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ASA-JAAS
ASA-JAAS Delegate Report 2002
ASA-JAAS PROJECT, May-November 2002
For the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission
Submitted by John F. Stephens, Executive Director
American Studies Association
December 12, 2002
In both the United States and Japan scholarship in American Studies has changed and developed remarkably during the years, since 1990, of ASA participation in the JAAS conferences. The theme for our joint project is “New Dimensions of American Studies,” which not only acknowledges and invites further development of the field but also implies and welcomes comparisons and reflections on how and why “American Studies” and its subjects have been changing. We are pleased to report on the JAAS-ASA workshops, in June 2002, which were concerned with “Technology and Society” and “Citizenship and Participation,” and the dialogues between U.S., Japanese, (and Korean) scholars.
The length of the project since its inception enables us to gauge and interpret the continuous development of American Studies in Japan during this time. We have all experienced and learned from our intellectual, international dialogue. The ASA-JAAS projects have increasingly been concerned with fostering career-long collegial relations among the participating members.
Accordingly, we are also pleased to report on our joint “Next Generation” initiative to develop a new generation of active participants in ASA-JAAS projects to help to sustain the highly productive dialogue that has developed. We invited seven graduate student members of the JAAS enrolled in graduate degree programs in the United States selected competitively to receive subsidies for domestic travel within the United States that would help them to attend the ASA national conference, in Houston, Texas, November 14-17, 2002. This new part of the project furthers ASA-JAAS long-standing aims of encouraging career-long scholarly relations among our members.
Project Summary (2002)
George J. Sanchez, 2001-2002 President
American Studies Association
On behalf of the American Studies Association (ASA), I am pleased to submit this report on the 2002 program developed in conjunction with the Japanese Association for American Studies (JAAS) and the U.S. Department of State. This program, each year, brings two competitively selected U.S. American Studies scholars, as well as the ASA president, to participate in the JAAS annual meeting and to offer additional programs of lectures, seminars, and informal meetings for scholars, students, and general audiences at other venues in Japan. The Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission supports the two scholars, and the ASA president is sponsored by the U.S. State Department. The overall program involves sustained cooperation between the ASA, the JAAS, and the U.S. Department of State and its cultural/public affairs offices.
This overall report broadly summarizes and reflects on the accompanying detailed reports of the two scholars support by the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission this year, Josh Brown of City University of New York, and Jane Desmond of the University of Iowa, as well as a similar report of my own activities as ASA president. It is clear to all of us that this an extremely well-developed, superbly conceived, and invaluable program for all involved that deserves to be continued, extended, and promoted as a model of international collaboration and exchange.
The 2002 program, similar to past years, built on some established features of the project, including major participation of all three U.S. scholars in the JAAS meeting, this year held at Meiji University in Tokyo, and joint participation of all three scholars in the special American Studies seminar organized at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.
Though not formally part of the ASA-JAAS project, the ASA president’s program, like last year, included a week of programming in Korea, preceding and in addition to the full schedule developed for Japan. Given the commitment of all involved to this addition, as well as developing relationships between the American Studies Association in Korea (ASAK) and JAAS, I suggest that this part of the program be seen as a more regular, formal part of the activities for the ASA president, if his/her teaching schedule permits. The U.S. Embassies in Korea and Japan can work together on much of the logistics, and it appears as if ASAK representatives will now be a regular part of the JAAS meeting also.
The three U.S. scholars offered in sum, sixteen formal and informal programs in Japan, and an additional four in Korea, for a total of twenty events (one scheduled event in Okinawa was cancelled due to a typhoon). This does not include many substantive informal discussions with colleagues and students, often over tea or meals.
These programs were presented in seven different cities in Japan and four in Korea; there were nine different university venues in Japan, and three in Korea, for a total of twelve different universities; other four public programs were presented in different U.S. Centers or their equivalents, as well as at the major JAAS conference. In sum, this profile reveals the continuation of a healthy, broad based program providing substantial outreach to diverse academic and general audiences in both Korea and Japan. We believe that the program achieved all of its goals, although refinement and improvement can always build on its considerable strengths and capabilities.
In order to push forward some of these refinements, I offer the following points for consideration, drawn from my own personal experiences, but also reflective of points made by my other two colleagues that were part of this year’s programs:
1) We had the luxury of participating in a finely tuned program that has been meticulously developed over several years. In short, the program works in fundamental ways that should not be underemphasized. The participation by U.S. scholars in the JAAS meeting, expertly coordinated by our three JAAS hosts, is now substantial and constructive, while opportunities to meet informally with other JAAS scholars abound in the various receptions and meals, not to mention the subsequent visits to various campuses after the JAAS meeting. Moreover, the Kyoto seminar is now a regular feature of the yearly programming, and gives American scholars a great opportunity to interact directly with Japanese graduate students. The core of the program works well for both JAAS and ASA, and provides the context for substantial intellectual exchange.
2) The surrounding program of university and public talks for the three ASA scholars also seems to be developing quite well. I would emphasize that each U.S. scholar should send not only a title, but also a paragraph describing each proposed talk, so that universities and centers could make wiser decisions. In addition, I thought my university talks went best when accompanied by a faculty commentator or moderator who helped “translate” issues for Japanese student audiences. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every public presentation made at the various American Centers and especially those combined with chambers of commerce (Nagasaki) or those in larger public venues (Nagoya). These give us the opportunity to engage with a wider Japanese public, and whatever can be done in the future to promote these discussions should be encouraged. I found the advice provided by the Directors of the Centers most useful in gauging my audience in preparation for these discussions.
3) The Korea visit of the ASA president before the JAAS meeting should be a regular feature of the program. I believe that the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs section in Korea is ready to work with its Japanese counterparts for coordination, and ASAK will regularly contact the ASA about participation in its annual speakers series. Because it looks as if ASAK members will not regularly participate in the JAAS meeting, this connection makes sense for the overall planning of the project. The only glitch will come if the teaching schedule of an ASA president in late spring does not allow for an early departure.
