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December 26, 2013

[SSJ: 8390] The 9th and 10th Policy Seminars (Jan. 15 and 16) (WOJUSS)

From: Akimi Ichise
Date: 2013/12/26

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The 9th Policy Seminar (Jan. 15) and the 10th Policy Seminar (Jan. 16) at Waseda University Organization for Japan-US Studies, Tokyo (WOJUSS)

Dear colleagues,

Waseda University Organization for Japan-US Studies will hold policy seminars.
Please visit our web site for more information and registration.

The 9th Policy Seminar (Jan. 15):
※Deadline: Friday, January 10, 2014, 3:00 PM http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/eng/event/event.ph
p?id=16

The 10th Policy Seminar (Jan. 16):
※Deadline: Wednesday, January 15, 2014, 3:00 PM http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/eng/event/event.ph
p?id=15

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The 9th Policy Seminar (Jan. 15)
"Sino-Japanese Conflict and Reconciliation in the East China Sea"

Speaker: Paul Midford
Professor, Director of the Japan Program, the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU)

Date/Time: Wednesday, January 15, 2014, 11:00 AM -
12:30 PM

Venue: Multipurpose Lecture Room, Okuma Memorial Tower (Bldg.#26), Waseda Campus
*MAP: http://www.waseda.jp/jp/campus/waseda.html

Commentator: Masaru Kohno, Professor of Political Science, Waseda University
Moderator: Natsuyo Ishibashi, Assistant Professor, WOJUSS, Waseda University

Language: English

Abstract
This presentation considers the rise of tensions between China and Japan in the East China Sea, especially over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, tensions that have come to predominate in this vitally important bilateral relationship since 2010. It explores how these tensions arose in 2010, and how they have transformed both public and elite Japanese perceptions of China. This presentation considers ways for resolving these tensions through mutual concessions. To resolve the longer term conflict over these islands and the demarcation of these two countries’ respective EEZs, it proposes that the Svalbard model for dividing sovereignty and resource exploitation between contenting parties and the Norwegian-Russian 2010 agreement on delimiting their respective EEZ borders in the Barents Sea can serve as useful models.

Short Bio
Paul Midford is Professor, and Director of the Japan Program, at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. Midford received his PhD. in Political Science from Columbia University in 2001. His research interests include Japanese foreign and defense policies, the impact of public opinion on policy, renewables and energy security, and East Asian security multilateralism. He has published in International Organization, Security Studies, Pacific Review, Asian Survey, Japan Forum, and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific. Midford is the author of Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism?
(Stanford University Press, 2011).

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The 10th Policy Seminar (Jan. 16)
"Why Interest Groups Still Matter in Japanese
Elections: An Organizational Perspective"

Speaker: Patricia Maclachlan
Associate Professor, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin

Date/Time: Thursday, January 16, 2014, 2:30-4:00 PM
Venue: Multipurpose Lecture Room, Okuma Memorial Tower (Bldg.#26), Waseda Campus
*MAP: http://www.waseda.jp/jp/campus/waseda.html

Commentator: Aiji Tanaka, Professor of Political Science, Waseda University
Moderator: Kuniaki Nemoto, Assistant Professor, WOJUSS

Language: English

Abstract
In the wake of Japan’s 1994 electoral reforms, many scholars predicted that interest groups would gradually lose their longstanding influence in elections. While groups are certainly much weaker today than they were a generation ago, recent electoral trends indicate that they may be experiencing something of a revival. To explain this puzzle, I offer an alternative interpretation of interest group influence that emphasizes organizational factors. Specifically, I show how organizational complementarities between large, nationally oriented groups and the two main parties continue to position those groups to coopt a number of electoral functions, including vote mobilization, the coordination of vote gathering across constituencies, and electoral monitoring. I illustrate these findings with reference to associations of postmasters and farmers and assess their implications for median voter theories.

Short Bio
Patricia L. Maclachlan received her PhD in comparative politics from Columbia University in 1996 and was a research associate at Harvard University’s Program on U.S.-Japan Relations from 1995-96. After working for one year as a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Calgary’s Department of Political Science, she joined the University of Texas in 1997, where she is now Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies. She also served as director of UT’s Center for East Asian Studies from 2007-2010.
Dr. Maclachlan’s research focuses on the politics and political economy of Japan. Her publications include Consumer Politics in Postwar Japan: The Institutional Boundaries of Citizen Activism (Columbia University Press, 2002), The Ambivalent Consumer: Questioning Consumption in East Asia and the West (Cornell University Press, 2006), which she co-edited with Sheldon Garon, and The People’s Post Office: The History and Politics of the Japanese Postal System,
1871-2010 (Harvard University East Asia Center, 2011).

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WOJUSS Office
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*WOJUSS is a research network organization at Waseda University, Tokyo, promoting policy-oriented, collaborative research on Japan-US relations in the global context, with special focus on Asia.
For more detail on our activities, please visit http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/
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Approved by ssjmod at 11:30 AM