Thursday 18 January – Wednesday 20 April 2011
Systems of Government in the UK and Japan
Daiwa Foundation Japan House
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in association with the Japan Society
As the opening event in a year-long series, this seminar will set the scene and define the structures and systems of government in the UK and Japan. The themes to be covered by the series as a whole include the role of Prime Ministers and of the monarchy, electoral systems and party politics, government- media relations, watchdogs and constraints on government and the relationship between government and society at local level and through citizens’ groups. Internal debates in Japan and the UK about the nature of government will be reflected in the presentations and the discussion session that follows.
About the contributors
Professor The Lord Norton of Louth
Professor The Lord Norton of Louth is Professor of Government and Director of the Centre for Legislative Studies at the University of Hull. He is an internationally recognised expert on the British Parliament and on comparative legislatures. He has chaired a number of high profile bodies, including the Conservative Party’s Commission to Strengthen Parliament (which reported in 2000) and the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution (2001-04). He is author or editor of 26 books, including Parliament in British Politics (2005) and The British Polity (4th edition, 2001).
Dr James Babb
Dr James Babb is Lecturer in Japanese Politics at the University of Newcastle. Dr Babb received his MA and PhD from Stanford University. He was recently a Visiting Professor at the Ohara Institute for Social Research at Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan. His major publications include Tanaka: The Making of Postwar Japan and Business and Politics in Japan. Currently his research is focused on the demise of the Japanese socialist left, rise of the New Right in Japan, and the changing organization of Japanese small business.’
(Due to bad weather, Dr Babb was unable to give his presentation. The Foundation is grateful to Dr Angus Lockyer, Lecturer in the History of Japan at SOAS, University of London, who stood in at the last minute.)
Koji Tomita
Koji Tomita (chair) is Minister and Head of Political Section at the Embassy of Japan, London. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he joined the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981, where he has served in a number of overseas and policy postings. Most recently, he has worked in the Foreign Policy Bureau as Director of Policy Coordination Division (2003-04) and Minister (Head of Political Section) at the Embassy of Japan in Seoul (2004-06).