Robert Ward hosts Professor Taniguchi Tomohiko, Chairman of Nippon Kaigi and Specially Appointed Professor at the University of Tsukuba. They discuss the outlook of Japan’s foreign and security policy in 2026.

Together, they explore: 

· The upcoming Japanese snap election

· The Takaichi government’s security and defence reforms

· Japan’s foreign and security relations with the US

· Japan’s security and economic relations with China

Recommended materials from our guests: 

· Agawa Naoyuki, Friendship Across the Seas: The US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force, (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2019), 308pp.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your preferred podcast platform. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org.

Date recorded: 28 January 2026

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

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