Applications open today for the Stanford/SPICE East Asia Seminars for Teachers in Hawai‘i (“Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i”), a free teacher professional development opportunity for Hawai‘i educators who wish to enhance their teaching of East Asia. Offered by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) with the generous support of the Freeman Foundation, Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i will select 25 teachers to participate in a nine-month fellowship from November 2022 to July 2023.

The application form is now live at https://forms.gle/BYZKZnzGY895MknC9. The deadline to apply is October 14, 2022.

This year, all high school teachers across the state are eligible to apply. Selected teachers will strengthen their content knowledge of East Asia by learning from experts in a series of private virtual seminars during the 2022–23 academic year (November–April) and at a culminating three-day in-person teacher institute in Honolulu in July 2023. Throughout the program, participants will explore and examine various aspects of East Asia, U.S.–Asia relations, and the Asian diaspora in the United States, including Hawai‘i. To help support their teaching of East Asia in the classroom, participants will also receive extensive teaching resources and participate in discussions about content and pedagogy.

“We’re extremely excited that we’re able to offer this program for a third year,” remarked program manager Rylan Sekiguchi. “We hope to keep building on the program’s success and continue connecting Hawai‘i teachers with experts at Stanford University, the University of Hawai‘i, and beyond. We can’t wait to start recruiting our next cohort of fellows.”

For more information about Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i, visit the program webpage. To apply, submit the online application by October 14.

To be notified of other professional development opportunities, join SPICE’s email list and follow SPICE on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In addition to Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i, SPICE offers teacher PD opportunities virtually to teachers nationwide and locally in California to middle school teachers, high school teachers, and community college instructors. For more information on those programs, please visit the webpages below.

• East Asia Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers
• East Asia Summer Institute for High School Teachers
• Community College Programs

Stanford e-Fukuoka is an online course for high school students throughout Fukuoka Prefecture in the southwestern island of Kyushu, Japan, that is sponsored by the Fukuoka Prefectural Government. Launched in spring 2022, it is offered by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) in collaboration with the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education. SPICE is grateful to Fukuoka Governor Seitaro Hattori whose vision made this course possible. Stanford e-Fukuoka is one of SPICE’s local student programs in Japan. 

Having spent three wonderful years in Fukuoka Prefecture on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program after college, I welcomed the opportunity to teach “e-Fukuoka,” Stanford’s online course on U.S.–Japan relations, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and entrepreneurship. In Spring 2022, I had the pleasure of teaching 30 high school students from 16 public and private schools throughout Fukuoka Prefecture.

For the inaugural course, I invited the following guest speakers to our virtual classroom:

Yuki Kondo-Shah (former Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka)
Kondo-Shah introduced students to the concept of “soft power,” coined by political scientist Joseph Nye. Unlike “hard power,” which refers to military or economic might, she described “soft power” as the people-to-people relationships and grassroots student exchanges that enhance communication, deepen cross-cultural understanding, and strengthen U.S.–Japan relations. “Soft power” at times calls for engagement based on empathy and empowerment.

Miwa Seki (General Partner of MPower Partners)
Seki’s venture capital fund, MPower, is Japan’s first Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)-focused global venture capital (VC) fund. Seki, a Co-founder of the women-led VC fund, explained that even young entrepreneurs of global start-ups need resources to launch their businesses and that VCs like MPower provide them with this funding. Born and raised in Fukuoka, Seki showed students how she countered adversity at various stages of her career by “becoming the solution.”

Fred Katayama (former anchor and producer at Reuters; Executive Vice-President of the U.S.-Japan Council in Washington, DC)
Katayama shared his family’s transnational migration from Fukuoka to Hawaii and Los Angeles, and later to Belem (Brazil). He also traced his family’s wartime incarceration at Tule Lake (CA) and Gila River (AZ). Katayama reflected on his early struggles with his Japanese American identity. He explained that despite the discrimination that he experienced, the role models from his youth encouraged his pursuit of an international career in journalism.

Jan Johnson (owner of the Panama Hotel in Seattle; recipient of the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation)
Johnson grew more conscious of the need to preserve the history of buildings like the Panama Hotel (designed by a Japanese immigrant) after traveling to Italy in her youth. She challenged gender bias to purchase the building. She saw the importance of preserving a historic building and its sustainable practices before anyone else saw the value in doing so.

