Eric Thomas Messersmith

Date of Birth: January 10, 1947

Nationality: US Citizen

Home Address: 11440 SW 77 Ave. Pinecrest, Florida 33156

E-mail Address:

Educational Background:

08/25 /65 －01 / 23 /70

BA,University of Miami, College of Arts & Sciences

01/ 13 /97 －12/16 /98

MBA, University of Miami, International Business

05/06 /99 －08 /09 /03 PhD, University of Miami, College of Arts & Sciences, School of International Studies, International Relations/Economics; Dissertation Topic:“Political Corruption in Japan: A Study of the Theory, Causes and Effects with Particular Reference to the Yakuza Factorin Banking Scandals and Prolonged Recession”

Employment Record:

08/26/02 – present, Lecturer, Institute for Asian Studies, FloridaInternationalUniversity (teaching multidisciplinary courses)

08/15/79 – present, Executive Director, Japan Cultural Foundation, Miami,

02/15/71 – 06/01/78, Assistant Professor; KinranCollege, Osaka, Japan

Teaching Experience

Courses and content taught at FloridaInternationalUniversity:

  1. International Relations of East Asia; Historical and Cultural Relations between Japan, Korea, China and the US.
  2. Politics of Far East; Modern political history of Japan, Korea, China, and relations with US
  3. Zen and the Tea Ceremony; Historical survey of Tea in China and Japan, with practical applications through the practice as host and guest in the preparation of tea (Undergrad and Grad Levels)
  4. World Politics
  5. History of China
  6. History of Japan (Meiji Isshin to Present)
  7. Politics of Japan (Meiji Isshin to Present)

Courses and content taught at KinranCollege

  1. English conversation/American culture

Other Academic and Professional Activities:

Executive Director/Co-Founder, Japan Cultural Foundation, Miami

President/Director, Chado Urasenke Tankokai South Florida Association

FIU Shorinji Kempo Club, Faculty Sponsor

Member, Southeast US Japan Society

Presentations:

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Miami

Midori Gallery, Miami

LoweArt Museum, University of Miami

Urasenke, Konnichian, Kyoto

Sanpukuji, Kyoto

Sohonzan Shorinji, Tadotsu-shi, Kagawa Ken

Tokyo Budokan

Honors and Awards:

First place; All-Japan Martial Arts Tournament, Tokyo Budokan, 1974

Shorinji Kempo 6th dan, Jun hanshi

Chamei宗龍 (Soryu) Urasenke Konnichian

Research

My field of specialization is Japan and its cultural, political, and economic relations with the United States.

Other Fields:

  1. Business
  2. International Relations/Politics
  3. Religion; Zen and Chanoyu
  4. Economics

Region: Japanese Studies and Asian Studies

I have spent the last 3 years researching what I believe to be a major factor in the economic recession that has been plaguing Japan for over a decade. My research focuses on the effects of corruption on the prolonged economic recession in Japan with an emphasis on the bad loan situation in the banking industry. Other areas of interest are in Chanoyu and the pursuit of world peace through a bowl of tea, and the role of ultra-nationalists and their effect on Japanese society.

Language Skills

Advanced conversational ability in spoken Japanese, proficiency in reading and research.

Summary

I lived and worked in Kyoto, Japan for nearly ten years during which time I achieved a thorough education in traditional Japanese culture. During this period I was fortunate enough to be able to host many visiting scholars and educators from the US and Europe at my home and spent a great deal of time guiding them around the cultural sites of Kyoto and Nara. Having the ability to speak the language, which most scholars of that time lacked, I was in a position to help them by introducing little known areas outside the “tourist spots.”