4) I have read over the reports of previous presidents and I believe that most of the future refinements of the program should occur on the ASA side of the equation. More should be done to encourage past ASA participants to follow up on their offers of collaboration and to utilize the national meetings of the ASA for further discussions and dialogues. Most helpful would be promotion of ideas such as the one by Jane Desmond, to have Japanese delegates travel to the International Forum for U.S. Studies following their attendance at the U.S. American Studies meetings. Another might be to encourage Josh Brown to have discussions with ASA’s Electronic Crossroads Project about how to further electronic collaborations across the Pacific. In particular, we in the ASA should think about how to incorporate into our national meetings the same sort of hospitality and purposeful dialogues into various settings. One idea is to have a special moment in which a member of reach nation’s delegation in attendance can say a few words to the assembled group, maybe just before the ASA Presidential address.
5) In particular, more could be done to facilitate the incorporation of Japanese graduate students into the workings of the ASA, and certainly those JAAS members who find themselves seeking degrees at U.S. universities. Each of the scholars who have visited Japan should be expected to know those graduate students in their immediate areas, and encourage them to participate in regional meetings and get regular information regarding ASA activities in the surrounding area. Increasingly, many of us who have had Japanese graduate students see them eventually in substantial positions in Japanese universities, which provide new contexts for international collaboration and dialogue. There should be more that we can do with these JAAS members in our midst.
In closing, let me emphasize what others have said before: this exchange program is truly a transformative experience for those of us who participate that makes a lasting impact on us personally and professionally. The internationalization of American Studies is progressing mightily specifically because of these formal programs and all the informal connections that are made because of them. It is already leading to new ways of teaching and new forms of scholarship. My now-decade long connection to Japan, and specifically to Japanese scholars I encountered during my first visit, has profoundly changed my intellectual career. This program allowed me to further this intellectual agenda of exchange, now from more of an institutional and programmatic level. I only want to reiterate the gratitude I have for all those who have contributed to this program in the past, as well as expressing excitement and envy for all those who will be touched by this program in the future.
ASA PRESIDENTIAL REPORT TRIP TO KOREA & JAPAN
MAY 26 – JUNE 14, 2002
George J. Sanchez
University of Southern California
I have chosen to use a narrative report style for my own report on my activities because so much of my travel was distinctive from the other members of our ASA delegation, and I felt this might be informative to the next set of ASA Presidents.
My decisions regarding this trip, done in consultation with JAAS representatives, and Public Affairs officials of the U.S. State Department, both in Washington and in Asia, should be understood in the context of my previous experiences in Japan. This would be my third trip to Japan, my first occurring in 1993 as part of a NIRA-sponsored research group on U.S. ethnic attitudes towards Japan, and the second in 1996 as part of an ASA contingent organized by then-President Elaine Tyler May. I was particularly interested in visiting sites outside of Tokyo and Kyoto, both of which I had enjoyed on the previous visits. I had never traveled to Korea or any other part of the Asian continent.
Another important factor for me was that, because of new work responsibilities, my wife decided to stay at home for this trip, and I therefore traveled alone. I probably could not have visited so many sites had I traveled with my family, and certainly would have pressed for a more relaxed travel schedule. Traveling alone, however, made it possible for me to visit as much of both countries as I did, and with the guidance of several excellent country specialists working for the U.S. Embassy, I was able to see sites throughout Korea and Japan efficiently and with expert guidance. This is notable for someone who does not speak any Korean or Japanese.
I should say that planning for this trip began in January 2002, when Professor Masako Notoji first contacted me regarding the possible topics for my talks in Japan. I knew Professor Notoji since my first trip to Japan in 1993, as well as Professor Masako Iino, who was part of that research group which first met in the United States in 1992. Working with both of them, along with Professor Noaki Onishi, whom I had previously met at the annual ASA convention, was an absolute delight. They kept me informed regularly of their needs and desires, and were the absolutely most gracious hosts while in Japan I could have possibly imagined. My own frantic schedule at the University of Southern California sometimes kept me from responding to their inquiries in as timely a manner as I would have preferred. I am ever grateful to them for their patience with me.
I also was regularly contacted by Helen Sebsow from the U.S. State Department in Washington to make travel arrangements, and by Warren Soiffer and Richard Banks in Japan and Korea, respectively. They kept me informed and updated, especially starting in April 2002, regarding the choices of topics being made in various sites in both countries and helped coordinate the travel distances, of which I was unaware. I also had contact with some of the individual American Center directors, with specific questions about my talks and local arrangements, as well as with Dr. Julie Higashi in Kyoto, regarding our collective graduate seminar there. During 2002, it took me a while to acclimatize to the overall number of people that I was in contact with to arrange the trip, and some roles really did not fall into place in my mind until I was actually on the trip itself. Future Presidents should be aware that it will be expected to send copies of papers ahead of time to various contacts, sometimes months ahead of time, especially for purposes of translation and to provide copies for audiences.
One unique feature of the entire trip for me was that it occurred simultaneous to the World Cup soccer matches in Korea and Japan, probably the world’s most widely followed sporting event being held for the first time in Asia. Not only did I make reference to this event in talks throughout my trip but, it was exciting to be in Korea and Japan at exactly the time when both countries were on a worldwide stage, so to speak. Fans from throughout the world descended on both countries while I was there, and I watched and followed soccer for three weeks to an extent I would have never thought imaginable before. In addition, the unique arrangement between the two countries made for fascinating discussions about the sometimes-complicated relationship between Korea and Japan on both cultural and economic grounds. I often found myself next to soccer fans from Latin America while in Asia, as well as several flights with the crew of Univision, the largest broadcaster in Latin America and the most widely watched channel by soccer fans in the United States during this period.
