The following is a guest article written by Joan Benedict, a student from Indonesia studying at the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University in Japan. Joan enrolled in the 2025 SPICE/Stanford–Waseda Intensive Course: Exploring Peace in East Asia and Beyond Through the Lenses of Cultural Understanding, Education, and International Relations, which was organized by SPICE and Waseda’s Faculty of Social Sciences and taught by Meiko Kotani. The course brought together students from the Graduate School of Social Sciences, the School of Social Sciences, the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, the School of International Liberal Studies, and the School of Political Science and Economics. With participants from Japan and international students representing 10 different countries, the course created a truly dynamic and diverse learning environment.

During this year’s spring break, I had the opportunity to attend the SPICE–Waseda Intensive Course, held under the theme “Exploring Peace in East Asia and Beyond Through the Lenses of Cultural Understanding, Education, and International Relations.” The course brought together passionate students from diverse countries and backgrounds, all united by shared international experiences and a curiosity for understanding our world beyond borders. Over five days, I had eye-opening discussions with lecturers and peers that reshaped how I view peace, history, and empathy.

On the first day, Dr. Gary Mukai opened the course with a compelling session on cultural understanding through the history of Japanese American incarceration. He shared the experiences of his parents growing up as Nisei, or second-generation Japanese American, and the painful stories of families separated by national loyalty during World War II. Years later, he attempted to reconnect with his relatives in Japan, uncovering stories long buried in silence. What struck me most was how genuine and human these stories were. I realized that history is so much more complex and emotional than what formal education often conveys. Understanding the emotional weight of historical events helped me move beyond just considering what happened and how it affected my nation, and instead reflect on what it meant for the families and people who lived through it.

This theme was continued on Day 2 in Mr. Rylan Sekiguchi’s lecture. His lecture helped me understand how historical bias is often not born out of malice but from the gaps in what we’re taught. In a workshop, we read descriptions of the same historical event from four different countries. The differences in tone, word choice, and framing made me question the reliability of the “truth” I thought I knew. What moved me even more was the conversation that followed. Beyond national resentment, the participating students became genuinely curious about how others saw the same events. It made me realize that history is not just a list of facts but a collection of narratives shaped by perspective. That insight alone changed how I now view historical events and interpret news.

On Day 3, we shifted from the past to modern history and present realities with Dr. Shuoyang Meng’s lecture on transnational academic mobility. He explained how academic migration has long been a catalyst for change and intellectual development across borders. After discussing the benefits of student mobility, he also touched on the struggles international students face today, particularly around career trajectories under current policies. His lecture resonated deeply with me as an international student. It pushed me to think more critically about today’s education systems, review how international interactions unfold in the job market, and recognize the importance of cultural understanding beyond just historical context.

On Day 4, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry delivered an insightful and impactful lecture on the U.S.–China security landscape. What left the deepest impression on me was his diplomatic presence—the way he communicated complex and sensitive issues with calm, clarity, and respect. He spoke about the value of strategic empathy: the ability to understand another country’s fears, intentions, and internal logic. It made me reflect on how peace is not only shaped by policy, but also by the tone and manner in which we engage with others. His sincerity and warmth were unmistakable, grounded in decades of experience across different regions and roles. Meeting someone who doesn’t just talk about peace, but truly lives it, was a rare and inspiring experience. Wrapping up the lecture, he left with a piece of advice to step outside our comfort zones, to take risks, and to explore broadly while we are still students.

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Building on everything we learned throughout the week, we ended the course by presenting our peace projects. The outcomes were as diverse as our experiences, including an international charity initiative, a healthier approach to social media, and a platform for objective media coverage. Each project represented both personal reflection and a collective commitment to reimagining peace on our own terms.

By the end of this intensive course, I was able to gain new insights and challenge my assumptions about peace: that peace is not simply the absence of conflict but the presence of empathy, trust, and genuine understanding. It is built over time through conversation, learning, and meaningful connection. What I appreciated most was how every session invited me to reflect not just on global issues but also on my own position within them—how my perspective was constructed, how my history informs my interactions, and how I can choose to respond with more care and openness.

I entered this course expecting to study diplomacy and international relations. I left with something more enduring: a community of admirable students from diverse backgrounds and experiences and the realization that peace begins with how we choose to engage—with our words, our listening, our questions, and our actions. More than an academic experience, it was a personal journey toward becoming a more thoughtful and responsible global citizen.

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The following is a guest article written by Ryoya Shinozaki, who traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area with other graduate students from the University of Tokyo—under the leadership of Professor Hideto Fukudome—in January 2025. SPICE/Stanford collaborates closely with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Tokyo and met with the students during their visit to the Bay Area.

Mariko Yang-Yoshihara’s lecture on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education encouraged me to think about the relationship between language and interdisciplinary learning in a new way. Instead of asking how STEAM can support English education, I began to ask whether language education—particularly through CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning)—could offer something valuable to STEAM education itself, highlighting the need to integrate a human-centered perspective into the traditional STEM framework.

