On 22 Sept 2018, YCAPS members joined around two hundred other people at the Ocean Policy Research Institute's 5th Maritime Security Symposium held in the main meeting room of the Sasakawa Foundation Building in Tokyo.
Co-sponsored by Suikoukai, the symposium was themed around, "Japan's maritime security and prospect of maritime defense strategy at the turning point." The events featured presentations by a number of top-flight experts including: the President of Suikoukai, ADM Keiji Akaboshi, JMSDF (ret); the President MSDF Command and Staff College, VADM Hideki Yuasa; JMSDF Staff College Researcher, CDR Takahiro Ishihara; Special Research Fellow,SASAKAWA USA Hideshi Tokuchi and VADM Tokuhiro Ikeda, JMSDF (ret).
YCAPS President John Bradford was invited to join the panel discussion where hedelivered a 20-minute presentation, "Opportunities for Improving Cooperation to Better Ensure a Free & Open Indo-Pacific." Several other YCAPS members took advantage of the event as an opportunity to make contacts and learn from the thoughtful dialogue on stage.
A full report on the event in Japanese can be found on the Sasakawa Peace Foundation website. Japanese Report. English Report.