This article is a continuation of a series on FSA photographs by Marion Post Wolcott documenting the lives of Americans during the Great Depression and New Deal policies established to provide relief to the country’s most impoverished farmers. Discussion questions for educators relating to agricultural migrant workers during this time and also today follow at the end.

Imagine millions of Americans losing their jobs, wages, homes, or farms almost simultaneously, including hundreds of thousands forced by desperation to pack up their cars or jump on a train, abandon their homes and community roots, and steer hopefully toward a better life elsewhere. This massive human migration is one of the hallmarks of the Great Depression.

A multitude of worldwide pressures contributed to the country’s economic disaster. Both a global and national recession triggered the stock market crash of 1929, bank closures, plummeting wages, and nearly 25 percent unemployment of the nation’s workforce. By 1933, almost 45 percent of farms faced foreclosure. Many Americans lost their life savings and were left destitute. Farmers in the Great Plains squeezed their soil dry, already depleted from decades of intensive farming, to compensate for market price drops in crops through mechanization, cultivation of more land, and overextended investments. On the brink of survival, they were struck by a long drought which generated dust storms across the parched plains, destroying farms, leaving over half a million Americans homeless, and causing a migration of nearly three million people out of the American Midwest.

Joining the farmers escaping the Dust Bowl and unemployed workers from the city were millions of tenant farmers and sharecroppers in the largely rural South where more than 80 percent of Black Americans lived and faced deep poverty, Jim Crow laws, and slavery’s legacy. Americans of diverse races and classes, many accustomed to modern conveniences such as electricity and indoor plumbing and others stuck in impoverished cycles, headed toward the milder climates of states such as California and Florida to seek farm work, long growing seasons, a variety of crops, and staggered harvests. As they converged on relatively productive land, often they still were faced with a struggle to find opportunities amid overburdened infrastructure. Labor exceeded jobs, which further reduced wages. Traveling from crop to crop, they lived in shantytowns, squalid camps, and primitive shelters—conditions that exacerbated discriminatory attitudes toward migrant workers, and added to social frictions and the trauma of dislocation.

Child of Migrant Family in Front of Shack, Florida, 1939, by Marion Post Wolcott; photo courtesy Carey Moncaster

A New Deal for the American People
Inaugurated into this national upheaval in 1933, President Roosevelt swiftly put his New Deal into action—a comprehensive and innovative program of economic recovery. The “Three R’s” focused on relief for the unemployed and impoverished, recovery of the economy, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. The government launched numerous federal agencies and programs to provide critical relief to the displaced American workforce and agricultural communities.

The Farm Security Administration, in particular, resettled poor migrants on productive land, building entire communities, cooperatives, schools, and residential camps with running water and sanitary conditions. Agricultural workers were helped to buy equipment, sell crops, manage debt, and purchase farms. It also provided safe spaces away from discrimination where migrants could engage in cultural and recreational activities and rekindle a sense of stability.

The New Deal signified a new relationship between the American people and their government by taking on a larger role and many new responsibilities for the welfare of the American people. The government’s involvement in such affairs was unprecedented. Agencies such as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), and Social Security Administration were established in this era. Critics complained that the programs went too far, or not far enough, to protect the wellbeing of American citizens. As New Deal programs changed the political, social, and economic landscape of the United States, the government attempted to provide relief in ways that didn’t compromise the values, pride, and work ethic of the American people. Many of these themes remain a common thread in domestic political discourse today.

Farm Security Administration (FSA) Photography
To defend and promote the resettlement projects, the FSA hired photographers to document rural poverty, publicize governmental efforts to alleviate it, and galvanize political support for Congressional funding. The FSA photographers recorded the human toll and ecological plight of the Great Depression and its aftermath. Between 1935 and 1944, they took over 175,000 images of life during this time of despair, relocation, and recovery, enabling Americans not only to imagine but also clearly visualize this profound period of American history.

