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Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs Speaker Series

Japan Roundtable 2013

Perspectives from Japan on Nuclear Issues

~ Security, Energy, and Lessons from History ~

Conference Summary

15:15 - 18:00 Thursday, April 11, 2013

ASEAN Auditorium, The Fletcher School

160 Packard Avenue, Medford, MA 02155

Organized by: Japanese Student Group, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

Sponsored by: The Hitachi Center, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Consulate-General of

Japan in Boston, International Security Studies Program, The Center for International Environment and

Resource Policy

Website: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5909528559

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Agenda

Nuclear issues, with its uncertainty and potential, have had great impacts on international society.

Japan Roundtable 2013 looks into nuclear issues that the international community faces from three

perspectives.

Session1 introduces what Japan, as the only country that has experienced atomic bombing, has

done to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. It has been sixty-seven years since the

atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki took more than 200,000 lives. Although President Obama has

called for the creation of “a world without nuclear weapons,” nuclear weapons still constitute the

greatest existential threat to all humankind, well exemplified by ongoing nuclear development and

stalled talks on nuclear arms reduction. By inviting Professor Tadatoshi Akiba, former mayor of the city

of Hiroshima and renowned activist for the elimination of nuclear weapons, we will revisit what nuclear

issues mean to Japan through lessons from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In session2, we move on to discuss the role of nuclear power in international security from the

perspective of post-war Japan-US relations as well as the international security landscape in East Asia.

Analyzing how the US nuclear umbrella has helped Japan to achieve economic success, the presentation

will reveal how nuclear power has affected the region. To think about this strategic dimension of nuclear

issues, we invite Dr. Kei Koga from the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School. The combination of

this reality of nuclear deterrence and Japanese pacifism expresses the Japanese public’s inner struggle.

In session3, we turn to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The 3/11 great earthquake in

Japan in 2011 was a chance for communities all over the globe to re-examine the risk of nuclear

technology in our lives. In this section, we invite Mr. John Yoshinari from GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy,

Ltd., to share his view from a private sector perspective, facing both the potential and risk of nuclear

energy on a daily basis. This line up of speakers and themes provides the audience with a multilateral

understanding of our nuclear issues extending over past, present and future.

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Schedule

Time Activity

1455 – 1515 Registration

1515 – 1520

Opening Remarks

Prof. Kelly Sims Gallagher, Deputy Director of the Hitachi Center, The Fletcher School

1520 – 1525 Opening Speech

Mr. Nobuyuki Watanabe, Deputy Consul - General of Japan in Boston

1525 – 1610 Presentation 1: Voice from Hiroshima; nuclear weapons in history

Prof. Tadatoshi Akiba, Professor by special appointment, Hiroshima University,

1610 – 1650 Presentation 2: Nuclear International Security; US-Japan relations and East Asia

Dr. Kei Koga, Research fellow, International Security Program, The Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School

1650 – 1700 Coffee Break

1700 – 1740 Presentation 3: Peaceful Use of Nuclear Technology and Private Business

Mr. John Yoshinari, Chief Operating Officer, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Ltd.

1740 – 1750

Closing Speech

Prof. Partha Ghosh, Visiting Professor of Strategic Management, The Fletcher School

1750 – Networking Reception

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Speaker Biographies

Nobuyuki Watanabe

Nobuyuki Watanabe arrived in Boston to take up his new post as Deputy Consul-General of Japan in

Boston in June, 2011. He entered Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1982, after graduating from the

Faculty of Law at the University of Shizuoka. During his 30-year career in the diplomatic service, he has

served in the Embassies of Japan in China, and the US, and in various posts in Japan, including the

China and Mongolia Division, the OECD Division, and the Cultural Exchange Division.