Each speaker shared their personal and professional journeys between and beyond the United States and Japan. They contextualized and localized the broad concepts of diplomacy, global finance, journalism, and immigration, respectively. Finally, they allowed students to see that these ideas are not foreign but rather are relevant to our everyday lives.

As a final project, each of the Stanford e-Fukuoka students identified a sustainability-related issue in their community that was meaningful to them. They conducted fieldwork and interviewed individuals engaged in the topic. They explored how their topics related to the global world around them and how they could make a difference through a change in perception, education, or innovation.

The two honorees from this year’s Stanford e-Fukuoka cohort are:

Kasane Horiuchi (Tochiku High School, Kita-Kyushu City)
Kasane explored recycling challenges at her high school and offered potential solutions that students can make to enhance conventional “reduce, reuse, and recycle” processes. She proposed the QR-coding of plastic bottles, suggested transparent collection bins, and looked into incentivizing sustainability through gamification.  

Mihiro Tomomatsu (Hakata Seisho High School, Munakata City)
Mihiro shared her mental health challenges and discussed the resulting discrimination and disruption of education that she endured. She suggested thoughtful ways to dismantle the stigma surrounding mental illness through empathetic, peer-based interventions. Mihiro encourages awareness and the creation of a culture of compassion that is sustained through mutual responsibility.

Students joined Stanford e-Fukuoka with varying degrees of English communication abilities. Yet each week, as they became more brave, they expressed their opinions through their writing, shared their thoughts in class discussions, and grew comfortable making mistakes. Students were especially inspired by the stories of personal struggle and resilience among our distinguished guest speakers. By openly discussing their vulnerabilities alongside their strengths, the speakers connected with the students. The presenters showed these high school students how we are more alike than different. No doubt, this was “soft power” at work.

I’d like to thank Chie Inuzuka (Director, Fukuoka American Center) for her positivity and support on the other side of my virtual classroom. I look forward to continue working together to create a meaningful learning experience for our Stanford e-Fukuoka students.

In 2022 SPICE launched the Stanford e-Fukuoka program, a new online course offered to high school students across Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan. Stanford e-Fukuoka’s main themes revolve around U.S.–Japan relations, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and entrepreneurship. In the course, students engage in discussions with speakers on topics such as Japanese immigration to the United States, the historical preservation of cultural sites, and media representations of ethnicity.

Stanford e-Fukuoka is the latest of SPICE’s growing number of local student programs in Japan, which include other regional programs such as Stanford e-Hiroshima, Stanford e-Kawasaki, Stanford e-Kobe, Stanford e-Oita, and Stanford e-Tottori. These online courses are a collaboration between SPICE and local government and school officials in Japan and challenge students to think critically about global themes related to U.S. society and culture and U.S.–Japan relations.

The inaugural session of Stanford e-Fukuoka recently came to a close, and two students have been selected to be recognized as honorees for their outstanding performance in the course. Congratulations to the 2022 Stanford e-Fukuoka honorees on their excellent academic achievement!

Student Honoree: Kasane Horiuchi
School:  Tochiku High School
Project Title: Research on Plastic Bottle Recycling

Student Honoree: Mihiro Tomomatsu
School:  Hakata Seisho High School
Project Title: Break Invisible Barriers. Create the World that Everyone Needs

These students will be honored at a virtual event hosted by SPICE, Stanford University, this week. During the ceremony they will also make a formal presentation to members of the Stanford community, the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, and the Japanese community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

SPICE also offers national online courses to Japanese high school students (Stanford e-Japan), to Chinese high school students (Stanford e-China), and to U.S. high school students on Japan (Reischauer Scholars Program), China (China Scholars Program), and Korea (Sejong Korea Scholars Program).

To stay informed of SPICE news, join our email list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

After the end of World War II, more than 45,000 young Japanese women married American GIs and came to the United States to embark upon new lives among strangers. The mother of Kathryn Tolbert, a former long-time journalist with The Washington Post, was one of them.

