CULCON Symposium (Summary)

Date & Time: Monday, October 24, 2022, 10:30am-12:00pm

Venue: Museum Hall, Kyushu National Museum

Remarks by Guests of Honor

• Daizo Kusuda (Mayor, Dazaifu City): See Attachment 1
• Chuka Asike (Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate Fukuoka): See Attachment 2

Theme: “For Further Mutual Understanding between the U.S. and Japan”

• Opening Remarks and Facilitation

Moderator: Sheila Smith (Senior Fellow, CFR; Chair, U.S.-CULCON)

• Introduction of the Panelists

Commentator: KUBO Fumiaki (Vice Chair, Japan CULCON; President, National Defense Academy of Japan)

Presentation by the Panelists

Jolyon Thomas (Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania):

Dr. Thomas has served as a professor of Religious Studies. Based on his experience teaching Japanese pop culture and religion in southern United States:

1. Students are interested in Japanese anime and pop culture, but that does not necessarily mean they would study Japanese or choose Japan Studies. Many have given up on Japan Studies due to the difficulty traveling during COVID-19.
2. There is less investment overall. The humanities and Japan Studies suffer from a lack of funding, and the younger generation need financial support.
3. Trends in academics who cover Japan: junior researchers not only study Japan, but extrapolate their analyses and draw general conclusions on global developments.
4. Regional Studies are often criticized. Subnational diplomacy and countries with diverse populations tend to attract more scholars. The old norms of Regional Studies no longer apply.

William Tsutsui (Chancellor and Professor of History, Ottawa University):

Dr. Tsutsui, who began teaching Japanese history in the U.S. 30 years ago, spoke about his diverse experience and academic career:

1. Japan experts in the United States tend to be concentrated in certain areas. They are at elite universities especially on the East and West Coasts, and in the upper Midwest. There are fewer opportunities for students to learn about Japan and study the Japanese language in many regions (such as the South and the Intermountain West), especially at less-selective universities, where funding is scarce.  Access to knowledge about Japan is not equally distributed.
2. The focus within Japan Studies, as well as the motivation to study it, have changed over time. Interest in the Japanese political economy has shifted to interest in Japanese pop culture and “Cool Japan.” Japan used to be seen as a threat, but now anime, manga, fashion, food, and lifestyle are the focus of more student and academic attention. In the past, students pursued Japan Studies because they believed it led to good jobs, but many students now seek enjoyment, inspiration, personal fulfillment, and self-realization in learning about Japan.
3. Japan Studies has evolved (and continues to grow) in promising directions. It was a narrow and insular field 30 years ago, and academics who studied Japan were only expected to engage with elite, high-level policy makers. It remains a relatively small and clubby field today, but the backgrounds of scholars are more diverse, it is increasingly global, and theoretical approaches are changing. Japan Studies specialists are also embracing outreach to the broader American public by publishing books of general interest, contributing as public intellectuals, and engaging actively with schools and communities. 

TAKAHASHI Yuko (President, Tsuda University)

150 years ago, five Japanese women went to study abroad in San Francisco. One of the five students was TSUDA Umeko. When she returned to Japan 10 years later, she experienced reverse culture shock in terms of the low status of women in Japan, as well as its religion and language. She later traveled to the U.S. again to study biochemistry, and became one of the first Japanese women to study science. She eventually quit her position as a professor at a school affiliated with the Imperial Household Agency. She then founded a private English language school for women, which later became Tsuda University. This was significant, because its true purpose was to focus on women’s economic independence and a liberal arts education, at a time when women’s education was only allowed for fostering good mothers. The establishment of this school was possible because of the cooperation of women in Japan and the United States, as well as their strong network. American Studies was introduced at Tsuda University in 1963. As a side note, NITOBE Inazo was a supporter of TSUDA Umeko. Professor TAKAGI Yasaka of the University of Tokyo was a trustee and chair of Tsuda University for more than 20 years, from 1933 to 1954.