Finally, before providing my overall narrative, let me inform you of the biggest intellectual surprise during my visit. Because I decided to give all my talks on the various subjects concerning the topic of Latinos in the United States, I ended up having unique experiences throughout Korea and Japan when these presentations were announced to wider audiences. At each of the public venues, I ended up speaking Spanish to members of the audience who were either originally from Latin America, or had spent substantial time in Latin America. This was made even more possible because several of the moderators and commentators for my presentation were professors of Spanish, Caribbean, or Latin American Studies. Talking to an audience in English, while my moderator talks to them in Japanese and we talk to each other in Spanish, is an intercultural experience I will not forget for quite some time. I learned about the rather substantial Latin American influence in Asia, ranging from the newfound salsa dance craze in Nagoya to the role of returning businessmen from Latin American operations and their newly constructed Latin American families in Sendai. I was surprised, based on my previous two trips, with the growing diversity in Japan and the impact of globalization on the culture. This has peaked my intellectual interest and may provide me with a future research topic, maybe in collaboration with a Japanese colleague
Now, let me discuss, in length, my trip in narrative style:
Sunday & Monday, May 26 & 27, 2002
I left Los Angeles International Airport at 12:30 pm on Sunday on United Airlines Flight 897 bound for Tokyo. Arriving in Tokyo at 3:45 pm on Monday, I had plenty of time to make my connection, United Flight 881, from Tokyo to the new international airport on Incheon Island, south of Seoul, Korea, where I arrived at 7:45 pm. I had received detailed instructions on transportation options from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, so I caught a KAL Limousine Bus directly to my hotel in downtown Seoul. Because of the World Cup occurring at the same time as my visit, I was booked into the JW Marriot Hotel in Seoul, the same hotel that was hosting the U.S. soccer team. I arrived at the hotel in about an hour, where Richard Huckaby, Country Program Officer for the Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy in Seoul, greeted me. He gave me a helpful packet of information concerning Korea and a finalized schedule of my visit, and I made it upstairs and went directly to sleep with substantial jet lag.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
I met Public Affairs Officer Stephen Rounds and Assistant Country Program Officer Janina de Guzman in the hotel lobby promptly at 7:45 am. I had been instructed to only take carry-on bags on my “country visits,” so I deposited the rest of my luggage with the concierge for overnight storage and checked out of the hotel. We were driven by embassy vehicle in morning rush hour traffic to Gimpo Airport, the former international airport now dedicated to domestic flights. On the ride to the airport, I learned more about how the Public Affairs section in the U.S. Embassy in Korea works, with “Country Program Officers” working out of Seoul but responsible for programming everywhere in the country except Seoul. This was a result of the pullback and closing of branch offices with the ending of USIA. At the airport, Country Program Specialist Ma Myoung Uk and the Embassy interpreter met us. Richard Huckaby arranged for our seats, and we boarded Korean Air 1303 for the short trip to Gwanju Airport.
We arrived at the Gwanju Airport at 10 am, and were immediately off to Honam University by taxi, for a scheduled lecture on “The Multiracial Body in American Society” at 11 am. At this rather new university built on the side of a hill on the outskirts of Gwanju, I was surprised to see my name and talk announced on a big colorful banner at the entrance to the university itself. Because we arrived slightly early, we were escorted to a faculty lounge and served tea, and I was delighted to hear more about the history of this area, particularly about recent pop concerts held at the university to recruit students, as well as the history of student unrest in the city in the past. Although I had read tour books and one scholarly book on Korea on the flight across the Pacific, I still felt like I needed to know much more about Korea and its history as I prepared for my first talk.
At 11, I lectured to about one hundred students and faculty. Although I had scheduled a 25-minute talk that would expand to one hour with consecutive translation, I still had to cut down the talk to not run too much over. I had less time for questions than I had hoped, but I got several good questions from students who seemed to have familiarity with U.S. culture. In particular, even though the talk was focused on multiracialism in the United States, it was clear that the 1992 Riots in Los Angeles had framed much of what they knew about race relations in the U.S., so I planned to talk more directly about this event for the rest of the week. There were also clearly a large number of American and European professors in the audience, several of whom joined us for lunch afterwards.
After the talk, we immediately went for lunch via taxis at a downtown Korean restaurant in Gwanju with the Embassy entourage and about five members of faculty from Honam. I felt unusually familiar with the landscape in Gwanju, and realized it was a result of spending so much time in Koreatown in Los Angeles. I also learned a great deal about Gwanju, Honam University, and Korean students from the faculty we ate with, along with the subtle differences between Japanese and Korean cuisine and customs. After lunch, the Embassy entourage went back to the airport via taxi, and we boarded a return flight to Seoul at 3 pm. On the flight, I was able to talk at length with ACPO Guzman about working for the Embassy and the structure of the Public Affairs Section.
Arriving back at Gimpo Airport, I was “handed off” to the next team of Embassy personnel, headed up by Richard Huckaby and Kim Mi Kyoung, Country Program Specialist for Pusan. We relaxed at the airport Starbucks as we waited for our flight, and I continued my questioning about the Embassy’s work and Korean culture. At 4:50 pm, we departed for Busan on Asiana Airlines 8841, arriving one hour later at Gimhae Airport. On the trip, I learned about Pusan’s particular history as a major port on the Pacific, and its history of cultural exchange with the wider world. We took a taxi through rush hour traffic in Pusan to arrive at the Paradise Hotel, and immediately went to the adjoining restaurant to meet with an awaiting group of academics from the region.
This group was a diverse set of ten academics from several universities, but particularly associated with the American Studies Center at Dongeui University, and in the international studies and English departments at Pusan National University. I gave a rather informal talk on new developments in American Studies in the United States, focusing on both efforts at diversifying discussions of race and ethnicity, as well as on recent efforts at internationalizing the field. I answered many questions about the state of American Studies, as well as the ASA, and was able to ask them about their own career paths. I was especially intrigued by the presence of two academics, one originally from China and another from Russia, and was able to hear their perspective on the Korean university system. It was clear that these programs were vital for the region, especially since the American Center has been disestablished with the pullback of the USIA. We enjoyed each other’s company over delicious Korean food and drink, and I was very grateful for the end of the long day, still somewhat feeling the effects of jet lag.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Luckily, I was able to sleep in late and finally recover from my jet lag this morning. We checked out of the hotel at 9:30 am, and Richard Huckaby and I took a taxi to Busan train station. Since we arrived a bit early for the train, we caught an earlier one than we were scheduled for, with Mr. Huckaby making all the arrangements in fluent Korean. In enjoyed the one and one-half hour train trip to DongDaegu Station because I was able to learn much about the country from Mr. Huckaby, who was on his second assignment to Korea. He pointed out many of the features of rural Korea as we whizzed by on the train. Upon arriving at Daegu, we were met by Country Program Specialist Kwon Hwa Soon and the Embassy interpreter. We all boarded a taxi to Keimyung University, to the office of Dr. Dooha Ryu, Department Chair of American Studies, who holds a Ph.D. in Economics. Over lunch at the faculty lounge, I met additional faculty from Keimyung University, including several young faculty members who had been taught recently at U.S. universities with a more cultural studies approach to their research. This sort of range of training in American Studies is what I expected, since I had grown accustomed to this diversity in my previous trips to Japan.