Kathryn noted, “I knew there was a story in my mother’s journey from war-time Japan to an upstate New York poultry farm. In order to tell it, I teamed up with journalists Lucy Craft and Karen Kasmauski, whose mothers were also Japanese war brides, to make a short documentary film through a mother-daughter lens. Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight: The Japanese War Brides was released in August 2015 and premiered on BBC World Television. To show the experiences of many more women like our mothers, I spent a year traveling the country to record interviews, funded by a Time Out grant from Vassar College, my alma mater.”

The Japanese War Brides Oral History Archive is the result of her interviews. The Oral History Archive documents an important chapter of U.S. immigration history that is largely unknown and usually left out of the broader Japanese American experience. In these oral histories, Japanese immigrant women reflect on their lives in postwar Japan, their journeys across the Pacific, and their experiences living in the United States.

SPICE developed five lessons for the Japanese War Brides Oral History Archive that suggest ways for teachers to engage their students with the broad themes that emerge from the individual experiences of Japanese war brides. The lessons are: (1) Setting the Context; (2) Japanese Immigration to the United States; (3) The Transmission of Culture; (4) Notions of Identity; and (5) Conflict and Its Analysis. SPICE also developed a teacher’s guide for the film, Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight: The Japanese War Brides, that helps teachers set the context for the film and provides guided viewing activities and debriefing activities. The lessons and teacher’s guide can be found at the webpage below.

“Be careful with the scissors,” my grandma would remind me once more. The blistering heat of the Tokyo summer radiated through the living room mercilessly, temporarily distracting me from my task at hand. My eight-year-old hands, glistening with sweat, carefully cut through an empty plastic bottle. I would neatly cut through the grooves of the water bottle, making sure not to leave any sharp ridges, per my grandma’s instructions. After some additional modifications of my own, the mini-trash can was complete. This would be used in various places in my grandparents’ house from the bathroom to the kitchen sink, providing the plastic bottle with years of repurposed life. When I ask my grandma why she won’t simply buy a new plastic container for the same purpose, she would predictably respond: “Mottainai kara” (translation: Because that would be mottainai).

This word, mottainai, which most closely translates to “wasteful,” is a staple of Japanese culture. It is commonly used to express one’s sentiment of wastefulness. It can be used in various contexts from feeling wasteful about food being thrown away to the feeling of regret after wasting time. Awareness of mottainai has been a constant throughout my entire life. I recall my favorite childhood bedtime story being Mottainai Baasan—the story of a baasan, or grandma, who found creative ways to reduce and repurpose waste. Her simple yet riveting creativity ingrained into me an instinct of reducing waste from a young age. I would stuff old shirts into my pillow case to adjust my pillow height; tape pencils sharpened down to less than an inch to the back of a pen to be able to use them to the very end; water down almost empty tomato sauce cans and shake it with the lid closed to be able to use every last bit of the sauce—all were ideas inspired by Mottainai Baasan.

While I had always taken mottainai for granted, I never questioned why Japan as a society practices mottainai so diligently. Through Stanford’s Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP), I was able to explore this familiar concept of mottainai through an academic and historical lens, recontextualizing a mindset I grew up with into what I now realize is a combination of Shinto principles and the result of Japan’s efforts to reconstruct the country following their loss in World War II.

This collective awareness of and desire for self-betterment and respect for one another casted mottainai in a brand-new light. Such realizations allow me to appreciate my family’s culture in a way that ties into grounded historical events.

In particular, books such as Edwin O. Reischauer and the American Discovery of Japan by George Packard explained questions I had long wondered about, specifically regarding key differences in Japanese and Korean culture. As it turns out, America learned from certain setbacks they faced when Westernizing Japan and reshaped its approach in Korea, resulting in many of the differences between Japanese and Korean culture we observe today.

