Tottori Prefecture—the least populous prefecture in Japan known for its seafood and stunning natural beauty, including its iconic sand dunes—is now collaborating with Stanford University. The first kanji character of Tottori means “bird” and the recent launching of a new online course, Stanford e-Tottori, is helping high school students to gain a bird’s-eye view of U.S. society and culture with a focus on U.S.–Japan relations.

On July 18, 2016, SPICE Director Gary Mukai participated in an opening ceremony in Tottori for Stanford e-Tottori. The ceremony included opening remarks by Governor Shinji Hirai, greetings from Superintendent of Education Hitoshi Yamamoto, comments by Mukai, and reflections by Tottori native, Takeshi Homma, Founder and CEO at HOMMA, Inc., Silicon Valley. In his comments, Mukai thanked Governor Hirai for his unwavering support of this collaboration between the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education and Stanford University, and also made a historical note about Tottori Prefecture’s relations with the United States by noting, “Hajimu Fujii, who was born in 1886 in Takashiro, Tottori, left Tottori for the United States in 1906. Hajimu Fujii became a Japanese-American community leader in the state of Idaho. In the 1930s, Fujii was recognized as the first Japanese pioneer in large-scale onion farming.”

Mukai was followed by Tottori Nishi High School student Shue Shiinoki, who read a “Resolution Declaration,” representing the 36 students who were selected to participate in the inaugural Stanford e-Tottori course. Mukai and Homma had the pleasure of visiting Tottori Nishi High School as well as Seishokaichi Junior and Senior High School during their visit.

The Stanford e-Tottori course instructor is Jonas Edman, who is an Instructional Designer at SPICE. As of mid-December 2016, Edman has facilitated three “virtual classes” on the following

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Edman, an alumnus of the American School in Japan, recently reflected that the rigor of taking a course solely taught in English has proven to be challenging to the Tottori students but that he is clearly noting progress in the students who are willing to take on the challenge. Koji Tsubaki, Teachers’ Consultant, Tottori Prefectural Board of Education, also recently commented, “Students in Tottori Prefecture are full of excitement to learn about the contents of the SPICE Stanford e-Tottori program, accelerating their development of self-expression skills. They are overflowing with questions for deeper understanding.”

Recently, Edman introduced Stanford e-Tottori to a delegation of business people from Tottori Prefecture who visited SPICE on November 16. The delegation was led by Tottori Bank, Ltd. Chairman Masahiko Miyazaki. Homma was not only instrumental in bringing the delegation to Stanford but also suggested the initial idea of developing Stanford e-Tottori. Chairman Miyazaki expressed his gratitude to Homma, Edman, and Mukai for making Stanford e-Tottori a reality.

During the delegation’s tour of Stanford University, many of the business people expressed hopes that their own children or grandchildren will someday be able to enroll in Stanford e-Tottori. Many also expressed agreement with one of the goals of Stanford e-Tottori, that is, to encourage students in Tottori to study in the United States either as exchange students or as undergraduate or graduate students.

Given Japan’s national focus on internationalizing the curriculum and preparing students to “think globally,” the timing of Stanford e-Tottori is ideal. SPICE’s hope is that someday the Tottori students’ birds-eye view of U.S. society and culture with a focus on U.S.–Japan relations—provided through Stanford e-Tottori—will become useful background information for them when they visit the United States as students, as business people, or in other capacities.

The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) honored top students of the 2016 Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) and Stanford e-Japan (Spring Session) at “Japan–U.S. Day”—an event held at Stanford University on August 9, 2016. The RSP honorees were Pierce Lowary (Highland Park High School, Dallas, Texas), Sarah Ohta (Polytechnic High School, Pasadena, California), and Risako Yang (Castilleja School, Palo Alto, California), and the Stanford e-Japan honorees were Miyu Hayashi (Takada High School, Mie Prefecture) and Minoru Takeuchi (Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba, Tokyo).

Japan–U.S. Day began with opening remarks by the Honorable Jun Yamada, Consul General of Japan in San Francisco. Praising the honorees and their fellow students for their dedication to the study of U.S.–Japan relations, Consul General Yamada noted, “The U.S.–Japan relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world today,” and underscored the importance of programs such as the RSP and Stanford e-Japan in engaging youth in the study of this critical relationship.

Stanford e-Japan Instructor Waka Takahashi Brown and RSP Instructor Naomi Funahashi presented overviews of the two programs to the audience of over 50 people, which included Ambassador Michael Armacost (former U.S. Ambassador to Japan), Consul Akira Ichioka (Director, Japan Information and Cultural Center, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco), Professor Indra Levy (Stanford University), Professor Emeritus Daniel Okimoto (Stanford University), and Maiko Tamagawa (Advisor for Educational Affairs, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco).

The students were recognized by Brown and Funahashi for their overall coursework performance, which included research essays. They articulately presented their research that focused on topics ranging from legacies of World War II and security issues to urban planning in Japan, longevity, and non-profit organizations, and they adroitly addressed questions from the audience.

[[{"fid":"223802","view_mode":"crop_870xauto","fields":{"format":"crop_870xauto","field_file_image_description[und][0][value]":"Ambassador Armacost chats with student honoree, Minoru Takeuchi","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_credit[und][0][value]":"Rylan Sekiguchi","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_related_image_aspect[und][0][value]":"","thumbnails":"crop_870xauto"},"type":"media","attributes":{"width":"870","style":"padding: 6px; float: left; width: 420px; height: 267px;","class":"media-element file-crop-870xauto"}}]]This year marked the first time that a joint RSP/Stanford e-Japan event was held to honor students. Reflecting on the event, Funahashi commented, “It was a great opportunity to recognize the impressive work of young U.S.–Japan scholars. And seeing them engage in cross-cultural dialogue in person after months of online interaction was a real treat.” Brown agreed, adding, “For my students, having the opportunity to interact with peers from the United States was one of the highlights of the program. To see all the RSP and Stanford e-Japan award winners honored at the same event was extremely rewarding and gave me great hope for the future of U.S.–Japan relations.” The audience seemed to feel similarly. “It was wonderful seeing the American and Japanese students interact with one another,” said Ambassador Armacost. “Their remarks were thoughtful and articulate. It was a model of timely educational exchange.”

SPICE has received numerous grants in support of the RSP (since its inception in 2003) from the United States-Japan Foundation, the Center for Global Partnership (The Japan Foundation), and the Japan Fund, which is administered by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Stanford e-Japan (since its inception in 2015) has been supported by a grant from the United States-Japan Foundation.

On May 27, 2016, President Obama will become the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima. In light of this historic visit, SPICE hosted a webinar on May 23, 2016, which featured the talk, “Beneath the Mushroom Cloud,” by Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of President Harry S. Truman and author of Growing Up with My Grandfather: Memories of Harry S Truman. Following a question and answer period with Mr. Daniel, SPICE staff shared classroom resources (Sadako’s Paper Cranes and Lessons of Peace and Divided Memories) that introduced diverse perspectives on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

RELATED CLASSROOM RESOURCES

Hiroshima: Perspectives of the Atomic Bombing
Divided Memories: Comparing History Textbooks
Examining Long-term Radiation Effects
Nuclear Tipping Point (video)
Sadako's Paper Cranes and Lessons of Peace
Reflections from an Atomic Bomb Survivor (video)

This webinar is being offered in collaboration with the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, which is funded by the Freeman Foundation. The NCTA is a multi-year initiative to encourage and facilitate teaching and learning about East Asia in elementary and secondary schools nationwide.