The scourge of the Depression continued until 1941 when the United States entered World War II, the national economy ramped up with the defense industry, and Americans enlisted in the military. As a result of New Deal programs, many of the migrant workers put down roots in their new communities.

Discussion Questions

1. Look at the two FSA photos included in this article. What details do you notice? What conclusions can be drawn? What do you think prompted the photographer to take these particular pictures? How do you think images such as these helped stir public support for New Deal programs?
    
2. How do you distinguish between impartial documentation and political propaganda? How do a photographer’s biases and assumptions influence a photograph? Can you think of a current example of a press image that could be used to influence the public’s view on an event or issue?
    
3. What do you think might happen if federal agencies such as the Social Security Administration and the FDIC didn’t exist today? What role does the government have in protecting the basic welfare and safety of its citizens?
    
4. How have the living conditions of agricultural migrant workers in the United States improved since the 1930s? Starting in the early 1960s, farm workers and their leaders organized a series of marches, national consumer boycotts, and fasts that attracted national headlines publicizing the working conditions of farm workers. They ultimately established the United Farm Workers of America, the nation’s first enduring and largest farm workers’ union. What are some of the issues on which the UFW continues to focus its activism today?
    
5. Created by executive order following the United States’ entrance into World War II, the Bracero Program (1942–1964) brought millions of Mexican guest workers to the United States. Braceros were contracted to fill labor shortages in low-paying agricultural jobs needing to be filled as American farm laborers enlisted in the military and factory jobs and those of Japanese descent were forced into war “relocation camps.” Farm workers already living in the United States were concerned that braceros would compete for jobs and lower wages as, desperate for work, braceros were willing to endure working conditions increasingly scorned by American workers. What do you think are the pros and cons of this program, and how do you think its legacy influences the United States today? How important is immigration to the U.S. economy and national security? How have the rich and diverse cultures of immigrant farm workers influenced American life?
    
6. The mechanization of farm work contributed toward both the consolidation of small farms and displacement of agricultural jobs. Today, a discussion around the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the workforce continues to raise similar concerns in agriculture as well as other sectors. What do you think are some pros and cons of this technological development?
    
7. According to national reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Labor, an estimated 2 to 3 million migratory and seasonal agricultural workers live in the United States. Why do you think the majority of these agricultural laborers are from other countries? Do you think discrimination continues to plague these communities, and, if so, why?
    
8. Consider investigating where the fruits and vegetables you eat are harvested and the general background of the farm workers who pick and pack them for sale. The National Center for Farm Workers Health provides a dashboard for research. Can you find additional resources?

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge and thank educators Litza Griffin-Johnson (Mercer Island) and Wendy Ewbank (Seattle) for their discussion of these photographs and the New Deal. Their comments were invaluable and helped to inform the focus of this article.

On August 9, 2022, a virtual award ceremony was held to recognize the 12 honorees of SPICE’s 2021–2022 regional programs in Japan. These students performed at the highest levels in their respective courses. Their names, high schools, and final research project titles appear below.

Stanford e-Fukuoka (Instructor Kasumi Yamashita)

• Kasane Horiuchi (Tochiku High School), “Research on Plastic Bottle Recycling”
• Mihiro Tomomatsu (Hakata Seisho High School), “Break Invisible Barriers. Create the World that Everyone Needs”
   

Stanford e-Hiroshima (Instructor Rylan Sekiguchi)

• Minori Imai (Hiroshima Prefectural Kuremitsuta High School), “All Lives Are Important”
• Yui Miyake, (Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima High School), “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)

• Sayaka Kiyotomo (Kawasaki High School), “How Can We Improve Junior and Senior High School English Education in Japan?”
• Anne Fukushima (Tachibana High School), “How Are Invisible Disorders Accepted in the United States and Japan?”