Furthermore, having participated in public Japanese education for over a decade, the opportunity to study Japan under an American lens was incredibly insightful. Whether it be biases I began to realize between Japanese and American teachings or the different approaches to introducing topics involving both countries, connecting different perspectives began to feel like a four-dimensional puzzle spanning time and cultures. The opportunity to immediately discuss my thoughts with other students in RSP culminated into multiple “aha!” moments that have stuck with me since. These thoughtful discussions with my peers stood out as a central part of my experience in the program. For additional context, my experience with RSP coincided with the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite such distractions, RSP allowed me to learn in an engaging and captivating manner. Since the program was originally designed to be in an online setting long before COVID, a strong sense of community was already baked into the experience, and I was able to learn directly from my classmates around the world in an efficient and organized manner.

The opportunity to learn the context and history behind various aspects of Japanese culture that I grew up with and previously took for granted was a priceless experience. Being able to understand why certain cultural quirks exist as well as how they came to be and in what ways they impact modern Japanese society renewed my outlook while deepening my appreciation for Japan.

SPICE continues to expand its regional programs for high school students in Japan. This year marked the launch of the Stanford e-Kobe program, which joins the previously established programs, Stanford e-Hiroshima, Stanford e-Kawasaki, Stanford e-Oita, and Stanford e-Tottori.

These online courses are a collaboration between SPICE and local government and school officials in Japan and challenge students to think critically about global themes related to U.S. society and culture and U.S.–Japan relations.

All five courses have now finished their 2021–2022 term. This summer, two top students from each program will present their final research projects and be honored at a virtual event hosted by SPICE, Stanford University. Congratulations to the ten honorees below on their excellent academic achievement!

Stanford e-Hiroshima (Instructor Rylan Sekiguchi)

Student Honoree: Minori Imai
School: Hiroshima Prefectural Kuremitsuta High School
Project Title: All Lives Are Important

Student Honoree: Yui Miyake
School: Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima High School
Project Title: U.S. Prison System: How the Country’s History of Racial Inequality Drives the High Rate of Incarceration in America

Stanford e-Kawasaki (Instructor Maiko Tamagawa Bacha)

Student Honoree: Sayaka Kiyotomo
School: Kawasaki High School
Project Title: How Can We Improve Junior and Senior High School English Education in Japan?

Student Honoree: Anne Fukushima
School: Tachibana High School
Project Title: How Are Invisible Disorders Accepted in the United States and Japan?

Stanford e-Kobe (Instructor Alison Harsch)

Student Honoree: Nonoha Toji
School: Kobe University Secondary School
Project Title: How to Foster Entrepreneurship in School Days: Between U.S. and Japan

Student Honoree: Cullen Hiroki Morita
School: Kobe Municipal Fukiai High School
Project Title: The Different Work-Life Balance in Japan and America

Stanford e-Oita (Instructor Kasumi Yamashita)

Student Honoree: Rina Imai
School: Usa High School
Project Title: Learn About War and Peace Through the Naval Air Base Bunkers in Oita

Student Honoree: Yuki Nojiri
School: Hofu High School
Project Title: I Want to Live in the Second House of the Three Little Pigs

Stanford e-Tottori (Instructor Jonas Edman)

Student Honoree: Sakurako Kano
School: Tottori Keiai High School
Project Title: Being Proactive

Student Honoree: Yuki Yamane
School: Tottori Nishi High School
Project Title: The Effect of Collectivism and Individualism on Education

The SPICE staff is looking forward to honoring these ten students in a virtual ceremony on August 9, 2022 (August 10 in Japan). Each student will be given the opportunity to make a formal presentation to members of the Stanford community, the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, and the Japanese community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

SPICE also offers online courses to U.S. high school students on Japan (Reischauer Scholars Program), China (China Scholars Program), and Korea (Sejong Korea Scholars Program), and online courses to Chinese high school students on the United States (Stanford e-China) and to Japanese high school students on the United States and U.S.–Japan relations (Stanford e-Japan).

To stay informed of SPICE news, join our email list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Sponsored by Stanford Global Studies, the Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum (EPIC) Community College Faculty Fellowship program brings together a cohort of community college faculty and academic staff from various disciplines to work collaboratively with Stanford staff for one academic year (August–May). Each EPIC Fellow designs a project that aims to internationalize curricula and develop global competencies among community college students. Jonas Edman worked with four of the nine 2021–22 EPIC Fellows throughout the academic year. The fellowship culminated with the EPIC Symposium, “Integrating Global Topics into Community College Curricula,” which was held on May 22, 2022 and featured panels of current and past EPIC Fellows. The four EPIC Fellows with whom Edman worked are listed below. Each gave an overview of their project to an audience of Stanford faculty and staff, EPIC alumni, and other community college faculty.

