Highly readable yet deeply researched, this book serves as an essential guide to the many ways in which Japan has risen to become one of the world's most creative and innovative societies.
• Challenges conventional views of Japan as mired in two unproductive "lost decades" by documenting the myriad ways in which the nation has embraced creativity and innovation
• Describes the ways in which Japan has transformed our lives and explains the guiding principles of one of the world's least understood, most vibrantly creative societies
• Explains how Japan, as the world's first non-Western developed nation, can inspire other nations at a time when America's economic and social models are being challenged as never before
• Argues that, in a world that seems to have lost its direction in the face of threats ranging from terrorism to angry populism, Japan can assume greater leadership in preserving global peace and prosperity
Chapter 4 of this book, Departing from Silicon Valley: Japan's New Startup Ecosystem, was written by Shorenstein APARC Research Scholar Kenji Kushida.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming one of the underlying drivers of the next wave of industrial transformations. There is every reason to believe that we are on the cusp of a sea change in how human activities and decision-making are transformed by abundant computing power. This research note will provide the basis for understanding the conceptual building blocks and paradigmatic examples of how the development of AI is accelerating, and how its deployment will be transformative.
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Dr. Chonira Aturupane is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, and Senior Associate Director, Academic and Student Affairs, at the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy (MIP) program at the Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI), Stanford University. She teaches the MIP courses, The Global Economy, Trade and Development, and Economics of Corruption. Her research interests include economic growth, international trade, international finance, and corruption. Prior to coming to Stanford in 2004, she was an Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington D.C., where she focused on IMF policy and review, and participated in IMF missions to Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and Samoa. She was also an external consultant to the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) on international trade policy. Additionally, she served on the FSI Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) Task Force in 2020-2021. She received a BA in Economics summa cum laude (with highest honors in Economics) from Smith College, Massachusetts, and an MA and Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.
Senior Associate Director, Academic and Student Affairs at the Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy
Senior Research Scholar, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law
Comedian Conan O’Brien recently announced that he will visit Hokuei City (aka “Conan Town”) in Tottori Prefecture, Japan, which is well known for its sand dunes and the manga character, Detective Conan. Detective Conan was created by artist Gosho Aoyama, who was born in Hokuei. In fact, Tottori’s main airport is called the Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport. Tourists from the United States and other countries are drawn to the sand dunes and the “Manga Kingdom,” a nickname for Tottori because it is the home prefecture of many famous manga artists like Aoyama.
Governor Shinji Hirai of Tottori, who leads these efforts to make Tottori a more notable tourist destination, recently met with Governor Phil Scott of Vermont to formalize a sister state relationship. Both governors hope to give their students more opportunities for exchange. These are just two examples of the increasing synergy between the United States and Tottori, the least populous prefecture in Japan. Thanks to the vision of Governor Hirai, SPICE launched a distance-learning course, Stanford e-Tottori, for high school students in Tottori Prefecture in 2016. The course instructor, Jonas Edman, hopes that the course will help to build even more bridges at the grassroots level between Tottori and the United States.
Now in its third year, Stanford e-Tottori enrolls students from public and private schools in Tottori Prefecture and is a cornerstone of Tottori Prefecture’s Global Leaders’ Campus, an initiative by the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education to internationalize the curriculum in all schools in Tottori. Governor Hirai’s vision has provided many Tottori high school students with the opportunity to study with Edman, who engages students in English with Stanford scholars and experts on topics ranging from U.S. high schools to cultural diversity in the United States.
On August 1, 2018, Edman participated in the opening ceremony for the third year of Stanford e-Tottori. He met Superintendent Hitoshi Yamamoto, Office Director Takuya Fukushima (High School Division), several others of the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education, and the new cohort of students. Edman also visited Tottori Nishi High School and gave a special lecture to students. “Though the technology that I use to teach Stanford e-Tottori has improved over the years, I have to say that it was enormously rewarding to meet my students in person,” reflected Edman. “Seeing them in their picturesque home prefecture—and some of them in their school [Tottori Nishi High School]—provided a context that cannot be replicated virtually. My online interaction with the students from now will feel different.”
I also had the chance to visit Tottori Prefecture on August 26, 2018 to give the opening lecture for the third-year offering of Stanford e-Tottori. In attendance were not only the current cohort students but also three students from last year’s cohort. Before class began, I could feel the nervousness among the students as they anxiously waited outside the presentation room. Once class commenced, however, I could sense that their nerves started to settle down. The students gave their best during class, and I was so impressed with their efforts in particular because it was the first lecture of the course. I have no doubt that their English skills and understanding of U.S. society and culture will improve under the mentorship of Edman.
High school students from Tottori Prefecture with SPICE Director Gary Mukai and Stanford Visiting Scholar Junichiro Hirata
Following the class, Fukushima took Stanford Visiting Scholar Junichiro Hirata and me to Mitaki-en, a village nestled in the mountain town of Chizu in Tottori Prefecture. While strolling around Mitaki-en, I was reminded of a different era and was pleasantly overwhelmed by my senses—most notably the sound of a babbling brook, the smell of an earthen floor of a home from the early 20th century, the taste of powdered green tea, the feel of a tatami mat, and the sight of a faint waterfall. The preservation of this village struck me as symbolic of the people of Tottori—people who seem to have a gift for successfully integrating innovation with tradition.
The Tottori Prefectural Board of Education encourages its students to appreciate Tottori’s historic ties to agriculture and fisheries and its natural beauty. Tottori is also said to be Japan’s best place for stargazing. Simultaneously, the Board of Education instills in its students a need to see the world in a grain of sand through courses like Stanford e-Tottori. To me, helping students appreciate the delicate balance of innovation and tradition lies at the heart of Tottori Prefecture’s Global Leaders’ Campus, and SPICE is honored to be a part of this initiative.
Alumni and Friends of Shorenstein APARC are invited to a gathering in Tokyo. We hope you can join for this opportunity to reconnect as well as build new relationships!
While the Trump administration may still believe in CVID, Gi-Wook Shin and Joyce Lee argue that–at present–it is no longer a realistic goal.
In an article for for 38 North, Shin and Lee explain why it may be too late for CVID, explore Kim Jong-un’s possible agenda, and provide their thoughts on what the goal of negotiations should now be going forward.
Andray Abrahamian will be the 2018-19 Koret Fellow in the Korea Program at Stanford’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC). Abrahamian has been Executive Director and Director of Research for Choson Exchange, a non-profit that has trained over 2000 North Koreans in entrepreneurship and economic policy since 2010. His work for Choson Exchange and other projects has taken him to North Korea 30 times. He has also lived in Myanmar, allowing him the ability to conduct field research for his new book, North Korea and Myanmar: Divergent Paths (2018, McFarland). Divergent Paths asks how Myanmar came to end its isolation, while North Korea has yet not.
“When it comes to North Korea, Dr. Abrahamian has been very active both as an academic and on the ground. He has genuine hands-on experience of working with North Koreans from his numerous trips to the country. In this important period of flux for North Korea’s place on the world stage, we welcome Dr. Abrahamian as 2018-19 Koret Fellow, and look forward to his meaningful contributions to our activities.” “His experience and understanding of North Korea will be a great asset to our program,” Gi-Wook Shin, director of APARC said.
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As the 2018-19 Koret Fellow, Abrahamian will research the economic relations of North Korea during changing geopolitical conditions as well as entrepreneurship in North Korea as it relates to communities of Koreans abroad. He also plans to write a general readership book that explains contemporary North Korean society. While at Stanford, he will teach a course on contemporary North Korean society and engage in public talks and conferences on Korea issues. During his fellowship, Abrahamian will also help organize the Koret Workshop, an international conference held annually at Stanford University.
Abrahamian is an Honorary Fellow at Macquarie University, Sydney, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute. He is a frequent contributor to 38North.org, a website focused on North Korea analysis, and is a member of the US National Committee on North Korea. Andray holds a PhD from the University of Ulsan and an MA from the University of Sussex in International Relations. He has taught courses at Yangon University and Ulsan University.
Supported by the Koret Foundation, the fellowship brings leading professionals to Stanford to conduct research on contemporary Korean affairs with the broad aim of strengthening ties between the United States and Korea.
Student Isabelle Foster asks Lieutenant Commander Daniel McShane about his time defending the DMZ as they stand on a platform overlooking North Korea. Photo by Nicole Feldman.
A favorite icon for cigarette manufacturers across China since the mid-twentieth century has been the panda, with factories from Shanghai to Sichuan using cuddly cliché to market tobacco products. The proliferation of panda-branded cigarettes coincides with profound, yet poorly appreciated, shifts in the worldwide tobacco trade. Over the last fifty years, transnational tobacco companies and their allies have fueled a tripling of the world's annual consumption of cigarettes. At the forefront is the China National Tobacco Corporation, now producing forty percent of cigarettes sold globally. What's enabled the manufacturing of cigarettes in China to flourish since the time of Mao and to prosper even amidst public health condemnation of smoking?
In Poisonous Pandas, an interdisciplinary group of scholars comes together to tell that story. They offer novel portraits of people within the Chinese polity—government leaders, scientists, tax officials, artists, museum curators, and soldiers—who have experimentally revamped the country's pre-Communist cigarette supply chain and fitfully expanded its political, economic, and cultural influence. These portraits cut against the grain of what contemporary tobacco-control experts typically study, opening a vital new window on tobacco—the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide today.
High school students from Tottori Prefecture with SPICE Director Gary Mukai and Stanford Visiting Scholar Junichiro Hirata
