Key Priorities to Watch in 2026

Robert Ward hosts Kristi Govella, senior advisor and Japan chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and Eva Pejsova, Japan chair at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy of the Brussels School of Governance. They review Japan’s security and diplomacy in 2025. 

Together, they explore: 

• The US tariffs on Japan and trade negotiations between the two countries 
• Ishiba Shigeru’s legacy as prime minister 
• Takaichi Sanae’s selection as prime minister, her cabinet appointments and the collapse of the LDP-Komeito coalition 
• Changing security relations with the US and other countries 
• The policy agenda for the Takaichi administration

Recommended materials from our guests: 

• Kenneth M. McElwain (ed.), Robert J. Pekkanen (ed.), Daniel M. Smith (ed.), Japan Decides 2024 (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan), 365pp. 
• Michael J. Green, Line of Advantage: Japan’s Grand Strategy in the Era of Abe Shinzō (New York: Columbia University Press), 328pp. 
• Andrew L. Oros, Japan’s Security Renaissance: New Policies and Politics for the Twenty-First Century (New York: Columbia University Press), 320pp. 

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your preferred podcast platform. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org. 

Date recorded: 28th November 2025

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.

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