Mr. Masahiko KIYA has just been appointed Japanese Ambassador to South Sudan. In 2009 and 2010, Mr. Kiya visited Hosei University and delivered lectures twice on Japan’s role in the United Nations. Prior to Ambassador Kiya’s departure for South Sudan, a farewell lunch was hosted by Professor Sukehiro HASEGAWA and participated by MOFA and JICA officials.
This website was established by Mr. Norimasa NOGUCHI in 2008. It is now managed by Mr. Shogo YOSHIDA, who was one of Professor Hasegawa’s sixth seminar class students at Hosei University and who was a graduate student at the University of Tokyo. Please forward any inquiry or suggestions to: admin[@]shasegawa.com.
Mr. Hiroto Kiyozumi, the leader of the preparatory secretariat for the 2015 JCK Youth Forum. He will be supported by Ms. Eriko Kawashima, Ms. Kwon Bomi, Ms. Kiyomi Ikenoue, and Ms. Ayaka Mae.
The Chair of the High Level Independent Panel on UN Peace Operations, Mr. José Ramos-Horta, has written to say that he appreciated the insightful background information and views provided to the Panel as they enabled him and his colleagues to understand better the issues related to UN peace operations from a Japanese perspective. Please find here for summary records of two meetings held with the panel on 26 and 28 January 2015.
On 19 March 2015, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi delivered a keynote speech to start an exchange of views by practitioners and scholars of UN peace operations held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The informal consultation meeting was convened by Stephen Browne and Thomas Weiss, co-directors of the Future United Nations Development System (FUNDS) and sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation.
Moderated by Professors Kurosawa and Yonekawa, Emmi Okada and Raymond Yamamoto made presentations on “Religion and Peacebuilding” and “Proactive Pacifism” on 14th March 2015 in the seminar of the Peacebuilding Research Association of Japan (PRAJ) held at Hosei University Graduate School Building. Valuable comments were made by Professors Higashi, Sakurai, and so forth. This seminar was organized by Professor Katsumi Ishizuka, Secretary-General of the PRAJ.
In his essay, Mr. Ian Martin who served as SRSG and head of UN peace missions in Libya, Nepal, Timor-Leste and other countries wrote that all UN peace operations are political in nature and there is a case for designer missions and expressed his views on the next UN reform.
The 13th seminar of the Peacebuilding Research Association of Japan (PRAJ) will have two speakers: Emmi Okada who will speak on “Religion and Peacebuilding” and Raymond Yamamoto on “Proactive Pacifism – The Securitization of Japan’s Foreign Policy”. The seminar will take place on Saturday, 14 March 2015 from 15:00 to 17:30 at Hosei University, Graduate School Building, 2nd Floor, Room 201. For participation in the seminar, please send your name to Professor Katsumi Ishizuka (石塚 勝美), Secretary-General of the Peacebuilding Research Association of Japan (**this seminar already ended successfully, thank you). As for the presentation by Emmi Okada, you can get information about her research in advance from the website of the Cabinet Office.
At his last appearance in the Peacebuilders Training Course in Hiroshima on 25 February, Professor Hasegawa engaged in a dialogue with Hiroshima peacebuilders about the need to integrate the teachings of Eastern and Western philosophical wisdoms in managing the conduct of human behaviors in society and in their relationship with the world.
Fifteen international participants and their several Japanese counterparts of the Hiroshima peacebuilding seminar took an excursion to Miyajima Island on 7 February. They visited historical, religious and cultural sites including Itsukushima Shrine and Daishoin Temple.
The Hiroshima peacebuilding associates from Japan and 12 countries reviewed the events that took place in the Kibeho camp in Rwanda for internally displaced persons in April 1995. Fifteen Japanese associates were joined by the equal number of participants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Somalia, and Vietnam.
At the seminar held at Hosei University on 31 January 2015 and participated by about 30 scholars, researchers and students, three experts. Professor Takaaki Mizuno of the Kanda University of International Studies, Assistant Professor Naoko Kumagai of the International University and Ms. Momoyo Ise, former Executive Director of the Asian Women’s Fund, presented their views on issues related to “comfort women” engaged by Japanese soldiers during the World War II. (Ishizuka)
Chaired by Mr. Yasushi Akashi, Vice President of the UN Association of Japan and participated by Former Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Kenzo Oshima along with other 18 Japanese scholars and experts met former President José Ramos-Horta, Chair of the High-Level Independent Panel and two of his panel members and discussed how to improve UN peace operations.
On 27th January, Mr. Ichiro Aisawa, former Senior Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Member, the Board of Directors of UN Association of Japan convened a meeting of Japanese parliamentarians including Mr. Norio MITSUYA, former Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and Mr. Seiji KIHARA, former Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Liberal Democratic Party, Mr. Satsuki EDA, former Minister of Justice and President of the House of Councilors, and Mr. Motohiro ONO, former Vice-Minister of Defense of the Democratic Party Komeito. They were joined by Mr. Kiyohiko TOYAMA of Komeito who was former Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
On 26th January 2015, former President José Ramos-Horta, Chair of the High-Level Independent Panel and two members, Mr. Ian Martin and Ms. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu met with Japanese scholars and practitioners of peacekeeping and Special Political Missions (SPM) at the United Nations University. More than 30 persons participated in the informal consultation and exchanged their views on UN peace operations.
On 25 January 2015, former President of Timor-Leste and Nobel Prize Laureate José Ramos-Horta asked Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa to continue to serve as his personal adviser. Professor Hasegawa had acted as the Special Adviser to Mr. José Ramos-Horta when he was the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste from 2007 to 2012.
A Timorese student, Orlando da Silva Casimiro, visited Tokyo to prepare for his study in Japan. He visited the University of Tokyo, Waseda University and Hosei University. Orlando also met Professor Hasegawa and talked about his ambition to enter a graduate school in Japan. (Shotaro Fujita)
Dear former students of the Seminar Class. With the arrival of the New Year, I thank you for all your contributions in ideas and efforts to make fruitful our learning of life. I hope you are blessed with sunshine of laughter, new beam of energy and raindrops of happiness as you step into another brand New Year. May the New Year give you the strength to face the new challenges of life and courage to adjust your sail so as to take every situation to your stride. I wish you all the best and happiness. (Sukehiro Hasegawa)
Chinese, Korean and other visitors from abroad visited the historical sites in Kyoto before and after the Asian Seminar.
The 14th East Asian Seminar on the UN System was opened by Professor Keiko Oizumi of the Japan Association for UN Studies (JAUNS), Ambassador Chen Jian, President of the China Academic Net for UN Studies (CANUNS) and former Foreign Minister Han Sung Joo, Chairman of the Korea Academic Council on the UN System (KACUNS) on 13 December 2014 at Doshisha University in Kyoto.