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CLIL and STEAM differ in their main objectives. CLIL focuses on learning both content and language simultaneously, often grounded in language acquisition theories such as Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. STEAM, in contrast, emphasizes creative and integrated thinking across science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. Yang-Yoshihara’s lecture emphasized that the “A” in STEAM more precisely represents a human-centered perspective rooted in a liberal arts education. Language is typically seen as a communication tool, not a learning target. However, the two approaches share several features, including real-world relevance, student-centered learning, and compatibility with project-based formats.

If integrated carefully, a CLIL-STEAM model could support a wide range of learners. Students preparing for global careers could benefit from learning technical content in English. STEM-strong but English-challenged students might gain confidence through contextual language use. Vocational students could develop workplace-relevant communication skills by engaging in collaborative STEAM tasks. CLIL also offers techniques that could enhance students’ experiences in STEAM-focused learning. One is scaffolding, which helps learners express complex ideas through sentence frames, model texts, and structured support. Another is the practice of dual objectives, where teachers set both content and language goals. Finally, dual-focused assessment allows instructors to evaluate both what students know and how effectively they communicate it.

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These strategies could help make English-medium STEAM learning more accessible and effective. During our conversation, Yang-Yoshihara reflected on the STEAM-focused educational interventions used at SKY Labo, a non-profit initiative she co-founded. In SKY Labo’s bilingual design thinking workshops targeting middle and high school-aged students in Japan, responses have been mixed—some appreciated the immersive English environment and signed up for the program for that reason, while others felt that the complex topics required deeper understanding through their own native language. This tension highlights the importance of flexible program design that balances linguistic immersion with accessibility, based on students’ experiences in STEAM-focused learning.

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The following is a guest article written by Yuri Tsutsumi, who traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area with other graduate students from the University of Tokyo—under the leadership of Professor Hideto Fukudome—in January 2025. SPICE/Stanford collaborates closely with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Tokyo and met with the students during their visit to the Bay Area.

Arriving at Jtown Pizza Co. on North 6th Street, our meeting place for the Japantown study tour in Downtown San Jose led by Dr. Gary Mukai, I noticed a striking contrast between the scenery to the east and west sides of the street. On the east side stood brand-new, reinforced-concrete construction apartment buildings, while on the west side was an ivory-colored, two-story wooden building with an archaic balcony. Right beside it, I spotted a restaurant sign reading “Minato,” a familiar Japanese proper name. As I walked out onto Jackson Street, I saw more signboards of stores and restaurants related to Japan and Hawaii. In the United States, it’s probably not unusual for the atmosphere of a neighborhood to noticeably change just bygoing straight down a street, but here it felt especially distinctive. Photo of Jtown Pizza Co. (below) courtesy the Graduate School of Education at the University of Tokyo. 

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The few-block area known as “Nihonmachi”—Japantown in Downtown San Jose—has retained much of its original appearance to this day. Local Japanese American organizations—as well as non-Japanese Americans, including Chinese Americans—have made great efforts to preserve and revitalize Japantown, including its once neighboring Heinlenville, a former site of a Chinatown in San Jose. Jtown Pizza Co. now occupies what was once a Chinese restaurant called Ken Ying Low. In addition to preserving Japantown as a historic area, the Japanese American Museum of San Jose was established in 1987. The museum showcases Japanese American life from the earliest generation of immigrants to the postwar period. Artifacts like soy sauce barrels and numerous farming tools offered me a glimpse into the lives of 19th-century Japanese American farmers. A wide range of historical archives on wartime internment, along with a recreated barracks room interior and exterior from one of the camps that gave off a dusty smell, allowed me to imagine the harsh conditions endured by internees. Through this study tour, I came to realize that, although many years have passed and the environment surrounding Japanese Americans has drastically changed, the everyday lives of 19th-century Japanese American farmers and those interned during the war shared much in common with our lives in Japan today—e.g., keeping a soy sauce barrel for planting, playing baseball and sumo with close friends and neighbors on weekends, going to a local bathhouse, and so on. Thanks to the people dedicated to preserving Japantown’s heritage and passing it down to future generations, I was able to catch a glimpse of what everyday life was like back then.

In graduate school, I came to appreciate once again how much I can learn from academic books and papers digitally archived in the university library. Those learnings were, of course, invaluable—yet at the same time, this study tour made me realize how much more I could learn by engaging all five senses. During the tour, there were the firsthand stories of Japanese Americans, the scent of dust in the reconstructed camp room at the museum, the umami-rich taste of loco moco gravy at the Hawaiian restaurant Hukilau where we had lunch during the tour, the strong California sunlight breaking through the clouds, and the texture of the wooden buildings. Although there are many ways and tools to learn, stepping beyond the university library to immerse myself in other people’s lives holds deeply important meaning. What makes this kind of learning possible are the people who continue to play a crucial role in maintaining the vitality of Japantown, the museum that collects, preserves and shares Japanese American history, and the generous financial support that sustain these efforts. I am truly grateful for this opportunity and hope that these learning experiences, which gave me insight into past generations of Japanese Americans, will continue to be offered to future generations.

