PRESS CONFERENCE
"Japan's AI Future"
Takuya Hirai, Chairperson, Digital Nation LDP Special Committee
11:00-12:00 Thursday, July 2, 2026
Language: The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation.
Japan has been a latecomer to artificial intelligence behind the United States and China. The Liberal Democratic Party now wants to push the nation into the AI future with a newly unveiled strategy, "Digital Nippon 2026: Responsible Agile Governance."
To explain the governing party's blueprint for moving Japan into the AI age, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan will host a press conference by Takuya Hirai, the LDP's digital policy chief and chairman of the special committee that drew up the strategy. A former minister for digital transformation, Hirai has been an architect of a technological reform agenda that has also included redesigning the machinery of government.
The plan envisions a digitally enabled Japan with changes ranging from increasing one-stop government services built on the My Number platform to accelerating digital transformation of local governments and deploying AI throughout public administration. By embracing the new technology, the LDP hopes to prevent Japan from becoming an "AI colony," as Digital Minister Hisashi Matsumoto warned earlier this month.
Please come to hear Hirai explain how the LDP's plans to navigate the AI revolution and empower Japan to chart its own path through a fast-changing technological landscape.
How to attend:
Please register by emailing front@fccj.or.jp with your name and the name of your media outlet. FCCJ members should also include their membership number. Doors will open 15 minutes before the event.
How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live
How to ask questions: https://forms.gle/qKhk3JTTmKxr5LTJ6
TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event. FCCJ will limit live-streaming of FCCJ-hosted press conferences to Club members only. Non-members will no longer be permitted to live-stream these events. However, non-members may still film for reporting purposes and use footage after the press conference.
Professional Activities Committee