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Members of Cohort 3 and Cohort 4 of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future gather with Advisory Committee members Ezra Vogel and Leonard Schoppa and representatives of the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership in Washington, June 2016
Program Overview
The U.S.-Japan Network for the Future is a two-year program designed to build and enhance a network of Japan specialists that can bring diverse expertise and perspectives to the bilateral policy-making process in the mid- and long-term. This will lead to deeper and more vigorous dialogue and research on topics of immediate concern as well as on ways to strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship through cooperation and shared goals in the global arena. The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Japan Foundation, together with the program Advisory Committee, have completed five cohorts of this program together with a sixth in progress.
Purpose of the Program
The purpose of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future is to identify professionals specializing in the U.S.-Japan relationship who demonstrate an interest in and potential for becoming policy intellectuals, and to support them in this effort. The network will include U.S.-Japan specialists from all regions of the United States and Japan with diverse expertise and perspectives and the ability to participate constructively in the bilateral policymaking process and to contribute to U.S.-Japan understanding.
Program Meetings
Cohort 6’s planned program agenda is as follows:
- A two-day workshop in Washington, D.C. (Completed September 2022)
- A week-long study trip in Washington, D.C. (Completed January 2023)
- A week-long Japan study trip (June 2023)
- A two-day retreat in Montana (August 2023)
- Public symposium and current issues panel discussions (June 2024)
Goals and Expectations
Throughout the two-year program, participants are expected to: develop their network of contacts; engage with other Network members; engage others in the academic and policy fields with what they have learned about Japan; prepare for and actively participate in the program’s meetings, workshops, and study trip; participate in group activities and support the program’s larger goals and objectives; conduct independent research on key issues of particular interest to them; produce op-ed pieces, commentaries, and blog posts on important policy issues in U.S.-Japan relations; and produce and seek to publish or otherwise disseminate a brief policy paper. Network participants present their papers and discuss current issues in the region during the program’s last meeting, a public symposium in Washington, D.C. The program covers the costs of travel, accommodations, and meals associated with participation in program meetings and study trips.
For further information, please contact Mr. Timothy White at (202) 347-1994 or twhite[at]mansfieldfdn.org.