Speaker

Akio Takahara is Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and Emeritus Professor of The University of Tokyo. His expertise is in contemporary China’s politics and diplomacy. He received his DPhil in 1988 from Sussex University. Before joining The University of Tokyo, he taught at J. F. Oberlin University and Rikkyo University. He served as President of the Japan Association for Asian Studies, Secretary General of the New Japan-China Friendship 21st Century Committee, Dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy at The University of Tokyo, and Director of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development. Akio currently serves as Senior Adjunct Fellow and Councillor of the Japan Institute of International Affairs.