Show Notes
Japan’s politics underwent a historic realignment last year when the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai) joined the Liberal Democratic Party in a governing coalition. As Japan confronts an increasingly difficult regional security environment, Ishin is now positioned to play an important role in shaping the country’s defense policy and the future direction of the United States–Japan alliance.
Following the publication of Ishin’s new security policy paper, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Riley Walters hosts Hitoshi Aoyagi, member of Japan’s House of Representatives and chair of Ishin’s Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Alex Saito, member of the House of Representatives and chair of Ishin’s Policy Research Council, for a discussion about Japan’s evolving national security and defense outlook.
The conversation examines Ishin’s defense priorities, the party’s influence within the governing coalition, and the forthcoming revision of Japan’s national security documents.
More from Hudson Institute Events Podcast
As Ukrainians prepare for another challenging winter, discussions across the West have reached a new intensity over how Ukraine can adequately secure the front line, defend its civilian population, and ensure a just and lasting peace at the negotiating table. Please join Hudson Institute for a special address on the current state-of-play by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will join remotely, followed by a question-and-answer session on the war with Hudson Institute President and CEO John Walters.
Though Washington and Seoul are interested in engaging with North Korea diplomatically, Pyongyang continues to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities and insists that its status as a nuclear-armed state is irreversible. President Donald Trump has expressed interest in renewing diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, raising the possibility of another Trump–Kim meeting. Managing North Korea, though, remains only one of several major challenges confronting the United States–Republic of Korea alliance. Washington and Seoul also need to grapple with the future of extended deterrence, South Korea’s new nuclear-powered attack submarine project, wartime operational control, and the broader challenge of maintaining military readiness while creating space for diplomacy. To discuss these and other issues, Hudson Institute Asia-Pacific Security Chair Patrick M. Cronin will lead an expert panel featuring Lieutenant General (Ret.) In-bum Chun, senior fellow at the Association of the United States Army and former commander of the Republic of Korea Special Warfare Command; Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior adviser at the Asia Group and former special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania at the White House National Security Council; and Ankit Panda, senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon.
Physical artificial intelligence is at the forefront of AI development and could revolutionize industry and security. Secure supply chains and technological leadership in physical AI are a strategic imperative for many countries. The United States, Japan, and Taiwan are uniquely equipped with complementary skills to achieve technological superiority in this field. Join Hudson Institute for remarks and a panel discussion on how these allies can collaborate to seize physical AI’s opportunities. Senior Fellow William Chou will host Jeremy Chang, chief executive officer of Taiwan’s Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology, and Ken Fukuda, director of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, for a conversation on each country’s approach to physical AI.
Join Hudson Institute for a discussion with Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Senior Fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth. The event will explore how the FTC’s antitrust and consumer protection authorities can police anticompetitive and deceptive conduct in healthcare. Chairman Ferguson will focus on the agency’s recent efforts to promote price transparency in hospitals and pharmaceuticals, a key priority of the Trump administration. By ensuring price transparency, the FTC empowers consumer choice and promotes competitive markets as a counter to rising healthcare costs
On August 13, 2026, President Donald Trump signed a national security presidential memorandum that directs the Department of War to pursue a set of critical initiatives to restore United States Navy shipbuilding capacity and competition within the maritime industrial base. The memorandum allows foreign shipbuilders to build ships for the US Navy, provided they also invest in new American shipyards. It directs the establishment of a fifth naval shipyard, the first to be built in over 80 years, to bolster the Navy’s submarine and aircraft carrier repair capacity. The memorandum also includes improvements that make Gerald R. Ford–class aircraft carriers cheaper and faster to build. Please join Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, for a conversation with Dr. Rebeccah Heinrichs to discuss the Trump administration’s decisive efforts to build the Navy needed for today’s intensifying threat environment.