Stanford e-Kobe (Instructor Alison Harsch)

• Nonoha Toji (Kobe University Secondary School), “How to Foster Entrepreneurship in School Days: Between U.S. and Japan”
• Cullen Hiroki Morita (Kobe Municipal Fukiai High School), “The Different Work-Life Balance in Japan and America”
   

Stanford e-Oita (Instructor Kasumi Yamashita)

• Rina Imai (Usa High School), “Learn About War and Peace Through the Naval Air Base Bunkers in Oita”
• Yuki Nojiri (Hofu High School), “I Want to Live in the Second House of the Three Little Pigs”

Stanford e-Tottori (Instructor Jonas Edman)

• Sakurako Kano (Tottori Keiai High School), “Being Proactive”
• Yuki Yamane (Tottori Nishi High School), “The Effect of Collectivism and Individualism on Education”
   

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The event began with welcoming remarks by the Honorable Hajime Kishimori, Acting Consul General of Japan in San Francisco, who recognized the students for their impressive academic achievement. “You have demonstrated initiative and dedication to enhancing your understanding of Japan and the United States. I’d like to congratulate all of you.” He also expressed his hope for the students to play an active role in the future of U.S.–Japan relations. “I hope that your experiences have motivated you to consider an international career involving Japan and the United States. I believe the future of Japan–U.S. relations is in the hands of the next generation, and I hope young leaders like you will continue to strengthen our countries’ friendship as we move forward.”

Following Acting Consul General Kishimori’s remarks, each honoree delivered a formal research presentation in English and fielded questions from the audience. Each honoree also received a plaque to recognize their award.

For the instructors, it was a joy to watch the students present the research projects they worked for months to refine. “It’s so rewarding to see their hard work pay off,” commented Stanford e-Kobe Instructor Alison Harsch. “You can’t help but feel proud of them—for their academic accomplishments, but also for the ways they’ve grown as young adults over the course of the program.”

Stanford e-Fukuoka honoree Kasane Horiuchi is a case in point. Thinking back on her experience in the course, she reflected, “At first, I hesitated to speak up in class, but my instructor always encouraged us to be brave and told us that making mistakes was important. Thanks to her encouragement, I was able to talk with my classmates and enjoyed participating in every class. This experience was so important to me.”

SPICE would like to thank its collaborators at the Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Oita, and Tottori Prefectural Boards of Education, Kawasaki City, and Kobe City, who have helped make these regional programs a success. SPICE would also like to thank Fukuoka Governor Seitaro Hattori, Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki, Kawasaki Mayor Norihiko Fukuda, Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto, Oita Governor Katsusada Hirose, and Tottori Governor Shinji Hirai for their continued support of these regional programs.

SPICE’s regional programs are a subset of our local student programs in Japan.

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Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is a partnership between SPICE and NPO e-Entrepreneurship, which is led by Yusuke “Ed” Matsuda and Junna Hagiwara. Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan enrolls exceptional high school students from Japan. Top Japanese and American scholars and entrepreneurs provide web-based lectures and engage students in live discussion sessions or “virtual classes” on topics like design thinking, health and welfare, agriculture, environment and energy, and education and technology. The course is offered in English and includes reading assignments, online lectures, discussion board posts, and research projects. Students who successfully complete the course receive a Certificate of Completion from SPICE, Stanford University.

On August 15, 2022, NPO e-Entrepreneurship’s Junna Hagiwara facilitated an online ceremony during which the top two students from the summer 2021 course and the top two students from the fall 2021 were honored. The honorees also gave presentations on their research papers. The honorees and the titles of their research paper topics are:

Summer 2021

• Yamato Obinata, Shibuya Makuhari Senior High School, Chiba; “School Truancy”
• Scott Watanuki, Iolani High School, Honolulu; “A Cost-Effective Solution for Diagnosing Cataracts in Developing Countries”
   

Fall 2021

• Mona Abe, Urawa Akenohoshi Girls’ Senior High School, Saitama Prefecture; “Eliminating Labor Exploitation: Taking an Individual Approach to Ethical Fashion”
• Nahoko Okamoto, Kikuzato High School, Aichi Prefecture; “LGBTQ+ Inclusivity”

Following each presentation, each honoree fielded questions from an audience of teachers, fellow Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan students, and members of the SPICE/Stanford community. While listening to their presentations and the Q&A period, Hagiwara noted, “It became clear to me why these four students were chosen as the honorees by their instructors. Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan has the objective of empowering students with creative thinking and problem-solving skills with a focus on social innovation to solve global issues. This certainly came through each presentation during the ceremony.”