When Dr. Takahashi was first introduced to American Studies 40 years ago, she read the autobiographies of Malcolm X, Benjamin Franklin, and Mark Twain. Although Dr. Takahashi’s interests have since shifted to more cultural aspects of American Studies, what she read back then became the cornerstone of her understanding of the United States. American Studies also helped bring Gender Studies to Japan.

MAESHIMA Kazuhiro (Professor, Faculty of Global Studies, Sophia University)

Dr. Maeshima spoke about current trends in American Studies in Japan:

1. American Studies has become more diverse. Course materials used to be novels by Melville and Emerson, autobiographies, etc., but they’re now broader, including literature by Hispanic people and others.
2. What used to be required reading 30-40 years ago have simply become reference material. Students have less knowledge in common with each other, which has resulted in a tendency to rely on statistics. The first president of the Japanese Association for American Studies was TAKAGI Yasaka. Dr. Kubo is the 27th president, Dr. Takahashi is the 28th, and Dr, Maeshima is the 30th.
3. Even though methodologies may differ, scholars of American Studies share the same passion to understand the United States. We must find trends and commonalities in research. We need to explore new ways to understand the U.S. more broadly.

TSUTSUI Kiyoteru (Professor and Director of the Japan Program, Stanford University)

Dr. Tsutsui obtained his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1995.

In terms of Japan Studies, the humanities are on the verge of extinction, and interest in Japanese economics has now completely died out. Professors who teach Japanese economics have been replaced by China experts. We need to engage students—sociology students, for example—who later join the State Department or other government agencies and engage in policy making. It is essential that these students have a solid understanding of Japan.

1. There are fewer people who study Area Studies.
2. Trends are changing, and students’ interests are expanding beyond Japan to various regions around the world. Japan is now included in Asian Studies. In the U.S., because there are multiple domestic problems such as race, immigration, etc., academic research tended to focus on American issues. Sociology and political science students rarely focus on Japan, which means few people study Japan in depth.
3. Japan’s position in the world has changed. Japan was a superpower in the 1980s and 1990s, but has since become economically stagnant. China is surpassing Japan in many ways, and the U.S. is more interested in China than Japan. Universities are looking for ways to create research centers and offer courses to students who are interested in Japan but aren’t familiar with its politics and economy. Funding is essential to achieve this objective.

Q&A

Question from a student at Kyushu University: In the U.S. (at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, for example), I was shocked to learn a different view from what I was taught in Japan. In Japan, I had learned about the atomic bomb and Japan’s defeat in the war, but I found that Hawaii had also suffered tremendous damage. The history that’s taught in Japan and the U.S. seems to be different. I love baseball, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll study about the United States. Likewise, a love of anime does not necessarily lead to an interest in Japan Studies. It’s important to learn the history of each country.

Response from Sheila Smith (Chair, U.S. CULCON): Different countries cannot see a particular point in history from the same perspective or through the same lens. Scholars from both Japan and the U.S. have studied World War II in depth, but the reality is that the explanations that advocates give at museums are different depending on the country. Exchanging ideas between Japan and the U.S. enriches the mind, but criticism is also important. Someone who focuses only on their own country’s history wouldn’t be able to see the whole picture.

Response from Jolyon Thomas: It’s important to understand people who are from the other side of the world. Subjective assumptions can be an obstacle to learning the history of both countries. For example, “America” doesn’t necessarily mean “freedom,” especially for Black people. We should pay attention to perspective, and realize that what we learn is often an imperial legacy.

Comment from another student at Kyushu University: I attended a small American university, which offered no courses where I could study about Japan. There was a time when American pop culture was very popular among Japanese students. Now many students are more interested in China.

Concluding Remarks

KUBO Fumiaki (Vice Chair, Japan CULCON): The field of American Studies still suffers from the same challenges it had before. It’s embarrassing that there are no courses in Japan that specialize in U.S. politics or U.S. history. World history textbooks have less to say about the U.S. than they do about Europe. On a positive note, many talented scholars of Japan Studies are alumni of the JET Programme. It doesn’t matter if the initial interest in Japan is due to anime or cosplay. After studying for years, these scholars eventually become Japan experts. Programs like these that foster scholars should be expanded further.