intensifying rivalry between the United States and China is reshaping the international order. The transactional diplomacy of the Trump administration is accelerating the erosion of established institutional guardrails. In this challenging moment, University of Tokyo Professor Ryo Sahashi says that Japan is working to reinforce global stability. Through careful management of its alliance with the US, proactive engagement with European and Indo-Pacific partners, and cooperation with Global South nations, Japan is trying to maintain regional balances, prevent conflict escalation, and preserve economic networks and free trade. Professor Sahashi will share his policy recommendations for how Japan and like-minded nations can collaboratively navigate the shifting global landscape.

Japan’s post-World War II constitution has never been amended, but it has been reinterpreted in light of changing needs and understandings. This includes the constitution’s unique Article 9, in which Japan forswears military action except in self-defense. Changes in Japan’s national security environment in recent years –  including the rising military strength of its neighbor, China; Russia’s belligerence in Ukraine (relevant because of a longstanding territorial dispute between Japan and Russia); and developments related to the US security umbrella under the new administration – are increasing pressure on Japanese leaders to further evolve their understanding of Art. 9. A panel of three experts will discuss how Japanese politicians, policymakers, and scholars today think about Japan’s expanding security and defense cooperation with Europe while maintaining its identity as a pacifist country.

Japan's regulatory system for hostile takeovers remains incomplete, complicated, and uncertain. As the government seeks to reignite economic growth and attract foreign investment, there is new urgency to promote best market practices and reform the system for adjudicating hostile takeover bids. Bruce Aronson and Andrew McDermott will share their insights.

The promulgation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011 helped focus attention on the need for companies to develop responsible and sustainable approaches to business activities, including their distant supply chains. More than a decade later, severe human rights violations such as forced labor still persist. A distinguished panel of experts will discuss what investors, corporations, NGOs, and government policymakers in the US and Japan are doing now to fulfill their responsibility to protect human rights in supply chains.

Beginning in the 1950s, Japan’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) has been an important instrument for Japanese diplomacy.  However, this cold war strategy has evolved over the past two decades, in large part due to the rise of China, to include both national security challenges and the promotion of universal values.  How will Japanese ODA policy respond to the current challenge of striking a balance between promoting universal values and avoiding offense to recipient governments?  Can Japan play a special role as the developed world’s “ambassador” to the Global South? 

Nippon Steel’s planned purchase of former giant U.S. Steel is currently the most important and controversial topic in US-Japan economic relations.  Regardless of whether the purchase is ultimately allowed to proceed, the public opposition from leaders of both American parties raises important questions for the future. What effect could this have on other Japanese FDI into the US and broader US-Japan cooperation? Is there a risk of reciprocity when US companies seek to make acquisitions in Japan? To what extent does it represent a significant broadening of the definition of “national security” against the background trend of de-globalization and the reshoring of supply chains? William Chou, deputy director of the Japan Center at the Hudson Institute, and Hiroyuki Nishimura of Nikkei will put the Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel acquisition in context in a panel discussion with NYU Law Adjunct Professor Bruce Aronson and NYU Law Professor Jose Alvarez (moderating).

One of the missions of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute is to facilitate scholarly exchanges between the US and East Asian countries, with Japan as one of our most important partners. USALI is part of a wider effort at NYU School of Law to be an international law school and foster scholarly conversation across borders.

When compared with other constitutional courts, Japan’s Supreme Court has often been dismissed as a timid institution. It has even been called “the most conservative constitutional court in the world.” Masahiko Kinoshita, a professor of law at Kobe University and leading constitutional law scholar, argues that this sells the court short. In a new paper, he says that in cases involving freedom of expression, voting rights, and representation, the court has protected the “democratic minimum core” values while strategically avoiding confrontation with the political branches. 

China’s escalating coercion campaign against Taiwan is causing seismic shifts in strategic thinking across the region, perhaps nowhere more than in Japan. Although most discussions about the status and future of Taiwan focus on the China-Taiwan-US triangle, Japan arguably has as much or more at stake than the US. Japan’s first and third-largest trading partners are China and Taiwan, respectively. If hostilities broke out between the two, it would be difficult for Japan to remain on the sidelines. Yuki Tatsumi, director of the Japan Program at the Stimson Center, will explain Japan’s perspective on Taiwan, how it hopes to maintain the status quo, and how rising tensions have pushed it to dramatically revise its national security posture.

As interest in AI surges around the world, and concerns about the risks and harms of AI technology are wide-ranging. Regulatory discussions are correspondingly complex, touching on values such as human rights, democracy, and sustainability. Professor Hiroki Habuka of the Kyoto University Graduate School of Law and Professor Daniel Francis of NYU School of Law will use the current Japanese approach to AI regulation as a framework to explore some of the big questions that AI presents to legislators, citizens, and regulatory theorists.