Shimoda Conference


Shimoda Conference was a series of unofficial dialogues between representatives of the United States and Japan that first began in 1967 and continued every 2–4 years until 1994. In 2011, representatives from the United States and Japan gathered to hold the New Shimoda Conference in order to revive these dialogues.

History

The first conference took place in 1967 and was the first forum for serious, but unofficial discussion between the two nations since World War II. Hosted by the Japan Council for International Understanding and the American Assembly of Columbia University the conference was attended by several Congressional members, including then Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Senator Edmund Muskie, Representative Tom Foley, and Representative Donald Rumsfeld, as well as Japanese diet members Yasuhiro Nakasone and Eiichi Nagasue.

New Shimoda Conference

On February 22, 2011 about 50 representatives from the United States and Japan gathered at the Tokyo hotel for the New Shimoda Conference in order to revive the historic forum between the two nations. The conference commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Japan Center for International Exchange, the independent organization that hosts the event.
;Attendees
In addition to analysis and coverage of the forum, most of the discussions at the Shimoda Conferences are available in bilingual copies.