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The following is a guest article written by Wenxin Fu, a student from China studying at the Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies at Waseda University in Japan. Wenxin enrolled in the 2025 SPICE/Stanford–Waseda Intensive Course: Exploring Peace in East Asia and Beyond Through the Lenses of Cultural Understanding, Education, and International Relations, which was organized by SPICE and Waseda’s Faculty of Social Sciences and taught by Meiko Kotani. The course brought together students from the Graduate School of Social Sciences, the School of Social Sciences, the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, the School of International Liberal Studies, and the School of Political Science and Economics. With participants from Japan and international students representing 10 different countries, the course created a truly dynamic and diverse learning environment.

If I had to pick out a few moments that reshaped how I see things, two come to mind. The first was in what seemed like an ordinary seminar classroom in the UK where I experienced, not exactly a cultural shock, but a striking contrast between the student-led discussions there and the education system I grew up with in mainland China. The second is this time, through the 2025 SPICE–Waseda program, where I encountered not just diversity, but a sense of collaborative equality, where difference didn’t translate into distance or hierarchy.

In both instances, I was far from my home country—surrounded by faces of different colors, speaking my second language, and engaging in conversations that ranged from broad theoretical questions to concrete, real-world issues. But the experiences felt very different. Back then, I was trying hard to blend in, to insert myself into a conversation shaped by others. I wanted a seat at the table, not just physically present, but to be part of the actual dialogue. This time, however, diversity felt less sharp, less hierarchical. Skin color didn’t map onto power relationships, and the usual lines between who’s “in” and who’s “out” felt blurred. I felt more comfortable speaking up, and more importantly, I felt genuinely heard.

I think this contrast also speaks to a commonly criticized tendency in international relations theory to center the dominant voices of the world’s most powerful countries. There’s now a growing emphasis on the globally relevant, rather than the globally dominant. That’s why this program’s focus on East Asia resonated so deeply with me, not only because I’m from the region, but because I’m eager to engage with perspectives and lived experiences that reflect the richness and complexity of the region. These are stories often told less loudly, but no less powerfully. This aligns with what we were often encouraged to do throughout the course: to anchor our reflections in personal experience.

And it’s also why I want this reflection to stay personal.

To be honest, even after a full semester as an international relations major, I still struggle to articulate anything truly meaningful about shifting global dynamics, geopolitical tensions, or the strategic calculus of major powers. Coming from a media studies background, I often feel I lack the kind of structural, macro-level thinking that international relations seem to require, and I’m rarely confident in how I speak about it. But still, one thing is clear to me: we don’t need to be experts to understand how important peace is. It’s not just a theory, it shapes our everyday lives and connects all of us through our shared hopes and fears. While international relations theories often emerge in response to crisis, it’s peace that fills most of our time on this planet. And peace isn’t just the pause between wars. It’s something that takes effort, patience, and long-term commitment. That’s what we should really be focusing on.

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When we ask ourselves how to contribute to something as vast as peace, I found this course offered both clarity and encouragement. It didn’t stick only to traditional international relations theories themselves, but brought in topics like cultural understanding, education, migration and mobility, and identity. Each day added a new layer, helping me connect big ideas to real-life issues. Looking back at the course title, I noticed the word “intensive.” I was mentally prepared for five days packed with lectures, seminars, group work, and a final project under pressure. But what I encountered was something else entirely. There wasn’t pressure to impress—just space to think and share. The assigned readings were meaningful but not overwhelming, and the discussions felt open and welcoming. I showed up, I listened, I reflected, I exchanged. I was inspired, not in bursts, but in a steady, unfolding way. Ideas moved, and so did I. That was the most rewarding kind of intensity for me.

I’m grateful for the way this program was designed, for the freedom to move at our own pace, and to learn in a space that felt both focused and generous. Thanks not only to my teammates, but also to the organizers who made this possible. Our group included undergraduates, master’s, and PhD students. I had concerns at first that our different nationalities, academic backgrounds, and levels of experience might lead to friction. But as we worked together on the contemporary challenges related to peace-building, I saw something quietly powerful: a shared spirit of curiosity, openness, and care. What moved between us was real peace and love, flowing quietly in the smallest units, from one person to another, and beyond.

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The following is a guest article written by Lindsay Baltzell, a student from the United States studying at the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University in Japan. Lindsay enrolled in the 2025 SPICE/Stanford–Waseda Intensive Course: Exploring Peace in East Asia and Beyond Through the Lenses of Cultural Understanding, Education, and International Relations, which was organized by SPICE and Waseda’s Faculty of Social Sciences and taught by Meiko Kotani. The course brought together students from the Graduate School of Social Sciences, the School of Social Sciences, the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, the School of International Liberal Studies, and the School of Political Science and Economics. With participants from Japan and international students representing 10 different countries, the course created a truly dynamic and diverse learning environment.

