Contributor(s): Professor Motoshige Itoh | Japan is highly unusual in having experienced serious deflation in recent years, and Japan’s experience may be regarded as providing a good case study for other industrial countries suffering from inadequate capital investment and what has been termed ‘secular stagnation’. This lecture explains the nature of the ‘Abenomics’ introduced by Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, since taking office in December 2012, discussing in particular the impact of aggressive monetary policy and the implications of its growth strategy. The lecture will also touch on issues of fiscal consolidation and social security reform in Japan, which is the most rapidly ageing society in the world. Professor Motoshige Itoh is a Professor of the Graduate School of Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. He is the President of the National Institute for Research Advancement, and a member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. A graduate of the University of Tokyo, his academic field of specialisation is International Economics. Professor Itoh is closely involved in policy decision-making processes in the Japanese government and writes several columns for newspapers and magazines.