Professor Heizo Takenaka
Director of the Global Security Research Institute at Keio University
and Professor in the Faculty of Policy Management
on
Japan’s Disasters: Regional and Global Security implications
14 June at the Casuarina Suite B, Raffles Hotel, Singapore
On the morning of 14 June, Professor Heizo Takenaka addressed a 50-strong invited audience at the Raffles Hotel, Singapore as part of the IISS-Asia Seminar Series sponsored by Australia’s Department of Defence. Professor Takenaka, one of Japan’s leading academic economists, held a number of important government posts between 2001 and 2006, most recently Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications; he is presently Director of the Global Security Research Institute and Professor in the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University, and is a member of the IISS Council.
In his address, Professor Takenaka spoke in detail about Japan’s triple disasters in March - a major earthquake and the subsequent tsunami and nuclear meltdowns – and the ‘compound crisis’ that they have generated for the country. Beyond the large-scale loss of life and massive dislocation of large numbers of people, he highlighted the calamities’ impact on the global supply chain and other short-term negative economic results.
However, he also argued that the crisis provided an opportunity to advance much-needed economic reforms, including strengthening the agricultural sector and building new energy-saving cities from scratch. In terms of lessons for the region and the world, Professor Takenaka pointed out that many of Japan’s disaster countermeasures were effective, and without them there might have been considerably greater loss of life. Other countries prone to natural disasters might learn from Japan’s experience. However, the Asia-Pacific region also needed to think in more detail about business continuity planning.
In terms of Japan’s international relations, the responses of China and the republic of Korea to the disasters provided the basis for stronger bilateral dialogue, while security ties with the United States had strengthened in the wake of Washington’s deployment of forces not only in a search and rescue role, but also to bolster Japan’s security while its own Self-Defence Forces were heavily involved in responding in humanitarian and disaster relief operations.
Following Professor Takenaka’s address, there was a lively question-and-answer session in which the discussion touched on the future of the nuclear power industry in Japan and elsewhere in Asia and the evolution of the DPJ government’s security relations with the United States and Asian states.
Professor Heizo TAKENAKA started his academic career in 1981 as a visiting scholar at both Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania. Professor Takenaka’s research interest is in the area of economic policy. He is the author of numerous books, most recently The Structural Reforms of the Koizumi Cabinet in 2008.
As well as being a distinguished academic, Professor Takenaka served in several important ministerial positions in the government of Japan between 2001 and 2006. In 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi named Professor Takenaka the Minister for Economic/Fiscal Policy, from which position he chaired the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy and steered macroeconomic policy. Over the next five and a half years, he spearheaded Japan’s economic structural reform. In 2002, Professor Takenaka was named the Minister for both Financial Services and Economic/Fiscal Policy. In this capacity, he accomplished the disposal of non-performing loans of Japanese banks, which had hindered the Japanese economy for more than a decade. In 2004, he was elected to the House of Councillors, and was appointed Minister for Economic/Fiscal Policy and for Privatization of the Postal Service. In this capacity, he realized the privatization of Japan Post, the biggest public enterprise in Japan. In 2005, he was named the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communication.
In 2006, Professor Takenaka returned to academia, leaving both the Cabinet and the House of Councilors when Prime Minister Koizumi resigned. He is currently Director of the Global Security Research Institute at Keio University and Professor in the Faculty of Policy Management. In addition, he serves on several advisory boards and committees and he was nominated to the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum in 2007.
