George Packard is currently the president of the United States-Japan Foundation. Dr. Packard was the dean of the Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He founded SAIS' Foreign Policy Institute, the SAIS Review, the Reischauer Center for East-Asian Studies and the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in China. Dr. Packard was a special assistant to Edwin O. Reischauer while he was the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. A magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. The author of eight books on Japan and East Asia, his book Protest in Tokyo is the definitive account of the negotiations and political crisis surrounding the 1960 U.S.-Japan security treaty. Most recently, his article "The United States-Japan Security Treaty at 50: Still a Grand Bargain?" was published in Foreign Policy. In April, his next book, Edwin O. Reischauer and the American Discovery of Japan will be released by Columbia University Press. Dr. Packard was honored with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star on November 3rd, 2008 for lifetime achievement.
Koji Murata is a professor of political science at Doshisha University in Kyoto. Dr. Murata has received various awards: the Suntory Academic Award; the Yoshida Shigeru Award; the Shimizu Hiroshi Award from Japan Association for American Studies; and the Yomiuri Merit Award for New Opinion Leadership. Professor Murata’s specialties include the history of the U.S.- Japan alliance, U.S. foreign policy towards East Asia, and Japan’s foreign and defense policy. Professor Murata holds a B.A. from Doshisha University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Kobe University. Dr. Murata also obtained an M.Phil. from George Washington University, where he studied as a Fulbright student. Dr. Murata has published many books in Japanese and articles and chapters both in Japanese and English. He is a frequent contributor to Japanese newspapers and magazines, and a frequent commentator on TV.
Dr. Packard made a political argument for the reduction of U.S. forces in Japan, as opposed to a military argument, to highlight the extent to which the military dominates U.S.-Japan alliance issues. He then suggested a radical refocusing of the U.S.-Japan alliance from American protection of Japan to trade, with Japan taking on a more active role in military work. Prof. Murata criticized the DPJ government for being focused on beating the LDP – even months after actually beating the LDP – to the detriment of policymaking.