After a short wait in Professor Ryu’s office, I gave a lecture in a rather large classroom to about one hundred students on “Race and Immigration in Changing Communities in the United States.” Despite a few glitches with the sound system, this was a very attentive audience that was very interested in race relations in the United States, and I was able to focus even more on the fate of Korean Americans in a city like Los Angeles. I felt like this talk reached the Korean student audience much more directly, since many of them have family or friends who have migrated to Los Angeles, or the United States more broadly, and have personal investment in understanding what is occurring across the Pacific. The students seemed genuinely intrigued by the surge of Latinos in the demographics of California, and in discussing its implications for Koreans in the United States. Because I had cut back dramatically in the number of pages I delivered due to the timing of consecutive translation, I was able to answer many more questions from this audience.
After the presentation had concluded, the Embassy team departed for Daegu Airport in taxis, departing for Seoul at 5 pm on Asiana Flight 8314. An Embassy vehicle met us, and I was dropped off back at the Marriott Hotel. I got a chance to walk a bit that evening for the first time in Korea, and after a light dinner at the hotel, got to bed early.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
I woke up early and got another chance to walk around the area immediately adjacent to the hotel. The evening before I had been contacted by the Embassy regarding several reporters who wanted to interview me in the morning, so I met Kyung A. Chung, Senior Cultural Advisor in the U.S. Embassy, at about 10:30 am, and we met three reporters in the lobby of the hotel, who represented The Korea Times and The Hankook Ilbo, both publications that emanate from Seoul. I spent about an hour answering questions from them regarding race relations in the United States, the status of Latinos, and many questions about the place of Koreans in the United States in the unfolding demographic transition underway in the U.S. population. As I had already discovered elsewhere in Korea, the preoccupation with the 1992 Los Angeles Riots colors all discussions of race relations in the U.S., probably more so in Korea than among Korean Americans, I believe. So much of my discussion with these reporters started with an analysis of what has occurred in Los Angeles since 1992, a topic I was fully versed to discuss.
At 11:30, Ms. Chung and I took a taxi across the river to downtown Seoul, where we met a larger party for lunch at the Vine Restaurant in the Lotte Hotel. Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer Dale Kreisher was at this lunch, and he had recently assumed the duties temporarily of Cultural Affairs Office Robert Banks, who had recently been reassigned outside of the country. I also got to meet the current President of the American Studies Association of Korea (ASAK), Young Choi, along with the immediate Past President of ASAK, Youn-Son Chung, and several other ASAK officers. Over lunch, we discussed continuing the pattern set in motion by the immediate past ASA President, Michael Frisch, and continued by me, to visit Korea before the regularly scheduled JAAS visit by the ASA President. Since I knew that the next two presidents had already traveled extensively to Asia, I thought that this pattern could be continued in the near future, if the Presidents teaching schedules allowed for it. It was agreed that the Public Affairs Section in Seoul would continue to work with their counterparts in Tokyo and Washington to make sure the arrangements would be made well in advance of the visit and coordinated with the President. Since the actual ASAK annual conference does not take place until the fall, this arrangement seems more financially feasible than commitments to come each fall, although several ASA Presidents have been able to work in this meeting into their travel schedules.
Because I had almost five hours before my next commitment, I made arrangements with Ms. Chung to do some sightseeing in central Seoul in the afternoon. Ms. Chung generously gave her time to serve as my personal tour guide, as we visited a centrally located imperial palace, the surrounding gardens, and the nearby cultural museum. This was my first actual opportunity to take pictures, buy gifts, and see Seoul during my visit. I immensely enjoyed the conversation with Ms. Chung, as I learned about contemporary Korean society and politics, while learning a bit of history walking through the exhibits. We then went up the nearby mountain to a lovely Buddhist temple, then by taxi to a central shopping district. After an afternoon tea, I was able to purchase many gifts for family and friends back home. Just as it started to rain, we took a taxi to Ewha Woman’s University, where I was scheduled to lecture that evening.
Ewha University is the campus of current ASAK President Young Choi, faculty member of English, as well as the site of the 25th annual American Studies lecture series, co-sponsored by ASAK and the U.S. Embassy. I was scheduled as the final speaker of this series at 6 pm, which has centered, in the wake of 9/11, on “New York, New York.” Being a scholar of Los Angeles, I prepared a talk entitled “Comparing Apples and Oranges: Latino Culture in New York and Los Angeles,” which utilized music to discuss the distinctions between current Latino populations in both cities, as well as historical distinctiveness. I used both music videos and CD-music in my presentation, and the facilities were excellent for me to work both the equipment and speak at the same time. The audience of about fifty faculty and graduate students were all fluent in English, so I did this talk without translation. The students, in particular, enjoyed the music videos and the focus on contemporary culture, and the questions from all showed excellent knowledge of cultural studies and issues of diversity in the United States.
At about 7:30 pm, we walked across the street to Mari Restaurant, where about twenty professors from the audience attended a celebratory dinner. I was able to connect with several scholars, both older and younger. One in particular has corresponded with me since the visit on his research on Korean rap music, a phenomenon I mentioned in my own presentation. We ended dinner about 9 pm, at which time Ms. Chung and Mr. Kreisher accompanied me by embassy car back to my hotel. With my official duties in Korea at an end, I had a restful night’s sleep.
Friday, May 31, 2002
I awoke early the next morning (6:40 am) to catch the KAL Limousine Bus back to Incheon Airport, and arrived before 8 am for processing. At 9:45 am, I departed Icheon for Tokyo, via United Flight 884, arriving at Narita Airport at 12:05 pm. I then took the airport bus from Narita into Tokyo itself, which left me directly at my base hotel in Tokyo, the ANA Hotel, near Roppongi. I had a packet of information waiting for me from the U.S. Embassy, Public Affairs Section, in Tokyo, along with notes of welcome from Professor Notoji and Iino of the Japanese Association of American Studies (JAAS). I spent the afternoon getting settled in my hotel room and walking around the area adjacent to the hotel, a region of Tokyo I knew well from two previous visits.
[Because the next four days at the JAAS conference at Meiji University, Tokyo, and Kyoto Seminar at Ritsumeikan University were spent with the other two ASA delegates, Josh Brown and Jane Desmond, and are repeated in their reports, I will try to limit my remarks to specific and distinctive events I participated in during this period.]
