Description

Abe Shinzo, who stepped down in September 2020 as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history, sought to fundamentally transform Japan’s foreign relations. What is his legacy, and where is Japanese foreign policy headed under Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide? This panel will draw on a recently published book co-edited by Takeo Hoshi (University of Tokyo) and Phillip Lipscy (University of Toronto), The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms. Welcoming chapter authors Adam Liff (Indiana University) and Mary M. McCarthy (Drake University), the panelists will discuss Japan’s diplomacy, security policy, approach to issues of historical memory, economic relations, and climate change policy.

Panelists:
Takeo Hoshi (University of Tokyo)
Adam Liff (Indiana University)
Phillip Lipscy (University of Toronto)
Mary M. McCarthy (Drake University)

The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms: This volume seeks to explain the political economy of the Abe government and the so-called ‘Abenomics’ economic policies. The Abe government represents a major turning point in postwar Japanese political economy. In 2019, Abe became the longest serving Prime Minister in Japanese history. Abe’s government stood out not only for its longevity, but also for its policies. Abe came to power promising to reinvigorate Japan’s economy under the banner of Abenomics. He pursued a host of structural reforms and industrial promotions to increase Japan’s potential growth rate. Abe also achieved important legislative victories in security policy. However, the government also faced significant controversies. The book will hold appeal for scholars and students specializing in the study of Japanese politics, comparative political economy, the politics of contemporary advanced democracies, macroeconomic policy, labor market reforms, corporate governance, gender equality, agricultural reforms, energy and climate change, and East Asian security.

Panelist Bios:

– Takeo Hoshi (University of Tokyo)
Takeo Hoshi is Professor of Economics at the University of Tokyo. His research area includes corporate finance, banking, monetary policy and the Japanese economy. Hoshi is also Co-Chairman of the Academic Board of the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance (Tsinghua University). He received the 2015 Japanese Bankers Academic Research Promotion Foundation Award, the 2011 Reischauer International Education Award of Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, the 2006 Enjoji Jiro Memorial Prize of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and the 2005 Japan Economic Association-Nakahara Prize. His book Corporate Financing and Governance in Japan: The Road to the Future (MIT Press, 2001) co-authored with Anil Kashyap received the Nikkei Award for the Best Economics Books. He co-authored The Japanese Economy (MIT Press, 2020) with Takatoshi Ito. Hoshi received his B.A. from the University of Tokyo and Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

– Adam Liff (Indiana University)
Adam P. LIFF is associate professor of East Asian international relations at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, where he also serves as founding director of its 21st Century Japan Politics & Society Initiative. His research focuses on international security affairs and the Asia-Pacific—especially Japanese and Chinese security policy; U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy; the U.S.-Japan alliance; and the rise of China. Beyond IU, Dr. Liff is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Associate-in-Research at Harvard University’s Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Politics from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Stanford University.

Phillip Lipscy (University of Toronto)
– Phillip Y. Lipscy is associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto. He is also Chair in Japanese Politics and Global Affairs and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Japan at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. His research addresses substantive topics such as international cooperation, international organizations, the politics of energy and climate change, international relations of East Asia, and the politics of financial crises. He has also published extensively on Japanese politics and foreign policy. Lipscy’s book from Cambridge University Press, Renegotiating the World Order: Institutional Change in International Relations, examines how countries seek greater international influence by reforming or creating international organizations.

Mary M. McCarthy (Drake University)
– Mary M. McCarthy is an associate professor of politics and international relations at Drake University. She specializes in Japan’s domestic and foreign policies, with a current focus on the legacies of the Asia-Pacific War on Japan’s foreign relations. She is editor of the Routledge Handbook of Japanese Foreign Policy (2018) and her most recent publications include “The Creation and Utilization of Opportunity Structures for Transnational Activism on WWII Sexual Slavery in Asia” in Jenny Wustenberg and Aline Sierp, ed. Agency in Transnational Memory Politics (Berghahn Books, 2020). Dr. McCarthy received her B.A. in East Asian studies and her Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.