Connecting those who have served in Japan
A Change in Leadership at JUMP
Last month, Captain Chris Rodeman, USN (Ret.) stepped down from his duties as Director of JUMP to pursue a new employment opportunity at the Department of Defense. We at JUMP would like to wish him well and assure all of our JUMP members that we will continue our programming under new leadership. While we are unable to hold the in-person gatherings that have been the core of JUMP these past five years, we remain committed to our cause and have held many virtual events this summer. We are optimistic that the pandemic will improve by the end of the calendar year, and we hope to host in-person events by then. In the meantime, we will continue hosting online events for our members.

For information on future events, please stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook.

We hope to see you all at future events and please stay safe.

Dr. Satohiro Akimoto, JUMP Director
New JUMP Website Launched
Over the past several months, we have been hard at work in updating our website in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of JUMP. We wanted it to be more user friendly, more visual, and easier to view on mobile devices. All of those design goals were in mind as we take JUMP into a new era of online content. We are happy to announce that the website launched over the July 4th holiday weekend! We love the new design and we hope you love it too. We have made our event pages easier to read and we also added resource guides for service members and their families.

Please check out the new website and let us know what you think.
Tabletop Exercise Invitation-Only Briefing featuring ADM Dennis Blair (Ret.)
Our partners at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (Sasakawa USA) hosted a tabletop exercise (TTX) back in February titled Pacific Trident III . They published a report of the exercise in May. On June 16th, the organizers of the exercise held an on-the-record large scale invitation-only briefing on the findings of the exercise and its implications for the Japan-U.S. alliance. The virtual discussion was moderated by one of the founders of JUMP, ADM Dennis Blair (Ret.), and featured remarks by prominent JUMP members like RADM Michael McDevitt (Ret.), as well as Ms. Kelly Magsamen of the Center for American Progress, and Mr. Nobukatsu Kanehara of Doshisha University. The briefing covered an overview of the exercise, the report’s main findings, perspectives from both the Japan and U.S. Teams, as well as insights from other TTX participants. The webinar also included a moderated Q&A in which attendees were able to ask questions to both the panelists and other TTX participants in the audience. A full recap can be found here. You can also follow the embedded video link above to find a recording of the event.

For more information on our partners and future events, stay tuned to the JUMP website .
USMC New Force Design Briefing featuring LtGen Wallace "Chip" Gregson (Ret.)
On July 9, o ur partners at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (Sasakawa USA) hosted a virtual briefing to analyze General David H. Berger’s new strategic vision for the U.S. Marine Corps and its implications to the U.S.-Japan alliance in the Indo-Pacific. The event featured remarks by JUMP members LtGen Wallace “Chip” Gregson, USMC (Ret.) and LtGen Lawrence Nicholson, USMC (Ret.) as well as remarks by LtGen Koichiro Bansho, JGSDF (Ret.). Dr. Satohiro Akimoto moderated a Q&A session with attendees. A full recap of the event can be found here . You can also follow the embedded video link above to find a recording of the event.

Please stay tuned to our newsletter , social media channels , or website for details on future events.
Three Japan-U.S. Alliance Papers Published
Over the course of this summer, our partners at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (Sasakawa USA) have published numerous papers related to the Japan-U.S. alliance. We at JUMP believe that the content would interest our members, and one of the papers even talks about how much JUMP has grown and developed over the last five years. Please check these out and let us know what you think.


Prior to departing from his position as Minister for Communications and Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, Minister Takehiro Shimada authored this piece on the U.S.-Japan relationship including relations between the two countries' leaders, assistance initiatives, public diplomacy efforts, and citizen diplomacy. He even mentioned JUMP in this piece and we are very happy to have our accomplishments recognized.


General Shigeru Iwasaki, the Fourth Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, casts a light on the different responses to COVID-19 around the world. He stresses the importance of having a national security viewpoint in dealing with the pandemic, particularly for democracies. He recognizes the centrality of the Japan-U.S. alliance in the Asia Pacific but warns that COVID-19 may lead to the deterioration of coordination and defense capabilities among the United States and its allies.


Lieutenant General Hidetoshi Hirata (Ret.) of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, and current advisor at the Aerospace Company of Fuji Heavy Industry assesses U.S.-Japan cooperation post COVID-19 from a security perspective. From this vantage point, LtGen Hirata examines challenges and emerging threats to the U.S. and Japan, changes in the security environment due to COVID-19, the competition continuum, and what the future of U.S.-Japan cooperation looks like.
YCAPS Hosts Webinar Series for JUMP
Our partners at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS) have continued the YCAPS-JUMP webinar series that started back on May 16th with four more events over June and July.


40 JUMP members participated in this featuring keynote remarks by Rear Admiral James “Jamie” Kelly, USN (Ret.) who served as commander for both Naval Forces Japan and Yokosuka’s Carrier Strike Group. Rear Admiral Kelly discussed the central importance of communities such as Yokosuka in empowering the forward-deployed units. He covered the strategic importance of Yokosuka for U.S. national security, and the crucial, mutually beneficial nature of the alliance. A full recap can be found on our website.




47 JUMP members participated in this bi-national, off-the-record event which discussed the decision to delay the Olympics and the impacts of that decision on Japan’s international relations. Dr. Nancy Snow of the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies; Mr. Dan Cintron; the Olympic Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy Tokyo and Ms. Risa Kamio, a member of the Setagaya City Assembly engaged in a vigorous conversation with probing questions from the audience. A full recap can be found on our website.

Please stay tuned to our newsletter , social media channels , or website for details on future events.
YCAPS-JUMP Webinar: The National Defense Academy

The next YCAPS-JUMP webinar will take place on August 19. Dr. Hitoshi Kawano will discuss the role the academy plays in the alliance.

Please stay tuned to our website and the YCAPS website for more information on future seminars.
JUMP Spotlight Series: Tell us your stories!

JUMP's Spotlight Series profiles U.S. service members and spouses who are serving or have served in Japan who have interesting stories of their time overseas. If you're interested in sharing your experiences. Please check out the submission guidelines on the JUMP website .
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