26th Japanese-German Forum

November 15–17, 2017
Berlin, Germany

More than 40 Japanese and German politicians, policy experts, business leaders, and journalists gathered in Berlin to discuss key issues facing Japan, Germany, and their bilateral relationship. After kicking off with a reception hosted by the Foreign Minister Taro Kono, the participants reviewed the domestic challenges facing each country and the political responses, discussed the implications of a “world without global leadership,” the future of robotics and its social impact, focusing on Germany-Japan technological collaboration. The participants also paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

While the discussions were off the record, a joint statement will be submitted to Prime Minister Abe and Chancellor Merkel that documents the common challenges highlighted during the discussions and outlines recommendations for German-Japanese cooperative action. JCIE serves as the Japanese secretariat for the program, while the Japanese-German Center Berlin acts as the German secretariat.

Wednesday, November 15

Session I: Domestic Challenges and Political Response

Session II: World without Global Leadership

Thursday, November 16

Session III: The Future of Robotics and its Social Impact

CHAIRMAN

Matthias NASS

Chief International Correspondent, Weekly Newspaper DIE ZEIT

PARTICIPANTS

Dr. Matthias BARTKE

MP (SPD)

Rainer BISCHOFF

Head of Corporate Research, KUKA Roboter GmbH

Prof. Dr. Verena BLECHINGER-TALCOTT

Professor, Free University Berlin

Dr. Friederike BOSSE

Secretary General, Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB)

Prof. Dr. Gesine FOLJANTY-JOST

Professor, University Halle-Wittenberg

Prof. Dr. Hanns W. MAULL

Senior Distinguished Fellow, German Institute for International and Security Affairs

Lars NICOLAYSEN

Tokyo Bureau Chief, German Press Agency

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Heinz RIESENHUBER

Former Federal Minister for Education and Research

Petra SIGMUND

Regional Director for East and South-East Asia, Federal Foreign Office

Dr. Sabine STRICKER-KELLERER

Lawyer, SSK Asia

Prof. Dr. Franz WALDENBERGER

Director, German Institute for Japanese Studies

Hanno D. WENTZLER

Member of the Executive Council, Freudenberg Group

Ambassador Dr. Hans Carl von WERTHERN

German Ambassador to Japan

Gerhard WIESHEU

Partner, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG

Christian WULFF

Lawyer and former President of Germany

CHAIRMAN

Eizo KOBAYASHI

Chairman, ITOCHU Corporation

PARTICIPANTS

Yasunori FUJI

Director & Senior Executive Officer, Tsumura & Co.

Koichiro GEMBA

Member, House of Representatives, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs

Takeyoshi IDE

Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, YANASE & Co., Ltd.

Nobuo INABA

Chair of the Board of Directors, Ricoh Company, Ltd.; Senior Counselor, Ricoh Institute of Sustainability and Business

Norihiko ISHIGURO

Senior Executive Vice President, NEC Corporation

Hideto KAKINOKI

Executive Officer and Head of Project Planning Office, Nikkei Inc.

Izuru KATO

President, Totan Research Co., Ltd.

Yoko KAWAMURA

Professor, Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Seikei University

Shinichi KITAOKA

President, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Minoru KIUCHI

Member, House of Representatives, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP); Former Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs

Toshiaki MIURA

Political and Diplomatic Correspondent, Asahi Shimbun

Tetsuo NARUKAWA

Director, Nippon Soda Co., Ltd.; Director, Okasan Securities Co., Ltd.

Kunio NOJI

Chairman of the Board, Komatsu. Ltd.

Akio OKAWARA

President, Japan Center for International Exchange

Jiro SAITO

Adviser, Tokyo Financial Exchange Inc.

Shinichiro SHIMIZU

Managing Executive Officer, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.

Prof. Dr. Takahiro SHINYO

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

Toshiyuki TAKANO

Audit & Supervisory Board Member, Japan Post Co., Ltd.; Former Japanese Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany

Hitoshi TANAKA

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

Fumio TATEISHI

Chairman, OMRON Corporation

Takeshi YAGI

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Germany

Prof. Dr. Taizo YAKUSHIJI

Research Counselor, Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS); Professor Emeritus, Keio University

OBSERVERS

Isamu AKIYAMA

General Manager, ITOCHU Economic Research Institute, ITOCHU Corporation

Makoto ISHIKAWA

Lead Research Associate, ITOCHU Economic Research Institute, ITOCHU Corporation

Kazuhiro KATO

Principal, Global Business Planning Division, NEC Corporation.

Kyoko KOTARI

Researcher, Institute for International Strategy, the Japan Research Institute, Ltd.

Naoshi MIZOGAMI

Director, Strategic Corporate Relations Division, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.

Kazuyuki NAGASHIMA

General Manager Tokyo Bod Office Executive Assistant to Chairman, OMRON Corporation

Kotaro OTSUKI

Director, Central and South Eastern Europe Division European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Sachiko TATEOKA

Secretary, Tokyo Board of Directors Office, OMRON Corporation

Jun WASHIYAMA

Manager, Chairman Office Secretariat, ITOCHU Corporation

Masahiro YOSHIKAWA

Chief Staff, Global Business Planning Division, NEC Corporation

YOUNG LEADERS

Naho KAWASHIMA

Senior Program Coordinator, International Exchange Planning Division, Center for International Youth Exchange (CENTERY

Mario KREBS

Head of Press and Public Relations, German Embassy Tokyo

Hibiki SAITO

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)

Tobias PFEIFFER

Lead Engineer, Preferred Networks Inc., Tokyo

Taketsugu ISHIHARA

Official, Central and South Eastern Europe Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Hyejin LEE

Program Associate, JCIE

Toshihiro MENJU

Managing Director and Chief Program Officer, JCIE

Patrick ISHIYAMA

Web and Book Design, JCIE

Ryo TAINAKA

Administrative Associate, JCIE

Dr. Wolfgang BRENN

Head Project Manager, JDZB

Stephan GRABHERR

Minister, Deputy of the Ambassador, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany

Dr. Peter KETTNER

Office Christian Wulff

Tokiko KIYOTA

Deputy Secretary General, JDZB

Tilman SCHMIT-NEUERBURG

Minister Counsellor, Head of Political Section, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany

Henning SIMON

Head of Division, Federal Foreign Office

Marie-Theres STRAUSS

First Secretary, Political Section, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany

Tatjana WONNEBERG

Project Management, JDZB