Lauren M. Blanchard, Faculty, Political Science, Monterey Peninsula College
Project: Hands-on Migration: Service-Learning Curriculum in Global Studies

• The goal of this project is to introduce migration studies to Monterey Peninsula College. Crafting a service-learning curriculum will provide students the opportunity to dedicate a semester to the comparative study of internal and international migrations in the 20th and 21st centuries, alongside the chance to gain hands-on experience working with the diverse immigrant communities of Monterey County. This curriculum will provide insight into the international agreements and values that have shaped government responses to immigration in the past and will shape responses to migration in the 21st century.
   

Miloni Gandhi, Faculty, Global Studies and Workforce, Foothill College
Project: Virtual Study Abroad

• Virtual Study Abroad is a way to bridge equity gaps in international education at the community college. Study abroad is a unique experience to explore other cultures and traditions firsthand. However, it is often limited to those with the ability to leave their current situations for long periods of time or those with the financial ability to cover the opportunity cost of being away from home. Virtual Study Abroad allows for all students to have firsthand experiences exploring other cultures through meaningful curated content and authentic relationship-building with people in other countries without having to physically be abroad.
   

Tomasz B. Stanek, Associate Professor, History, Victor Valley College
Project: Global Ethnic Studies Course Proposal

• The Global Ethnic Studies Course Proposal involves the construction of a new global or hemispheric ethnic studies course with major emphasis on paradigmatic discoveries, environmental and indigenous ideas, transnational issues, climatology, human behavior, a trauma of conflict, and modern philosophy, all encapsulated into one community college course bound from the 1500s to the present. The idea of this course is to create an interdisciplinary discussion space and a comparative analysis beyond national borderlands and local marginality.
   

Alexandria White, Professor, English, Sacramento City College
Project: Black Atlantic Explorations

• The purpose of Black Atlantic Explorations is to provide a comparative approach to understanding the intersectionalities and divergences among Black Atlantic identities and experiences. Juxtaposing the diverse experiences of Afro-Brazilians, Afro-Caribbeans, and Afro-Americans through literature, art, and history will not only be provocative and inspiring, but will also plants seeds in our collective imaginations about the possibilities of Black Atlantic futures rooted in liberation and rooted in the “profoundest creativity to throw bridges across chasms, to open an architecture of space within closed worlds of race and culture (Guyanese writer, Wilson Harris).”

Following the panels, the EPIC Fellows received certificates from SGS upon their successful completion of the Fellowship. With the formal close of the Fellowship, they are now invited to join the Global Educators Network (GEN), which in partnership with Stanford Global Studies (SGS) seeks to inform, inspire, engage, and empower community college educators—and their students—to more deeply engage with global themes and learning resources, as well as international dialogue, research, and pedagogical strategies.

Reflecting on the EPIC Symposium, Edman noted, “Not only was it rewarding to observe the 2021–22 EPIC Fellows giving their impressive presentations after a year-long preparation, but it was also gratifying to see EPIC alumni from many cohorts interacting with this year’s cohort and encouraging them to join GEN. Importantly, I am most grateful to Kristyn Hara for expertly facilitating the EPIC Program over the past year and for planning and implementing this year’s EPIC Symposium.”

The EPIC Community College Faculty Fellowship program is made possible through the support of Department of Education Title VI funding. Pitches of all of the nine 2021–22 EPIC Fellows can be found here.

The following is Part 8 of a multiple-part series. To read previous installments in this series, please visit the following articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7.

Since December 8, 2020, SPICE has posted seven articles that highlight reflections from 57 students on the question, “What does it mean to be an American?” Part 8 features eight additional reflections.

