BBL Seminars

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RIETI's periodic Brown Bag Lunch (BBL) seminars welcome an array of guest experts to share their research and views. The sessions encourage lively discussion that contributes to dynamic policy-related debate.
Presently, BBL Seminars are not open to the public as spaces are limited. Select transcripts are available below.

Past BBL Seminars Reports and Summaries

  • June 9, 2025

    Japan's Strategy: How to Respond to Tariff Policies under the Trump Administration

    • Speaker: TODO Yasuyuki (Faculty Fellow and Program Director, RIETI / Professor, Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University)
    • Commentator: HASEBE Shodai (Industrial Structure Policy Division, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
    • Moderator: TOMIURA Eiichi (President and Chief Research Officer (CRO), Chief EBPM Officer, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • June 6, 2025

    The Great Trade Hack: How Trump's trade war fails and global trade moves on

    • Speaker: Richard BALDWIN (Non-Resident Fellow, RIETI / Professor of International Economics, IMD Lausanne)
    • Commentator: OKUBO Toshihiro (Fuculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, Keio University)
    • Moderator: TOMIURA Eiichi (President and Chief Research Officer (CRO) / Dean, Faculty of Data Science, Otsuma Women's University)

  • June 5, 2025

    Eurasian Maritime Geopolitics: The United States and China in an Age of Indo-Pacific Transformation

    • Speaker: Kent E. CALDER (Director, Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University)
    • Commentator: NISHIKAWA Kazumi (Senior Director, Policy Planning and Coordination Division, Trade and Economic Security Bureau, METI)
    • Moderator: INOSE Yu (Deputy Director, Support Team for Residents Affected by Nuclear Incidents, Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters, Cabinet Office)

  • May 26, 2025

    How is Japan’s Economic Policy Created? Drawing from Abenomics and the New Capitalism

    • Speaker: NIIHARA Hiroaki (Executive Fellow, Harvard Business School, U.S.A. / Former Vice-Minister, Headquarters for Realizing New Capitalism, Cabinet Secretariat)
    • Interviewer: IKEDA Yoko (Consulting Fellow, RIETI / Director, Competition Enhancement Office, Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, METI)
    • Moderator: TOMIURA Eiichi (President and Chief Research Officer (CRO), Chief EBPM Officer, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • May 23, 2025

    World Economic Outlook “A Critical Juncture amid Policy Shifts”

    • Speaker: YOSHIDA Akihiko (Director, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, International Monetary Fund (IMF))
    • Commentator: NAKAJIMA Atsushi (Consulting Fellow, RIETI)
    • Moderator: SABURI Masataka (Senior Fellow, RIETI / Special Advisor to the Minister, METI)

    Japanese

  • May 22, 2025

    Reexamining Official Statistics Utilization: An insider perspective

    • Speaker: SAKAMOTO Katsuhiko (Director-General for Human Resources Policy, Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs / Former Director-General for Policy Planning (Statistical Policy), Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
    • Commentator: KAWAGUCHI Daiji (RIETI Program Director and Faculty Fellow / Dean and Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy and Professor, Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo)
    • Moderator: IKEYAMA Shigetoshi (Vice Chairman, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • May 15, 2025

    Economic Security in a World of Disruptive Power

    • Speaker: Beatrice WEDER DI MAURO (President, CEPR & Professor, Geneva Graduate Institute)
    • Commentator: YAMAGUCHI Jin (Senior Director, Trade Policy Bureau, METI)
    • Moderator: TOMIURA Eiichi (President and Chief Research Officer (CRO) / Dean, Faculty of Data Science, Otsuma Women's University)
    • Presentation (Prof. Weder di Mauro) [PDF:1.7KB]

  • May 14, 2025

    2025 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan / 2025 White Paper on Small Enterprises in Japan

    • Speaker: OKADA Yo (Consulting Fellow, RIETI / Director, Research Office, Business Environment Department, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency)
    • Commentator: MIYAKAWA Daisuke (Professor, Faculty of Commerce, School of Commerce, WASEDA University)
    • Moderator: SEKIGUCHI Yoichi (Director of Research and Senior Fellow, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • May 8, 2025

    Unlock the Genius that will Move the World: Japan as the global startup hub

    • Speaker: Phil WICKHAM (Executive Managing Director, Sozo Ventures / Chairman, 11KS)
    • Speaker: SAKOTA Shohei (PIVOT Project Innovation Team Mentor, METI)
    • Commentator: SHIMIZU Hiroshi (Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, Faculty of Commerce, Waseda University)
    • Moderator: ISHII Yoshiaki (Consulting Fellow, RIETI / Director General, Entrepreneur and Startup Support Department, SME Support, JAPAN)

    Japanese

  • April 25, 2025

    DX Series

    AI Development for the Benefit of Mankind – The Challenge for Microsoft Research Asia Tokyo

    • Speaker: MATSUSHITA Yasuyuki (Senior Director, Microsoft Research Asia - Tokyo)
    • Commentator: UCHIDA Ryoji (Director, IT Innovation Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, METI)
    • Moderator: KIDO Fuyuko (Consulting Fellow, RIETI)

    Japanese