Episode S4 | E2

From 'Japan as Number 1' to Whither Japan?

Air Date: Jun 12, 2019

About this episode

Japan, the land of the rising sun, once the Asian superpower, and as recently as the 1980s, the land widely feared in the United States as heading towards becoming a world-beating economic superpower. But then the bubble burst and Japan suffered first a decade, and then, a generation, many called “lost.” What lies ahead for Japan? Is the sun still rising for the Japanese, or do economic, demographic, and geopolitical challenges suggest more of a dusk than a dawn?

About the guests

Admiral Dennis Blair

Former U. S. Director of National Intelligence & Chairman of the Board, Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA

Admiral Dennis Blair is Chairman of the Board and Distinguished Senior Fellow (Non-Resident) of Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA. Blair has long experience in Japan and Asia issues and serves as a member of the Energy Security Leadership Council, and is on the boards of the National Bureau of Asian Research and the National Committee on U.S.-China...

Dr. Sheila Smith

Senior Fellow for Japan, Council on Foreign Relations

Dr. Sheila Smith, a published author and expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, is a senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as vice chair of the U.S. advisors to the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange. Smith has been a visiting researcher at 2 leading Japanese policy...

Kathy Matsui

Co-head of Economics, Commodities and Strategy, & Chief Japan Equity Strategist, Goldman Sachs Japan

Kathy Matsui is vice chair of Goldman Sachs Japan, co-head of Macro Research in Asia, and chief Japan equity strategist. Matsui is a policy commentator for Japan’s Cabinet Office and member of the Asia Pacific Management Committee and Council on Foreign Relations. She also helps oversee Launch With Goldman Sachs (GS), the firm’s first for-profit...