# Episode 47: A Conversation with Taro Kono, Former Foreign, Defense & Digital Minister of Japan

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/memos-to-the-president-7160594/episode-47-a-conversation-with-taro-kono-former-foreign-defense-digital-minister-of-japan
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/memos-to-the-president-7160594/episode-47-a-conversation-with-taro-kono-former-foreign-defense-digital-minister-of-japan.md
Podcast: [Memos to the President](https://stenobird.com/podcast/memos-to-the-president-7160594)
Published: 2026-07-09T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://memos-to-the-president.simplecast.com/episodes/episode-47-a-conversation-with-taro-kono-former-foreign-defense-digital-minister-of-japan-eiYsiVfH
Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/373c28e2-36eb-4099-a957-82cb2df2ee52/ffe93215-d0aa-4aaf-bb37-97d5352287a1/episodes/audio/group/2cae0984-1186-448b-9dc3-ea3b6c3a221a/group-item/3f2fa201-5256-4787-bc67-7ccb4a764ef6/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=nLuyQlk3
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Duration seconds: 1945

## Resource

In Tokyo, SCSP President Ylli Bajraktari and Senior Director for Foreign Policy Joe Wang sat down with Taro Kono — former Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and Digital Minister of Japan, and one of the most influential figures in the LDP — for a wide-ranging conversation on Japan's place in a rapidly shifting world. Kono traces how China's rise changed everything, offers a candid read on Trump's Beijing visit and what it signaled to Tokyo, lays out Japan's path toward higher defense spending and a domestic defense industry, and reflects on his time as Digital Minister — from AI in government to drone warfare and why he sees a "quad plus" technology alliance, not sovereign AI, as the way forward.

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## Transcript

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