The free educational website “What Does It Mean to Be an American?” offers six lessons on immigration, civic engagement, leadership, civil liberties & equity, justice & reconciliation, and U.S.–Japan relations. The lessons encourage critical thinking through class activities and discussions. On March 24, 2021, SPICE’s Rylan Sekiguchi was honored by the Association for Asian Studies for his authorship of the lessons that are featured on the website, which was developed by the Mineta Legacy Project in partnership with SPICE.

Since the website launched in September 2020, SPICE has invited students to review and share their reflections on the lessons. Below are the reflections of eight students. I am grateful to Dr. Ignacio Ornelas, Teacher, Willow Glen High School, San Jose, California, and Aya Shehata, Hilo High School, Hawai’i, for their support with this edition. The reflections below do not necessarily reflect those of the SPICE staff.

Renn Guard, North Carolina
Americans often have the privilege of being a part of many communities that help define themselves as complex, unique individuals. The past few years have demonstrated that our communities define America, a prospect that can be both concerning and hopeful. After the 2021 Atlanta spa shooting, many questioned what “Asian American” has meant and what it could mean. I observed the Asian American community connect over both their pain and frustration with the current state of the country and their hopes for a brighter future. Outside the Asian American community, many other groups, both intersecting and not, also came to sit in solidarity, reminding me that American values are rooted in communities that uphold understanding, inclusivity, and respect.

Emi Hiroshima, California
By many, America is known as the “Land of Opportunity.” Certainly, this is what my great grandparents thought when they immigrated to the U.S. from Japan in the early 1900s. Although some may say it’s a less than ideal place to live, I think it provides more opportunities than other countries for those willing to try. In some countries, it is difficult for a woman to pursue certain careers or even to receive an education. They aren’t given the opportunity to even try. I believe America has a long way to go in terms of gender equality or equality for all, but women are surrounded with more chances because of others who pushed for women’s rights throughout history. In America, we are not guaranteed success, but we are provided the opportunity to always try.

Keona Marie Matsui, Hawai’i
To me, being American means being free. I am free to embrace my Japanese and Filipino heritage. I am free to learn and celebrate other cultures. I am free to express myself through my physical appearance and my words. I am free to speak another language and learn many more. I am free to take advantage of the opportunities in America. But being an Asian American means that I’m stuck between identities. I was born in America, half Filipino and half Japanese, but I wasn’t born in either country. I don’t speak Tagalog or Japanese fluently; I speak English. I’m not blonde-haired or blue-eyed. I grew up in Hawai’i, surrounded by people with similar situations. Our unique experiences and identities are what make up America—and what makes us American.

Jyoti Souza, Hawai’i
That is a complicated question. Some glorify being American because they immigrated from impoverished home countries. Others are ignorant to this country’s history and its current situation, or they simply do not care. For me, this country acted as a home for my grandparents who immigrated from poverty in South America. Though I am grateful for America’s seemingly open arms, it has changed vastly or never changed at all. More people are fighting against laws and bias in our government. The LGBTQ+ community asks for more freedom, African Americans demand justice, and people opposed to an election attack the White House. Some people call themselves American because of their skin color and label any others as outsiders or invaders. On the surface, being American seems like freedom and justice for all, but deep inside, it’s anything but.

Sharika Thaploo, Ohio
Growing up as a first-generation immigrant in America, the idea that America was built on the great enlightenment ideals of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was drilled into me. But to me, America meant assimilation through what I had learned from my experience in this country. I initially believed that to succeed and prosper socially I would have to discard parts of my identity that were essential to my culture. I spent time adjusting to what I believed it meant to be American. But gradually, I saw the way my identity as an Indian American affected all my decisions and my worldview. To me, being an American is bringing ideas and cultural identities into this country to make yourself and the people around you better.

Taelynn Thomas, California
I view the term “American” as an identity. American is a label that represents that you are proud of what America is as a whole and that you stand with this country. A part of identifying as American means being aware that America, as a country, is not perfect and there are still challenges people face based on their race, social status, and more. This is not to say that we don’t try to fix issues in our society. There are programs that provide help for people with lower income. So, no, America isn’t perfect. But the American people can help change it in a positive way. So, when someone asks me what it means to be American, I say an American is a person who is proud of this country but still understands that we need change and is not afraid to help change this country for the better.

