Disaster ManageMent, energy security anD Multi-lateral cooperation: the tohoku Disaster anD its regional anD global iMplications

The Japan Futures Initiative (JFI) held its first official symposium on March 14-15, 2012, at the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) in Waterloo, Ontario. The event was co-hosted by the BSIA, The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Renison University College, the University of Waterloo, the Japan Foundation Toronto and the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation. With over 30 participants (presenters, discussants, observers and guests), the symposium consisted of three panels — on energy security, the socio-political dimensions of disaster management and the role of entrepreneurs in disaster relief in the context of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. Panellists included scholars and businessmen from Japan, Canada and the United States, and the goal of the discussions was to generate policy-relevant insights, both for practice and for future research. Professor John Kirton of the University of Toronto opened the symposium with a keynote address on Japan’s contribution to global governance, which was webcast live by CIGI.