26 September 2018
The financial industry is facing a rapid change as new disruptive technologies emerge for the benefit of consumers. In this seminar, the development of payment related services, open banking and cryptocurrency legislation in Japan was discussed. This was followed by a talk on the recent developments in the UK fintech sector.
4 September 2018
This seminar discussed the LDP Abe Administration, which, although a product of several political and administrative reforms since the 1990s, continues to raise new questions: is it really working well and precisely what we expected? Has Japan departed from the traditional model defined by weak government and strong civil servants? This seminar attempted to answer these questions.
28 June 2018
On March 11 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit the north-east coast of Japan, causing a massive tsunami. After disasters, women play a vital role in rehabilitating the household and the community, which is one strategic approach in post-disaster recovery efforts. In this talk, Tohoku, Japan, will be discussed as an example of good practices of economic empowerment of women in post-disaster reconstruction. Wider perspectives of economic empowerment issues for vulnerable communities and groups in post-disaster reconstruction will also be presented.
27 June 2018
In 2017, Japan was ranked 114th on the Global Gender Gap Index produced by the World Economic Forum, evidencing the magnitude of the gender gap problem in this country. Whilst the UK was ranked 15th, there are still several areas in which the country still performs poorly, such as the gender pay gap. In this seminar, the current status of the gender gap in Japan and the UK specifically and OECD countries more generally was discussed, including about what policies have been implemented, what challenges still exist and future recommendations.
2 July 2018
Japan’s period of low economic growth continues, despite the government’s best efforts to provide stimulus to the economy. The country’s ageing and shrinking population are two of the main obstacles to achieving sustained growth. In this seminar, the speakers will analysed the current state of the Japanese economy and the government’s approaches to dealing with it. They discussed the benefits that may arise from increasing female labour participation and the limitations of government efforts to encourage a more active role for women in the economy.
24 May 2018
The recent changes in refugee migration patterns have caused many debates among policy makers. Refugee policies in both Japan and the UK are heavily controlled, with many claims rejected every year. Critics argue that more should be done to help refugees. This seminar will explore the current refugee protection policies and related issues in Japan and the UK. It will also explore how the governments of both countries are dealing with Syrian refugees.
2 October 2017
In this seminar, Professor Hitoshi Tanaka, Dr Jim Hoare and Dr Lauren Richardson discussed nuclear and missile development in North Korea, which continues to be aggressively pursued despite sanctions from the United Nations Security Council. What are the essential elements for a diplomatic solution, if any? Can diplomacy succeed?
13 July 2017
Economic growth in recent years has been stubbornly low in developed economies, with the result that increasingly unconventional monetary policy measures have been adopted to provide stimulus. Japan was the first major economy to face these problems. In this talk, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan Professor Kiyohiko Nishimura and Director of NIESR Professor Jagjit Chadha examined the current state of the global economy and monetary policy.
15 December 2016
This event looked at the impact of Brexit on some of the UK’s key trading partners in Asia. How has the Brexit vote been perceived in the region and what are the hopes of the UK’s Asian allies from the forthcoming negotiations with the EU?
6 October 2016
The nuclear disaster in Fukushima acted as a game changer, provoking powerful responses within the cultural sector. Artists, writers and filmmakers continue to address nuclear energy issues and to intensify the politicization of art. These interventions generate important questions about deep time and the nuclear Anthropocene, not just in Japan, but globally. This illustrated presentation and panel discussion of artists’ works highlights the impact of contemporary Japanese art since 2011, in relation to international discourse on deep time and the nuclear Anthropocene.