Hector Vela, California
Being American is a title but, to me, it’s an idea. In our history, many ethnicities from across the world came to the “land of the free,” but at times weren’t treated that way. So, we changed our mindset to include many ethnicities and make it an ideal place for anyone. We evolved because people recognized the flaws and we fixed them. It is up to us to expand the acceptance of different cultures and make a safe place for future generations. What will we do to shape America into something we can be proud and happy of? To say, “I am a proud American,” we must embrace our differences and use them to make America an ideal and safe place for everyone now and in the future.

Katherine Xu, Ohio
For me, the inherent beauty and ongoing question of being an American is embodied in our country’s motto: E pluribus unum (out of many, one). We are a group of individual “I’s” who have agreed to band together as a “we.” However, the issue has been to constantly question who is (or is not) included in that “we,” and how we redefine and reimagine it. Overall, we’ve succeeded in developing a better comprehensive knowledge of ourselves and acceptance of one another. However, we have historically wavered and are now at a crossroads: will we progress toward a broader meaning of “we” or will we regress to a narrower one? That is essentially the question—with all of its aspirations and fears—at the core of what it means to be an American, both personally and collectively.

Mayor Norihiko Fukuda of Kawasaki City—the sixth most populous city in Japan—spoke during the closing ceremony of Stanford e-Kawasaki on March 29, 2022. The ceremony marked the end of the third-year offering of Stanford e-Kawasaki, which is taught by Instructor Maiko Tamagawa Bacha. Nineteen students representing Kawasaki High School and Tachibana High School successfully completed the course and each received a certificate from Mayor Fukuda as Bacha announced each student’s name.

Stanford e-Kawasaki focuses on two themes, entrepreneurship and diversity. In Mayor Fukuda’s comments to students, he noted that with people coming from across and outside of Japan to Kawasaki, the city has developed to become a city of 1.54 million people and one of the most diverse cities in Japan. Given this, Fukuda underscored the importance of having students value diversity, and stated, “I want young people in Kawasaki to appreciate this core value.” He continued,

This year’s course featured a diverse group of speakers, including a panel of Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program alumni who spoke about diversity in the United States. The panelists included Jeffrey Fleischman, Cerell Rivera, and Kai Wiesner-Hanks, who spoke on topics such as ethnic diversity, gender equality and identity, religious diversity, and cultural diversity. Bacha is a former Advisor for Educational Affairs at the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco and one of her major responsibilities was overseeing the JET Program. She commented, “It was particularly gratifying for me to provide a platform for JET alumni to continue to offer their support to students in Japan.” Other sessions were led by Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu who addressed the central question, “What is diversity?,” and also discussed diversity issues in Japan, and Stanford graduate student Alinea Tucker, who spoke on “Black Lives Matter.”

In the area of entrepreneurship, Miwa Seki, General Partner, M Power Partners, provided perspectives as an investor, and Sukemasa Kabayama, Founder and CEO of Uplift Labs, shared his journey as an entrepreneur in Japan and in the United States.

A highlight of the closing ceremony was the announcement of the two honorees of Stanford e-Kawasaki. They are Sayaka Kiyotomo from Kawasaki High School and Anne Fukushima from Tachibana High School.

Reflecting on the three years of teaching the course, Bacha noted, “Since the inception of Stanford e-Kawasaki, Mayor Fukuda’s unwavering commitment has without a doubt contributed greatly to the success of the course. The students and I have always felt his support.” After the ceremony, Mayor Fukuda brought the students to one of his meeting rooms and engaged them in informal discussions. His formal and informal comments were very inspirational to the students.

I am most grateful to Mayor Norihiko Fukuda for his vision and for making this course possible. I would also like to express my appreciation to Mr. Nihei and Mr. Katsurayama from the Kawasaki Board of Education; and Mr. Abe, Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Kawato, and especially Mr. Inoue from Kawasaki City for their unwavering support. Importantly, I would like to express my appreciation to Principal Iwaki and his staff of Kawasaki High School and Principal Takai and his staff from Tachibana High School for their engagement with Stanford e-Kawasaki. An article in Japanese about the closing ceremony that was published by Kawasaki City can be found here.