A. Narrative Report: NAJAS 30th Anniversary International Symposium
Project Director: Samuel M. Shepherd
The National Association of Japan-America Societies (NAJAS) is in its 30th year. From February 5-9 2008, close to 60 representatives from Japan-America Societies from across the U.S., along with a dozen colleagues from the America-Japan Societies (Japan), gathered in Washington, D.C. to celebrate this milestone.
The NAJAS 30th Anniversary International Symposium consisted of three parts, a luncheon presentation by MIT Professor John W. Dower on February 6, and on February 7 Keynote addresses by the Honorable Ryozo Kato, Ambassador of the Government of Japan to the United States, and the HonorableJ. Thomas Schieffer, Ambassador of the Government of the Untied States to Japan, followed by panel presentations by four distinguished Japan specialists.
At noon on February 6, close to 100 people came to hear Professor John Dower present a fascinating talk on Visualizing Culture. He used Power Point to projecta variety of digital images of paintings, scrolls, post cards and many other graphic pieces. By showing images of historic events and people, such as Perry’s arrival in Japan, from two cultural perspectives, Professor Dower was able to demonstrate how powerful these images can be. It was a powerful teaching tool to dramatically show how people of different cultures perceive one another.
On the afternoon of February 6, Keynote lectures were given by Ambassador Ryozo Kato and U.S. Ambassador to Japan J. Thomas Schieffer on the state of the Japan-U.S. relationship. The session was very ably moderated by Dr. Michael Green of CSIS and GeorgetownUniversity. In his speech, Ambassador Schieffer underscored the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship in the context of the situation in Asia, focusing on China as well as the Japan-U.S.-Australia partnership. Ambassador Kato lauded American efforts to improve the world, and said that Japan shared with the U.S. the desire to resolve problems. "The U.S. and Japan's ability to resolve problems in the world is an international public good," said Ambassador Kato. "What is important is that both Japan and the U.S. have the positive will, in other words, the optimism, to exercise this ability." The speeches were followed by stimulating questions with thoughtful responses from both Ambassadors who often played off of one another. The Q & A portion was made even more interesting by the insightful comments from the moderator, Dr. Green.
Panel presentations followed the keynote lectures, and featured four speakers from academia and the public and private sectors. The session was moderated by Samuel Shepherd, President of NAJAS.
The first speaker, Dr. Michael Auslin, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, discussed the history of American-Japan societies in Japan, and Japanese-American societies in the U.S. He said that while Japan-U.S. exchange has been going on for 150 years, the first fifty were mostly "individual and philanthropic" interactions for those who had the means to go abroad, and that it has only been since the mid 20th century that "real people-to-people contact in organized exchange" began.
Dr. Auslin spoke about the founding of the first America-Japan Society in Tokyo in 1917, as well as the activities of the various Japan societies in California, Boston, New York and elsewhere. "(These early societies) were the single most important generator of knowledge about Japan or the Japanese for Americans, and vice versa," he said. While their limits as cultural exchange organizations became clear during the war, these societies sprung back immediately afterwards. As political and economic relations between Japan and the U.S. became strong, the societies began to reflect the "concerns and experiences of regular people," he said. "Bilateral U.S.-Japan history is in large part written by the U.S.-Japan societies."
Looking ahead, Dr. Auslin expressed his concern that the societies today tend to ignore the "serious and important topics that make up the bilateral relationship." Despite the fact that Japan is "Asia's oldest and largest democracy," problems such as economic decline and demographics tend to be put aside. "Interest in Japan peaks early, during the adolescence, and isn't maintained into adulthood," he said. "Japan is seen as a diversion, not a serious topic of study." He warned that if this continues, it will lead to the marginalization of Japan. "The support of serious discourse--social, political and economic--will be testimony of the societies' history," he said.
The second speaker, Mr. Charles Burress, astaff writerand city editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, spoke about media perceptions and how they affect the Japan-U.S. relationship. He began the discussion by showing graphic images of the 2005 anti-Japan demonstrations in China. These demonstrations in China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) were in reaction to the Government of Japan's approval of a history textbook that allegedly downplayed Japan's past aggressions against China and ROK and other issues.
Japan's relationship with its East Asian neighbors has a bearing on U.S.'s foreign relations. "If the U.S. is perceived by Chinaand other nations assupporting Japan in a refusal to deal with the past and encouraging Japan to take a harder line toward China, or if Japan sees the U.S. as supporting China, thenU.S. ability to promote stability and manage security affairs in the region could be impaired," he said.
