- Date
06.02.2020
- Location
JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles Youtube Channel
- Fee
Complimentary
Join us for a webinar discussion on Japan’s model to contain the infection while minimizing socio-economic impact through a no-lockdown strategy.
The Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles and JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles are excited to present a special webinar discussion on "Japan's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic." Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles Akira Muto will discuss measures proactively taken by the Japanese Government to fight against the spread of the disease as well as contribution of Japanese community to local community. The webinar will be moderated by Yuko Kaifu, President of JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles.
*To watch the video in full screen, please click on the image above, then click on the YouTube icon on the lower right-hand corner.
Recording Available
The live, online discussion was held on June 2, 2020. The recording can be viewed within this event page or on the official JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles YouTube channel.
Speaker Profiles
Consul General Akira Muto
Consul General Akira Muto graduated from the Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985. Having served at the Embassies of Japan in Washington DC and Moscow, he held directorships for Free Trade Agreement & Economic Partnership, Intelligence & Analysis, Russian Affairs, and Foreign Policy Coordination between 2004 and 2012; and in 2012, he became Consul General of Japan in Boston. He served as Deputy Director General, European Affairs Bureau (Ambassador, 2014-15); and served in the National Security Secretariat (2015-16).
He was Minister, Embassy of Japan in the U.S. (Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University) (2018-19). He became Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles in 2019.
Yuko Kaifu
Prior to joining Japan House in January 2016, she was Managing Director in the Corporate Communications Department of MUFG Union Bank, owned by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, where she was charged with media relations, internal/external publications of the bank, and with CSR activities for the Japanese and Japanese American communities and for the US-Japan relations.
She started her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Her past assignments include the Embassy of Japan in Canada, North American Affairs Bureau, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Foreign Policy Bureau, and Cultural Affairs Department, where she was Deputy Director in Tokyo. During her service at the Ministry, she was appointed official interpreter for Her Majesty the Empress, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Japan.
After she served as Consul at the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles from 2001 to 2007, she left the government to work as Vice President of the Japanese American National Museum. She has sat on the boards of various community organizations including Nisei Week Foundation and International Visitors Council of Los Angeles, and is the Executive Vice President of Japan Business Association of Southern California, and is honorary advisor for the Japanese Flower Arrangement Association of Southern California, the Omote Senke Tea Ceremony Association of Southern California and the North American Calligraphy Association.
She graduated from Nara Women’s University and received Master’s degree in Sociology from Queen’s University in Canada.