Japan

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Dai-Ōji: The Ōji Paper Company and the Politics of Pulp in Asia

Please join us for a lecture:

Dai-Ōji: The Ōji Paper Company and the Politics of Pulp in Asia

David Fedman, Assistant Professor modern Japanese history at the University of California, Irvine

Moderated by: Paul Kreitman, Assistant Professor of Japanese History, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University

David Fedman’s recent monograph, Seed of Control: Japan’s Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea (University of Washington Press, 2020) explores how Japanese colonial rule in Korea (1905–1945) ushered in natural resource management programs that profoundly altered access to and ownership of the peninsula’s extensive mountains and forests. Under the banner of “forest love,” the colonial government set out to restructure the rhythms and routines of agrarian life, targeting everything from home heating to food preparation. Timber industrialists, meanwhile, channeled Korea’s forest resources into supply chains that grew in tandem with Japan’s imperial sphere. These mechanisms of resource control were only fortified after 1937, when the peninsula and its forests were mobilized for total war.

Sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute

Online via Zoom. Registration information will be provided soon.

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Imperial Japan’s Islamic Policies in World War II

Please join us for a lecture:

Supporting the Faith, Building the Empire: Imperial Japan’s Islamic Policies in World War II

Kelly A. Hammond, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, and an associate editor at The Journal of Asian Studies

Moderated by: Paul Kreitman, Assistant Professor of Japanese History, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University

This talk will examine some of the ways that the Japanese Empire curried favors to Muslims in China, and later throughout East Asia, in the lead up to and throughout World War II. Drawing on examples from my recent book, China’s Muslims and Japan’s Empire: Centering Islam in World War II, the talk will present viewers with concrete policies and explore some of the ways that the Japanese Government envisioned themselves as the benevolent protectors of Islam while at the same time advancing their imperial, expansionist visions. For their part, Muslims from around the colonial world found the anti-western and anti-Soviet rhetoric expounded by the Japanese Empire appealing to a certain extent. By placing Muslims at the center of Japan’s imperial ambitions, it becomes clear that their visions for empire went far beyond what we would now consider to be the geographic boundaries of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere into predominantly Islamic spaces like Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Organized by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.

Online via Zoom. Please register here.

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The Future of Finance and Empowering the Retail Investor

Register here.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 | 7:00-8:00 PM (EST)

Thursday, February 18, 2021 | 9:00-10:00 AM (Japan Time)

Featuring:

Oki Matsumoto, Chairman and CEO, Monex Group, Inc.

Moderated by:

Alicia Ogawa, Director, Project on Japanese Corporate Governance and Stewardship, Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School

What You’ll Learn:

The Monex Group includes Monex Securities in Japan; Coincheck, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Japan; and TradeStation, the sixth largest online U.S. broker. Mr. Matsumoto will explain how Monex is using cross-fertilization across technologies and geographies to grow its business.
In Japan, more than 50% of household savings is invested in bank accounts; equity investment is far lower than other OECD countries. How and why is this changing, and what is the role of Monex in increasing financial literacy in Japan?
Retail investors across the globe have been largely silent in voting their shares. Monex has launched a new fund which will harness the power of retail investors in order to challenge Japanese executives to improve their environmental, social, and governance standards.
About the Speaker:

Born in 1963. BA in Law from the University of Tokyo (1987). Began his career at Salomon Brothers and joined Goldman Sachs in 1990, and became General Partner in 1994 at the age of 30, the youngest ever at that time. He took charge of trading, risk management, capital markets businesses in Asia, and also founded the special situations unit at Goldman Sachs. In 1999, he founded Monex which was jointly capitalized with Sony. Monex is listed on the 1st section of Tokyo Stock Exchange where he is presently Chairman & CEO.

Monex Group has grown to become a major online financial institution that operates retail online brokerages in Japan, US, China (including Hong Kong), and Australia. In addition, with the acquisition of Coincheck in April 2018, the crypto-asset business became one of the core pillars of the business segments. In January 2020, Monex established Japan Catalyst, an investment advisory arm, to pursue investment returns through proposals to and engagement with listed Japanese companies to stimulate Japanese capital markets. The group has about 1100 employees worldwide with over half of its staffs located in the United States and Costa Rica.

He served as Financial Counsel to the Prime Minister and also as outside director of several companies including Tokyo Stock Exchange which was from June 2008 to 2013. He presently is an outside director of MasterCard, Incorporated and also a Vice Chair of Human Rights Watch.

Admission and Contact:

This is a free event. You must register for the webinar to receive the login details. Participants will receive a link to access the live webinar upon registration.

If you have questions about the event, please contact us at cjeb@columbia.edu. For more information about other CJEB events, visit our website or contact cjeb@columbia.edu.

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