Chairman's Message
Press Releases
Leadership Change at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA
Today, Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (Sasakawa USA) announced that Admiral Dennis Blair will retire as Chairman of the Board, effective October 1, and Chief Executive Officer Ambassador James Zumwalt will step down, effective August 31. As their replacement, the Sasakawa USA Board of Directors has appointed Sasakawa USA President Dr. Satohiro Akimoto to succeed Admiral
Sasakawa USA Releases Book on Japan’s NDP Guidelines: Aligning U.S. and Japanese Defense Strategies for the Third Post-Cold War Era
Sasakawa USA released The New National Defense Program Guidelines: Aligning U.S. and Japanese Defense Strategies for the Third Post-Cold War Era, a policy analysis by U.S. and Japanese scholars and former defense officials that examines implications of Japan’s recently released National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG). Japan’s revision of the NDPG in December 2018 represents significant
In the News

Kyodo News article by Sasakawa USA Fellow suggests the impact of U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty
Dr. Sayuri Romei, Fellow for Security and Foreign Affairs at Sasakawa USA, discussed the possible implications the U.S. withdrawal from the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty in a February 3 Kyodo News article.

How will Japan defend itself, if it can’t get its youth to serve?
Tara Copp, Pentagon Bureau Chief for Military Times, was one of eight rising U.S. journalists covering U.S. national security and defense issues who participated in a week-long study trip to Japan in December 2018 as part of the Sasakawa USA Emerging Experts Delegation (SEED) program. Copp published “How will Japan defend itself, if it can’t get its youth to serve?” in the Military Times on January 30, 2019.
From Nippon.com

Steps Toward Restoring the Medium- to Long-Term Sustainability of Social Security
Japan’s public finances are facing an unprecedented situation in both historical and international terms. The debt to GDP ratio of general government (central and local) has exceeded 200%, an all-time high surpassing the level recorded in fiscal 1944 toward the end of World War II.

Fiscal 2018 Tax Reforms Aim at Overcoming Deflation
The Liberal Democratic Party and Kōmeitō announced a tax reform package for fiscal 2018 that will affect the income tax, the corporate tax, and the tax on business succession (inheritance tax) as well as establish such new taxes as a departure tax for travelers leaving Japan.