Instructor Maiko Tamagawa Bacha stated the following about the summer 2021 course. “Throughout the course, the students learned to work together to build a solution for a problem, and I hope that this experience helped them realize that the more different ideas and perspectives they bring in, the more innovative they can be in problem-solving. Both Yamato and Scott not only demonstrated innovation but also excellent leadership in fostering teamwork and collaboration.”

Reflecting on the fall 2021 course, Instructor Irene Bryant noted, “As we navigated another year of the pandemic, I was impressed with how students were able to empathize with their classmates and step up to help one another during challenging times. It was also great to see them apply new skills and improve how they approached each new topic as the course progressed. Mona and Nahoko, our fall honorees, showed exceptional leadership skills and their ability to grasp the importance of empathy really showed in their work.”

The fall 2021 course was generously supported by Noriko & Norman Chen and Andrew & Mako Ogawa. The spring 2022 course was generously supported by the Water Dragon Foundation. Bryant, Bacha, and Hagiwara are grateful to Mitsuhito Ikeda, a senior at International Christian University, who contributed his time to both the fall and spring courses.

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 supported by the Yanai Tadashi Foundation.

In August 2023, three of the top students of the Spring 2022 Stanford e-Japan distance-learning course will be honored at a Japan Day ceremony through Stanford University. The three Stanford e-Japan honorees—Hana Kameyama (Seikei High School, Tokyo), Miyu Kato (Hiroshima Prefectural Senior High School, Hiroshima), and Yuta Muraki (Matsumoto Shuho Secondary School, Nagano)—will be recognized for their coursework and exceptional research essays that focused respectively on “A Comparative Analysis between the United States of America and Japan: Women in STEM,” “U.S. Public Health Policy in Hospitals for People with Disabilities,” and “Legitimacy of the United States and Japan as Permanent Members of the Security Council from the Viewpoint of Regional Representation.”

Mona Abe (Urawa Akenohoshi Girls’ Senior High School, Saitama) received an Honorable Mention for her research paper on “Protecting Undocumented Children in the U.S. and Japan: Extending DACA.” Oki Sugiyama (Musashi High School, Tokyo) also received an Honorable Mention for his paper on “A Study on Machine Translation Application to Strengthen the U.S.–Japan Relationship.”

All 28 students successfully completed the Spring 2022 session of Stanford e-Japan. They represented the following schools: Ashiya International Secondary School (Hyogo); Columbia International School (Saitama); Hachinohe High School (Aomori); Hiroshima Prefectural Senior High School (Hiroshima); Hyogo Prefectural Ono High School (Hyogo); Kagoshima Prefectural Oshima High School (Kagoshima); Kaishi Kokusai High School (Niigata); Katoh Gakuen Gyoshu Senior High School (Shizuoka); Keio Girls Senior High School (Tokyo); Kumamoto High School (Kumamoto); Kyoto Prefectural Rakuhoku Senior High School (Kyoto); Lycée Français International de Kyoto (Kyoto); Matsumoto Shuho Secondary School (Nagano); Matsuyama Higashi High School (Ehime); Musashi High School (Tokyo); Okinawa Prefectural Yokatsu High School (Okinawa); Omiya High School (Saitama); Sapporo Minami High School (Hokkaido); Seikei High School (Tokyo); Seisen Junior and Senior High School (Kanagawa); Takada High School (Mie); Taki High School (Aichi); Tamagawa Academy (Tokyo); Tennoji High School attached to Osaka Kyoiku University (Osaka); Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School (Tokyo); Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School (Tokyo); Touoh Gakkan High School (Yamagata); and Urawa Akenohoshi Girls’ Senior High School (Saitama).

