EU-Japan Future Partnership: Ready for the "Big Bang?"
Date: June 8-9, 2018
Venue: Stockholm School of Economics, Sveavägen 65, Stockholm
Final Report
Conference Program
Day 1: June 8, Room 542, Stockholm School of Economics
11:00 – 12:00 Registration and Lunch Sandwich
12:00 – 12:15 Welcome Remarks
• Professor Marie Söderberg, Director, European Institute of Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics and Chairperson, European Japan Advanced Research Network
• H.E. Mr. Jun Yamazaki, Ambassador, Embassy of Japan
• Dr. Lars Ågren, Senior Executive President of Stockholm School of Economics
12:15 – 13:15 Panel 1
Japanese diplomacy and Swedish Japanese diplomatic relations
Chairperson: Professor Linus Hagström, Swedish Defence University
•“Taking Off from Point Zero: Swedish-Japanese Diplomatic Relations, 1945-2000”
Dr. Bert Edström, Institute for Security and Development Policy
•“Japanese Diplomacy in the 1990s”
Professor Yoshihide Soyea, Keio University
13:15 – 14:15 Panel 2
Economy, politics and implications of Brexit for EU-Japan relations
Chairperson: Professor Marie Söderberg, European Institute of Japanese Studies, SSE
• “The Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) - New and better or more of the same EU – Japan security cooperation? “
Professor Axel Berkofsky, University of Pavia
Discussant: Dr. Paul O’Shea, Lund University
• “Taking the Lead in Current and Future Trade Relationships”
Dr. Patricia A. Nelson, European Institute of Japanese Studies, SSE
Discussant: Professor Claes -Göran Alvstam, University of Gothenburg
14:15-14:45 Coffee break
14:45 – 16:15 Panel 3, Stockholm Seminar on Japan
EU-Japan Future Partnership: Ready for the “Big Bang”?
Chairperson: Professor Axel Berkofsky, University of Pavia
• Mr. Seiichiro Taguchi, Director, European Policy Division, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Mr. Roland Honekamp, Desk Officer Japan, European External Action Service (EEAS)
• Mr. Tommy Kullberg, Honorary Chairman, European Business Council in Japan
• Mr. Mikael Anzén, Head of Section for WTO ad EU's external trade,
Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs
16:30 – 17:30 Panel 4
Japan in a global context
Chairperson: Dr. Björn Jerdén, Swedish Institute of International Affairs
• “Brexit, a Catalyst for Closer EU-Japan Relations?”
Dr. Irina Angelescu, Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA)
Discussant: Adjunct Professor Erik Lagerlöf, Stockholm School of Economics
• “Opportunities and Challenges for V4+Japan Relations in the Post-Brexit EU”
Dr. Bostjan Bertalanic, Josai University
Discussant: Dr. Markus Heckel, Goethe University
Day 2, June 9, Room Ragnar, Stockholm School of Economics
9:00 – 10:10 Panel 5
Japan in a global context
Chairperson: Dr. Paul O´Shea, Lund University
• “Identity, Populism and the Challenge to Order in East Asia”
Dr. John Nilsson-Wright, Cambridge University
Discussant: Dr. Irina Angelescu, Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA)
• “Potential EU-Japan-India Trilateral Cooperation”
Dr. Hana Umezawa, Jindal School of International Affairs
Discussant: Dr. Bostjan Bertalanic, Josai University
10:00 – 10:15 Coffee break
10:15 – 11:15 Panel 6
Japanese foreign policy
Chairperson: Professor Yoshihide Soyea, Keio University
• “Foreign Policy ‘Failures’ and ‘Crises’ in Japan: How narratives of DPJ mismanagement enabled the LDP's security policy reform”
Dr. Paul O’Shea, Lund University
Discussant: Dr. Giulio Pugliese, Kings College London
• “Long Live Pacifism! Narrative Power and Japan’s Pacifist Model”
Dr. Karl Gustafsson, Professor Linus Hagström and Dr. Ulv Hanssen,
Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Swedish Defence University and Soka University
Discussant: Dr. John Nilsson-Wright, Cambridge University
11:15 – 12:15 Panel 7
Japanese economic statecraft and foreign policy
Chairperson: Dr. Karl Gustafsson, Swedish Institute of International Affairs
• “Japan's Economic Statecraft and its Evolving Strategies towards China”
Dr. Giulio Pugliese, Kings College London
Discussant: Professor Linus Hagström, Swedish Defence University
• “Abandonment in Alliance Politics: Lessons from Japan-US Relations”
Dr. Björn Jerdén, Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Discussant: Professor Yoshihide Soyea, Keio University
12:15 – 13:30 Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:30 Panel 8
Lessons for democracy and Development Cooperation
Chairperson: Dr. André Asplund, European Institute of Japanese Studies, SSE
• “The Moritomo Gakuen and Other Scandals: Lessons and Political Implications”
Dr. Guibourg Delamotte, Inalco
Discussant: Professor Marie Söderberg, European Institute of Japanese Studies, SSE
• “The ‘Exotic’ Like-minded: Japanese and Danish foreign aid practices, 1947-2017”
Dr. Annette Skovsted Hansen, Aarhus University
Discussant: Professor Axel Berkofsky, Pavia University
14:30 – 16:00 Panel 9
Japanese Economic Issues
Chairperson: Dr. Richard Nakamura, University of Gothenburg
• “The Political Economy of Zombie Firms: Evidence from SME in Japan”
Dr. Scott Wilbur, EHESS
Discussant: Mr. Ji-Won Song, Ph.D. Candidate, European Institute of Japanese Studies, SSE
• “The Independence of the Bank of Japan in the Light of (recent) Appointments of Monetary Policy Board Members”
Dr. Markus Heckel, Goethe University
Discussant: Dr. Åsa Malmström Rognes, Uppsala University
• “The Three Waves (and Ways) of Sake Appreciation in the West”
Dr. Dick Stegewerns, University of Oslo & Nichibunken
Discussant: Dr. Scott Wilbur, EHESS
16:30 – 16:15 Coffee break
16:15 – 17:00 EJARN annual meeting – Summing up