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.
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

  • March 11, 2026

    RIETI-NEDO Joint BBL Seminar Series: Emerging Industry Frontiers and Pioneering Innovation

    Digital KANSEI as a New Foundation for Value Creation - Case studies in digital haptics & experience R&D -

    • Speaker: KURITA Yuichi (Professor, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University)
    • Speaker: TANABE Takefumi (Director General, Technology and Innovation Strategy Center (TSC), New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO))
    • Moderator: YOKOI Kazuhito (Director General of Digital Unit, Technology and Innovation Strategy Center (TSC), New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO))

    Japanese

  • March 6, 2026

    Demographic Change and Korea’s Growth Prospects: The Role of AI and Human Capital

  • February 27, 2026

    Follow FDI: Production Networks and the Geography of Globalization

  • February 26, 2026

    Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Series

    How XR-Based Digital Expression and the SBNR Economy Are Transforming Tourism and Regional Revitalization: Toward an era of digital experiences, meaningful connection, and shared understanding

    • Speaker: KOSHIBA Keiichi (CEO, G1 company Inc. / Visiting Fellow, Center for Tourism Research, Wakayama University)
    • Speaker: MAKI Takahiro (Co-CEO, SIGNING Ltd.)
    • Commentator & Moderator: SAKAI Yoshimasa (Director of PR Strategy, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • February 25, 2026

    Economic Analysis of Carbon Pricing in Japan: The GX-ETS scheme with an economic perspective

    • Speaker: ARIMURA Toshihide (Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, School of Political Science and Economics and Director, Research Institute for Environmental Economics and Management, Waseda University)
    • Commentator: WAKABAYASHI Nobuyoshi (Director, Environmental Economy Office, GX Policy Group, METI)
    • Moderator: SEKIGUCHI Yoichi (Director of Research and Senior Fellow, RIETI)

    Japanese

  • 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