Shimoda Conference (previously Japanese-American Assembly) was a series of unofficial dialogues between representatives of the United States and Japan that first began in 1967 and continued every 2–4 years until 1994. In 2011, representatives from the United States and Japan gathered to hold the New Shimoda Conference in order to revive these dialogues.[1][2]
The first conference took place in 1967 and was the first forum for serious, but unofficial discussion between the two nations since World War II.[3] Hosted by the Japan Council for International Understanding (JCIE's predecessor) and the American Assembly of Columbia University the conference was attended by several Congressional members, including then Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Senator Edmund Muskie (later secretary of state), Representative Tom Foley (later Speaker of the House), and Representative Donald Rumsfeld (later secretary of defense), as well as Japanese diet members Yasuhiro Nakasone (later prime minister) and Eiichi Nagasue (later chairman of the Democratic Socialist Party).[3]
On February 22, 2011 about 50 representatives from the United States and Japan gathered at the Tokyo hotel for the New Shimoda Conference in order to revive the historic forum between the two nations.[2] The conference commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Japan Center for International Exchange(JCIE), the independent organization that hosts the event.[1]
Attendees
Jim Webb, Member, US Senate; Chairman, US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Chairman, Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel
Motohisa Furukawa, Member, House of Representatives of Japan; former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Tadashi Yamamoto, President, Japan Center for International Exchange
Hitoshi Tanaka, Senior Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange; Chairman, Institute for International Strategy; former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan
Tsuyoshi Sunora (16 May 2007). "A Missionary for 'Civilian Diplomacy'". Nihon Keizai Shimbun (unofficial translation). Japan Center for International Exchange. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
Hon. Motohisa Furukawa, Member, House of Representatives of Japan; former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Keynote Speech
Hon. Jim Webb, Member, US Senate; Chairman, US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Chairman, Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel
