Robert Ward hosts Dr Kristin Vekasi, the Mansfield Chair of Japan and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Montana, and Professor Hatakeyama Kyoko, Professor of International Relations at the Graduate School of International Studies and Regional Development, University of Niigata Prefecture for an in-depth discussion on the current state and future direction of Japan’s critical mineral strategy.

Together, they explore: 

· Developments in Japan’s critical mineral strategy from 2010 when China briefly curbed exports of rare-earth elements to Japan.

· The implications of Japan’s response to the 2010 crisis for Beijing’s recent controls on exports of dual-use products to Japan.

· The strategic importance of deep-sea rare earths around Minami-Torishima Island.

· The future trajectory of Japan’s critical mineral strategy in cooperation with the US and European countries.

Recommended readings from our guests: 

· Catalinac, Amy, Dominance through division: Group-based clientelism in Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025), 365pp.

· Harris, Tobias S. The iconoclast: Shinzō Abe and the new Japan (London: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd., 2020), 392pp.

· Higuchi, Shinji, Bullet Train Explosion [Shinkansen Bakuhatsu] (Tokyo, Episcope, 2025) [Netflix film]

· Ward, Robert, Evaluating Japan’s new grand strategy (London: Routledge, 2025). 156pp.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your preferred podcast platform. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org.

Date recorded: 3 March 2026

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Professor Taniguchi Tomohiko, Chairman of Nippon Kaigi and Specially Appointed Professor at the University of Tsukuba. They discuss the outlook of Japan’s foreign and security policy in 2026.

Together, they explore: 

· The upcoming Japanese snap election

· The Takaichi government’s security and defence reforms

· Japan’s foreign and security relations with the US

· Japan’s security and economic relations with China

Recommended materials from our guests: 

· Agawa Naoyuki, Friendship Across the Seas: The US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force, (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2019), 308pp.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your preferred podcast platform. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org.

Date recorded: 28 January 2026

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Kristi Govella, senior advisor and Japan chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and Eva Pejsova, Japan chair at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy of the Brussels School of Governance. They review Japan’s security and diplomacy in 2025.

Together, they explore:

• The US tariffs on Japan and trade negotiations between the two countries
• Ishiba Shigeru’s legacy as prime minister
• Takaichi Sanae’s selection as prime minister, her cabinet appointments and the collapse of the LDP-Komeito coalition
• Changing security relations with the US and other countries
• The policy agenda for the Takaichi administration

Recommended materials from our guests:

• Kenneth M. McElwain (ed.), Robert J. Pekkanen (ed.), Daniel M. Smith (ed.), Japan Decides 2024 (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan), 365pp.
• Michael J. Green, Line of Advantage: Japan’s Grand Strategy in the Era of Abe Shinzō (New York: Columbia University Press), 328pp.
• Andrew L. Oros, Japan’s Security Renaissance: New Policies and Politics for the Twenty-First Century (New York: Columbia University Press), 320pp.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your preferred podcast platform. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org.

Date recorded: 28th November 2025

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.