Hellmann, 86, teaches courses on Japanese government and politics, American foreign policy and the international relations of Northeast Asia. He joined the UW in 1967, chaired the Japan Program for several years, overseeing its expansion, and was director of the institute that would later become the Jackson School. He first visited Japan in 1961 supported by the Ford Foundation, and dedicated himself to research on postwar Japanese foreign policy.

A frequent author of papers and books on Japan, Hellmann’s 1969 book “” became a best-seller in its genre in Japan. University of California Press has recently republished the title as part of its series, which brings “important and timeless works of scholarship” back into print to commemorate the publisher’s 125-year history.

The office of the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle the award Nov. 3 and he will receive the honor in a private ceremony this month. Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun has eight classes, or levels. Hellmann’s is the Order of the Rising Sun Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, which is the He in January 2018.

Hellmann is one of several UW faculty members to receive versions of Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun. Others include of international studies (and author of a recent book on post-World War II Japan); Mary Bernson, longtime director of the Jackson School’s East Asia Resource Center; of mechanical engineering; of American ethnic studies, of geography; and , founder of Asian studies at the UW, in 1905.

UW Notebook asked Hellmann about Japan and its role in international relations.

Prof. Hellmann, how has Japan changed geopolitically since you first visited during the Kennedy administration? Ìý

The Japan of the 1950s and early 1960s, while prosperous, was still operating under the shadow of defeat in World War II and the seven years of American occupation which had introduced radical political, economic and social reforms including one United States-written “peace constitution.”

Today, Japan has the world’s third-largest national economy — frequently described as “post-modern,” but not one word of the constitution has been changed and the same conservative elite has been continuously in power (e.g., Prime Minister Abe’s grandfather was also prime minister and his father would have been had he not had a fatal illness).Ìý

What lies ahead for Japan in the 21^st century? Ìý

Japan brilliantly prospered during the Cold War as an elitist democracy in an American greenhouse, but during the almost three subsequent decades matters have been different. While still a rich country, the growth rate has significantly dropped. The conservative elite is still in charge, but has shown little capacity for innovative leadership domestically or in foreign policy. Finally, China’s dramatic economic and international successes has cast a shadow over Japan’s future and permanence of the U.S.-Japan alliance.

For more information, contact Hellmann atÌýhellmann@uw.edu.

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The daylong conference is titled “.”

Jackson School Director will welcome the participants. , vice chairman of the Cohen Group, will deliver the conference’s keynote address. He is also former U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, ambassador to Turkey and assistant secretary of state for European Affairs. , longtime professor of international studies, will give concluding remarks.

The conference will feature three panels moderated by members of the UW community.

• , managing director of the Canadian Studies Center, will moderate on “Changing Political and Economic Dynamics in the Arctic: Nation-States and Indigenous Permanent Participants.”
• , professor and associate director of the Jackson School, will moderate a panel on “New Regions, New Frontiers: Pacific Northwest and Asia in Outer Space.”
• , associate professor in the Jackson School and Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and director of the , will moderate a panel on “Public-Private Collaborations in Establishing International Cybersecurity Norms.”

“This New Frontiers conference launches the ÌìÃÀÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½’s new ,” said Kasaba. “This institute intends toÌýgenerate original thinking on emerging topics in international affairs and bring aÌýnew and uniquely Pacific Northwest voice to the policy conversation.”

Kasaba said the event “continues and expands upon” the school’s ongoing work to connect academic and research insights with international affairs practitioners, business leaders and policymakers and international development experts as well as media representatives and security professionals from Seattle to Washington, D.C.

The event is a collaborative effort between the Jackson School and the American Academy of Diplomacy, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “support and strengthen U.S. diplomacy and enhance public appreciation of its critical role in advancing the national interest.” It is made possible through support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation.

Also attending the conference will be representatives of the RAND Corp., the Brookings Institution, the U.S. Department of State, Microsoft Corp., The Seattle Times and Aerojet Rocketdyne, among others.

The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, in Room 334 of the Husky Union Building on the UW campus. The event is free but organizers request that those planning to attend .

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For more information, contact Kristina Bowman, Jackson School communications specialist, at 206-221-1323 or kriscb@uw.edu; Monique Thormann, director of communications, at thormm@uw.edu; or Jennifer Butte-Dahl, organizer and Jackson School lecturer, at 206-221-8577 or jenbd@uw.edu.