On 12 October 2023, UNU will host “Peacebuilding in the Wake of Increasing Rivalry Among Major Powers,” a conversation with Dr. Kuniko INOGUCHI, Chairperson of the Research Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Security, the House of Councilors, the National Diet of Japan.
About the speaker
Kuniko INOGUCHI, Ph.D., is the Chairperson of the Research Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Security, House of Councilors (SENATE) of the National Diet of Japan. She is the Former Minister of State for Gender Equality and Social Affairs, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan and Head of the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland (2002 to 2004).
Dr. INOGUCHI was appointed Minister of State for Gender Equality and Social Affairs (2005 to 2006) and elected as a Member of the House of Representatives (2005 to 2009). She also served as Acting Director-General of the International Bureau of the Liberal Democratic Party. Prior to her political appointments, she served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Head of the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland (2002 to 2004). She also served in the challenging post of President of the Conference on Disarmament (2003) and Chairperson of the First UN Biennial Meeting of States for Small Arms and Light Weapons (2003). Prior to her appointment as Ambassador, she taught first as an Associate Professor, then as a Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Law at Sophia University, Tokyo (1981 to 2002). During this period, she also spent time as a Fulbright Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University (1982), M.A. from Yale University (1977), and B.A. from Sophia University (1975). She is married to Takashi INOGUCHI, President of the University of Niigata Prefecture and former Professor of the University of Tokyo. They reside in Tokyo and have two daughters.
