Policymakers, industry leaders and Japan experts gathered at ANU for the 2017 Japan Update. Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop delivered the keynote address at the conference hosted by the Australia-Japan Research Centre and ANU College of Asia & the Pacific under the theme ‘seeking new directions’.

The program featured discussions on a wide range of social, political and economic issues, including the relationship between Australia and Japan, the Japanese economy and innovation.

The Japan in a new global system panel, chaired by Professor Peter Drysdale, addressed regional security concerns from a Japanese perspective since the advent of the Trump presidency in the US.

On recent developments on the Korean Peninsula, AJRC Visting Fellow Dr Amy King spoke about the obstacles to resolving tensions.

Discussing the potential for regional economic partnerships, the panel, including Professor Fumiaki Kubo of the University of Tokyo and Dr Nobuhiro Aizawa of Kyushu University, agreed it is in Japan’s interest to foster Chinese regional engagement projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative following the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.