The UP Asian Center and Japan Foundation Manila will be hosting "Revisiting the Past, Weaving the Future Together: A Multi-Stakeholder Symposium on the 70th Anniversary of Philippines-Japan Friendship" on 19 June 2026, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, PHT (GMT+8) at the GT-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium, Asian Center, UP Diliman. The event is free and open to the public. Online registration is encouraged due to limited slots.
ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM
The year 2026 is a milestone for the Philippines and Japan, as it marks the 70th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic relations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan [MOFA], 2025). Throughout the past seven decades, they have steadily enhanced bilateral cooperation in several key areas, particularly in the political, economic, sociocultural, and defense and security fields, while underscoring their commonalities as maritime nations with shared values and strong people-to-people ties.
Notable developments have also underpinned Philippines-Japan relations, including the elevation of their bilateral ties to a ‘strategic partnership’ in 2011 (MOFA, 2011), which was further deepened through the declaration of a "strengthened strategic partnership" in 2015 (MOFA, 2015), paving the way for deeper engagements between both countries. Accordingly, such engagements can be akin to ties that continue to bind both countries, resulting in strengthened friendship and lasting connections. In recent years, the strategic partnership has entered a ‘golden age,’ reflecting the two countries’ commitment to building on their shared momentum.
Amidst the strengthening of their relations, the Philippines and Japan continue to face a complex global security environment, coupled with the “nexus of geopolitical, economic, natural, and biological risks” in the region that transcends borders (United Nations Development Programme, 2022). Hence, this symposium seeks to examine the state of Philippines-Japan relations throughout the years and how it can effectively navigate current and emerging challenges in the Indo-Pacific. Furthermore, it seeks to unpack how sustained collaboration between both countries not only continually harnesses their strengthened strategic partnership but also contributes to regional peace, stability, and prosperity, towards a better future.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Panel 1: Evolution of Philippines-Japan Relations
Moderator: Dr. Kristine Michelle L. Santos, Director, Japanese Studies Program, Ateneo de Manila University
RICARDO T. JOSE, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, UP Department of History
Dr. Ricardo Trota Jose is Professor Emeritus at the UP Diliman Department of History and is widely recognized as the Philippines’ foremost scholar on the history of the Second World War in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region. He earned his BA and MA in History from UP Diliman and his Ph.D. in History/Area Studies from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. His research focuses on military and diplomatic history, particularly Philippine–Japan relations and the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Among his landmark publications are The Philippine Army, 1935–1942 (1992), Captive Arms: The Philippine Constabulary Under the Japanese, 1942–1945 (1998), and numerous book chapters and articles on wartime Philippines and Japan–Philippines relations. A former chair of the UP Department of History and former director of the Third World Studies Center, Dr. Jose has lectured extensively in the Philippines and abroad and has received numerous distinctions, including the Outstanding Young Scientist Award in the Social Sciences (1997), the UP Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award in Historical Scholarship and Research (2016), and the Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos Award. His scholarship has significantly shaped the study of Philippine military history, World War II, and Philippine–Japanese relations.
PANELISTS:
HON. MARSHALL LOUIS M. ALFEREZ
Assistant Secretary, Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs
FIRST SEC. SHIGEHIRO MATSUDA
Assistant Secretary, Embassy of Japan in the Philippines
Panel 2: Economic Cooperation and Development
Moderator: Dr. Alexander Michael G. Palma, Assistant Professor, UP Asian Center
PROF. TORU NAKANISHI
Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo
Dr. Toru Nakanishi is a Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo. He also teaches at several other universities in Japan. He obtained his PhD in Economics in 1989. His dissertation, "Urban Informal Sector in the Philippines" was completed through the support of several UP professors. Dr. Nakanishi has had research collaborations with UP scholars, notably Dr. Jose Medina of UPB and the late Dr. Sylvano Mahiwo of the UP Asian Center. In 1992, he was awarded the Kagami Memorial Prize by the Kagami Memorial Foundation, an Award for the Promotion of Studies on Developing Countries. Dr. Nakanishi has published extensively on development economics, agriculture, the Philippine economy, and urban development. His recent publications include an edited volume on Global Society and Organic Agriculture (Open University Press) and "Organic Agriculture against Prosperity of Vice: Food and Health in the Philippines," which appeared in Oriental Culture, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (Japanese).
PANELISTS:
MR. BABA TAKASHI
Chief Representative, JICA Philippines
DR. FRANCIS MARK A. QUIMBA
Senior Fellow, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)
Panel 3: Strategic and Security Cooperation
Moderator: Dr. Aaron Jed B. Rabena, Assistant Professor, UP Asian Center
KEI KOGA, PH.D.
Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University
Dr. Kei Koga is an Associate Professor and Head of Division at the Public Policy and Global Affairs Programme, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Concurrently, he is a Nonresident Fellow at The National Bureau of Asia Research (NBR), the United States, and a member of RIPS Research Committee, the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS), Japan. His research focuses on International Security, International/Regional Institutions (particularly ASEAN), and East Asian/Indo-Pacific security. Previously, he was Japan Scholar at the Wilson Center in 2022; visiting fellow at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in 2017; a Japan-U.S. Partnership Fellow at the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS), Tokyo, in 2012-2014; Postdoctoral Fellow in the International Studies Program, The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, in 2012-2013; a Vasey Fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS in 2009–2010; and RSIS-MacArthur visiting associate fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU in 2010. He received his Ph.D. in International Relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He has published on topics that include East Asian/Indo-Pacific security, U.S. and Japanese foreign policies, the U.S.-Japan alliance, and ASEAN.
PANELISTS:
HON. JULIUS A. YANO
Assistant Secretary, National Maritime Council (TBC)
Panel 4: People-to-People Exchanges
Moderator: Dr. Jocelyn O. Celero, Professor, UP Asian Center
DR. SHUN OHNO
Affiliate Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
Dr. Shun Ohno is a retired professor of the Department of Global Citizenship Studies, Seisen University in Tokyo, and an affiliated professor of Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS). Currently, his research focuses on nursing and care migrants under the pandemic and the transformation of citizenship of Nikkeijin (persons descended from Japanese migrants) in Japan and the Philippines. He has published books written in Japanese and English. He obtained his M.A. in Philippine Studies at the UP Asian Center, and his Ph.D. in East Asian and Southeast Asian Studies at the Australian National University. He was awarded UPAA [University of the Philippines Alumni Association] Distinguished Alumnus Award in Migration Studies in 2016.
PANELISTS:
DR. INES YAMANOUCHI P. MALLARI
President, Federation of Nikkei-Jin Kai Philippines
DIRECTOR MA. TERESA DELOS SANTOS
Coordinator, Japan Desk, Department of Migrant Workers
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
This multi-sectoral symposium is organized by the UP Asian Center and the Japan Foundation Manila. For inquiries, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 891-8500 loc. 3586.