Stanford’s SPICE course conducted at Waseda University was a perfect opportunity to engage with the subjects I’m interested in among like-minded individuals and under the instruction of teachers with diverse yet equally valuable experiences. I was incredibly impressed with what the course was able to achieve over the course of just five days, and I left feeling more informed and inspired than when I came in.

Each lecture was engaging and concise and allowed participants to ask questions and share ideas as valued voices in the discussions. Each lecturer was receptive and responsive to what participants shared, and the topics covered were different, but related, which helped me build connections between ideas. I felt like an equal among people of diverse backgrounds and educational levels, and I believe my contributions were honored and respected. This type of atmosphere was achievable because of the care put into the course’s coordination, from the staff’s openness and willingness to communicate to the time allocated for questions and discussion.

Students were able to draw upon the lecture content to support their own presentations on the last day of the course. Initially, I was intimidated by the idea of preparing a presentation within just a few days, but everyone came together to produce thoughtful, well-informed, and unique presentations. I learned just as much from my peers’ interests and perspectives during this process as I did from the scheduled lectures. Of course, I believe this was partly due to the students themselves, but such a motivated, engaged, and intelligent group was drawn in by the course’s design (i.e., the topic of the course, being scheduled over our spring break/voluntary, being open to several departments). It was a pleasure to be able to spend time learning with these people, and we have continued to keep in touch since the course ended.

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A few memorable moments come to mind: 1) Dr. Mukai’s presentation, which I found extremely touching. His and the other presentations provided a good balance between teaching practical lessons and using pathos to bring empathy into the complex topics that were covered. What I loved about Dr. Mukai’s presentation in particular was the positive notes strung throughout that left me feeling motivated to do good work rather than discouraged by our history or the state of the world. This attitude was emblematic of the entire course. 2) The conversations with my peers, which spanned more areas of interest, expertise, and experience than I could have ever anticipated. I have been in environments like that before where there is an undeniable sense of comradery and outspokenness that everyone can appreciate—but I still believe this group was exceptional. This course was as much about being a member of a team and a dynamic ‘community’ as it was about meeting and learning from professionals in relevant fields of research.

I think this course exceeded in encouraging participation by allowing students from different faculties and education levels to participate, and by inviting guest lecturers who were excited to share their wisdom and research with us. I commend the coordinators for their obvious passion for this project and their respectful and sincere approach to speaking with the students. There was also ample time built into the course schedule for us to work on our group presentations, which helped eliminate my initial fear of a strenuous workload. Overall, I left the course with a better sense of the various topics that could fall under the title “Exploring Peace in East Asia and Beyond Through the Lenses of Cultural Understanding, Education, and International Relations.” It is a course I will be recommending to my friends and classmates.

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The following is a guest article written by Makoto Nagasawa, who traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area with other graduate students from the University of Tokyo—under the leadership of Professor Hideto Fukudome—in January 2025. Makoto is also an Associate Professor at Saitama University. SPICE/Stanford collaborates closely with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Tokyo and met with the students during their visit to the Bay Area.

In a contemporary world where knowledge is instantly accessible and the digitalization of education is accelerating, the value of gathering in physical spaces and learning together is being re-evaluated. The intensive seminar on international and cross-cultural education held in the San Francisco Bay Area in late January 2025 vividly demonstrated the unique appeal of in-person global education and the potential for learning that digital platforms alone cannot replicate.

This seminar—a collaboration between the Center for Advanced School Education and Evidence-Based Research (CASEER) at the University of Tokyo and SPICE at Stanford University—was not merely a venue for acquiring knowledge but a precious opportunity for participants to encounter the world through direct exposure and gain new perspectives through interaction with others. The firsthand experience of the current state of elite higher education institutions in the Bay Area, a bastion of liberalism, was an invaluable lesson in understanding live social dynamics.

On the first day at Stanford University, SPICE experts shared a wide range of insights on international and cross-cultural education. Among these, Mariko Yang-Yoshihara’s lecture, which utilized Stanford Professor Ge Wang’s video, provided participants with a stimulating experience to deeply consider the “creation of learning” from non-traditional approaches that transcend existing frameworks. Furthermore, the in-person workshops based on digitally pre-assigned tasks served as an interactive learning environment where first-time participants could share their knowledge and experiences and deepen discussions, fostering a sense of solidarity that is difficult to achieve online. The direct dialogue with Gary Mukai and other SPICE members proved to be of great significance in infusing academic knowledge with real-world context and building human connections. During the sessions at Stanford (photo below courtesy Makoto Nagasawa) students’ laptops were open, and their minds even more so as learning came alive at Stanford with SPICE experts at the table.

