In 2014, Japan celebrated its 60th anniversary as a donor of official development assistance (ODA). After World War II, Japan launched its reconstruction efforts as a recipient of foreign aid, but by 1954 it had joined the Colombo Plan and has been a donor ever since. Japan today is the fourth largest donor in the world. How has Japan positioned its development assistance in its foreign policy? How has its policy evolved over the past 60years? What are the salient features of Japan’s ODA that distinguishes it from that of other donors? What role does the concept of human security play in its ODA policy?

Seventy years will have passed since the end of World War II in August 2015. How has Japan adapted its development assistance policy over the years to changing global assistance trends, such as the need to support more fragile states, the emergence of new actors in development assistance beyond governments, and the appearance ofdonors who are not members of OECD/DAC? The lecture will respond to these and other questions, such as whether Japan is ready to pursue a nexus of development and security in its development cooperation, as mentioned in its National Security Strategy, and whether Japan sees China as a “competitor” in providing development assistance to Africa.

Dr. Akiko Fukushima is a Designated Professor of the School of Global Studies and Collaboration at Aoyama Gakuin University, and a member of a Prime Minister’s Panel on National Security and Defense. She has previously been Adjunct Professor of the Law School at Keio University, Director of Policy Studies at the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) and Visiting Professor to the University of British Columbium Canada. Her publications include Japanese Foreign Policy: The Emerging Logic of Multilateralism (1999) by MacMillan and A Lexicon of Asia Pacific Security Dialogue (2003) by Keizai Hyoronsha.

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