Professor Masako Iino met me in the lobby of my hotel to escort me via taxi to the special reception for international guests that evening. It was wonderful to see Professor Iino again, since she had been part of the group of scholars I had first gotten to know in my first visit to Japan in 1992. On the way to Meiji University, she was able to give me my train tickets for Kyoto, for which I was able to repay her (later, on Monday, I was repaid by the Embassy for these tickets). The reception itself was held at the top of the University’s Liberty Tower and it gave me an opportunity to reconnect with several of the professor who had made my previous two visits to Japan so memorable. I was asked to say a few words for the American delegation, which I was pleased to do, and felt fortunate that I had already had time in Korea to talk with Professor Young Choi, who headed her delegation from Korea. This was a lovely event that made me think that we should do more to honor the international guests we have at our annual ASA meetings in the United States. I reconnected with the two other members of the ASA delegation, Josh Brown and Jane Desmond, both of whom I had seen within the year, and to meet Josh’s wife, Julie Joslyn. I also had a chance to meet Warren Soiffer for the first time at this meeting, the person most responsible for planning my activities following the JAAS meeting. Warren was gracious in guiding me back to my hotel after the reception via the subway system, a method of transportation I need to be reacquainted with that would be my most basic form of moving around Tokyo for the rest of my visit.
Saturday, June 1, 2002
On the first official day of the JAAS conference, I arrived at Meiji University via subway with plenty of time to situate myself for the keynote address I was asked to deliver. I had sent the paper ahead of time, which allowed JAAS to print it for the entire audience. Masako Notoji had forewarned me the night before that the President of JAAS for this year, Dr. Kensaburo Shinkawa, had been hospitalized, so that I would be the only president delivering a talk at this keynote event. After a gracious introduction, I delivered my talk, “Race and Immigration in Changing Communities in the United States,” which combined my recent work on race relations in one Los Angeles neighborhood with previous work on the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and observations about the changing racial demographics of the United States. The audience was over two hundred in a huge auditorium, and included members of the American Historical Association delegation to Japan, whose visit coincided with the JAAS meeting. I received wonderful questions from the audience, and have recently been asked by Professor Notoji to have the talk published in Japan.
After the presentation, I was able to visit the nearby Akihabara district with Josh Brown and Julie Joslyn. I was aware from my 1996 ASA-sponsored trip to the JAAS meeting in Tokyo, that it is so difficult for conference organizers to be concerned with non-Japanese speaking visitors, when most sessions are in Japanese, that it is best to take care of oneself during these times. I was pleased to have the opportunity to get to know Josh and Julie, as well as see parts of Tokyo I had enjoyed previously. After a drink at the Brown’s hotel, we returned to that evening’s JAAS reception, a rather lavish feast of food and drink. I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Julie Higashi, who had made our arrangements for Kyoto, as well as several of the professors who I would encounter in my next two weeks of travel. I was once again asked to speak the entire group of assembled guests, and was pleased to offer my pleasure at being in Tokyo and my sincere gratitude for all the messages of condolence that the ASA had received in the wake of 9/11.
Sunday, June 2, 2002
I was able to attend both English-language sessions this day, the morning session dedicated to “Technology and Society” with Josh Brown as a participant, and the afternoon session on “Citizenship and Participation” with Jane Desmond as a participant, as well as Professor Sangjun Jeong from Korea. In between the two sessions, we were treated to a wonderful bento lunch, and had a chance to talk at length with our both Professors Jeong and Choi from Korea at length. That evening we all had the opportunity to have a wonderful, leisurely Chinese dinner with our JAAS hosts, Professors Notoji, Iino, and Onishi. I believe that these three hosts have done a magnificent job in making arrangements for all the guest visitors to the JAAS conference, and I always felt taken care of throughout my visit. There was much gift exchange, as well as photo taking, throughout the evening, as well as a wonderful celebration at the conclusion of what appeared to be a very successful JAAS conference.
Monday, June 3, 2002
Josh, Julie and I were picked up from my hotel this morning by embassy car and taken to the U.S. Embassy itself, where we were briefed by Warren Soiffer, had our first opportunity to meet Masayuki Tominaga, our translator, and make final financial and transportation arrangements. We were then transported to Shinjuku Station where we met up with Professor Desmond, Choi and Jeong, for the bullet train ride to Kyoto. The train ride was a special treat in that it gave the five of us a chance to learn more about each other’s research and international experiences. After depositing our luggage at the ANA Hotel in Kyoto, the whole group engaged in sightseeing next door at the Nijo Castle, negotiating the Kyoto subway, and doing some power tourist shopping at the Handicraft Center. That evening, Professor Julie Higashi and Masahiro Nakano, both from Ritsumeikan University, hosted us to a traditional Kyoto-style dinner.
Tuesday, June 4, 2002
Professor Nakano went out of his way to be our group’s tour guide around Kyoto for the day, as we visited both Kiyomizu and Ryonanji Temples, and had a wonderful noodle lunch near the Ritsumeikan University. We arrived with plenty of time before the seminar after these adventures to freshen up and check our emails. At this seminar for graduate students, I gave a shortened version of my paper, “Heading Back to the Future: Latino History and Public Culture in Southern California.” We had all been asked to send versions ahead of time to Professor Higashi, so the students could prepare for our presentations. I found the time with the graduate students quite rewarding, including the reception held immediately after the seminar. I discovered, for example, that several graduate students from Japan had presented at the previous fall’s ASA conference, and that many were planning to have a graduate student conference in Japan, where they have few opportunities to present their work to each other. After this event, Professor Nakano again went out of his way to treat Jane and I to a delicious tofu restaurant. We virtually had the run of the restaurant because that evening Japan played one of its World Cup matches, and “Blue Fever” had taken grip of the Kyoto population. Our group from the U.S. and Korea reassembled late that evening (after Korea’s World Cup match) for drinks and goodbyes, since we all began going our separate ways in the morning.
