Mansfield Foundation Task Force on Crafting a Contemporary U.S.-Japan Vision for Shared Progress and Prosperity

Overview | Participant bios |  参加者略歴

In commemoration of the 2012 centennial celebration of Japan’s gift of cherry trees to the United States, in the fall of 2011 the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, in partnership with the Japan Commerce Association of Washington (JCAW) and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York (JCCI), launched the “Mansfield Foundation Task Force on Crafting a Contemporary U.S.-Japan Vision for Shared Progress and Prosperity.”  The task force, part of a broader initiative by JCAW and JCCI to commemorate the Cherry Blossom Centennial, is comprised of American and Japanese experts from the private sector, academia, and government.

Task force members, who met for the first time in September 2011 in Montana, will meet two more times in Tokyo and Washington, in  December, 2011 and the spring of 2012, respectively.  These meetings are intended to foster forward-looking proposals for action through which the U.S. and Japan can contribute to mutual economic strength and vitality.  The task force, working independently, will develop a vision statement and strategic initiatives that will be presented at public seminars in Washington, D.C. and Tokyo in celebration of the spring 2012 Cherry Blossom Centennial.

The task force is guided by a Senior Advisory Committee comprised of three prominent senior Japan experts:

• The Honorable Tom Schieffer, Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan (2005-2009) and Member, Mansfield Foundation Board of Directors
• Alicia Ogawa, Senior Advisor, Columbia Business School and Member, Mansfield Foundation Board of Directors
• Kent Calder, Director, Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies and Director, Japan Studies, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University

Task force members include:

• David Boling, Deputy Executive Director, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and Alumni Mansfield Fellow
• Emma Chanlett-Avery, Specialist, Asian Affairs, Congressional Research Service
• Harrison Cook, Vice President of International Government Affairs, Eli Lilly and Company.
• Nathaniel Graddy, Director, Operations and Strategy, Boeing Japan 
• Keith Krulak, International Economist, U.S. Department of State and Alumni Mansfield Fellow
• Robert Pekkanen, Chair, Japan Studies Program, University of Washington and U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Participant
• Jennifer Sklarew, PhD candidate, George Mason University and Alumni Mansfield Fellow
• Kay Shimizu,  Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University and U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Participant
• Mireya Solis,  Japan Coordinator,  ASEAN Studies Center Fellow, School of International Service, American University and U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Participant

In addition to its vision for the U.S.-Japan relationship, the task force project will benefit long-term U.S.-Japan relations by helping to promote a next generation of talented, dedicated, and impactful individuals who are invested in facilitating effective and thoughtful U.S.-Japan economic cooperation.  This group will meet regularly in the future to reassess and republish their original recommendations.

A special thank you to Randy Yoshimura sharing his wonderful photos.