January 28, 2023/ 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

JAPAN HOUSE Salon, Level 5

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The Terasaki Center’s annual Global Japan Forum brings together renowned experts in various fields to analyze and discuss key issues facing Japan today in a global context. It aims to create an interdisciplinary and transnational platform in which to engage Japan from new and innovative perspectives and to connect the world of academic scholarship to the broader community.

In conjunction with the upcoming JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles exhibition Designing with Disaster: Stories from Seven Regenerative Cities, planned by ArcDR3 (Architecture and Urban Design for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience), this year’s forum invites renowned architects, academics, and environmental researchers from both Los Angeles and abroad to discuss the lessons learned from past environmental disasters and how to create disaster-resilient environments to safeguard our futures.

2:00 PM

Session 1 | Disasters around the World

In this first session, three experts in disaster research will center on discussions about various disasters that affect Japan, the US, and South America, and explore ways society have historically adapted to disaster risks and responded to disaster situations.

Speakers:
Emcee 1: Mohamed Sharif | UCLA
Emcee 2: William Marotti | UCLA
Panelist 1: Fumihiko Imamura | Tohoku University (Earthquake and Tsunami)
Panelist 2: Renato D’Alencon | P. Catholic Univ. of Chile (Multi-Hazard)
Panelist 3: Jack Cohen | U.S. Forest Service (Forest Fires)

3:45 PM

Session 2 | Designing the Future

During the second session, the conversation will move the focus away from the past and introduce renowned architects to address important questions on how society can design living environments that proactively plan for inevitable environmental disasters.

Speakers:
Emcee 1: Jeffrey Inaba | UCLA
Emcee 2: Michelle Liu Carriger | UCLA
Panelist 1: Momoyo Kaijima | Atelier Bow-Wow (Great Earthquake)
Panelist 2: Shohei Shigematsu | OMA

Sponsor(s): Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, LAist