Kelly Sims Gallagher

Kelly Sims Gallagher is Associate Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy. She directs the

Energy, Climate, and Innovation (ECI) research program in the Center for International Environment

and Resource Policy’s (CIERP). She is also Senior Research Associate at the Harvard Kennedy School’s

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, where she previously directed the Energy

Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group. Broadly, she focuses on energy and climate policy

in both the United States and China. She is particularly interested in the role of policy in spurring the

development and deployment of cleaner and more efficient energy technologies, domestically and

internationally. A Truman Scholar, she has a MALD and PhD in international affairs from The Fletcher

School at Tufts University, and an A.B. from Occidental College. She speaks Spanish and basic

Mandarin Chinese. She is the author of China Shifts Gears: Automakers, Oil, Pollution, and

Development, editor of Acting in Time on Energy Policy, and numerous academic articles and policy

reports.

Tadatoshi Akiba

Tadatoshi Akiba is a Special Appointed professor in Hiroshima University, The National Chair of AFS

Japan, the Chairman of Middle Powers Initiative, and the former Mayer of Hiroshima city. He received

B.S and M.S. in mathematics from University of Tokyo, and Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT. He taught

mathematics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and Tufts University. While he was

teaching at Tufts University, he created and managed Hibakusha “victims of nuclear bombing” Travel

Grant Program which invited international journalists to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to help the world

understand the realities of the atomic bombings and the message of Hibakusha better. He represented

Hiroshima as a national Diet member from 1990 to 1999. He was elected Mayor of Hiroshima in 1999

and served three terms until 2011. He worked as the President of Mayors for Peace, helped the

organization grow from around 440 member cities to approximately 5,000 cities during his tenure. He

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received IPB Sean MacBride Award, the first Calgary Peace Award, the Ramon Magsaysay Award (also

known as the Asian Nobel Prize), Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, the first Gautam Buddha

International Peace Award (from the government of Nepal), the Distinguished Peace Leadership Award

from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and Otto Hahn Peace Medal in God from the United Nations

Association of Germany - Berlin・Brandenburg.

Kei Koga

Kei Koga is a research fellow, International Security Program, The Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy

School. Concurrently, he is a Japan-US Partnership Fellow at the Research Institute for Peace and

Security (RIPS), Tokyo. He received M.A. from the Elliot School of International Affairs in the George

Washington University, and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Tufts University.

His research interests include international relations in Asia. He published several journal articles such

as “Explaining Transformation of ASEAN’s Security Functions in East Asia,” “The Process of ASEAN’s

Institutional Consolidation in 1968-1976,” “Nichibei Domei no Sofuto Pawa: HADR Kyoka Ni Mukete

(Soft Power of the US-Japan Alliance: Enhancing HA/DR Capabilities).”

John Yoshinari

John Yoshinari, Chief Operating Officer, Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd, is currently responsible for

HGNE's nuclear business in the US. He has been in the current position since the GE Hitachi Nuclear

Alliance was formed back in 2007. His nuclear experience includes Japanese fast reactor programs, e.g.,

Prototype Fast Reactor MONJU and Demonstration Fast Reactor, nuclear fuel cycle area, e.g., Rokkasho

nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, and the digitization technology development for nuclear

design/engineering information. He was also involved deeply in planning and commercializing

Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) though building the 4th (Shika 2) and 5th (Shimane 3)

ABWR plants. His current interest and goal is to build nuclear power plants outside Japan, using

Japanese technology and experience. He holds BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from The

University of Tokyo and MS degree in Management Science from A. P. Sloan School, Massachusetts

Institute of Technology. He currently lives and works in New Jersey.

Partha Ghosh

Partha Ghosh, Visiting Professor of Strategic Management, is a renowned management consultant and

policy advisor with an extensive record of solving strategic, operational and complex organizational

issues in technology-based industries across dozen nations. He is currently in an advisory role with

multiple organizations worldwide, and runs his own boutique advisory firm Partha S Ghosh &

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Associates focused on policy and strategic issues. Previously, Ghosh was a partner at McKinsey &

Company. Ghosh has two advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Master’s

Degrees in (i) Chemical Engineering with emphasis on New Energy Systems & Biotechnologies, and

(ii) Business Administration. He earned his Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering with

honors at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kharagpur, India, and won the Institute medal as

Number One graduating student of his class.

