Greetings,
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WATANABE Mayu, President, GFJ
TAKAHATA Yohei, Vice-President, GFJ
"GFJ Updates"
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"GFJ Updates" introduces to you the latest events, announcements and/or publications of GFJ.
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Announcement
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"Japan - East Asia Dialogue: Towards Building a Sustainable Society in East Asia" to be Convened in Tokyo on August 7, 2019.
The Global Forum of Japan (GFJ) will convene "Japan - East Asia Dialogue: Towards Building a Sustainable Society in East Asia" under the co-sponsorship of Meiji Institute of Global Affairs (MIGA), East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore (EAI), the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia and The Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR) to the following effect:
Date: Wednesday, 7 August, 2019
Time: 13:30 to 17:00
Venue: "Global Hall," Global Front, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
Working Language: English
The experts featured as panelists in this "Dialogue" include ITO Go, Director, MIGA and Professor, Meiji University / Academic Governor, GFJ; INADA Juichi, Professor, Senshu University; and OHTA Hiroshi, Professor, Waseda University from the Japanese side, and experts representing each of the ASEAN countries and China from the East Asian side.
For more information, please refer to: http://www.gfj.jp/j/dialogue/20190807_program.pdf
GFJ would like to invite the readers of this E-letter to this "Dialogue." For the registration, please send us (1) your name, (2) affiliation, (3) title, (4) phone number, and (5) e-mail address via application form ( http://www.gfj.jp/-/app_190807.html ) or e-mail ( dialogue@gfj.jp ) no later than August 6, 2019.
"GFJ Commentary"
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"GFJ Commentary" presents views of members and/or friends of GFJ on the relations of Japan with the rest of the world and/or other related international affairs. The view expressed herein is the author's own and should not be attributed to GFJ.
Professor at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Graduate School
Naming of the new imperial era in Japan has been much talked about. Little do I know of the origin of the meaning. Being a scholar of an international studies myself, I am, however, interested in how it is reported in overseas, though it seems there is not a consistency. It is obvious that 'wa' hails from 'cho-wa (harmony)' which is implicated in the word 'hei-wa (peace).' Then, 'rei' is left for interpretation. Prime Minister Abe expressed that "this name 'reiwa' includes the meaning of culture coming into being and flourishing when people bring their hearts and minds together in a beautiful manner." That is that, and it is taken positively according to a public polls. Yet what exactly 'rei' means remains to be unclear. It has been widely reported that Mr. Ishiba Shigeru, Diet member of Liberal Democratic Party and former Secretary-General, pointed it out, while some others mentioned negatively that 'rei' comes from 'mei-rei (to give an order).'
As Ministry of Foreign Affairs described 'reiwa' means 'a beautiful harmony,' 'rei' is 'beautiful,' but more accurately, the beauty comes from an orderly harmony. BBC reported the meaning as "order and harmony." In this case, the meaning of 'order' would be a 'stable condition,' rather than 'to command.' For example, the Speaker of the British Parliament calls an "order!" when the Parliament becomes noisy. This is because the Speaker may or may not be ordering the Members to be quiet, but rather asking them to restore the order.
'Order' is an essential concept in the study of international relations, too. "Anarchical Society," one of the major book written by the most well-known 'British School' international relations scholar, Hedley Bull, is given a subtitle "A Study of Order in World Politics." I have read that book many times repeatedly, to use it for the undergraduate seminar I was teaching when I was at London School of Economics as a doctorate student. The 'order' used in this book is the fundamental condition, rather than a specific order given by ruler.
Japan does not desire a peace brought by force, hence it shall be brought under an 'order' based on the 'rule of law.' That is the 'beautiful harmony' Japan wishes to realize. I think 'rei' can be better explained its origin from 'ritsu-rei (ancient legal codes)' as in the rule that composes the 'rule of law' in the international community, which the 'order' should be based on. At least internationally, I hope, the 'order and peace' desired in a 'beautiful harmony' would be described in such manner.
For more views and opinions in the back number of "GFJ Commentary," the latest of which are as follows, please refer to: http://www.gfj.jp/e/commentary.htm
No.84: "Japan-Korea Relations May Not Need An Easy Mending"
by OKAMOTO Hiroaki, an overseas business owner
(June 10, 2019)
No.83: "A Clear 'No' to Unprepared Immigration Policy"
by NAGASHIMA Akihisa, Member of the House of Representatives / former State Minister of Defense
(February 25, 2019)
No.82: "The Northern Territories Issue Still No Signs of Headway"
by NAKAMURA Jin, former National Paper Writer
(December 25, 2018)
No.81: "What Japan Needs to be Careful of Japan-China Cooperation on BRI"
by MIFUNE Emi, Academic Member, GFJ / Professor, Komazawa University
(October 26, 2018)
No.80: "The Presence of Britain the Maritime Empire and China’s Ambition"
by SUZUKI Yoshikatsu, Journalist / former Editor-in-Chief of “Gaiko” the magazine on diplomacy
(August 28, 2018)
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