World in Crisis: Charting A Way Out

On November 10, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings hosted Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki of Japan for an address on the acute financial and environmental crises facing the world. Ambassador Fujisaki offered insights and approaches to these issues and outline where Japan and the world should be headed.

Ichiro Fujisaki became Japan’s ambassador to the United States in June 2008. He entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1969 and has held various other positions in the Ministry, as well as the Budget Bureau of the Ministry of Finance. Ambassador Fujisaki served as Japan’s permanent representative to the U.N. for international organizations in Geneva from 2005 to 2008. In 2002, he was “sherpa” for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the G-8 Summit meetings. In 1999, he became the director-general for the North American Affairs Bureau and was later promoted to deputy minister for Foreign Affairs. In 1994, he was deputy director-general in the Asian Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then served as minister in the Japanese Embassy in Washington.

Brookings President Strobe Talbott opened the program. Senior Fellow Richard Bush, director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, provided introductory remarks and moderated the discussion. After his presentation, Ambassador Fujisaki took audience questions.