Robert Ward hosts Dr Kristin Vekasi, the Mansfield Chair of Japan and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Montana, and Professor Hatakeyama Kyoko, Professor of International Relations at the Graduate School of International Studies and Regional Development, University of Niigata Prefecture for an in-depth discussion on the current state and future direction of Japan’s critical mineral strategy.
Together, they explore:
· Developments in Japan’s critical mineral strategy from 2010 when China briefly curbed exports of rare-earth elements to Japan.
· The implications of Japan’s response to the 2010 crisis for Beijing’s recent controls on exports of dual-use products to Japan.
· The strategic importance of deep-sea rare earths around Minami-Torishima Island.
· The future trajectory of Japan’s critical mineral strategy in cooperation with the US and European countries.
Recommended readings from our guests:
· Catalinac, Amy, Dominance through division: Group-based clientelism in Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025), 365pp.
· Harris, Tobias S. The iconoclast: Shinzō Abe and the new Japan (London: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd., 2020), 392pp.
· Higuchi, Shinji, Bullet Train Explosion [Shinkansen Bakuhatsu] (Tokyo, Episcope, 2025) [Netflix film]
· Ward, Robert, Evaluating Japan’s new grand strategy (London: Routledge, 2025). 156pp.
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: 3 March 2026
Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.
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