Cross Currents is a bilingual educational website that contains multimedia materials on the cultural and social history of Japan and the United States over the past half-century. It highlights ways that the two societies have interacted and influenced each other (their “cross currents”). Its aim is to increase mutual understanding between Japan and the United States by encouraging users to discover their many parallels and the cultural influences that flow in both directions. Materials are organized in three parallel threads for Japan, the United States, and the “Cross-Currents” between them.

The project is a bi-national effort initiated by the United States-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) and intended for the use of students and the general public in both Japan and the United States. A team at the University of Hawaii produced the website in collaboration with a team in Japan, and the Hawaii team continues to maintain and update the site.