Our Impact

The Mansfield Fellows are accomplished experts in the U.S. federal service. During their Fellowship year in Japan, they work with the Japanese government on a host of issues relevant to U.S. interests in Asia and around the world.

After returning from Japan, Mansfield Fellows join a cadre of program alumni who have the skills necessary to achieve maximum cooperation with Japan on issues of mutual interest.

Alumni Fellows also play an important mentoring role in the Fellowship long after they leave the program. The Mansfield Foundation works to incorporate its alumni into its recruitment efforts, connect them to current Fellows and to interested applicants, and use feedback from the Fellows for program improvement.

The Mansfield Foundation engages the alumni Fellows through events in the United States and Japan, and also promotes their accomplishments as they continue through their careers.

Skills, Expertise, Contacts.

Mansfield Fellows return to federal service with skills, contacts and expertise that facilitate their agencies’ work on Japan-related programs and policies. Their agencies—and the U.S.-Japan relationship—benefit from what the Fellows bring back from their year in Japan: firsthand knowledge of Japanese government policies, priorities, and processes in their issue areas; an understanding of how their counterpart agencies in Japan are organized and make decisions; and an appreciation for the Japanese language, society and culture.

Spanning more than 200 Fellows and over 40 U.S. Agencies

As of the 30th Class, the Program boasts 226 Fellows and Alumni from 40+ Executive Branch Agencies and Legislative Branch Offices, underscoring the program’s success in building a far-reaching cadre of U.S. federal government employees with Japan expertise. The Fellows’ interests and skills reflect the program’s relevance to U.S. interests. Recent Fellows have been experts in areas including aerospace, energy policy, cybersecurity, nonproliferation and disarmament, alliance management, and regulation of environmental waste. The experience and contacts Fellows gain during their Fellowship will contribute to closer U.S.-Japan cooperation on critical challenges in these and other areas.

Leadership throughout the U.S. Government

Many of the Fellowship Program’s alumni have been promoted or assigned to federal government positions with direct responsibility for issues involving Japan and Asia, including:

1. 1. • Principal Director for East Asia Policy, U.S. Department of War
      • Director for Japan Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
      • Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space and Missile Defense, U.S. Department of War
      • Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation
      • Director, International Economics, National Security Council
      • Assistant Director for Asia-Pacific, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
      • Director, Office of East Asia, U.S. Department of the Treasury
      • Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, U.S. Navy
      • Director for Japan and the Republic of Korea, National Security Council
      • Deputy Director, Agricultural Trade Office, U.S. Embassy, Tokyo
      • Deputy Director, Department of Energy Japan Office, U.S. Embassy, Tokyo
      • Principal Director, Space Policy Office, U.S. Department of War
      • Director, Asia-Pacific Office, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
      • Senior Japan Analyst, U.S. Department of State
      • Japan Country Director, Office of the Secretary of War for Policy, U.S. Department of War

Advancing Understanding and Cooperation in U.S.-Japan Relations

The Mike Mansfield Fellowships have built a cadre of Japan experts within the U.S. government and a capacity that contributes to the strong, broad cooperation the United States and Japan value and rely on. Working together has enabled the two countries to advance their interests in bilateral, regional, global, and even extraterrestrial domains. Sustaining the U.S. partnership with Japan—what Ambassador Mansfield called “the most important bilateral relationship in the world, bar none”—will require continued investment in the people who will carry this alliance forward in a turbulent and unpredictable world.