(US) April 12, 2022 @ 4:00-5:00 PM (Pacific Time) | (Japan) April 13, 2022 @ 8:00-9:00 AM

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the global response to it is fundamentally reshaping the world as we know it. Ukraine, other front line states on Russia’s western border, and the rest of Europe are most immediately impacted, but peace and prosperity in Asia is also deeply affected by the Russian action. Join us on April 12 for a discussion of how the invasion is impacting Japan and the rest of Asia, and how the US-Japan partnership is responding to it, as the world’s two most prosperous democracies work together to coordinate geopolitical strategy, levy sanctions against Russia, and supply economic, military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. 

We are delighted to have our two distinguished speakers for the program: Katherine “Kemy” Monahan, Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs in the Department of State, who has been deeply and directly involved in the efforts to coordinate American and Japanese actions; and Hiroyuki Akita, from the Nikkei, who is one of Japan’s top commentators on international security affairs and has written extensively about the Russian invasion and implications for Asia and Japan. The program will be moderated by Japan Society of Northern California Chair Larry Greenwood. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to get the latest inside insights into these momentous global developments that will impact us all for many years to come. 

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Date and Time:

U.S.: April 12, 2022 @ 4:00 – 5:15 PM (Pacific Time)
U.S.: April 12, 2022 @ 7:00 – 8:15 PM (Eastern Time)
Japan: April 13, 2022 @ 8:00 – 9:15 AM  (Japan Time)

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Price:
FREE!

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Agenda (Pacific Time):

4:00-4:05 PM         Opening Remarks, Larry Greenwood | Chairman, Japan Society of Northern California
4:05-4:20 PM          Katherine “Kemy” Monahan | Director, Office of Japanese Affairs, US Department of State
4:20-4:35 PM          Hiroyuki Akita | Commentator, Nikkei
4:35-4:55 PM          Panel discussion and Q&A: Moderator, Larry Greenwood
4:55-5:10 PM           Audience Q&A
5:10-5:15 PM           Closing Remarks, Takahide Akiyama | President, Japan Society of Northern California

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OUR AMAZING SPEAKERS

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Katherine “Kemy” Monahan | Director, Office of Japanese Affairs, US Department of State

Katherine (Kemy) Monahan is Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.  A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, she has served eleven tours on three continents over 27 years, in positions with the Department of State, Treasury, USAID, the World Bank and UNICEF.  She served as Deputy Financial Attache at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, studied law at the University of Tokyo, worked as an Economic Analyst with the Yasuda Fire & Marine Research Institute in Tokyo, and participated in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program in Fukui Prefecture, Japan.  Her previous positions include Director in State’s Bureau of International Organizations, Economic Counselor in embassy Mexico, Senior Development Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the European Union, Deputy Executive Director of the Secretary’s Global Health Initiative, Economic Officer in embassy Warsaw, Advisor to the World Bank and Senior Advisor for UNICEF.  Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ms. Monahan was an attorney.  She is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and the University of California, Hastings College of Law (JD) and speaks Spanish, Japanese and some Polish.

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Hiroyuki Akita | Commentator, Nikkei

Hiroyuki Akita regularly writes commentaries and columns, providing analysis mainly on foreign and international security affairs. He joined Nikkei in 1987 and worked in the Political News Dept. from 1998-2002, where he covered Japanese security policies and domestic politics. He was the Senior & Editorial Staff Writer (2009-2017), and he also worked on the “Leader Writing Team” of the Financial Times in London (2017).

He was the Beijing Correspondent (1994-1998) and the Washington Chief Correspondent (2002-2006). In Beijing, he reported on major news events such as the death of Deng Xiaoping and the Hong Kong handover to China. In Washington DC, he covered the White House and Pentagon’s State Departments during the Bush administration.

In March 2019, he won the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist Award, a prize for outstanding reporting of international affairs. He is the author of two books in Japanese: “Anryu (Power Game of US-China-Japan)“ (2008) and “Ranryu (Strategic Competition of US-Japan and China)“ (2016).

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In Partnership with the Japan Society of Boston