Workshop on Political Change and Policy Change in Japan

Satoshi Machidori, Professor of Law, Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Law

Harukata Takenaka, Professor of political science, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo

Moderated by:

Takako Hikotani, Gerald L. Curtis Associate Professor of Modern Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy, Department of Political Science, Columbia University

Japanese politics is known for its stability. But in the past twenty years, there has been dramatic transformation both in the policy-making process and policy itself. What is the driving force of these changes? How has policies changed (or not changed) due to the changes in the policy making process? And most importantly, would these changes enable Japan to deal with the demographic and geopolitical challenges it faces in the years ahead? This workshop will provide an opportunity to hear from Professors Satoshi Machidori and Harukata Takenaka are the two leading experts of Japanese politics in Japan. Brief presentations by both scholars will be followed by a discussion, moderated by Takako Hikotani, then a Q&A session with the audience.

About the Speaker:

Satoshi Machidori is Professor at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Law. Earned his PhD in political science after doing graduate work at Kyoto University and taught at schools including Osaka University before arriving at his present post. Specializes in comparative political studies and American politics. His works include Seitō sisutemu to seitō soshiki(Party Systems and Party Organizations) and Daigisei minshushugi: “Min’i” to “seijika” o toinaosu (Representative Democracy: A Reconsideration of the Public Will and Politicians).

Harukata Takenaka is professor of political science at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo. He specializes in comparative politics and international political economy, with a particular focus on Japanese political economy. His research interests include democracy in Japan, and Japan’s political and economic stagnation since the 1990s. He is currently working on aborted democratization in prewar Japan, the politics of Japan’s financial crisis since the 1990s and the role of the Japanese Senate (House of Councilors) in postwar Japanese politics.

He received a B.A. from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tokyo and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University. He is the author of Senze Nihon ni okeru Minshuka no Zasetsu [Aborted Democratization in Prewar Japan], (Bokutakusha, 2002), and the co-editor of Akusesu Kokusai Seijikeizai [Access to International Political Economy],(Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha, 2003).

This event is organized by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.