Wednesday, June 05, 2002
Yasuo Satake, a Japanese media specialist who works for the U.S.Consulate General in Osaka City, picked me up promptly at 7:30 am in the lobby of the ANA Hotel in Kyoto. He directed us via taxi to the Kyoto Train Station, where we boarded the bullet train to Hiroshima at 8:16. I learned about Mr. Satake’s time in the U.S., where he spent five years in Los Angeles, at an acting school before returning to Japan. In Kobe, on our route, Max Kwak, the director of the Kansai American Center in Osaka, the Consul for Public Affairs, joined us. Mr. Kwak is an American diplomat with an interesting background, being a Korean immigrant to the United States, now serving as a consulate official in Japan. We arrived in Hiroshima at 9:51, made our way via taxi to the Rihga Royal Hotel Hiroshima to drop off our bags, and pick up Junko Nishio, Reference Librarian at the Kansai American Center, and Masayiki Tominaga, the translator I met at the Tokyo U.S. embassy on Monday morning.
From there, we all headed directly by taxi to Hijiyama University, a private university that just recently became co-educational, where I delivered my talk on “The Multiracial Body in American Society” to a classroom full of students, with a few faculty visitors. Mr. Tominaga expertly aided me in consecutive translation. Dean of the Faculty of Contemporary Culture, Nobuo Kaneno, generously introduced me. For me, an interesting aspect of this presentation is that it took place in a language laboratory in which shoes were removed by all, the first experience I had in Japan of removing my shoes in a university classroom. Of course, I had grown experienced in removing shoes at homes and restaurants. There was time for only a few questions, and most of these came from the visiting faculty in the audience. After the presentation, we had a traditional Japanese bento lunch in a campus faculty lounge, walking across the beautiful campus situated on the side of a hill in one of Hiroshima’s many valleys. Several faculty attended lunch with our group and the Dean, including Professor Susumu “Sam” Nagara, who was an emeritus faculty in linguistics from the University of Michigan, one of my former places of employment. We had a chance to discuss transitions to co-education in the United States, a topic of much importance at this university in the midst of transition. Before lunch we exchanged pleasant words and gifts, and after lunch our entourage left campus via taxi, waving goodbye to the assembled faculty hosts.
With a largely free afternoon, we returned to the hotel and Mr. Satake guided Mr. Kwak and myself to the Peace Park and Museum in Hiroshima, a short walk away from our hotel. The visit was enhanced by a discussion we had about the previous American visitor that Mr. Satake had taken to this site just a few weeks before, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. In all ways, this was a powerful academic and emotional experience, as I took in the powerful symbols that mark the destruction of this city by the first atomic bomb dropped on a civilian population by the United States in World War II. We visited the remains of the exposition building and the displays of the peace cranes, where a group of Japanese sons and daughters of bombing victims were singing songs of lament. We walked past various commemorative fountains to the museum itself, full of school age children from throughout Japan. I read displays in which museum curators try to explain the rationale for the U.S. decision to drop the bomb, and we all noted that this panel had been obviously changed many times to account for new interpretations. The museum houses graphic displays of charred clothes and personal items, as well as the “ghost images” left by disintegrating bodies against concrete walls caught in the extreme heat of the blast. To experience this museum among Japanese schoolchildren learning about the violent aspects of U.S.-Japan relations of the past was a moving experience for me personally, one that I will not forget for some time to come.
After a bit of down time at the hotel, we gathered once again and took a taxi to Hiroshima City University, a new university in a suburban area that required us to go through a mountain tunnel. There we met with the President of the University, Reiji Fujimoto, for about half an hour. I was asked to sign a few documents that aided the transfer of funds for my visit back to the campus organizer, in order to pay for a reception on campus. Over cups of tea and after an exchange of gifts, I learned that this was a relatively new university, which was evident from the obviously new construction, quite beautiful against the hillside. I was delighted to write a few words of appreciation in a book that President Fujimoto has to commemorate all the visitors to campus at this new university. We then were escorted to a rather full lecture hall, where I delivered another version of my talk, “The Multiracial Body in American Society,” to about seventy students and faculty, again aided in consecutive translation by Mr. Tominaga. I got several outstanding questions from these students, and I was quite impressed by their desire to use English to ask questions.
I later learned that this was due to the presence of a developed International and Regional Studies program in which language acquisition is encouraged. A reception with substantial food and drink followed in a beautiful room at the top of a tall building full of ceiling to floor windows that allowed us to see the twinkling lights of Hiroshima at a distance. Unlike other school settings I visited, here I was able to have several substantial conversations with undergraduate and graduate students after toasts at the reception, include four undergraduate women majoring in International Relations and very willing to try their English with me. I was able to discuss their future plans for using their education, and introduce them to Mr. Kwak as possible future employees for the U.S. Embassy. In addition, this university has seemingly employed many foreign faculty members, and I was able to have extended conversations with Professors Yulia Mikhailova and Omar Farouk, both faculty members of International Studies. At the conclusion of the reception, with most of the campus in the dark, we were guided back to the ground floor, where the U.S. embassy entourage and I returned to the hotel in two taxis for a restful night.
Thursday, June 06, 2002
Mr. Satake and I planned to sightsee this free morning, so we met in the hotel lobby early packed for a day of travel. We first took a taxi to the train station, and left our bags there in lockers. Then we boarded a local commuter train and headed south, to catch the ferry to Miyagami, one of the loveliest tourists sites in all of Japan. The ferry took us to the island of Miyagami, otherwise known as Deer Island, for all the local deer that come up to be fed. We visited several shrines and temples at Miyagami and were privileged to run into a wedding party taking pictures with the famous orange gate that seems to rise from the bay in the background. We had a chance to take the tramway to the top of the central mountain on the island for a spectacular view of the mainland and surrounding island; unfortunately the monkeys, which populate the top of the mountain, were nowhere to be seen. After a lunch of famous Miyagami oysters and a bit of tourist shopping, we headed back to Hiroshima from the ferry. Mr. Satake was a wonderful guide throughout, taking pictures of me (which he later sent to California) so that I would have photos with me in them to commemorate the visit.
At the train station, we met Mr. Kwak, and the three of us boarded an eastbound Tokyo-bound bullet train after retrieving our belongings from the lockers. Both Mr. Kwak and Mr. Satake disembarked in Osaka, as I continued on to Nagoya. In Nagoya, I disembarked and easily found the Nagoya Marriott Hotel, located directly above the center train station. In the lobby, I was met by the Public Affairs Program Specialist in Nagoya, and a brand new intern at the Nagoya American Center from Brown University. I checked into this convenient, and beautiful, hotel, I went upstairs to briefly get settled, then came back downstairs where I was guided to the Nagoya American Center.