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Moreover, visits to cultural areas such as San Francisco’s Chinatown, San Jose’s Japan town and the Japanese American Museum, and the Angel Island Immigration Station were indispensable experiences for connecting knowledge learned in the classroom with the realities of society. In particular, encountering the history of Japanese Americans and the hardships faced by immigrants provided an opportunity to deeply understand the historical experiences of different communities and the complex paths through which present-day society has been shaped. During Gary’s tour of San Jose’s Japan town, he helped to bring the history of Japan town to life by asking the students to compare old photos—page by page—from the early 20th century to the present-day buildings and surroundings; photo below courtesy Makoto Nagasawa.

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“The only source of knowledge is experience,” as Einstein said, a quote mentioned during Professor Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu’s lecture at Stanford. This highlights that experience gained by being present in a place and engaging all five senses remains crucial in grasping the essence of learning, even in today’s increasingly digital world. The sense of presence and enthusiasm gained through co-learning in classrooms, direct dialogue with faculty and fellow participants, and fieldwork are the unique appeals of in-person education that cannot be fully experienced through online-only education.

Through this overseas intensive seminar, participants reaffirmed the significance of the physical presence of universities, the importance of learning together in person, and the value of walking the world with their own feet and experiencing it directly. Even as digital tools evolve, the deep learning and acquisition of diverse perspectives that arise from human interaction are the wellspring of wisdom and power to navigate the complexities of modern society. 

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The following is a guest article written by Geunhyung Kim, a student from South Korea studying at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies at Waseda University in Japan. Geunhyung enrolled in the 2025 SPICE/Stanford–Waseda Intensive Course: Exploring Peace in East Asia and Beyond Through the Lenses of Cultural Understanding, Education, and International Relations, which was organized by SPICE and Waseda’s Faculty of Social Sciences and taught by Meiko Kotani. The course brought together students from the Graduate School of Social Sciences, the School of Social Sciences, the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, the School of International Liberal Studies, and the School of Political Science and Economics. With participants from Japan and international students representing 10 different countries, the course created a truly dynamic and diverse learning environment.

This March, I had the privilege of participating in the 2025 SPICE/Stanford–Waseda Intensive Course on “Exploring Peace in East Asia and Beyond Through the Lenses of Cultural Understanding, Education, and International Relations.” It featured insightful lectures from esteemed professors and a former U.S. Ambassador, focusing on cultural understanding, history, and international relations in the Asia-Pacific region.

A key takeaway from the course that will forever resonate with me is the importance of thinking critically and respecting diverse perspectives. Dr. Gary Mukai’s opening lecture laid a foundational understanding of cultural biases and stereotypes, emphasizing the potential harm of psychological mechanisms that simplify complex entities. He highlighted the crucial need for recognizing and overcoming our own cultural biases. In another session, Mr. Rylan Sekiguchi led an exercise where we compared history textbooks from the United States, South Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan. This activity underscored the significance of critical thinking and demonstrated why historical education is essential. It illustrated how nations, like individuals, possess unique perspectives shaped by distinct histories and experiences. The central challenge we discussed was not the presence of diverse viewpoints per se, but rather how to constructively engage with these differences to foster regional peace. Dr. Shuoyang Meng’s lecture on knowledge diplomacy and transnational academic mobility further inspired me as a student in higher education to act as a knowledge diplomat for peacebuilding. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry’s insights on the evolving U.S.–China security dynamics and broader security issues in the Asia-Pacific region highlighted the necessity of strategic empathy in international relations.

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The most remarkable feature of the 2025 SPICE/Stanford–Waseda Intensive Course was undoubtedly its interactive environment. The program did a great job of bringing together students from diverse cultural backgrounds, including China, Japan, and South Korea, and succeeded in creating a genuinely safe and welcoming space for open discussions on sensitive historical issues. This atmosphere of openness was instrumental in building trust and fostering a deeper understanding among students. This may seem small, but I believe the experience of participating in such a diverse and collaborative setting has profoundly enriched our understanding of international relations and conflict resolution.

Initially, I was a little skeptical and curious about the feasibility of discussing sustainable peace in East Asia, considering the region’s complex history of tensions and territorial disputes. However, SPICE exceeded expectations by providing a thought-provoking and safe platform for these critical discussions.

I would recommend this course to my peers, as it broadens perspectives and equips future leaders with essential skills for meaningful dialogue on peace and cooperation in East Asia and beyond.

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Stanford e-Japan is an online course that teaches Japanese high school students about U.S. society and culture and U.S.–Japan relations. The course introduces students to both U.S. and Japanese perspectives on many historical and contemporary issues. It is offered biannually by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE). Stanford e-Japan is currently supported by the Yanai Tadashi Foundation.

In August 2025, the top honorees of the Spring 2024 and the Fall 2024 Stanford e-Japan courses will be honored through an event at Stanford University. SPICE is most grateful to Mr. Tadashi Yanai and the Yanai Foundation for making Stanford e-Japan, including the ceremony in August 2025, possible.

