THIRTEEN Forum » Japan

Can Asia Weather the Storm of the Global Financial Crisis?

Chie Witt — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:17:17 +0000

In light of the current financial crisis, Asia’s economy is suffering too. Haruhiko Kuroda, Asian Development Bank President, discusses Asia’s economic development in light of the current financial crisis, fluctuations in commodity prices, and the environmental challenges that the region currently faces. Prior to his appointment as President of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda was Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a professor at the graduate school of economics at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, and Director-General of the International Bureau (Ministry of Finance). Between 1997 and 2003, Mr. Kuroda helped to design and implement the US $30 billion Miyazawa Initiative, which was Japan’s response to Asian economies hit by the 1997-1998 financial crisis. This event was held by the Asia Society.

Home Delivery: The Cases of Japan and Scandinavia

Chie Witt — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:54:38 +0000

The Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition, Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling, surveys the past, present and future of the prefabricated home. This panel focuses on two quintessential prefab hubs, Japan and the Nordic countries. Ken Tadashi Oshima, assistant professor of architecture at the University of Washington, speaks on the potentials of prefab in Japan, a country where the marketing of homes is similar to the marketing of cars. Rasmus Waern, Swedish architect and architectural historian, speaks on prefab as a model of society in the Nordic countries. A panel discussion is then moderated by Peter Christensen, curatorial assistant in the MoMA Architecture & Design department. This event was held by MoMA and by The Architectural League of New York. The Home Delivery exhibition is up through October 20, 2008.

Reflections on Citizen Movements: Peace and Politics in the U.S and Japan

Chie Witt — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:29:12 +0000

Nonviolent citizen movements for peace, environmental change, and social justice in both the U.S. and Japan have caused social and political change in both nations. Leading American social activist and former California State Senator Tom Hayden and James Orr, Chair of the Department of East Asian Studies at Bucknell University and author of The Victim as Hero: Ideologies of Peace and National Identity in Postwar Japan (2001) discuss the manner in which citizens of both nations have utilized strategies of nonviolence to effect social change. Then a conversation between them and the audience is moderated by Amy Goodman co-founder, executive producer and host of Democracy Now! This event was held at the Japan Society as part of a series of Satyagraha Forums.