This American Center is different what I know of the others in that it is located in downtown Nagoya just a few blocks from the train station, and is attached to an larger international center of the Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Industry which allows it to have access to full-blown facilities for lectures and translation. At the Center, I met the director, Donna A. Welton, and the two women that would serve as my translators. I had gotten so accustomed to consecutive translations that I had regularly cut back my fifty-minute talks to less than ten, double-spaced pages, since it takes longer to give my address in Japanese than English. I had not realized the stark difference with simultaneous translation, which allowed me to give virtually my entire twenty-five page talk. So I quickly readjusted, having carried several versions of the talk with me, and gave the translators extra pages which allowed me to more fully give my ideas on “Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles.” Unlike other talks, the audience for this talk was a wide array of the public of Nagoya, the talk having been publicized by the local Chamber of Commerce. This talk was also aided by the fact that Los Angeles is a sister city of Nagoya, so many in the audience were aware, at least in general terms, with the social dynamics in Los Angeles. The audience included businessmen, housewives, academics, students, and other interested individuals.
I was lucky that Professor Chizuru Ushida, Associate Professor in Latin American Studies, Bilingual Education, and Spanish Language was my moderator for this session. She had emailed ahead of my trip, and asked if she could communicate with me in Spanish, which I was more than delighted to converse in. The session itself was an eye-opening experience for me, as I talked in English to the audience, Professor Ushida talked in Japanese to the audience, and we talked in Spanish to each other. The questions were delightfully complex, with a wonderful exchange about how the Japanese people can relearn what it means to be American, with the rapidly changing demography of the United States. After the session, I learned that Nagoya and the surrounding communities are one of the areas in Japan that has been greatly influenced by Japanese nationals that have returned from business enterprises in Latin America, as well as Japanese ethnics born in Peru or Brazil and trying to make it economically in industrial occupations in this district. Indeed, Nagoya now has quite a lively salsa dance culture involving both native Japanese and imports from Latin America. I met a woman whose son was running a maquiladora in Mexico, as well as a friend of Professor Ushida from Columbia who had been hired by a Japanese school to act as liaison with the Spanish-speaking former Peruvian school children. Professor Ushida introduced me to several of her students of Spanish, and it turned out I spoke more Spanish this evening than English. At the conclusion of the substantial time I had to engage with the audience formally and informally, those in charge of the building literally had to kick us out so that they could clean up. Professor Ushida and her friend from Columbia then were my hosts for a wonderful Japanese meal at one of the hip new eateries in the large mall complex attached to my hotel and the train station. We spent the evening talking Spanish and eating Japanese, before I retired to my hotel room.
Friday, June 07, 2002
I woke up early to catch a morning bullet train to Tokyo, where Mr. Yoshitsugu Nakamura of the U.S. Embassy had arranged to meet me upon my arrival. With only ten minutes to transfer to a northbound train to Sendai, I needed all the help I could get to make the transfer on time. Luckily everything went quite smoothly, and I had no trouble making the connection, thanks to Mr. Nakamura. Upon arriving in Sendai, Warren Soiffer met my arriving train, and we then caught a cab together to our hotel in Sendai and had about one hour to relax before regrouping.
Maki Tagaya, Public Affairs Program Assistant in the Sapporo American Center, Mr. Tominaga, Mr. Soiffer and I gathered together in the lobby that afternoon, and took a taxi to Tohoku University, where my talk was scheduled for the afternoon. Dean Koji Takenaka of the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies was our host, and we were able to have about one hour with him and the commentators to my paper, Professor Mitsuhiro Shigaki, of Language Education, Caribbean Studies and Puerto Rican Studies, and Professor Akiko Ochiai, of American Studies, before the address. After warm introductions from Dean Takenaka and Mr. Soiffer, I presented my talk, “Race and Immigration in U.S. History,” to about eighty students and faculty, with excellent consecutive translation by Mr. Tominaga. The two comments on my address were particularly well-suited, and raised important questions for a Japanese audience. Indeed, I thought that this format provided for better translation of my ideas to match the knowledge that students and faculty alike might have of U.S. culture and diversity. With exchange back and forth between the panelists, there was less time for questions here, but audience members put three or four excellent questions forward. At the conclusion of the formal part of the program, I was able to meet several American Studies, English, and International Studies faculty from Tohoku and a few surrounding universities before dinner.
Dean Takenaka hosted a dinner that night for the entire group, including U.S. Embassy personnel and Tohoku faculty, at a local Italian restaurant. I learned a great deal about programming to the north of Tokyo, and the current status of the Sapporo American Center, as well as more about the interests in Latin America and Spanish of Tohoku faculty and students. As we returned to the hotel after dinner on foot, we realized that one of the key World Cup matches between England and Argentina was taking place, and the city was abuzz with excitement. Later that night, Warren Soiffer, Maki Tagaya, and I had the opportunity to go out for a late night snack and watch the second half together at a small teriyaki diner, enjoying each other’s company and learning more about the work of the American Centers in Japan.
Saturday and Sunday, June 08-09, 2002
I took a morning train back to Tokyo, then a cab back to my “home” hotel, the ANA Hotel in Tokyo. While the weekend gave me break from official functions, I was able to do two things in the Tokyo area that I had not had the opportunity to do in my previous trips to Japan. On Saturday, I attended a Japanese baseball game in Yokohama, enjoying the game and the environment tremendously. On Sunday, Masako Notoji was my gracious host on a visit to the Disney complex, and we took in both the new Disney Sea Adventure Park and Tokyo Disneyland. Because we both have written on Disney parks, this visit was both fun and intellectually engaging, and we both took rolls of films to document both parks and visitors at this time. I became excited about the possibilities of returning to my academic work on Disney, and appreciated greatly Professor Notoji’s wonderful company and discussions about the intersections of American and Japanese culture. On our subway ride home, we even were able to take in some of the World Cup culture, as Japan upset the favored team, to the delight of the Japanese crowds we encountered on the trains and in the stations.
Monday, June 10, 2002
I was scheduled to fly to Okinawa that morning, but after I awoke it was clear that a typhoon was headed to that part of Japan. I got a phone call from Mr.Yoshitsugu Nakamura a few minutes after I saw the television weather report, and he reported that the trip needed to be cancelled because the typhoon was scheduled to hit Okinawa at exactly the time of my talk. A few hours later, he came to the hotel with a change in airline reservations and travel plans. Although I was quite disappointed not to be going to Okinawa, I was pleased with the efficiency of Mr. Nakamura and the Embassy in changing my plans. I do plan to do everything I can to visit Okinawa on a subsequent trip.
