Japanese pop culture has gained a global following in recent years, with recognition that now extends far beyond the stereotypes of oriental exotica. With the reach of pop culture comes tremendous economic potential. Nakamura, whose varied experiences in rock, art, and multimedia have been applied to policymaking and education, gives a preview of a new research project he is coordinating on the impact of pop culture on politics, society, and the economy. Japan's economic troubles have taken center stage during the last decade. But has Japan's "lost decade" really been a "glorious decade"?

The recent increase in inward FDI (foreign direct investment) has significantly changed the environment of doing business in Japan. These changes will be examined by a "Stanford couple" who have been based in Tokyo since 1990 and are at the center of many of the most interesting changes taking place in Japanese business society, including telecommunications, software, finance, management consulting, and executive search.

Glen S. Fukushima heads the Japan operations of Cadence Design Systems, the $1.4 billion software company and world leader in EDA (electronic design automation), headquartered in San Jose. Previously, he was President of Arthur D. Little, Japan, the management consulting firm (1998-2000), and Vice President of AT&T Japan Ltd. (1990-1998). In the 1980s, he worked in Washington, D.C. at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) as Director for Japanese Affairs (1985-1988) and Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China (1988 1990). He was educated at Stanford, Harvard Graduate School, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School.

After graduating from Stanford Business School with an MBA in 1987, Sakie T. Fukushima has worked in strategy management consulting at Bain & Company (1987-1991) and in executive search at Korn/Ferry International, the world's largest executive search firm (1991-), where she has served on the Board of Directors since 1995. She has served as Vice President of the Japan Chapter of the Stanford Business School Alumni Association and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Japan Stanford Association. She received an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was educated in Japan at the International Christian University and Seisen College.

Professor Wang Jisi is director and a senior researcher of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing. He is concurrently director of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at the Party School of the Central Committee, the Communist Party of China, a guest professor of Peking University and Tsinghua University, and president of the Chinese Association for American Studies. He is also a member and advisor to many prestigious research institutions in the United States. He is now teaching a course on "China Under Reform" for the fall semester, 2001, as a Freeman Professor of Asian Studies at Claremont McKenna College in California. Wang Jisi's formal education was interrupted by the Cultural Revolution. In the ten years between 1968 and 1978 he did various sorts of labor as a herdsman, peasant, and factory worker in Inner Mongolia and central China. He entered Peking University in 1978 and obtained his MA degree in 1983. Professor Wang's scholarly interests cover international relations theory, U.S. foreign policy, Chinese foreign policy, and China-U.S. relations. He has published numerous works in these fields, including a recent volume in Chinese entitled "Lonely at the Top: U.S. Global Strategy and Position in the Post-Cold War World." His articles in English include "Building a Constructive Relationship between the United States, China, and Japan" (1998), "China's New Identity and Peace in Northeast Asia" (2000), "The Internet in China: A New Fantasy?" (2000), and "Hot Peace - Not a New Cold War - between China and the United States" (2001).

All-day conference on Japanese institutional reform sponsored by the Asia/Pacific Research Center, Stanford University.

• Changes in the Political System
  Speaker: Mr. Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Member of the Japanese House of Councilors and former Vice Minister of Finance, Tokyo
  Commentator: Prof. Daniel Okimoto, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
• Changes in the Bureaucracy
  Speaker: Mr. Ryozo Hayashi, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Information and Machin- ery Industry, Tokyo
  Commentator: Prof. Hugh Patrick, Professor of International Business, Columbia Univer- sity, New York
• Changes in Business
  Speaker: Mr. Taizo Nishimuro, CEO & President of Toshiba, Tokyo
  Commentators: Mr. James Abegglen, Chairman, Asia Advisory Services, Tokyo. Mr. Hiroaki Yoshihara, Senior Partner at KPMG, Mountain View, California
• Panel Discussion on the Institutional Changes
  Prof. Hugh Patrick, Professor of International Business, Columbia University
  Prof. Tadao Kagono, Dean of the Graduate School of Business, Kobe University
  Prof. Harry Rowen, Director, Asia/Pacific Research Center, Stanford University
  Mr. Katsuhiro Nakagawa, Executive Adviser, The Tokyo Marine and Fire Insurance Co. and Former Vice Minister of MITI, Tokyo
  Mr. Dan Sneider, National/Foreign Editor, San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, CA