Education Review Committee

Education Review Committee
The mission of the Educational Review Committee (ERC) is to undertake the periodic review of the implementation of the CULCON Education Task Force (ETF) Recommendations.
CULCON established the Education Task Force (ETF) and charged it with examining trends in educational exchange between the two countries. The panelists were especially concerned about the sharp decrease in the number of Japanese students choosing to study in the U.S. over the past decade. The ETF focused on examining the importance of increasing the quantity and quality of student exchanges to the U.S.-Japan relationship, and studying ways in which the U.S. and Japanese governments, private sectors and academic institutions are taking to promote it.
The ETF identified the issues and set priorities, and set the goal of doubling the number of U.S. and Japanese students studying in each other’s country by 2020. In May 2013, the ETF issued a Report and Recommendations and presented it to Prime Minister Abe and Undersecretary of State Sonenshine.
The U.S. membership of the ERC is:

  • Len SchoppaJr., Director, Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, The University of Virginia; U.S. CULCON Panel/Co-Chair
  • Susan Pharr, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japan Politics, Harvard University.
  • Peggy Blumenthal, Senior Counselor to the President, Institute of International Education (IIE)
  • Margot Carrington, Minister Counselor for Public Affairs, U.S. Embassy Tokyo
  • David Sneider, Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; U.S. CULCON Panel

The Japanese membership of the ERC is:

  • Masako Egawa, Professor, Graduate School of Commerce and Management, Hitotsubashi University; Japan CULCON Panel/Co-chair
  • Isao Kiso, President, Chiba Institute of Science; Japan CULCON Panel
  • Tomoko Hasegawa, Director, Education & CSR Bureau, Keidanren
  • Daichi Harada, Director, Office for International Cooperation Planning, International Affairs Division, Minister’s Secretariat, MEXT
  • Daisuke Okabe, Director, Cultural Affairs and Overseas Public Relations Division Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Itsuro Tsutsumi, Director, Information Services Division, Student Exchange Department, Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO)

Click here for the interim report submitted for CULCON’s 28th Plenary Session, held June 5th, 2018: Education Review Committee Interim Report.

Click her for the ERC’s Final Report, completed in 2020: ERC Final Report 2020, English and ERC Final Report 2020, Japanese

Watch the April 15/16, 2021 CULCON event, “Examining U.S.-Japan Educational Exchange: A CULCON Report  日米間教育交流の検討:CULCONレポート”: https://youtu.be/19HBivZjh2Q