japan, the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA), and the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, and in cooperation with Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, the National Association of Japan-America Societies, and the Japan-America Society of Washington DC.