Mr. Burress explained that sources of Japan-China tensions are many, including "growing nationalism, China's military modernization,competition over energy resources [in the East China Sea], Taiwan, history issues, strategic rivalry, and the public perception that Japan has not dealt well with its past." But according to the Sino-Japanese Rivalry Project, a "top group of current and former U.S. officials and scholars" that met from March to August in 2006, "while most policymakers and policy elites understand that sources of Sino-Japanese relations are complex," the public simply attributes them to history issues, he said.
Mr. Burress emphasized the importance of the media, which "are the public's eyes and ears," in shaping the public perception of Japan and its neighbors. He named a few examples where the media had adversely affected Japan-China relations, such as another textbook incident in 1982, when it was reported that Japan's Ministry of Education told textbooks to change the word "invade" to "advance" (in reality, this change was recommended but not implemented); the immense popularity of the book Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang, which is said to have prompted Japan’s postwar reparations (the book was endorsed by the media as a reliable source of information, while there were many historians and scholars who disagreed); and the 2005 textbook incident itself, which in fact had involved a textbook used byonly 0.1% of Japanesemiddle schools. "Bad reporting by the media contributed to the disputeover history issues," he said.
Mr. Burress said, "If we think of the conflict over history in terms of a 'memory war' and ask who are the war criminals responsible, then I think the press has to be on the list."He saidignorance about the issues that affect Japan's East Asian relations is one cause of irresponsible U.S. reporting, and thatthe U.S. news mediatend tobe influenced by the proximity and volume ofthe critics of Japan. "The press needs to be better informed. They need to talk to more scholars," he said. In the meantime, he advised that when members of the public encounter what they believe to be misguided reporting, they can contact the media in a diplomatic manner. "Constructive suggestions from readers make a difference," he said.
Prof. Susan Napier, who teaches Japanese Studies at TuftsUniversity, was the third speaker. She discussed the reception of Japanese anime in the U.S. and the world, and gently countered Dr. Auslin's argument. She said that focusing on Japanese pop culture is not marginalizing Japan, but simply provides a means to "[approach] Japan in topics different from more obviously important issues."
Prof. Napier gave a brief historical overview of Japan's influence on the western world. She listed sources of Japan's hard power, such as its position of being one of the few Asian countries that was never colonized, the early development of military, and victories in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, which "brought a shift in how Japan was perceived."
Prof. Napier then discussed the past and contemporary influences of Japan's soft power. She showed the painting La Japonaise by Claude Monet, where a western woman is wearing a red kimono and holding a Japanese fan, and called it "an early form of Cosplay" where the woman is "reveling in difference." She said that Japanese art "changed western art forever," and that Impressionism would not have been possible without it. Likewise, Buddhism and martial arts have shown their influence on western culture through examples such as Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums and the film Kill Bill, respectively. Japanese women, typified in geisha, are the "exoticized, eroticized image of 'The Other.'" Even cuteness, such as in Hello Kitty, is spreading to the U.S., "because these are scary times," she said.
For anime and manga, "fandom is very important," she said. She said that there are many Americans who identify with Japanese cartoons, and who may have taken Japanese language or history courses or visited Japan because of this interest.
The last speaker was Mr. Peter Grilli, President of The Japan Society of Boston. Mr. Grilli, who grew up in Japan and is the son of a musician and a Japanese art historian, spoke about the importance of art in communication. "Great art transcends political boundaries," he said. "Art teaches and helps us understand each other, through the deep truths and values of the societies that produce them."
He said that the flow of art from one culture to another is "not constant but (comes) in shifts and bursts, assisted or propelled by economics" and other factors. He named the Kennedy Center Japan Festival as one example of a "huge outburst" that is "often tied with ceremonial events such as anniversaries."
"The interpenetration of Japan and the U.S. has changed both societies," he said. In sports alone, there has been an increase in Japanese baseball players in the Major League and American sumo wrestlers. All of these have contributed to the "increased familiarity and mutual understanding that Japan and the U.S. feel with each other," he said.
This mutual awareness is especially manifested in art. Mr. Grilli discussed an example of when kabuki, a traditional theatre that many worried would be difficult for non-Japanese to understand, was shown in the U.S. in 1982. To everyone's pleasant surprise, the American audience was very receptive. "It doesn't matter whether it's high art like kabuki or popular art like anime," he said. "Great art carries deep fundamental messages that help us understand ourselves and each other."