The Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University Japan Presents
Michael Cucek
An update on Japanese politics
6 July 2023 18:00-19:00

Temple University Japan Room 301

 
      
Speaker

Michael Cucek, Temple University Japan

Moderator

Robert Dujarric, Temple University Japan

Overview

Throughout the spring of 2023, Prime Minister Kishida seemed to be making the last moves toward a Diet dissolution and early general election, with a performance as global statesman at the G7 Summit as the final flourish of a grand campaign. Yet even as he hosted a successful gathering of the leaders of the major industrial democracies, invigorated political ties with South Korea, and provided a stage for Ukraine's president Zelensky, Kishida's plan to swivel from international success to domestic political victory collapsed. The Liberal Democratic Party's electoral alliance with the Komeito, the bedrock political relationship in Japanese politics, plunged into crisis. Facing a sudden storm of public criticism Kishida had to fire his political secretary, who happens to also be his eldest son and the presumed heir to the Hiroshima District #1 Diet seat.  

What has happened and what is going to happen now? Temple University Japan's Michael Cucek leads a discussion of the current state of Japanese politics.

Access

RSVP not necessary. For questions email: icas@tuj.temple.edu

Room 301

Temple University Japan Campus/ テンプル大学ジャパンキャンパス

1-14-29 Taishido, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

東京都世田谷区太子堂1-14-29

Exact location of the entrance:

Enter "35.642317133254295, 139.6738373586528" in the Google Maps search box.

Metro: Sangenjaya Station/三軒茶屋駅. Exit South A/南口A

Maps/Directions:

https://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo (English)

https://www.tuj.ac.jp/jp/maps/tokyo (Japanese)

Speaker Profile

Michael Cucek is Assistant Professor of Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus (1/2020 - Present). He is a fellow at Temple University Japan's Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies (2014 - Present) and a senior advisor for consultancy Langley Esquire. Prior academic positions include Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Temple University, Japan Campus (9/2016-12/2019), Adjunct Professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Waseda University (10/2016-2/2020) and Adjunct Professor of the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University (4/2015 - 8/2015). For 15 years he was Senior Research Analyst at Okamoto Associates, a strategic and business consulting firm to Japanese multinationals and government affiliated agencies (1/1995 - 6/2010). Before that he was a Research Associate at the Asahi National Broadcast Company (10/1992 - 9/1994). Professor Cucek's specializations include the history of China and Japan, Japanese politics, U.S. relations with Northeast and Southeast Asia, international politics and the history of racism.