The three Spring 2024 honorees—Aoi Furutani (Saitama Municipal Urawa High School), Komari Machida (Crimson Global Academy), and Sota Tajima (Seiko Gakuin High School)—were selected as the award winners for their coursework and exceptional research essays that focused respectively on “Comparative Analysis of Surrogacy Policies in the United States and Japan: Proposals for Introducing Surrogacy in Japan,” “Futoukou vs. Homeschooling: Exploring Societal Reintegration of Children Outside of Traditional School Systems in Japan and the United States,” and “Synergy in the Stars: How the U.S. and Japan Can Lead the Next Era of Space.”

Ryu Sato (Soka Senior High School) received an honorable mention for his research paper on “Japanese and American Philanthropic Culture in Regard to College Financial Aid.” Sakura Suzuki (Hokkaido Asahikawa Higashi High School) also received an honorable mention for her paper on “Designing School Buildings to Encourage Student Creativity: Comparing Historical Changes in School Buildings in Japan and the United States.”

The three Fall 2024 honorees—Ellen Nema (Junior and Senior High School Affiliated to Showa Pharmaceutical University), Hirotaka Onishi (Kaisei Gakuen High School), and Mia Yakushiji (Murasakino Municipal High School)—will be recognized for their coursework and exceptional research essays that focused respectively on “Breaking the Chain of Poverty in Okinawa: Educational Approaches and Foundations,” “A Time for Reconsideration: Toward a New International Monetary Order,” and “Dual Citizenship in Japan.”

Lynne Mizushima (Keio Shonan Fujisawa Junior & Senior High School) and Kan Sugimi (Isahaya High School) each received an honorable mention for their coursework and research papers on “The Lack of Female Political Leaders in Japan: A Cultural Glass Ceiling” and “Should Bilingual Parents in the U.S. Raise Bilingual Children?”

In the Spring 2024 session of Stanford e-Japan, students from the following schools completed the course: Akita High School (Akita); Chiba Prefectural Kashiwa High School (Chiba); Crimson Global Academy (Tokyo); Doshisha International High School (Kyoto); Hiroshima Global Academy (Hiroshima); Hiroshima International School (Hiroshima); Hokkaido Asahikawa Higashi High School (Hokkaido); Ikeda Senior High School Attached to Osaka Kyoiku University (Osaka); Kadokawa S High School (Ibaraki); Kanazawa University Senior High School (Ishikawa); Keio Shonan Fujisawa Junior & Senior High School (Kanagawa); Kindai University Toyooka Junior and Senior High School (Hyogo); Kyoto Municipal Saikyo Senior High School (Kyoto); La Salle High School (Kagoshima); Matsumoto Fukashi High School (Nagano); Okayama Prefectural Tsuyama Senior High School (Okayama); Saitama Municipal Urawa High School (Saitama); Seiko Gakuin High School (Kanagawa); Senior High School at Komaba, University of Tsukuba (Tokyo); Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba (Tokyo); Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Shibuya Junior and Senior High School (Tokyo); Soka Senior High School (Tokyo); Tajiminishi High School (Gifu); Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School (Tokyo); Tokyo Jogakkan High School (Tokyo); Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School (Tokyo); Tsuchiura Nihon University High School (Ibaraki); and Yokohama International School (Kanagawa).

In the Fall 2024 session of Stanford e-Japan, students from the following schools completed the course: Daiichi High School (Kumamoto); Hachinohe St. Ursula Gakuin High School (Aomori); Hiroo Gakuen High School (Tokyo); Hiroshima Global Academy (Hiroshima); International Christian University High School (Tokyo); Isahaya High School (Nagasaki); Joshigakuin Senior High School (Tokyo); Kaetsu Ariake Senior High School (Tokyo); Kaisei Gakuen (Tokyo); Kanazawa Nishigaoka High School (Ishikawa); Kawawa Senior High School (Kanagawa); Keio Girls Senior High School (Tokyo); Keio Shonan Fujisawa Junior & Senior High School (Kanagawa); Kurume University Senior High School (Fukuoka); Matsuyama South High School (Ehime); Meikei High School (Ibaraki); Murasakino Municipal High School (Kyoto); Nagasaki Nishi High School (Nagasaki); Niigata Prefectural Niigata High School (Niigata); Okayama Prefectural Okayama Asahi Senior High School (Okayama); Ritsumeikan Keisho Senior High School (Hokkaido); Ritsumeikan Uji High School (Kyoto); Sapporo Kaisei Secondary School (Hokkaido); Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba (Tokyo); The Junior and Senior High School Affiliated to Showa Pharmaceutical University (Okinawa); Tokyo Gakugei University Senior High School (Tokyo); and Tokyo Metropolitan Nishi High School (Tokyo).

