USJF to Co-Host Stanford Symposium on U.S.-Japan Relations Amid Global Uncertainty

The United States-Japan Foundation (USJF), in partnership with Stanford's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), will host a symposium titled: 

"Recalibrating U.S.-Japan Collaboration in a Time of Tumult"
Tuesday, April 15, 2025 | 12:00-5:00 PM (Pacific)
Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center | Stanford University

For more information and to register, please visit: https://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/events/recalibrating-us-japan-collaboration-time-tumult

As the United States reconsiders its global posture and Japan steps into a new era of international responsibility, this half-day symposium brings together influential leaders, scholars, and policymakers from both countries to examine the evolving U.S.-Japan relationship across critical domains—from foreign aid and global trade to civil society and cultural diplomacy. They will explore the evolving U.S.-Japan ties from various angles and engage in a wide-ranging conversation spanning the liberal international order, global trade, DEI, civil society, and baseball.

Recalibrating U.S.–Japan Collaboration in a Time of Tumult highlights the central role of the U.S.–Japan alliance in navigating a rapidly shifting global landscape. The United States Japan Foundation is happy to co-host this timely event at a critical moment in one of America’s closest and most important strategic alliances.

USJF will be well-represented at the event, with Board members Wendy Cutler, Keiko Tashiro and Stan Kasten. Also, President/CEO Jacob M. Schlesinger and recent grantee and filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer all participating.

The symposium is hosted by Kiyoteru Tsutsui, a Fellow in USJF’s US-Japan Leadership Program and Director, Japan Program at Shorenstein APARC, Stanford Professor of Sociology.

The program features five sessions covering a range of contemporary challenges and opportunities:

Session 1 — Global Democracy, Foreign Aid, and Regional Security: As the U.S. Pulls Back, Will Tokyo Step Up?

• Larry Diamond, Mosbacher Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford
• Shinichi Kitaoka, Former Japanese Ambassador to the UN; Former President, JICA
• Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Director, Japan Program, Shorenstein APARC; Professor of Sociology, Stanford

Session 2 — How Tariffs and Trade Wars Are Reshaping the Indo-Pacific

• Wendy Cutler, Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute; former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
• Peter Wonacott, Managing Editor, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability; former Deputy Bureau Chief, Wall Street Journal

Session 3 — The Future of DEI, ESG, SDGs: Will Japan Follow the U.S. or Stay the Course?

• Keiko Tashiro, Deputy President, Head of Sustainability, Daiwa Securities Group
• Gayle Peterson, Associate Fellow, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
• Patricia Bromley, Co-Director, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society

Session 4 — Redefining the Relationship Through Civil Society: Burden Sharing, Knowledge Sharing, Picking Up the Slack

• Mike Berkowitz, Executive Director, Democracy Funders Network
• Laura Deal Lacey, Executive Vice President, Milken Institute International
• Jacob M. Schlesinger, President & CEO, United States–Japan Foundation

Session 5 — Diamond Diplomacy Redux: Baseball as a Bilateral Bridge

• Stan Kasten, President & CEO, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Yuriko Gamo Romer, Director/Producer, Diamond Diplomacy documentary

Media Inquiries:
United States-Japan Foundation: press@us-jf.org