Japan-US Economic Security with Katada Saori and Yamada Satoshi

Robert Ward hosts Katada Saori, Professor of International Relations and the Director of the Center of International Studies at the University of Southern California, and Yamada Satoshi Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Geoeconomics (IOG), for an in-depth discussion on the current state and future direction of Japan-US economic security.

Together, they explore:  

• The historical and institutional development of Japan’s economic statecraft
• The recent evolution of economic security in Japan
• Japan-US cooperation in advanced technologies and business for economic security
• The future development of Japan’s engagement in economic security with the Global South – with or without the US.

Recommended readings from our guests:  

• Institute of Geoeconomics, Survey results of 100 Japanese companies on economic security 2023. (Tokyo: Institute of Geoeconomics, 2024) 58pp.
• Institute of Geoeconomics (Ed.) introduction to geoeconomics (in Japanese) 『はじめての地経学：経済が武器化した時代の見方』]  (Tokyo: Asahi Shinsho, 2026) 288pp.
• Shiono, Msato, Kousuke Saito and Kota Umeda, The geoeconomics of generative AI development race: How emerging technologies can become national power (Tokyo: Institute of Geoeconomics, 2026).
• Pempel, T. John. Regime shift: Comparative dynamics of the Japanese political economy. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), 288pp.
• Solís, Mireya, Dilemmas of a trading nation: Japan and the United States in the evolving Asia-Pacific order. (Washington DC, Brookings Institution Press, 2017), 180pp.
• Katada, Saori and Koga, Kei, Japan's grand strategy: Liminal power in an uncertain world. (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2026), 304pp.

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: 1 April 2026

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

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