Understanding Japan’s Economic Security Policy
Co-hosted by the Australia-Japan Research Centre, ANU and the Embassy of Japan in Australia.
The link to join the webinar will be shared upon registration.
In recent years, Japan has significantly expanded its economic security policy framework in response to rapid geopolitical shifts, supply chain vulnerabilities, and growing concerns over the protection of critical technologies and infrastructure. This webinar will provide an overview of Japan’s broader institutional architecture, focusing not only on the Economic Security Promotion Act (ESPA) but also on key supporting laws such as the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, and the recently enacted Security Clearance Law.
The session will examine how these laws are being applied to manage technology transfer, foreign investment, and supply chain resilience, and how the Takaichi administration is shaping the direction of policy in this field. It will also present findings from a recent public opinion survey, offering insights into the level of public support for Japan’s economic security policies.
The webinar will conclude by considering how Japan seeks to balance the promotion of a rules-based international economic order with the pursuit of national economic security objectives.
Arata Kuno is Professor of International Economics at the Faculty of International Relations, Asia University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Keio University, where he also completed his undergraduate and graduate studies. Before joining academia, he worked as a Senior Economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting and was seconded to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), where he was engaged in trade policy research and the drafting of official white papers.
He currently serves concurrently as Research Director at the Dentsu Soken Center for Economic Security Research (DCER) and as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for International Trade and Investment (ITI). He is also a member of METI’s policy advisory committee on international economic order.
His research focuses on Japan’s trade and economic security policies. Recent publications include “How Much Economic Security Can We Afford? Evidence from a Nationwide Conjoint Survey in Japan” (with Banri Ito, Aoyama Gakuin University Working Paper, 2025), “The Origins of Japan’s Comprehensive Security Idea” (with Tomohiko Satake, forthcoming from ERIA), and “The Limits of Economic Sanctions: A Reassessment from an Economic Perspective” (in The Envelope of International Trade Theory [in Japanese], Keio University Press, 2025).
Co-hosted by the Australia-Japan Research Centre, ANU and the Embassy of Japan in Australia.
The link to join the webinar will be shared upon registration.
In recent years, Japan has significantly expanded its economic security policy framework in response to rapid geopolitical shifts, supply chain vulnerabilities, and growing concerns over the protection of critical technologies and infrastructure. This webinar will provide an overview of Japan’s broader institutional architecture, focusing not only on the Economic Security Promotion Act (ESPA) but also on key supporting laws such as the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, and the recently enacted Security Clearance Law.
The session will examine how these laws are being applied to manage technology transfer, foreign investment, and supply chain resilience, and how the Takaichi administration is shaping the direction of policy in this field. It will also present findings from a recent public opinion survey, offering insights into the level of public support for Japan’s economic security policies.
The webinar will conclude by considering how Japan seeks to balance the promotion of a rules-based international economic order with the pursuit of national economic security objectives.
Arata Kuno is Professor of International Economics at the Faculty of International Relations, Asia University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Keio University, where he also completed his undergraduate and graduate studies. Before joining academia, he worked as a Senior Economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting and was seconded to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), where he was engaged in trade policy research and the drafting of official white papers.
He currently serves concurrently as Research Director at the Dentsu Soken Center for Economic Security Research (DCER) and as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for International Trade and Investment (ITI). He is also a member of METI’s policy advisory committee on international economic order.
His research focuses on Japan’s trade and economic security policies. Recent publications include “How Much Economic Security Can We Afford? Evidence from a Nationwide Conjoint Survey in Japan” (with Banri Ito, Aoyama Gakuin University Working Paper, 2025), “The Origins of Japan’s Comprehensive Security Idea” (with Tomohiko Satake, forthcoming from ERIA), and “The Limits of Economic Sanctions: A Reassessment from an Economic Perspective” (in The Envelope of International Trade Theory [in Japanese], Keio University Press, 2025).
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Highlights
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Online