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Conference Summary

On a beautiful spring afternoon, people began filtering into the Hall of Flags at The Fletcher School,

located on a hilltop in Medford. The third Japan Roundtable attracted close to 80 people. Attendees

varied from students at various academic institutions to professionals across industries, showing the

great interest for this topic.

The event officially started with opening remarks by

Professor Kelly Sims, Deputy Director of The Hitachi

Center for Business and International Affairs, which

generously supported this event. She briefly introduced

The Fletcher School and gave a quick overview of the

roundtable, mentioning nuclear issues in Japan from

nuclear energy to the nuclear security issues.

Then the program moved forward to the opening

remarks of Mr. Nobuyuki Watanabe, Deputy

Consul-General of Japan in Boston, which kindly

supported this event. He started his speech by

expressing Japan’s strong interest in nuclear issues,

considering its experience of A-bombs in Hiroshima

and Nagasaki, and the nuclear power plant accident

in Fukushima. Raising the case of Cuban missile

crisis, he stated the difficulty of dealing with

conflicts that involve nuclear weapons. Yet, he

believed that leaders who learn hints from such past cases can create a path toward the future. He

concluded that today’s event was a good opportunity to understand the past, and think about the

solutions together.

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Session 1: Voice from

Hiroshima; nuclear weapons in

history

Prof. Tadatoshi Akiba, Professor

by special appointment,

Hiroshima University

“No one else should ever suffer

as we did.” This is the

philosophy of understanding

others’ pain and forgiveness that

Hibakusha (victims of A-bomb)

have formed from their

experience. With this philosophy and their efforts to share their experiences with younger generations,

Professor Akiba stated that Hibakusha have the power of deterrence which prevents the use of nuclear

weapons. However, most of the Hibakusha are aging, thus we need to make efforts to pass on their

stories about their A-bomb experience without distortions, in order to not forget the tragedy. Believing

that city, the closest administrative unit to citizens, has a special energy, he demonstrated city-oriented

frameworks, such as Mayors for Peace and 2020 Vision, towards achieving the goal of abolition of

nuclear weapons. Strengthened city-to-city relationships will lead to a more egalitarian world without

armed forces.

Session 2: Nuclear International

Security; US-Japan relations and

East Asia

Dr. Kei Koga, Research fellow,

International Security Program,

The Belfer Center, Harvard

Kennedy School

“Why are nuclear weapons

important?” The question he raised

at the beginning of his talk drew

Japanese ambivalent feelings

toward nuclear security: Japan is a

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pacifist country due to the experience of World War II, especially Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as a

country depending on American nuclear umbrella. This ambivalence has mainly been caused by three

factors; the international security environment (e.g. potential threats from North Korea and China),

domestic constitutional and legal constraints (e.g. Article 9 of the Constitution and the “Three Non-

Nuclear Principles”), and Japanese identity (e.g. World War II experiences). In this context, Dr. Koga

stated that there was a positive political momentum to decrease the role of nuclear capability in the

world, and concluded that this trend is encouraging for the Japanese and that we should further aim at

reducing the role of nuclear weapons while maintaining the deterrence effect by striking a fine balance

between the role of nuclear and conventional capabilities.

Session3: Peaceful Use of Nuclear

Technology and Private Business

Mr. John Yoshinari, Chief

Operating Officer, GE-Hitachi

Nuclear Energy, Ltd.

Exploring nuclear issues from the

viewpoint of business, Mr.

