The Mansfield Committee on U.S.-Japan Relations, a group of U.S. and Japanese experts and officials tasked with addressing the full range of challenges and opportunities facing the U.S.-Japan relationship, will meet for a final time in Washington, D.C., September 18-20, 2011. The final meeting will give participants an opportunity to share the observations and conclusions of this two-year dialogue with lawmakers and alliance managers in the American policy community.
The Mansfield Committee on U.S.-Japan relations held its third meeting June 15-17, 2011 in Tokyo and Hakone, Japan. The program began with a retreat workshop in Hakone, during which participants reflected on the events of March 11th, the comprehensive national leadership changes due in Northeast Asia in the coming several years, and ongoing economic and demographic changes. Reflecting these circumstances, they then generated an agenda of five priority items for the U.S.-Japan relationship.
On the following day, the committee returned to Tokyo, where members held a series of outreach meetings to promote and discuss their conclusions. Committee members met firstly with several leaders of the Japan operations of global finance, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical firms. Subsequently, the committee held a series of meetings with Diet members, officials in the prime minister’s office, and alliance managers within the Japanese ministries of defense, foreign affairs, and trade and industry.
Culminating the two-day program, members of the Mansfield Committee on U.S.-Japan Relations joined together with U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows for an in-depth discussion, during which they shared their concerns and reflections on Japan’s post-March 11th situation and the state of U.S.-Japan relationship as a whole. These two groups were then received by Ambassador Roos for a final event at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence.