logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2023
29m 4s

Japan’s policy towards Grey-Zone activit...

The International Institute for Strategic Studies
About this episode

In the tenth episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward and Yuka Koshino host Professor Kotani Tetsuo, a professor of global studies at Meikai University and a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs; and Dr Lynn Kuok, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the IISS. 


Robert, Yuka, Tetsuo, and Lynn discuss Japan’s response towards expanding grey-zone situations in the Indo-Pacific region.


Topics discussed include: 

  • The historical background of grey-zone activity and its definition. 
  • The tactics and objectives of Chinese grey-zone activity in the East and the South China Seas. 
  • Japan’s perspective and policy on Chinese grey-zone coercion in the Indo-Pacific region. 
  • The issue facing Japan when dealing with Chinese grey-zone tactics. 
  • The future possibilities of grey-zone escalation and the possible measures taken by regional and international organisations. 


The following literature is recommended by our guests to gain a clearer picture of the topics discussed: 

  • Takahashi Sugio, Nippon de Gunji o Kataru To Iu Koto— Gunji Bunseki Nyūmon [Talking about the military in Japan: an introduction to military analysis] (CHUOKORON-SHINSHA, 2023) 


We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on the podcast platform of your choice. 

Date of Recording: 06 October 2023 

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Jul 18
The 60th anniversary of normalisation of Japan-South Korea diplomatic relations with Professor Sakata Yasuyo, Professor Victor Cha and Professor Jung-Hoon Lee
Robert Ward hosts Sakata Yasuyo, Professor of International Relations at Kanda University, Victor Cha, President of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Jung-Hoon Lee, Dean and Professor of ... Show More
1h 11m
Jun 6
Key takeaways from the 22nd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue with Professor Jimbo Ken
In this special edition of Japan Memo Season 5, Robert Ward reports from Singapore on the 22nd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue. Joining him is Professor Jimbo Ken, Managing Director of the International House of Japan, President of the Asia Pacific Initiative, and Professor at Keio Univ ... Show More
32m 27s
May 20
Deepening Japan–UK relations with Professor Hosoya Yuichi, Professor Yee Kuang Heng, and Fenella McGerty
Robert Ward hosts Professor Hosoya Yuichi, Professor of International Politics at Keio University, Professor Yee Kuang Heng, Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy and Director of the Security Studies Unit at the Institute for Future Initiatives at the University of To ... Show More
49m 25s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2025
Sarah Paine Episode 2: Why Japan Lost (Lecture & Interview)
This is the second episode in the trilogy of a lectures by Professor Sarah Paine of the Naval War College.In this second episode, Prof Paine dissects the ideas and economics behind Japanese imperialism before and during WWII. We get into the oil shortage which caused the war; the ... Show More
2h 8m
Aug 2023
Michael R. Jin, "Citizens, Immigrants, and the Stateless: A Japanese American Diaspora in the Pacific" (Stanford UP, 2021)
This episode features a conversation with Dr. Michael R. Jin regarding his recently published book Citizens, Immigrants, and the Stateless: The Japanese American Diaspora in the Pacific. Published in November 2021 by Stanford University Press, the book weaves together Jin’s speci ... Show More
1h 7m
Dec 2024
Japanese in America
When the US turned to Japan for workers in the late 19th Century, they probably never foresaw that one day soon they would imprison those who arrived, their successors, and their families, en masse in camps around America. To hear about the Japanese American experience through hi ... Show More
51m 15s
Feb 2024
A life in the American century
With the United States’ presidential election just a few months away, the stakes go far beyond domestic politics. The results will decide the future of American foreign policy, at least for the next four years. In the corridors of power in Washington, US policymakers will need to ... Show More
37m 6s
Sep 2024
Japanese in America: Railroads, Internment Camps & Little Tokyo
When the US turned to Japan looking for workers in the late 19th Century, they probably never foresaw that one day soon they would imprison those who arrived, their successors, and their families, en masse in camps around America. To hear about the Japanese American experience th ... Show More
50 m
Aug 2024
Japan raises its defences
Gideon talks to Takako Hikotani of the Asia Society Policy Institute about how Japanese attitudes towards security have changed in light of the war in Ukraine and China’s more aggressive stance in the South China Sea. Clips: CNA Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman Free links to rea ... Show More
23m 31s
Nov 2024
How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse (Update)
It’s true that robots (and other smart technologies) will kill many jobs. It may also be true that newer collaborative robots (“cobots”) will totally reinvigorate how work gets done. That, at least, is what the economists are telling us. Should we believe them? SOURCES:David Auto ... Show More
48m 36s
Aug 2023
Satsuki Takahashi, "Fukushima Futures: Survival Stories in a Repeatedly Ruined Seascape" (U Washington Press, 2023)
Both before and after the 2011 "Triple Disaster" of earthquake, tidal wave, and consequent meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, anthropologist Satsuki Takahashi visited nearby communities, collecting accounts of life and livelihoods along the industrialized seas ... Show More
53m 1s
Aug 2023
Satsuki Takahashi, "Fukushima Futures: Survival Stories in a Repeatedly Ruined Seascape" (U Washington Press, 2023)
Both before and after the 2011 "Triple Disaster" of earthquake, tidal wave, and consequent meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, anthropologist Satsuki Takahashi visited nearby communities, collecting accounts of life and livelihoods along the industrialized seas ... Show More
53m 1s
Jun 23
UN Nuclear Chief on Damage to Iran’s Nuclear Sites
Today on the program, the US entered the conflict between Israel and Iran by striking three of its key nuclear sites. Fareed speaks with head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi about the damage caused by the attack. Then, why did President Trump decide to ent ... Show More
41m 54s