Yoshinari’s presentation gave the

audience an opportunity to

contemplate the global challenge

of power generation and its

implications. The presentation

started with the summary of

Fukushima incidents, leading into current safety regulations in Japan as well as nuclear industries’

actions seen in the United States. He also provided an overview of dynamic changes surrounding global

energy demand and supply, referring to various alternative sources of energy. The last part of the

presentation brought us back to global nuclear challenges such as developments in emerging countries,

nuclear conundrum and human bias as well as implications for non-proliferation. In concluding, the

speaker emphasized the importance of “our knowledge and wisdom” to control “the otherwise

uncontrollable nature.”

Concluding Remarks

Professor Ghosh concluded the event by stating that we need to

have a new global paradigm of the governance, a relationship

driven proactive model to architect “plus sum” relationships

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between communities, nations, and people. We need to understand the “mathematics of minds,” which

enables us to know how people define and structure choices. Looking back over the last fifty years, the

world has changed from an era of competition to an era of compassion. Despite these world-wide efforts

to promote peace, including through League of Nations and UN, we still face conflicts such as terrorists

and ethnic struggles around the world. We have not been able to shape mechanisms to resolve conflicts

and /or accommodate differences through dialogues, - towards “plus sum” mode of the world; instead

we witnessed repeated institutional failures. Therefore, there is a need to deal with current problems

with a new innovative perspective, and young people are supposed to be engines for this innovation.

It is the organizers’ consensus that the day was a resounding success overall and is a cornerstone event

that is currently being institutionalized at the Fletcher School. Following the previous year’s success, the

Japan Roundtable 2013 attracted more than 80 people. Various attendees from students at neighboring

academic institutions to professionals from multiple industries participated, with each showing great

interest in nuclear issues.

Networking Reception

A reception was held after the roundtable. Attendees had the opportunity to ask speakers question and

meet fellow attendees, with many engaging in lively discussions about issues that were raised during the

event.

Leadership

Organizers: Japanese Student Group at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy – Takuya Akiyama,

Hidemi Bessho, Morio Chijiiwa, Yuko Hirose, Miwa Ichijo, Ayako Kubodera, Hanako Kurosawa,

Tomohiro Nagasaki, Yoshinori Nagashima, Fumiko Nishihara, Akane Okada, Tomoya Tanaka, Yumiko

Yamada, Soichi Yamamoto (Alphabetical Order)

Sponsor: The Hitachi Center, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Consulate-General of Japan

in Boston, International Security Studies Program, The Center for International Environment and

Resource Policy

Supervising Faculty: Prof. Partha S. Ghosh (Visiting Professor of Strategic Management, The Fletcher

School), Prof. Caroline Gideon (Director of The Hitachi Center, The Fletcher School), Prof. Kelly Sims

Gallagher (Deputy Director of The Hitachi Center, The Fletcher School)

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Website http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5909528559

Contact For more information, please contact: jprt2013@gmail.com

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

As the first professional graduate school of international affairs in the United States, The Fletcher

School, Tufts University has prepared the world’s leaders to become innovative problem solvers in

business, government and non-governmental organizations. Since 1933, Fletcher’s multidisciplinary

education in business, law, international relations, and regional studies has offered individuals and

organizations a unique global perspective on the day’s most pressing issues. The Fletcher School’s

curriculum includes coursework on finance, economics, law, business, politics and negotiation.

The Hitachi Center

The Hitachi Center is a part of The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Its mission is to sponsor

advanced research and instruction, demonstrate intellectual and professional leadership, and encourage

and facilitate a global exchange of ideas on the management of innovation and technological change and

the advancement of economic and financial integration. Over the years, the Hitachi Center has helped to

promote Fletcher’s mission of teaching, research, and service through its support and promotion of

internships, research on important issues of global technology management, international finance, and

international economic integration, conferences bringing together scholars and policy-makers, and other

educational activities.

Address: Hitachi Center, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

160 Packard Ave., Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA

Phone: +1.617.627.3700

Email: Hitachi-Center@tufts.edu

Website: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/Hitachi/default.shtml