News Article

The Hon. Kazuo Tanaka, consul general of Japan in Seattle, will discuss “ Japan’s Foreign Policy and Its Challenges Ahead” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the Barbieri Courtroom at the Gonzaga University Law School.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is expected to last one hour and will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

Ray Fadeley, director of Gonzaga’s International Student Programs, will introduce Tanaka and moderate the Q-and-A session following the lecture.

Tanaka said he is optimistic regarding U.S.-Japan relations.

“ The relationship between Japan and the United States has entered a new era. The first one-on-one meeting between Prime Minister Abe and President Bush took place during the APEC summit in Hanoi, Vietnam last November. At the meeting, the two leaders agreed to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance on the basis of their shared universal values and resolved to tackle various issues facing the international community under the concept of a ‘Japan-U.S. Alliance for Asia and the World,’ ” Tanaka said.

The Japanese Consulate in Seattle serves Washington, North Idaho and Montana. It can be reached at (206) 682-9107.

For more information, contact Seiko Katsushima, program director of Japanese Studies at Gonzaga, at (509) 323-3951. GU history Assistant Professor Eric Cunningham also is involved in organizing the lecture and may be reached at (509) 323-5973.