June 2012

Japan Center for International Exchange

Remembering Tadashi Yamamoto:Intellectual Dialogue for a New Era
Hitoshi Tanaka, Senior Fellow, JCIEOn April 15 2012, Tadashi Yamamoto, the founderand president of the Japan Center for International
Exchange (JCIE), passed away. To me personally, hewas a close friend of many decades and a cherishedmentor. With a shared sense of purpose to confront
the challenges facing Japan, East Asia, the Pacific, andbeyond, we collaborated on countless projects and international meetings.

Yamamoto’s Legacy
Yamamoto will be missed not just by those who knewhim personally but also by Japan and the broader international community for his lifelong work strengthening international cooperation through intellectual
dialogue in East Asia and around the world.
He established JCIE in 1970, a time when creating
a wholly independent international affairs institutein Japan was considered revolutionary. He worked
with a great sense of mission and the convictionthat independent organizations are best positioned
to facilitate international intellectual exchange andstrengthen mutual understanding between countries.
Government-to-government relations can easily beaffected by frequent personnel changes. But an international network of experts constructed over the longterm and committed to exchange and intellectual dialogue is able to forge a deeper engagement and mutual
understanding, approach challenges from a long-term
perspective without the political constraints of government, and hold resolute against anti-foreign andprotectionist trends.
Yamamoto also recognized that Japan, which grew
to become the world’s second largest economy, occupied a position of responsibility. His work ensured
that Japan lived up to these responsibilities and played
a role in international affairs in a world that had been
largely centered around the United States and Europe.
He played a central role in strengthening US-Japanbilateral relations and in tackling global problems, especially through the Trilateral Commission; international parliamentary exchange programs; wisemen’sgroups in East Asia, Europe, and North America;

New financial resources will be needed to enable
JCIE and other nongovernmental organizations tomaintain Yamamoto’s legacy of international exchange and intellectual dialogue. For the fundraising
activities to be successful, they need to represent thespirit of international cooperation and innovativeness that characterized Yamamoto and be oriented
toward contemporary regional and global challenges.
In doing so, the participation of new companies andyoung leaders should be aggressively courted. This isalso an ideal time to increase dialogue with emerging
nations to serve the dual purpose of bringing in new
resources while also invigorating the dialogue processwith fresh ideas.

and his work with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The Need for More Intellectual Dialogue
Looking toward the future, and at the way in which
the global balance of power is already shifting, it isevident that international exchange and intellectual
dialogue are more necessary than ever. Challenges
such as optimizing the role of the United States in
Asia’s economic and security milieu, managing therise of emerging nations such as China and India whoseek a place at the global governance table, countering the proliferation of nuclear weapons, mitigatingclimate change, and establishing new financial architecture and strengthening the global trading system ina post–Lehman shock world all require international
exchange and intellectual dialogue. The world mustbe better prepared to tackle the regional and global
challenges we face in the most cooperative and effective manner possible, and this requires a strong civilsociety to complement the efforts of governments
around the world.

Japan as the connector
As the emerging nations walk the path to becoming
great powers, Japan has an important role to play. Itoccupies a unique position as an Asia Pacific nationthat can bridge East Asia and the West, bringing together developed and emerging nations alike. On theone hand, Japan has deep historical, cultural, andphilosophical connections with the rest of Asia. Andon the other hand, Japan is the only Asian nation thathas become an advanced industrial democracy withan economic and social structure similar to that in theWest. Moreover, Japan’s post-war reconstruction andrapid economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s provide
important lessons for the emerging economies. Japan
must utilize this unique position and act as a great connector, facilitating international exchange and intellectual dialogue.
In particular, Japan should continue to strengthen
its ties with other advanced democracies by reinvigorating the cross-sectoral dialogue and exchange
efforts that seem to have lost steam in recent years.
At the same time, new parliamentary exchange programs and bilateral wisemen’s groups with emerging
nations should be established. This format of international exchange and intellectual dialogue at the civilsociety level, which Yamamoto promoted tirelessly
throughout his career, has proven effective and must
be expanded beyond the economically developed

The Need for New Financial Resources
But as regional and global challenges are intensifying,funding for international exchange and intellectual
dialogue continues to decrease amid the global economic uncertainty. Governments around the world are
cutting budgets and implementing austerity measures
as they deal with the fallout of the global financial crisisand the eurozone crisis. In the private sector, too, donations are not as forthcoming as before, particularly
in Japan. CEOs of large corporations are increasingly
forced to present immediate results to board members and stockholders and are given little leeway forphilanthropy or long-term investment in the friendly
international relations that play a critical role in creating the environment that businesses need to be able toprosper in today’s globalized world. In this climate, international exchange and intellectual dialogue is falsely
accused of not being cost effective. Long-term initiatives to conduct intellectual dialogue among nations
and their far-reaching impacts are neglected.

EAST ASIA INSIGHTS

2June 2012

democracies. Emerging countries are equally connected to the regional and global challenges we face,and engaging them will help to improve their governance and institutional capacities and to involve themconstructively in the international community.

to an important step in funding new programs anddialogues that connect both East and West—and developed and emerging nations—as we confront everintensifying regional and global challenges in an increasingly interconnected world.

◆ ◆ ◆Hitoshi Tanaka is a senior fellow at JCIE and chairmanof the Institute for International Strategy at the Japan
Research Institute. He ­previously served as Japan’s deputy minister for ­foreign affairs.

While Yamamoto’s death is a great loss, the legacy that
he worked so tirelessly to bequeath to the world must
be continued and strengthened. His legacy must lead

East Asia Insights
East Asia Insights is an occasional newsletter focusing on East Asia community building
from the Japanese perspective.
Please direct any comments or questions to eainsights@jcie.or.jp.
Japan Center for International Exchange
www.jcie.or.jp

EAST ASIA INSIGHTS

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3© 2012 Japan Center for International Exchange

June 2012