Stanford e-Japan is one of several online courses for high school students offered by SPICE, including the Reischauer Scholars Program, the China Scholars Program, the Sejong Korea Scholars Program, Stanford e-China, Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan, as well as numerous local student programs in Japan. For more information about Stanford e-Japan, please visit stanfordejapan.org.

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The following is a guest article written by Shotaro Yoshida, who traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area with other graduate students from the University of Tokyo—under the leadership of Professor Hideto Fukudome—in January 2025. Shotaro is also a Project Assistant Professor at the University of Yamanashi. SPICE/Stanford collaborates closely with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Tokyo and met with the students during their visit to the Bay Area.

In 2024, the number of foreign residents in Japan increased by approximately 5 percent from the previous year, reaching about 3.6 million and constituting roughly 3 percent of the total population. As diversity grows, university education is placing greater emphasis on diversity initiatives. However, discussions in Japan are also being influenced by increasing headwinds against diversity promotion due to the 2025 change in government.

Despite demographic changes, Japan persists in the myth of “ethnic homogeneity” and the “absence of racial discrimination.” Although discrimination against Koreans, Ainu, and Okinawans in Japan has been recognized as racial discrimination, and a comprehensive anti-discrimination law has been recommended, this reality is often ignored. This may reflect historical amnesia and a tendency to perceive diversity as “foreign values.”

The U.S. experiences of Chinese immigrant exclusion (1882) and Japanese American internment during World War II, as discussed in this SPICE-supported program, provide valuable perspective for reflecting on Japan’s own history. This highlights that Japan has its own history of similar discrimination and exclusion.

The discriminatory structures formed during Japan’s modernization since the Meiji period developed a unique concept of “ethnicity” to counter Western classifications of Japanese as the “yellow race.” This concept functioned to differentiate Japanese from Chinese people.

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Since Yokohama’s sea port opened in 1859, Chinese immigrants were important trade intermediaries, and bridged the West and Japan. By 1899, however, Japan created systems to clearly separate “inside” from “outside” through immigration and nationality controls, with discriminatory rules targeting Chinese laborers. This blood-based system became the model for Japan’s current foreign resident management. Photo above of Chinatown, Yokohama, courtesy Shotaro Yoshida.

During the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, not only Koreans but also many Chinese residents were killed. During World War II in 1944, approximately 40,000 Chinese were forcibly transported to harsh labor environments including mines and ports in Japan. At the Port of Tokyo alone, about 29 percent of these transported Chinese died within a short period. During the same period, civilian internment of “enemy nationals” also occurred. These historical facts have long been overlooked in Japanese society and inadequately addressed in history education.

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In the San Francisco Bay Area, the history of Angel Island Immigration Station and Japanese American internment is preserved in museums, with educational programs communicating these experiences to future generations. For instance, SPICE Instructor Jonas Edman delivered lectures on Chinese exclusion at Angel Island, while SPICE Director Dr. Gary Mukai, who has developed educational materials on Japanese American internment, guided us through his hometown San Jose’s Japantown, and we also had a tour of the Japanese American Museum of San Jose. This appears to serve as a foundation for contemporary diversity discussions, in stark contrast to Japan, which has few facilities or educational initiatives documenting histories of discrimination and exclusion against Chinese immigrants and others. Photo above of graduate students from the University of Tokyo, courtesy Shotaro Yoshida.

The prerequisite for meaningful diversity discussions in Japan is confronting its history of discrimination and exclusion. Engaging with the diversity that already exists in Japan and these historical facts through college education is both an exercise of academic freedom and our responsibility.

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SPICE has the honor of working closely with the Yanai Tadashi Foundation. The Yanai Tadashi Foundation’s mission is twofold. The first focuses on leader development by developing “leaders who can solve issues from a global perspective and drive the growth of Japan and the world.” The Foundation works towards this goal through its International Scholarship Program and the Ryugaku Fellowship, a study abroad support program. The recipients of the International Scholarship Program have the honor of carrying the title of Yanai Scholar. Since 2015, the Yanai Tadashi Foundation has funded very generous scholarships to Japanese students who enter top colleges and universities in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The second mission focuses on the promotion of mutual understanding. The Foundation “strives to create a society where people with diverse backgrounds develop mutual understanding and live in harmony.” The Foundation works towards this goal through Stanford e-Japan, a distance-learning course administered through SPICE with generous support from the Yanai Tadashi Foundation. First offered in Spring 2015, Stanford e-Japan enrolls exceptional high school students in Japan to engage in an intensive study of U.S. society and culture and U.S.–Japan relations. The Spring 2025 course marks the tenth year of Stanford e-Japan. The instructors of Stanford e-Japan are Waka Takahashi Brown, Manager and spring session instructor, and Meiko Kotani, fall session instructor. One of the goals of the course is to encourage Japanese students to consider applying to colleges and universities in the United States. Though many Japanese students have considered doing so, one major concern has been the cost.

