22nd Japanese-German Forum

October 29–30, 2013
Tokyo

The 22nd Japanese-German Forum was held on October 29–30, 2013, bringing more than three dozen participants from the two countries together in Tokyo at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Mita Conference Hall. On the first day, participants visited Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and attended a reception sponsored by Foreign Affairs Minister Fumio Kishida. The discussions the following day focused on three topics: domestic political issues in the context of the global community, sustaining economic growth through fiscal and monetary policy, US-China relations and their influence on Japan and Germany.

Deputy Foreign Minister Emily Haber opened the forum with an overview of Japan-German relations, underscoring that Japan and Germany share basic values and can work together to improve the world. She emphasized the need for a framework to tackle the new challenges facing the two countries, such as cyberterrorism and global warming, for cooperation in dealing with emerging nations, and for maintaining peace in Asia.

In Session 1, “Domestic Political Issues in the Context of the Global Community,” Hon. Kenji Kosaka (House of Councillors) and Hon. Koichiro Gemba (House of Representatives) addressed such topics as the shift in political power from the DPJ to the LDP, foreign policy under the Abe administration, the current situation in East Asia, and Japan’s economy. Mario Schmidt (North German Radio) talked about the victory of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party in the September 2013 election and the direction of the coalition government, energy policy, and growing anti-EU sentiment. A lively question and answer session then followed, addressing the political climate in both countries.

In Session 2, “Sustaining Economic Growth Through Fiscal and Monetary Policy,” Izuru Kato, president of Totan Research Company, spoke about Japan’s increasing debt, Abenomics, challenges to economic growth, and issues related to population decline and the aging population (including immigration). Gerhard Wiesheu of Metzler Bank pointed out that debt is a problem that all developed countries are facing. He spoke about the brake mechanism within the German constitution that prevents the government from increasing the national debt by issuing more government bonds, the stress tests being carried out in European banks, and the importance of accepting immigrants. Moreover, he reiterated the importance of education in order to preserve the countries’ competitiveness and productivity in light of the falling childbirth rates and aging of the societies.

In Session 3, “US-China Relations and their Influence on Japan and Germany,” Ryosei Kokubun, president of the National Defense Academy of Japan, discussed China’s domestic and foreign policy, as well as Japan-China relations. He emphasized the influence that China’s foreign policy has on domestic policy, and addressed concerns about both Jiang Zemin’s growing influence and the stability of Xi Jinping’s regime. Sabine Stricker-Kellerer—who is an expert on the business climate for foreign corporations in China—spoke about the increasing confidence of Chinese corporations, and the relationship between politics and business. She also discussed concerns about the growing number of hardliners in China and the rise of exclusionary thinking. On the other hand, while pointing out the necessity of fully understanding China’s present system and issues before trying to build a relationship of trust with them, she noted that there is some room for optimism in terms of the shifting mindset of Chinese intellectuals who have greater knowledge of foreign countries. Participants discussed the importance of using Japan-German cooperation in areas like energy and the environment to put pressure on China, as well as addressing Western values such as democracy and the rule of the law and China’s medium- to long-term goals.

Following the meeting, a joint statement was drafted by the chairperson and submitted to both the Japanese prime minister and the German chancellor. (Available in Japanese)

German Participants

[Chairman]

Prof. Dr. Bernhard SCHEUBLE

Chairman of the Foundation Council, Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB)

[Participants]

Dr. Friederike BOSSE

Secretary General, Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB)

Florian COULMAS

Director, German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ)

Gesine FOLJANTY-JOST

Vice President, University Halle-Wittenberg

Dr. Emily HABER

State Secretary, German Foreign Office

Martin JETTER

President and General Manager, IBM Japan

Dr. Hanns W. MAULL

Senior Research Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations

Matthias NASS

Chief International Correspondent, Weekly Newspaper DIE ZEIT

Lars NICOLAYSEN

Managing Director, German Press Agency Tokyo

Amb. Peter PRÜGEL

Director General for Asian Affairs, German Foreign Office

Mario SCHMIDT

Redaktionsleiter Aktuelles, NDR (North German Radio and TV)

Amb. Dr. Volker STANZEL

German Ambassador to Japan

Dr. Sabine STRICKER-KELLERER

Senior China Counsel, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Prof. Dr. Franz WALDENBERGER

Professor, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich

Gerhard WIESHEU

Partner, Bankhaus Metzler; Vorsitzender Deutsch-Japanischer Wirtschaftskreis

Japanese Participants

[Chairman]

Yuzaburo MOGI

Honorary CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kikkoman Corporation

[Participants]

Yasunori FUJI

Corporate Officer, Member of the Board, Tsumura & Co.

Koichiro GEMBA

Member, House of Representatives, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ); Former Minister for Foreign Affairs

Keiichiro HASHIMOTO

Auditor, Bit-isle, Inc.

Hideto KAKINOKI

Director, Nikkei Media Promotion

Izuru KATO

President and Chief Economist, the Totan Research Co., Ltd.

Minoru KIUCHI

Member, House of Representatives, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

Ryosei KOKUBUN

President, National Defense Academy of Japan

Yoshinori KOMAMURA

Senior Adviser, Komatsu Ltd.; ABAC Member (Japan), APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)

Kenji KOSAKA

House of Councillors, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

Toshiaki MIURA

Editor-in-Chief, GLOBE, the Asahi Shimbun

Takeshi NAKANE

Japanese Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany

Jiro SAITO

Adviser, Tokyo Financial Exchange Inc.

Hajime SASAKI

Honorary Advisor, NEC Corporation

Ken SHIBUSAWA

President, Japan Center for International Exchange

Takahiro SHINYO

Vice-President of Kwansei Gakuin University; Former Japanese Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany

Tatsujiro SUZUKI

Vice-Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan

Eiji TAGUCHI

Executive Vice President, Japan Foundation

Toshiyuki TAKANO

Senior Advisor, ITOCHU Corporation; Former Japanese Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany

Hitoshi TANAKA

Senior Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange; Chairman, Institute for International Strategy, the Japan Research Institute, Ltd.; Former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan

Noriyuki WAKISAKA

Journalist; Research Professor, Osaka University

Taizo YAKUSHIJI

Research Counselor, the Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS)

Tuesday, October 29

Session I: Domestic Political Issues in the Context of the Global Community
Session II: Sustaining Economic Growth Through Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Wednesday, October 30

Session III: US-China Relations and their Influence on Japan and Germany