OGI Hirohito

Senior Research Fellow

Profile

Hirohito Ogi is a senior research fellow at the Asia Pacific Initiative (API) & the Institute of Geoeconomics (IOG), the International House of Japan (IHJ), a Tokyo-based global think-tank, where he focuses on national and international security policy, military strategies, military intelligence analysis, and economic statecraft including defense industrial base policy.

Before joining the API/IOG, Mr. Ogi had been a career government official at the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) for 16 years. From 2021 to 2022, he served as the Principal Deputy Director for the Strategic Intelligence Analysis Office, the Defense Intelligence Division at the MOD, where he led MOD’s defense intelligence analysis including on the recent Ukrainian War. From 2019 to 2021, he served as a Deputy Director of the Defense Planning and Programming Division at the MOD. As the Chief of the section, he was in charge of defense strategy planning and procurement planning of the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF). From 2016 to 2021, he was the Deputy Director for Strategy & Legal Affairs, the Equipment Policy Division at the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA). During the service of this position, he drafted the provision of the Self-Defense Forces Act which enables the MOD to grant developing states unused military equipment, and led the implementation of policy for strengthening defense industrial base as well as catalyzing defense equipment export. From 2014 to 2016, he was transferred to the MOFA. As a Deputy Director at the International Legal Affairs Division, he reviewed drafts of the Peace and Security Legislation in 2015 in light of international law on the use of force. In his early career, he drafted the domestic act to implement the Japan-Australia Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) which enables Japanese Self-Defense Forces and Australian Forces to mutually provide logistics support in various occasions.

He holds a Master’s degree in international affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences from the University of Tokyo.

Expertise

National and international security policy / Military strategies / Military intelligence analysis / Economic statecraft including defense industrial base policy

Publications

“How Japan can make the most of its latest diplomatic tool”, The Japan Times (August 27, 2023).
“Russia’s nuclear blackmail must be met with denial”, The Japan Times (May 22, 2023).
“How Can We Make the Argument on Tax Increase for Strengthening Defense Capabilities Persuasive? “, IOG Commentary (December 26, 2022).
“The Strategic Shift from Territorial Defense to In-Depth Interdiction and the Unfinished Work of Transforming the Self-Defense Forces”, IOG Commentary (December 23, 2022).
“In dealing with Beijing, Tokyo must adopt a strong security front”, The Japan Times (December 20, 2022).
“Impact of the war in Ukraine sees Japan at the mercy of bigger players”, The Japan Times (November 24, 2022).
“The Japanese Views on Legal Issues Related to Security”, Japanese Yearbook on International Law 59 (2016) (with Tomohiro Mikanagi).

Events

National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) , “What’s After “Japanuary”?: A Forward-Looking Agenda for the U.S.-Japan Alliance” (March 2023).