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Meiko Kotani and I recently met four freshman Yanai Scholars at Stanford, and they offered to share their experiences at Stanford—as well as their gratitude to Mr. Tadashi Yanai and the Yanai Tadashi Foundation—in this article. Photo above: Gary Mukai, Mr. Tadashi Yanai, and Waka Takahashi Brown, courtesy the Yanai Tadashi Foundation.

Koichi Kimoto

I am a first-year student planning to study Aerospace Engineering/Electrical Engineering. As a Yanai Tadashi Foundation Scholar at Stanford, I feel very honored and grateful to be able to attend a university abundant of opportunities in terms of activities and network at virtually no cost. I know for a fact that my family would not have been able to support my college education costs in a university in the United States (especially a private school), so being a recipient of the Yanai Tadashi Foundation scholarship was the enabling part in realizing my goals of studying Aerospace Engineering at a school in the United States, where the field is most predominant.

Receiving the scholarship acceptance before college admissions was also a huge benefit both psychologically and admissions-wise, since it alleviated my worries about financial burden and kept me solely focused on just getting into a university. Moreover, not only does the YTF scholarship help me attend Stanford right now, but being a part of such a wonderful community of such diverse, talented people has made me a part of an amazing network full of potential collaborators in various fields ranging from engineering, computer science, and music, and I have accomplished so much with my fellow Yanai Scholars, and I hope to keep and learning and growing through this opportunity of a lifetime.

Chisa Ogaki

I am beyond grateful and honored to be able to study at Stanford as a Yanai Tadashi Foundation Scholar. Thanks to Mr. Yanai and the Foundation, I am able to immerse myself fully in my college experience and pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering without any financial burden on my family. Beyond the generous financial support, what truly differentiates the Yanai Tadashi Foundation from other scholarship foundations in Japan is the community. It has been invigorating to connect with and learn from fellow Yanai Scholars who are all incredibly skilled in their respective fields. Our alumni are always willing to offer mentorship and many of us stay connected well after graduating college.

The Foundation also actively helps us build this sense of community by hosting annual retreats and events that bring us scholars together. One of the highlights of my Stanford experience so far is the weekly dinner I have with three other first-year Yanai Scholars at Stanford. After a long and eventful week, it is always refreshing to come together on the weekend to recap and share stories. Listening to each of their experiences refuels my motivation to work harder in the following week. The connections I have made with fellow Yanai Scholars have enriched my college experience and will continue to inspire me to make the most of my education at Stanford.

Issa Sadamoto

I am a freshman studying Computer Science, with an interest in other fields such as Classics, History, and International Relations. Being able to attend Stanford through the financial assistance granted by the Yanai Tadashi Foundation, I am most grateful for the chance to attend a university that allows me to explore my breadth of interest to the fullest extent, not constrained by a narrow four-year structure. Taking classes and being able to enjoy undergraduate life having the privilege not to worry about my financial situation, the Yanai Tadashi Foundation and Stanford enable me to dive into my interests and find my future passions.

The Foundation’s support extends beyond mere financial assistance. The community it has formed has helped to push and motivate me. The environment of highly motivated peers within the community motivates me daily to excel academically and engage meaningfully with campus opportunities. The diverse perspectives I have encountered have challenged my preconceptions and enriched my worldview in ways I never anticipated. Each conversation with fellow scholars introduces new ideas that complement my technical studies with humanistic insights. This integration of knowledge domains is precisely what I hoped to achieve in my education. I hope to keep leveraging this amazing chance to further grow and develop my interests, and to keep learning from the wonderful environment offered by Stanford!

Shodai Tanaka

Firstly, I love the violin. My dream was to study the physics of musical instruments at Stanford. The dream has come true with the support of the Yanai Tadashi Foundation scholarship and the great community of Yanai Scholars. Since coming here, I have been recognizing the history of the Japanese people anew, including the history of myself. As an international student who has spent almost the entirety of my life inside Hokkaido, Japan, it is not an easy workload to study abroad and be exposed to a different culture. However, in Stanford’s environment, with freedom and therefore requiring agency, I am gaining diverse thinking perspectives from intriguing teachers and friends.

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During a recent meeting at the Yanai Tadashi Foundation in Tokyo, I had the pleasure of meeting with Chikano Shiroma, SPICE’s former main liaison at the Yanai Tadashi Foundation; photo to the left courtesy the Yanai Tadashi Foundation. She has met with many Yanai Scholars at Stanford and other colleges and universities. Waka Takahashi Brown, Meiko Kotani, and I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to her for her unwavering support of Stanford e-Japan and the chance to work with Yanai Scholars, several of whom are alumni of Stanford e-Japan. Two of Chikano Shiroma’s colleagues—Kano Sasaki, Masami Ueda—kindly joined the meeting as well, and we are looking forward to working closely with them as well as Ayako Tamura and Takatoshi Tanaka this year. 

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