For more information about the Stanford e-Japan Program, please visit stanfordejapan.org. The application period for the spring 2023 session will begin November 15, 2022.

To stay informed of news about Stanford e-Japan and SPICE’s other programs, join our email list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The following article is a guest post written by Thea Louise Dai, an alumna of the Spring 2022 China Scholars Program. In April 2022, Thea met Wendy Wen, an alumna of the Spring 2022 Stanford e-China Program. Currently, Thea Louise is a junior at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California, and Wendy Wen is a junior at Beijing National Day School in Beijing, China.

In April 2022, I met Wendy Wen through a collaboration between the China Scholars Program (CSP) and Stanford e-China. Five months later, we are working together to prepare the first synchronous Zoom discussion at Project 17—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization we founded dedicated to initiating global dialogue through synchronous discussions about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

The CSP and Stanford e-China collaboration was no doubt my most stimulating academic experience to date. The two programs held four joint discussions on various climate issues over the course of several weeks. With the rare opportunity to bridge geographical and cultural divides, I finally had a chance to apply everything I had learned about China’s history, policies, and current events throughout the program in conversation with actual Chinese students, from whom I learned new perspectives. Although we only had to participate in one of the synchronous discussions, I found myself looking forward to each meeting and rearranging my schedule to attend all four.

Wendy recalls that she had a similarly eye-opening experience during the meetings. She noted, “I have always believed that the world’s largest challenges can be solved through global collaboration. After every discussion with the CSP, I left feeling inspired to know that such collaboration is possible, even for high school students.”

After meeting each other through a breakout room conversation, we immediately connected on the need for a global discussion platform targeted towards youth perspectives. Essentially, we hoped to capture the value of our experience with SPICE, and we wanted to make it even more accessible and on a larger scale. We also wanted to clear a pathway for participants to take the next steps to create tangible change on the SDGs after our discussions.

As a result, we conceptualized Project 17 in part to partner with the chapter system of the United Nation Association of the USA (UNA-USA) so that high school and college students have the unique opportunity to connect with UNA-USA officials and members across the United States. Our vision is for all participants to be able to share their perspectives on the SDGs to inform the UNA-USA chapter system. We’re also working with Stanford e-China Instructor Carey Moncaster and CSP Instructor Tanya Lee of SPICE to publish the SDG-related research and reflections of participants on larger platforms.

Project 17 hosts four annual synchronous Zoom discussions, each focused on a particular group of SDGs: Planet, People, Prosperity, and Peace & Partnership. Our first discussion about the planet will take place in November 2022 and run for two hours. Interested students can complete the registration form on the Project 17 website to apply for an opportunity to hear from SDG advocates, learn from NGO leaders, and participate in breakout room discussions with youth leaders around the world. High school and college students based in any country are eligible to participate.

Project 17 discussion structure; photo courtesy Thea Louise Dai

In the span of four months, Project 17’s outreach efforts have reached 51 cities, 47 schools, and five different countries. Participants will build connections with students from different backgrounds and develop a global mindset by engaging with new perspectives. In addition, participants can contribute to asynchronous discussion boards and the Project 17 blog, receive bimonthly newsletters about the SDGs, and receive certified service hours eligible for the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

By incorporating these opportunities into our organization, we hope to create an experience similar to the invaluable experiences that Wendy and I had through the CSP and Stanford e-China. Inspired by SPICE’s impact, we are incredibly excited to start an initiative similarly promoting international and cross-cultural collaboration. Please note that Project 17 is not a Stanford SPICE program.

For more information, visit Project 17’s website (projectseventeen.org) or contact Project 17 at contact@projectseventeen.org.

From July 25 through 28, 2022, 21 educators from across the United States and China gathered online for the 2022 East Asia Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers, a teacher professional development seminar offered by SPICE in partnership with the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. NCTA is made possible by the Freeman Foundation. Over four days of rich content lectures, discussion, and experiential learning, institute participants deepened their background knowledge on Asia and the Asian American experience and began to rethink and revamp their curriculum plans for the 2022–23 school year.

