NEWS & EVENTS

Overcoming COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities for Japan

On Wednesday, April 14th, the Reischauer Center hosted a webinar titled, “Overcoming COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities for Japan.”

The Japanese Minister for Economic Revitalization Yasutoshi Nishimura delivered a keynote address on Japan’s policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Nishimura introduced three new deal proposals on digitalization, a green growth strategy, and human capital investment. He also highlighted the importance of the US-Japan alliance in providing a globally coordinated response to the pandemic. Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, provided an overview of three major challenges to the world’s COVID-19 response: limited use of public health capacity, poor communication of COVID-19 risk to citizens, and nationalism over global approaches. Dr. Nuzzo also commended Japan for its use of targeted health interventions such as cluster tracing and its commitment to multilateral solutions for the pandemic. Dr. Kent Calder, Director of the Reischauer Center, moderated the event and led the Q&A session following the speakers’ remarks.