Robert Ward speaks with Professor Jimbo Ken – Managing Director of the International House of Japan, President of the Asia Pacific Initiative and Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University – for a wide-ranging analysis of the 23rd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue. This special edition of Japan Memo offers timely and in-depth analysis of the key themes and moments from this year’s Dialogue.

Together, they explore:

● the overall strategic picture from this year’s Dialogue;

● US Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s speech: Taiwan, China, and shifts in tone from 2025;

● Minister Koizumi’s address in English and its strategic significance;

● the state of Japan–China relations and counter-narratives on ‘new militarism’;

● Japan–Southeast Asia relations and Japan’s role in upholding regional order.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your preferred podcast platform. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org.

Date recorded: 31 May 2026

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward speaks with Japan’s Minister of Defense, Koizumi Shinjiro, on the sidelines of the 23rd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. In this special episode of Japan Memo, Minister Koizumi discusses his impressions of the Dialogue and reflects on what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s speech means for Japan and for the US—Japan Alliance.

Together, they explore:

● Minister Koizumi’s impressions of the Shangri-La Dialogue;

● the highlights of Secretary Hegseth’s address and its implications for Japan;

● Japan’s defence-industrial cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please follow, rate and subscribe to Japan Memo on your preferred podcast platform. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org.

Date recorded: 30 May 2026

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Ward hosts Ambassador Miyagawa Makio, former senior Japanese diplomat, and Professor Michishita Narushige, Professor of International Security Studies at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, for an in-depth discussion on the recent reform of Japan’s defence-export policy.

Together, they explore:

• The historical background of Japan’s defence-export policy
• The recent shift in Japan’s defence-export policy
• The perspectives of Japan’s US ally and strategic partners on the recent policy shift
• Opportunities and challenges for Japan as a defence equipment and technology exporter

Recommended readings from our guests:

• Agawa Naoyuki, Friendship Across the Seas: The US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2019), 308pp.
• Doi Yasuaki, Tainichi Keizai Sensō: 1939–1941 [Economic War against Japan: 1939–1941], (Tokyo: Chuokoron-Shinsha, 2002), 302pp.
• Tobe Ryoichi, Teramoto Yoshinari, Kamata Shinichi, Suginoo Yoshio, Murai Tomohide and Nonaka Ikujiro, Shippai no Honshitsu [The Essence of Failure: An Organisational Study of the Imperial Japanese Military], (Tokyo: Diamond, 1984), 304pp.
• Michishita Narushige, The Maritime Strategy and the US–Japan Alliance: Fighting the Cold War in the Pacific, (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, forthcoming 2027).

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your preferred podcast platform. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org.

Date recorded: 23 April 2026

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.