Join the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute for a talk with Akihiro Iwashita and Shihoko Goto on the Japanese-Russian relationship and potential changes of Yoshihide Suga's administration.

During former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s second term, Japanese-Russian relations seemingly improved significantly on the surface, with Abe meeting President Putin 27 times. However, Abe’s public diplomatic efforts shifted neither Russia’s position on the Northern Territories (Kuril Islands), nor helped create a more favorable security environment for Japan. With a new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, should we expect a new course in Japan’s relations with Russia? On October 27^th, Dr. Akihiro Iwashita will join the Kennan Institute for a conversation on the evolving state of Japanese-Russian bilateral relations and what changes we might see in the relationship under Prime Minister Suga.

RSVP is requested; information can be found at this link.

Speakers:

Akihiro Iwashita, director, Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University

Shihoko Goto, deputy director for geoeconomics and senior associate for Northeast Asia, Asia Program, Wilson Center

Matthew Rojansky (moderator), director, Kennan Institute