BBL Seminars

Print

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.
Select transcripts and handouts are available below.
Videos of the seminars are published on RIETI’s official YouTube channel, “rietichannel,” after each event.

Past BBL Seminars Reports and Summaries

  • February 19, 2026

    Economic Growth Strategy and Productivity: Key issues

    • Speaker: MORIKAWA Masayuki (Distinguished Senior Fellow (specially appointed), RIETI / President, Economic Research Institute, Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry)
    • Commentator: INOUE Seiichiro (Vice Chairman, RIETI)
    • Moderator: SAKAI Yoshimasa (Director of PR Strategy, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • February 18, 2026

    Rising Geopolitical Risks and Foreign Direct Investment

    • Speaker: MATSUURA Toshiyuki (Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, Keio Economic Observatory)
    • Commentator: YODA Keiji (Director, Policy Planning and Research Office, Trade Policy Bureau, METI)
    • Moderator: SAKAI Yoshimasa (Director of PR Strategy, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • February 12, 2026

    Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Series

    Looking Back on Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai – What did an expo with 29.02 million visitors leave behind? Challenges in leveraging the expo mascot and related assets

    • Speaker: NISHIMOTO Keiichi (Assistant to the Secretary General, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition)
    • Speaker: NISHIMURA Norihiro (Executive Representative, Master License Office for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai)
    • Commentator: OKUDA Shuji (Director, International Exhibitions Promotion Office, Commerce and Service Industry Policy Group, METI)
    • Moderator: SAKAI Yoshimasa (Director of PR Strategy, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • February 6, 2026

    Regional Strategies for the Era of the Circular Economy: The future of communities supported by organic waste and biogas plants

    • Speaker: KIKUCHI Sadao (Ph.D. in Veterinary Hygiene / President & CEO, Biomass Research Co., Ltd. / Vice President, Biostock Co., Ltd. / Director, Okhotsk Yubetsu Biogas Co., Ltd.)
    • Commentator: KITANO Yoshio (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Ph.D.) / Former Deputy Director-General, Agriculture Department, Kagoshima Prefectural Government / Former Chief Veterinary Officer / Adjunct Lecturer, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University.Advisor to Multiple Companies)
    • Moderator: SAKAI Yoshimasa (Director of PR Strategy, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • February 5, 2026

    Frontiers of Urban Economics through the Urban Landscape

    • Speaker: NAKAJIMA Kentaro (Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University)
    • Commentator: YAMAGISHI Keisuke (Consulting Fellow, RIETI / Director for Planning, National Spatial Planning and Regional Policy Bureau, MLIT)
    • Moderator: SEKIGUCHI Yoichi (Director of Research and Senior Fellow, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • January 29, 2026

    The Economics of Organ Transplantation: The concept of sharing organs

    • Speaker: SAITO Yukiko (Senior Fellow (Specially Appointed)/Professor, Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University)
    • Speaker: ITO Yukiko (Professor, Graduate School of Business and Commerce, Keio University)
    • Moderator: SAKAI Yoshimasa (Director of PR Strategy, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • January 28, 2026

    Italy in Turbulent Times. Connecting Atlantic, Mediterranean and Europe: Politics, economy and foreign policy

  • January 23, 2026

    APEC Energy Demand and Supply Outlook 9th Edition

    • Speaker: TAKADA Mitsuhito (Vice President, Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC))
    • Speaker: KASAI Hyuga (Researcher, Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC))
    • Moderator: NATSUMI Yuna (Deputy Director, International Affairs Division, ANRE)

    Japanese

  • January 15, 2026

    The Effects of Japan’s Investment Promotion Policies During the High-Growth Period and Their Implications for Current Industrial Policy

    • Speaker: HATASE Mariko (Professor, Research Division of Economic Institutions and Policy, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University)
    • Speaker: MATSUBAYASHI Yoichi (Professor, Graduate School of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Kobe University)
    • Commentator: INOUE Seiichiro (Vice Chairman, RIETI)
    • Moderator: SEKIGUCHI Yoichi (Director of Research and Senior Fellow, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • January 7, 2026

    The Reality of the Job Market Ice Age Generation and Future Necessary Measures

    • Speaker: KONDO Ayako (Professor, Institute of Social Science, the University of Tokyo)
    • Commentator: TAKAGI Yuichi (Director, Future Human Resource Strategy Office, Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, METI (concurrent) Director, Economic and Social Policy Office, METI)
    • Moderator: SEKIGUCHI Yoichi (Director of Research and Senior Fellow, RIETI)

    Japanese