Late that afternoon, an embassy driver took me to Haneda Airport to catch a domestic flight straight to Fukoaka, where I was scheduled to arrive originally after Okinawa. I was met at the Fukoaka Airport by Masayuki Miyauchi, the Program Assistant at the Fukoaka American Center, who took me by Embassy car to my hotel for the evening next door to a large shopping and entertainment complex. I was able to venture out on my own that evening and partake of local dining and shopping, not to mention more World Cup fever.
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Early in the morning, Mr. Miyauchi and Bruce Kleiner, Director of the Fukoaka American Center, picked me up in an Embassy station wagon for the drive to Nagasaki, on the western edge of their region. The drive gave me the opportunity to learn about this more distant part of Japan, one that is truly more undeveloped that the central region to which I had grown accustomed. The drive itself was a pleasant, if rainy, drive through this mountainous region of western Japan, and we arrived at our Nagasaki hotel in a couple of hours. We immediately left our bags and had lunch at a nearby local Japanese restaurant.
From there, we went by taxi to a public theater in the center of town, where I was to present my talk, “Understanding Latinos in the U.S. through Popular Music,” to a public audience. After checking on the video and music setup, I sat down and met several public officials of the Nagasaki Prefectural Government, Internal Affairs Division, who were co-sponsors of my talk, and we exchanged gifts. Mr. Tominaga was, once again, my interpreter in consecutive translation, but this was a new talk for him. An audience of about one hundred and fifty was very attentive to this multimedia talk, and seemed to particularly enjoy the music videos of various Latino artists. Questions were quite varied and intriguing, with many interested in the particular differences between various Latino groups in the United States and the implications of racial mixture in the American population. I received my most challenging question in this audience, when someone asked me about whaling rights and the U.S. government position on that controversial topic.
We returned to the hotel after the talk, and I had some time to do a bit of sightseeing in the local neighborhood, as well as some tourist shopping. That evening, Mr. Kleiner and Mr. Miyauchi treated me to a lovely dinner in Nagasaki’s Chinatown, and we walked through the city, including the Dutch area, before returning to the hotel that evening.
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
The next morning over breakfast, I said my goodbyes to Mr. Kleiner and Mr. Miyauchi, who returned to Fukoaka by car. On their way out of the city, they dropped me off at the Nagasaki Atomic Museum, which I found to be a more solemn and thoughtful commemoration of the dropping of the second atomic bomb than I had encountered in Hiroshima. Most moving to me was my walk through the Nagasaki Peace Parks, in which nations from around the world have donated sculptures of peace and antimilitarism. I took a taxi from the peace park back to the hotel, where I met up with Mr. Tominaga, the Embassy interpreter.
Mr. Tominaga and I took a taxi to the center of the city, where we then caught a bus for the ride to the regional airport. This was the first time I had substantial time to talk with Mr. Tominaga about his own background and his thirty-plus years of working for the U.S. Embassy as a Japanese national. This very personal discussion was one of the highlights of my trip to Japan, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing his insights into U.S.-Japan relations over many decades. We had lunch at the airport before boarding our flight back to Tokyo, where an embassy car picked us up. The car dropped me off at the ANA Hotel, which was my third visit to this exquisite hotel.
After about a one-hour rest and change of clothes, I was picked up once again by embassy car and taken to the Tokyo American Center. I was introduced to Ken Moskowitz, the TAC’s director, as well as to various TAC staff. Professor Masako Notoji was the moderator for this talk, and after a lovely introduction, I delivered my talk, “Race and Immigration in U.S. Society” to an audience of about fifty individuals, with simultaneous translation provided by Mr. Tominaga and an assistant. I decided to switch the talk I was given after seeing the questions being posed by Mr. Moskowitz, and I think that this more general talk would better for this audience. This audience consisted of primarily journalists, businessmen, academics and graduate students, and they asked very lively, thoughtful questions. They seemed more knowledgeable about U.S. society than most of the other groups I had talked to on the trip, and were particularly interested in the future of U.S. race relations. I understand from Professor Notoji that one of the journalists in attendance wrote an article about this talk (complete with picture) in Asahi Shimbun, the Japanese version of the “New York Times,” something fairly rare for academic talks in Japan.
In the audience was my former USC student, Katsuyuki Murata, now an Associate Professor of History at Hokkaido University. We had been scheduled to meet each other in Okinawa, where his wife teaches, but the typhoon had interrupted out plans. It was a surprise and pleasure to see him in Tokyo at the talk. He, along with several of his students, was able to join Mr. Moskowitz, Professor Notoji, and several others at a lovely dinner at a local Chinese restaurant after the talk. We had a wonderful time catching up, taking photographs, and saying our goodbyes. I especially appreciated the extensive time that Professor Notoji took to prepare for her role as moderator, and as host throughout my entire trip to Japan.
Thursday, June 13. 2002
With all my talks over, I spent the day sightseeing in greater Tokyo, as well as purchasing many gifts from friends and relatives back home. That evening, Mr. Nakamura met me at my hotel and walked me the short distance to the U.S. Embassy compound, where Warren Soiffer hosted a lovely reception and dinner at his residence as a closing event for my visit. Professor Onishi was in attendance, as were several faculty members from several Tokyo universities. I also had the opportunity to talk at length with Mihoko Iida, features editor with Nippon Vogue Magazine. The head of the Public Affairs Section of the American Embassy also dropped by to give me his best wishes. I had the opportunity that morning to purchase CDs by a Japanese salsa band, one of which I was able to give Warren as a departing gift and a token of my appreciation of all he had done to make the visit go smoothly. We have continued to exchange gifts, as I have received in the mail a Japanese jazz CD that I particularly liked from Warren’s own CD collection that I heard that night. By this time, I had no trouble getting back to my hotel on my own, very thankful for all that had been done for me throughout my visit.
Friday, June 14, 2002
After a bit more shopping and sightseeing in the morning, I took the airport bus back to Narita Airport to catch United Airlines Flight #890 back to Los Angeles at 4:25 pm.
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