One of the highlights of the 2024 German-Japanese exchange was the German-Japanese Forum, the Japanese-German Track 1.5 Security Dialogue and other events that took place in Tokyo from October 28 to November 2, 2024. A reception hosted by Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, marked the start of the German-Japanese Forum.

The intensive discussions between the forum participants centered around the theme of ‘Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Effects on Society and its Regulation’. This topic was also discussed at a public panel discussion with Prof. Dr. Yutaka Matsuo (University of Tokyo) and Prof. Dr. Paul Lukowicz (German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence), moderated by Keisuke Murakami (Digital Agency of Japan), in which around 100 people from Germany and Japan took part online. While the potential and comprehensive transformations resulting from the use of generative AI became increasingly clear during the discussion, one argument was that AI should replace people in the fewest places, but that it could rather enable people to do things that they could not do before – it is therefore about ‘upskilling’. The essential role of the social sciences in technology impact assessment was also clearly emphasized.

On the second evening of the forum, Ambassador Petra Sigmund, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Japan, received the guests at her residence. Minister Minoru Kiuchi, Minister of State for Economic Security and Secretary-General of the Japanese-German Parliamentary Friendship Group, also attended the reception to give a word of welcome. After a very commendable decade in his position as German Co-Chair of the German-Japanese Forum, Mr. Matthias Naß (Chief International Correspondent, DIE ZEIT) had to bid farewell. Numerous personalities, including the Japanese Co-Chair, Mr. Eizo Kobayashi (Director Emeritus, ITOCHU Corporation), expressed their gratitude to Mr. Naß and paid tribute to his great commitment to the Forum.
The German-Japanese Forum is planned and implemented by the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) and the JDZB, which serve as secretariats for the respective countries. The German-Japanese Forum is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and receives financial support from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The participants were particularly honored by the warm reception of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took the time to greet the German and Japanese members of the delegation despite the fact that the Lower House election had taken place only a few days ago.

On November 1, the Japanese-German Track 1.5 Security Dialogue was held. Facing the difficult global political developments, it is more important than ever that Japan and Germany join forces as democracies and partners in values. The public symposium addressed the theme ‘Japanese-German Cooperation Toward Maintaining and Strengthening the Rules-Based International Order’. The panel discussion featured Dr. Johann Wadephul (MP, Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Group, German Bundestag), Prof. Dr. Daniela Schwarzer (Member of the Executive Board, Bertelsmann Foundation), Mr. Hirohito Ogi (Senior Research Fellow, the Asia Pacific Initiative & the Institute of Geoeconomics) and Ambassador Seiichiro Taguchi (Deputy Director-General of European Affairs Bureau, MOFA). Prof. Dr. Ken Endo (University of Tokyo) moderated the event. An important aspect of the discussion was the importance of developing and expanding international partnerships.

The Security Dialogue was organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), the German Federal Foreign Office, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the JDZB.

Photos: JDZB and ©JCIE