In the second episode of Japan Memo season 4, Robert Ward hosts Higashino Atsuko, a Professor at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, James Brown, a Professor of political science at Temple University, Japan campus, and Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, the IISS Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia. Robert, Atsuko, James and Nigel discuss Japan and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Topics discussed include: 

• Japan’s response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine over the past two years; 
• Japan's possible military aid to Ukraine amid growing aid fatigue among Western allies; 
• Japan’s unflagging support for post-war rebuilding to Ukraine in the wake of the bilateral reconstruction conference in February 2024; 
• Japan’s defence and energy policy amid rising security and geopolitical tensions with Russia 

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

• Kanji Akagi, Kokusaianzenhoshou ga wakeru gaidobuku, (Japan Association for International Security, 2024), 288 pp. 
• Mazower Mark, Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century, (Penguin Group, 1999), 512 pp. 
• Muminov Sherzod, Eleven Winters of Discontent: The Siberian Internment and the Making of a New Japan, (Harvard University Press, 2022), 384 pp. 
• Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon, (KADOKAWA, 1950)  

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

Date of Recording: 1 March 2024 

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

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