Past Events

Seminar: "Trump, Takaichi, and the Geopolitics of Deterrence in the Indo-Pacific"

April 27, 2026

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12:00PM EDT

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

Speaker Kenneth Weinstein, Japan Chair at Hudson Institute Moderator Christina Davis, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, Department of Government; Director, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard University This seminar is part of the...

"Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World: A New Economics for the Middle Class, the Global Poor, and Our Climate"

April 15, 2026

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12:00PM - 1:00PM EDT

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CGIS Knafel, Bowie-Vernon Room (K262) 1737 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02138 United States

Hybrid

Speaker Dani Rodrik, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Moderator Christina Davis, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, Department of Government; Director...

"The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan’s Space Programs"

April 13, 2026

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12:00PM EDT

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

Speaker Subodhana Wijeyeratne, Assistant Professor of History, Purdue University Moderator Andrew Gordon, Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor of History, Harvard University This seminar is part of the Special Series on Technology, Society, and...

"Japanese Approaches to the Computational Image"

April 6, 2026

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12:00PM EDT

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

Speaker Paul Roquet, Associate Professor of Media Studies and Japan Studies, MIT Moderator Alexander Zahlten, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University This seminar is co-sponsored by the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of...

Symposium / Japan in the Age of Disruption: Domestic and Global Policy Challenges

March 30, 2026

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10:00AM - 4:30PM EDT

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

All panels are chaired by Christina L. Davis, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, Department of Government; and Director, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard University. 10:00-11:15 am: "Geopolitics of Alliances and International...

CANCELED: "The Geopolitics of U.S. Export Controls: Lessons from the Cold War"

March 23, 2026

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12:00PM EDT

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

Please note that this seminar has been canceled. Speaker Jennifer Lind, Associate Professor of Government, Dartmouth College Moderator Christina Davis, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, Department of Government; Director, Program on U.S...

"Deeply Responsible Business and Japan"

March 9, 2026

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12:00PM EDT

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

Speaker Geoffrey Jones, Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Harvard Business School Moderator Christina Davis, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, Department of Government; Director, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard...

ZOOM ONLY: "Behind the Screen: Mining Pasts of the Nintendo Gameboy"

February 23, 2026

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12:00PM EST

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Virtually, by Zoom

Virtual

Please note: Due to inclement weather, this seminar is presented by zoom only. Speaker Sakura Christmas, Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies, Bowdoin College Moderator Ian Miller, Reischauer Institute Professor of Environmental History...

How Geopolitics Shape Policy Preferences of Firms: Experimental Evidence from Japan

February 9, 2026

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12:00PM EST

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

Speaker Megumi Naoi, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California - San Diego Moderator Christina Davis, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, Department of Government; Director, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard...

Symposium: "Building U.S.-Japan Relations after the Second World War: Eight Decades of Security, Trade, and Trust"

February 6, 2026

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2:00PM - 4:00PM EST

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CGIS South, S020 Belfer Case Study Room. 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA

In Person

Speakers: "The Security of Japan, an Island State in the ‘Far East’: Past and Present” Kaoru Iokibe Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo “Launching Japan’s Postwar 'Trading State': Bureaucratic Conflict between...

Navigating Uncertainty: Gendered Aspiration, Meritocracy, and Imagined Futures in Japanese Selective College Admission

November 17, 2025

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12:00PM - 1:00PM EST

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

Speaker: Fumiya Uchikoshi (Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University) Moderator: Xiang Zhou (Professor of Sociology, Harvard University) Co-sponsored by The...

City of Commuters: Work and Mobility in Tokyo, 1890-1973

November 10, 2025

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12:00PM - 1:00PM EST

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Bowie-Vernon Conference Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Bldg., 1737 Cambridge St. and online via Zoom (registration required).

Hybrid

Speaker: Brian Rogers (Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University) Moderator: Ian Miller (Reischauer Institute Professor of Environmental History, Harvard University) Co-sponsored by the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. Additional resources...