This year, Australia and Japan celebrate 50 years since the signing of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation between Japan and Australia. This week, the United States Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney and the Japan Foundation in Sydney are hosting several activities in honour of this occasion.
The USSC is welcoming the latest cohort of Japan-Australia Dialogue and Exchange for Next Generation (JADE) Fellows in Sydney. Five fellows from Japan have been travelling around Australia this week for meetings and roundtable discussions with government, academic and industry institutions to share insights on Australia’s foreign, defence and economic policymaking processes.
“The JADE program plays a vital role in strengthening ties between Australia and Japan. Fifty years since the signing of the NARA Treaty, these close partners are working closer together than ever and JADE is establishing new people-to-people ties and shaping the policy dialogue between Australia and Japan in an unprecedented way,” USSC CEO Dr Michael Green noted. “USSC sees its mission as contributing to all of Australia's partnerships and Japan ranks very high.”
Each year, JADE Fellows complete a research project on a topic related to Australia-Japan relations. A Free and Open Indo-Pacific for Japan and Australia: Report of the 2025 JADE Fellows, a compilation of research from the latest cohort of JADE Fellows is now available.
This week, the Japan Foundation, the University of Sydney School of Languages and Cultures and the USSC also hosted exclusive events celebrating 50 years of Australia-Japan relations with a daytime symposium featuring Japanese Ambassador to Australia Suzuki Kazuhiro and Australian Ambassador to Japan Andrew Shearer. In the evening, we held a panel discussion with former Japanese Ambassador to Australia Mr Sumio Kusaka; Professor at Keio University and Director of Research at The Institute of Geoeconomics, International House of Japan Dr Yuichi Hosoya; USSC Director of Economic Security Hayley Channer and USSC Research Fellow Tom Corben for a conversation moderated by USSC CEO Dr Michael Green.
“It is an honour to work together to continue to strengthen ties between our two countries as we celebrate 50 years of friendship and look forward to the decades ahead. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Nara Treaty, the Japan Foundation will also host a symposium in Nara Prefecture this November, which will include some of the JADE Fellows,” said Hideki Hara, Managing Director of the Global Partnerships Department at the Japan Foundation.
The Japan-Australia Dialogue and Exchange (JADE) for the Next Generation initiative, a collaboration between the United States Studies Centre and the Japan Foundation.
Read the report
Free and Open Indo-Pacific for Japan and Australia: Report of the 2025 JADE Fellows is now available to view or download.