This year’s participants were from many U.S. states, including Alabama, California, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Washington. For the first time, three teachers from China—from Jiangsu and Guangzhou provinces—also took part in the institute. The teachers represented a wide range of teaching subjects, from history, social studies, language arts, and literature, but all sought to strengthen their teaching through a clearer, more nuanced understanding of key episodes in the history of East Asia and the Asian American experience.

The institute’s guest speakers also came from diverse backgrounds, being university professors, curriculum specialists, and school educators with expertise on a specific aspect of Asia or the Asian American experience and/or pedagogy. Interwoven between the captivating content lectures were classroom-focused lesson demonstrations and pedagogy-focused discussions facilitated by SPICE curriculum designers. “We make sure we balance subject-matter content with pedagogical discussions in all of our teacher professional development seminars,” noted Jonas Edman, who managed the middle school institute. “We want to help middle school teachers integrate the knowledge gained from the scholars directly into the classroom.” To that end, summer institute participants each received complimentary literature and SPICE curriculum units to help them bring Asia and the Asian American experience alive for their students. The institute’s key topics and speakers were:

July 25: The Silk Road
Clayton Dube, Director, USC U.S.-China Institute, University of Southern California, “Silk Road—Goods, Ideas, and People on the Move”
Rylan Sekiguchi, SPICE, “Along the Silk Road” curriculum demonstration

July 26: Religions and Philosophies of East Asia
John Kieschnick, the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Professor of Buddhist Studies, Stanford University, “Buddhism: Ancestor Worship, Karma, and Vegetarianism”
Jonas Edman, SPICE, “Religions and Philosophies of China” curriculum demonstration

July 27: Tokugawa Japan
Uldis Kruze, Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, University of San Francisco, “Edo Japan 1600–1868”
Karen Tiegel, The Nueva School, “Japanese Art in the Edo Period” curriculum demonstration

July 28: Asian Voices and Asian American Experiences
Takami Nieda, English Department, Seattle Central College, “The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart in the Classroom”
Gary Mukai, SPICE, “Early Japanese American History”
Jonas Edman, SPICE, “Angel Island,” “Chinese American Voices,” “What Does It Mean to Be an American?” curriculum demonstrations

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-Japan enrolls exceptional high school students from Japan to engage in an intensive study of U.S. society and culture. The Reischauer Scholars Program enrolls exceptional high school students from the United States to engage in an intensive study of Japanese society and culture. Both courses underscore the importance of U.S.–Japan relations. The Yanai Tadashi Foundation is the current supporter of Stanford e-Japan, and the Japan Fund at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) is the current supporter of the RSP.

On August 8, 2022, an award ceremony was held to honor SPICE’s Spring and Fall 2021 Stanford e-Japan student honorees and 2022 Reischauer Scholars Program student honorees. The honorees performed at the highest levels of their courses as determined by Stanford e-Japan Instructors Waka Takahashi Brown and Meiko Kotani, Reischauer Scholars Program Instructor Naomi Funahashi, and the research paper review committees.

Spring 2021 Stanford e-Japan Program Honorees
Yura Amaya, Toyama Chubu High School, Toyama
Akira Fukutomi, Yaeyama High School, Okinawa
Yuto Kimura, Waseda University Senior High School, Tokyo

Fall 2021 Stanford e-Japan Program Honorees
Yohei Kiguchi, Chiba Prefectural Chiba Senior High School, Chiba
Mio Kobayashi, Shirayuri Gakuen, Tokyo
Tomoka Matsushima, Senri International School, Osaka

Honorable Mentions: Ayuki Ichikawa (Keio Senior High School, Kanagawa), Risei Ko (Ikeda Senior High School attached to Osaka Kyoiku University, Osaka), Saya Miyake (Keio Girls High School, Tokyo), and Moe Shimizu (Shibuya Senior High School, Tokyo)

