NEWThe 211th Asian Forum, "Living as a “Bridge” between Japan and the United States: Studying Abroad, the Asia-Pacific War, and the Cold War Experienced by Nisei"

The Institute of Asian Cultural Studies will hold the 211th Asian Forum "Living as a "Bridge" between Japan and the United States: Studying Abroad, the Asia-Pacific War, and the Cold War Experienced by Nisei", as follows.

Lecturer:  Kuraoka, Reiya

Doctoral Student, Hitotsubashi University / Research Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Date: 7 December, 2026 (Mon) 16:00-17:30 (Japan time)

Language: Japanese

Venue: ICU
(Details will be provided to registered participants by email).

Summary of lecture:

What did it mean to live as a “bridge” between Japan and the United States? During the 1930s, many Nisei, the American-born children of Japanese immigrants in the United States and Hawai‘i, traveled to Japan to study. Educators expected them to return to America and promote understanding of Japan. Yet students interpreted this mission in their own ways, connecting it to hopes for employment, social advancement, and belonging.  This lecture traces their experiences through education at institutions such as Nichibei Gakuin, wartime information and propaganda work associated with Heishikan, and postwar activities at Radiopress. It explores how students used their linguistic skills and overseas experiences to pursue careers while participating in Japan’s imperial projects, the American occupation, and the Cold War.  By reading student essays alongside educators’ writings and documents about their later activities, participants will consider how personal ambitions overlapped with, and sometimes diverged from, the roles others assigned them. These sources also invite us to ask whose voices the ideal of friendship included, and whose it excluded. Following these young people across war and defeat, the lecture examines both the possibilities and the inequalities involved in connecting societies, asking who builds bridges, for whom, and to what ends.

Application: Please register in advance via the link below. The deadline for applications is 13:00 on 7 December, 2026 (Mon).

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/qJT9defEc6

We look forward to your participation.