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[Seminar Report] KGRI Virtual Seminar Series "Japan and the World in the Era of COVID-19: Considering whether the new paradigm is a crisis or an opportunity"

2020.08.31

KGRI Virtual Seminar Series report "Japan and the World in the Era of COVID-19: Considering whether the new paradigm is a crisis or an opportunity"

The KGRI Virtual Seminar Series "Japan and the World in the Era of COVID-19: Considering whether the new paradigm is a crisis or an opportunity," was held online over four sessions from June to July 2020. Around 1,000 people took part (with 80 of these from overseas), including graduate students and researchers, as well as high school students and working adults, demonstrating the high level of interest in the theme of the seminar series.

At the first session (June 17), which was themed on "Healthcare and Science & Technology," which are intrinsic to the COVID-19 situation, Takeshi Kasai, Regional Director of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office first spoke about lessons from and future prospects for COVID-19 countermeasures in the Asian region. Subsequently, KGRI Vice Director and Professor, School of Medicine, Jin Nakahara, gave an overview of the possible factors which may have allowed Japan to avoid a collapse in its healthcare in the current situation. To conclude the session, Professor Kenjiro Takemura of the Faculty of Science and Technology introduced the development of the "Med-tech ecosystem" at that faculty, to investigate ongoing ways to meet the challenges of COVID-19, based on lessons from emergency response to the crisis.

The second session of the series (July 1), focused on the economy, which will be obliged to strike a balance with healthcare considerations, as well as new working styles to keep the economy on track. Keiichiro Kobayashi, Research Director, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research and Guest Professor, Faculty of Economics gave a lecture titled "The policy measures Japan needs against COVID-19," which was followed by lectures by Yoko Ibuka, Professor, Faculty of Economics, on "NPI (Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention) and individual decision-making," and Sachiko Kazekami, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Commerce, on "Working styles in the era of the New Normal."

The theme of the third session (July 15) was Society and Law, as well as the realities of the Japanese milieu. Toshihiro Nakayama, KGRI Vice Director and Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Tasuhiko Yamamoto, KGRI Vice Director and Professor, Keio University Law School, and Mitsuo Wakameda, Executive Senior Consultant, Japan Research Institute, Limited, gave lectures respectively titled "The geopolitical shift in the Corona Era," "Right of Information Self-determination in the post-COVID-19 era," and "Data strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic."

At the final session (July 29), Keizo Takemi, Member, House of Councillors, National Diet of Japan, first gave a special lecture on the governance challenges and ongoing initiatives for governmental disease response. Next, Ryoji Noritake, CEO and Board Member, Health and Global Policy Institute, moderated at an interactive discussion to wind up the seminar series, involving viewer participation, joined by Takeshi Kasai, Regional Director of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, Hideyuki Okano, Dean, Graduate School of Medicine, and Sachiko Kazekami, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Commerce. This session was held in Japanese followed by English, with questions fielded from overseas viewers.

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Opening remarks by seminar organizer and KGRI Director Masato Yasui



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Panelists who participated in the interactive discussion at the 4th session

Event information

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