- Date: Tuesday, December 6, 2011, 1:30-4:30 pm
- Venue: Iwasaki Koyata Memorial Hall, International House of Japan
- Admission: Free (reservations required)
- Language: Japanese and English (with simultaneous translation)
- Co-organized by International House of Japan and Japan Foundation
- In cooperation with the India International Centre
- Public Symposium Report (PDF file, 192KB)
India, with its thriving and rapidly growing economy, is increasing its presence in the world. Words used to describe India include IT superpower, burgeoning new middle class and ever-widening social disparity. Yet, to many Japanese India still remains a country with a lot of mysteries, and vice versa. Many corporations that started business in India are faced with challenges caused by a lack of cultural understanding.
In this symposium, the panelists will look at Japan, India and Asia as a whole through economic, diplomatic, political and cultural perspectives, discussing a new Japan-India relationship — one that is neither an economic/business-only-approach nor merely the promotion of a superficial cultural understanding.
We will aim to go beyond any simplistic framework such as “Japan-India partnership vis-à-vis China,” and to search for ways for India and Japan, together with their neighbors, including China and the United States, to tackle the common issues the Asian region faces and create a new Asia.
Panelists
SAKAKIBARA, Eisuke(President, Institute for Indian Economic Studies / Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University)
Born in 1941. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Dr. Sakakibara joined the Ministry of Finance of Japan. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1969. Positions he held include President of the Institute of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Director-General of the International Finance Bureau, and Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs. Having retired from office in 1999, Dr. Sakakibara taught at Keio University and Waseda University. His books about India include Indo Kyodaishijo wo Yomitoku (Cracking the India Market; co-authored; Toyo Keizai, 2005) and Indo Azu Nanba Wan (India As Number One; Asahi Shimbun, 2011).
CHELLANEY, Brahma (Professor, Center for Policy Research)
Mr. Chellaney is a professor of strategic studies at the Center for Policy Research, an independent think tank based in New Delhi. He was formerly a member of the Policy Advisory Group headed by the Foreign Minister of India. As a specialist on international security issues, he held appointments at various universities in the United States and Australia. He has often appeared on CNN and BBC, among others, and his opinion articles are carried in many important newspapers. His books include the international bestseller Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India and Japan (Harper Collins, 2006) and Water: Asia’s New Battleground (Georgetown University Press, 2011).
NANDY, Ashis (Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies)
Born in 1937 in Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. Dr. Nandy received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Nagpur and Gujarat Universities. He has been Director at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center at Washington, and Fellow at the Institutes of Advanced Study at Berlin, Nantes and Edinburgh. Originally trained as a sociologist and clinical psychologist, he has been close to social movements and non-state political actors grappling with issues of peace, human rights, environment, intercultural dialogue, and cultural survival. He has authored and edited many books that deal with political cultures, future studies, and dialogue of civilization.
DESAI, Vishakha (President & CEO, Asia Society)
Dr. Desai holds a B.A. in Political Science from Bombay University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Asian Art History from the University of Michigan. She worked as a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, followed by her career at the University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Columbia University, and Williams College. She held several positions at Asia Society, a leading global organization committed to strengthening partnerships among the people, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States. Appointed president of the society in 2004, she sets the direction for its diverse set of programs ranging from major US-Asia policy initiatives and national educational partnerships for global learning to path-breaking art exhibitions and innovative Asian American performances. She has also published and edited several books, scholarly catalogues and numerous articles on traditional and contemporary art.
FUJIWARA, Kiichi (Professor, University of Tokyo)
A graduate of the University of Tokyo (B.A. and M.A.), Mr. Fujiwara studied at Yale University before he returned to Japan at the Institute of Social Science (ISS) at the University of Tokyo. He has held positions at the University of the Philippines, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Bristol, and was selected as a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington D.C. His works on international affairs include Senso wo Kioku suru (Remembering the War; Kodansha, 2001), Demokurashii no Teikoku (A Democratic Empire; Iwanami Shoten, 2002) and Kokusai Seiji (International Politics; The Society of the Promotion for the Open University of Japan, 2007).
OGUMA, Eiji (Professor, Keio University)
Born in 1962. Graduated from the Department of Agriculture at the University of Tokyo. After working for Iwanami Shoten, a Japanese publishing company, from 1987 to 1996, Dr. Oguma obtained his Ph.D. in Advanced Social and International Studies from the University of Tokyo in 1998. He specializes in Historical Sociology. His publications include A Genealogy of ‘Japanese’ Self-images (Trans Pacific Press, 2002) and “The Hidden Face of Disaster: 3.11, the Historical Structure and Future of Japan’s Northeast” (Asia-Pacific Journal, Sept. 2011).
Moderator
HORIMOTO, Takenori (Professor, Contemporary South Asian Politics at Shobi University)
Received his M.A. (Pol.Sc.) from the University of Delhi. Specialist on South Asian politics and U.S. Asian policy. He has authored and edited ten books, including Indo – Gurobaruka suru Kyozo (India: The Big Elephant Globalizes; Iwanami Shoten, 2007) and Gunjitaikokuka suru Indo (India as a Rising Military Power; co-edited; Aki Shobo, 2010), and given 170 India and South Asia related lectures and presentations including being a political commentator on NHK TV programs more than thirty times.