Koji Watanabe is Senior Fellow at the Japan Center for International Exchange. He previously served as Japanese Ambassador to Russia (1993-96) and Ambassador to Italy (1992-93). He was also Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sherpa for the G-7 Houston and London summits of 1991 and 1990, and Japanese co-chairman of the U.S.-Japan Structural Impediments Initiative (SII).

Ambassador Watanabe joined the Foreign Ministry upon graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1956 and served as Director-General of the Information Analysis, Research and Planning Bureau and of the Economic Affairs Bureau. He was a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University (1957-58), also at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University (1973-74). His other overseas posts include Counselor at the Japanese Embassy in Saigon (1974-76), Minister at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing (1981-1984), and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (1988-89).

Ambassador Watanabe is President of The Japan Forum and a former member of the Board of Governors of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). He has also served as a member of the Japan Public Safety Commission (2000-2005) and special advisor to the Japan Federation of Economic Organization (KEIDANREN).

Co-organized by:
Embassy of Japan in Malaysia
Malaysian Association of Japanese Studies (MAJAS)
Japan Studies Program, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Malaya