RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE On May 4, political analyst Tobias Harris examined the unraveling of Japan’s “Abe consensus” and its implications for the country’s democratic future during the 19th Griffith and Patricia Way Lecture. In his talk, “Japan’s Democracy in an Age of Uncertainty,” Harris dissected the “Abe consensus” — the political framework that governed Japan

Few questions carry more weight for the future of international security than how artificial intelligence will transform defense capabilities, alliance structures, and the very nature of warfare itself. Against this backdrop, the Jackson School’s Program on Strategy, Policy, and Diplomacy Research (SPDR) brought together scholars and practitioners for “Positioning Japan in AI and Emerging Technologies,”

As Japan confronts political realignment at home and a shifting global order, questions about the future of its democracy have taken on new urgency.  Join political analyst Tobias Harris on Monday, May 4, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Kane Hall 225 for the 19th Griffith and Patricia Way Lecture. In his talk, Japan’s Democracy

Join us Feb. 28 – March 1 in Tokyo for the 2026 UW Converge, the University of Washington’s signature event for international alumni and friends. At UW Converge Summit, leading experts and innovators will explore the forces shaping our shared future. Gain insights as faculty join alumni and industry leaders from around the world to

Japan’s 2024 general election for the House of Representatives marked a turning point. The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered its second-worst showing since 1955, while the far-right populist party Sanseito entered the lower house for the first time, signaling potential shifts in governance with global implications. The fifth volume of “Japan Decides,” co-edited by

Earlier this month, the Government of Japan announced the recipients of the 2025 Autumn Conferment of Decoration on Foreign Nationals. Among the recipients is Marie Anchordoguy, a professor emerita at the Jackson School and former chair of the Center for Japanese Studies. Anchordoguy was honored with the Order of the Rising Sun in the third

Recording available at TownHall Youtube:   Monday, Dec. 8, 2025 | 6 – 8 p.m. | Town Hall Seattle When “Shogun” was released last year, it was a commercial and critical success. So of course, academic historians fretted. Were they concerned that it painted sixteenth-century Japan as another Game of Thrones (with more ninjas and

On Oct. 24, the Jackson School’s Program on Strategy, Policy and Diplomacy Research (SPDR) hosted the public panel, “Positioning Japan in Cybersecurity Trajectories.” Sponsored through a grant from the United States-Japan Foundation, the panel is part of the SPDR Speaker Series. Professor Saadia Pekkanen, the SDPR director, welcomed the panel, moderated and chaired by Steven Vogel, a professor

Join Jackson School Acting Assistant Professor ​​​​​​​Andrea Gevurtz Arai on Wednesday, Nov. 12 as she dives into the world “Spaces of Creative Resistance: Social Change Projects in 21st-Century East Asia,” of which she is the editor. Over the last two decades, social disconnection, increased income disparity, and new burdens have been placed on the young,

During her 2024-2025 research leave, Japan Studies Librarian Azusa Tanaka addressed a longstanding challenge in Japanese book history: dating premodern books (pre-1868) that lack publication dates. Traditional methods are often subjective or invasive, but Tanaka used a novel, non-invasive approach combining microscopic imaging and machine learning. Using a digital microscope, Tanaka captured over 13,000 images