2022 Reischauer Scholars Program Honorees
Cindy DeDianous, Scarsdale High School, New York
Yurika Sakai, Greenwich High School, Connecticut
Riyana Srihari, Nueva School, California

Honorable Mentions: Sora Shirai (Hanover High School, New Hampshire) and Colin Cham (Nueva School, California)

The program began with welcoming comments from the Honorable Hajime Kishimori, Acting Consul General of Japan in San Francisco. “I would like to recognize this year’s honorees for their outstanding academic performance and to congratulate all the participants for completing the programs. I believe that through these programs, your understanding of Japan and the United States has been deepened, and I hope that it will inspire you to consider your future study and career involving Japan–U.S. relations.” He continued, “I am glad that we have platforms such as the Reischauer Scholars Program and Stanford e-Japan where young people from both countries learn about each other’s country and mutual history and have a chance to engage in direct exchanges."

Following Acting Consul General Kishimori, Chikano Shiroma, Deputy Secretary General of the Yanai Tadashi Foundation, made opening comments. She noted, “First of all, I would like to congratulate the Reischauer Scholars Program and Stanford e-Japan students who are participating today… Our Foundation has supported Stanford e-Japan since 2018, so I am happy to be able to hold this ceremony in person in Japan… Our Foundation’s President, Mr. Tadashi Yanai, is also the founder of Uniqlo and also President of Fast Retailing, the holding company of Uniqlo and other fashion brands. The Yanai Tadashi Foundation supports talented Japanese high school students to have the opportunity to pursue higher education at universities in the U.S. and U.K. so that they can contribute to the future development of Japan worldwide.” She continued, “Our main business is a scholarship program for Japanese students who wish to enter universities in the U.S. and U.K.—universities that are ranked among the top 60. We have provided scholarships to approximately 200 students. Among them are many students who have taken the Stanford e-Japan program so if you seek to apply for universities in the U.S. or U.K., we encourage you to apply for our scholarship program… Our Foundation hopes that what you learn about the relationship between Japan and the U.S. through Stanford e-Japan will be helpful in your future careers, and we hope for your international success in the future.”

Following the welcoming and opening comments, Brown, Kotani, and Funahashi gave introductions of their courses. The student honorees made presentations based on their research papers and expertly fielded questions from the audience. While listening to the presentations, I reflected on the tremendous impact that Brown, Kotani, and Funahashi have had on their students over many years. The RSP and Stanford e-Japan are about to enter their 20th and 8th years, respectively. Many of the alumni are now engaged in various fields related to U.S.–Japan relations and continue to give back to both programs by being guest speakers or mentors to the current students. Also, in their comments, Brown, Kotani, and Funahashi profusely thanked their guest speakers, many of whom have remained unwavering in their support since the launch of the programs.

Takayuki Enomoto, Teacher at Waseda University High School in Tokyo, kindly made arrangements to host the Stanford e-Japan honorees at Waseda University High School. Reflecting on the event, he noted, “As someone who shares a common goal in educating young people, the SPICE team receives my respect and appreciation for nurturing our students with a broad perspective in U.S.–Japan relations… The e-Japan students will certainly make a significant difference in the future.” Following the formal event, the student honorees—most having met each other in person for the first time—had the chance to enjoy lunch together and visit sites in Tokyo. It is the hope of Brown, Kotani, and Funahashi that the Japanese and American student honorees will someday have the chance to gather in person when it is safer to do so.

SPICE is grateful to President Tadashi Yanai for his generous support of Stanford e-Japan and to Chikano Shiroma and Daisuke Kato of the Yanai Tadashi Foundation for their regular correspondence and encouragement. SPICE is also thankful to the Japan Fund committee at FSI for its generous support of the Reischauer Scholars Program. These courses and the ceremony would not have been possible without them.

The Reischauer Scholars Program’s next application period will begin September 5, 2022. Stanford e-Japan’s next application period will begin November 15, 2022.

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.