Stanford e-Kobe is a distance-learning course sponsored by Kobe City and the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) at Stanford University. Students are encouraged to think critically about diversity, multiculturalism, entrepreneurship, and equity in the United States and Japan. Stanford e-Kobe instructor Alison Keiko Harsch recently wrote these reflections about the closing ceremony, which was held on March 16, 2024.

On March 16, 2024 the students, teachers, and supporters of Stanford e-Kobe gathered together to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2023–2024 cohort. Students sat in the same auditorium at Fukiai Municipal High School as they had six months prior when they participated in the program’s orientation. Where there was previously fidgeting and nervous looks to find familiar faces, there was now quiet comfortable chatter and laughter among peers.

The ceremony began with Kobe JET Coordinator of International Relations Lee Cheng welcoming the students with cheer and accolades. He introduced SPICE Director Gary Mukai, who joined the ceremony online. Mukai shared his own personal connection to Kobe as his grandmother left Japan as a picture bride from the Port of Kobe. He also encouraged students to consider several issues that he wished he had been introduced to as a high school student. 

Also joining the ceremony online was Karin Zaugg Black, international business protocol liaison for the Port of Seattle and 17-year president of the Seattle-Kobe Sister City Association. Zaugg Black reflected on her time as a guest speaker for all three years since the program’s establishment. She asked students to continue to look for opportunities to connect and build bridges, including participating in future Seattle-Kobe exchanges.

Cheng next handed the virtual microphone to me, also attending via Zoom. While preparing for the ceremony, I had reflected on how I would remember this particular cohort of students. I thought of their eagerness to ask questions and make the most of their time with guest speakers. The way they brought each conversation to a personal level while asking themselves “What can I do to make a difference?” is particularly memorable. Mostly, I recalled the way they spoke to each other in discussions, with compassion and a strong desire to learn from each other, unashamed of any gaps in their own knowledge. I shared with the class that my impression of the 2023–2024 cohort will always be a class of exceptionally kind students who approach their education with kindness and humility.

After listening to each speaker’s comments, it was the students’ turn to share their own class reflections and receive their program certificates. As one by one students took the stage, I was touched by the diverse kernels of knowledge and experience each person shared. Some of the takeaways mentioned by students included:

“I think this experience made my confidence stronger. I want to learn more and more about many fields.” 

“I would like to continue to value the process of making things better by adding my own opinions to those of others in discussions.”

“Through this program, I was able to learn about what true equality and diversity are. As internationalization progresses in the future, we are likely to have more interactions with people from various backgrounds. So, I would like to make use of what I have learned and deepen my cooperative spirit.”

“When I first joined this program, I was worried that my English skills were not as good as those of the people around me, but it was a great experience to do what I could.”

As the ceremony came to an end, I thought about how impossible it is to know the impact of education in the moment. For some students, perhaps this course will become a distant, but hopefully fond, memory of their high school days. For others, perhaps this was an introduction to a topic or feeling that will grow to become an integral part of their adulthood. As their instructor for a mere six months, I am humbled by the places these students will go, and lightened by the knowledge that wherever they journey next, they will bring their powerful kindness with them.

Stanford e-Kobe is one of several online courses offered by SPICE.

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Stanford e-Wakayama is a distance-learning course sponsored by the Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education and the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) at Stanford University. Selected students from throughout the prefecture learn from experts in the United States about various academic fields through a global lens. Stanford e-Wakayama instructor Dr. Makiko Hirata recently wrote these reflections about her trip to Wakayama Prefecture to attend the closing ceremony, which was held on March 16, 2024.

In one of Stanford e-Wakayama’s impromptu post-virtual classroom reflections, a student, Kansuke Imamura, posed the question, “Which is more effective, an online or in-person education?,” to his e-Wakayama classmates. “It would be so much nicer to be having this discussion with you all in person,” one student commented affectionately. “But if it weren’t online, we would not have e-Wakayama!,” another student promptly responded. 

Having been impressed with the curiosity and imagination of the inaugural e-Wakayama class in 2022–23, I trusted the students to develop their own thoughts on the issue. Kansuke spent the latter half of the six-month course researching how we learn differently in the two modes of education. He shared his findings with the class in his final presentation, concluding that both had their advantages and disadvantages. 

While the importance of face-to-face communication is undeniable, online education has helped address some of our global educational inequalities, which exist not only in developing nations, but in the world’s biggest economies like the United States, China, and Japan. For example, in his book published this year, Dr. Yujin Yaguchi, Professor and Vice President of Global Education at the University of Tokyo, revealed how 42.7 percent of the freshmen admitted in 2022 to the University of Tokyo (the most competitive and prestigious university in Japan) had graduated from just 20 high schools. Among these 20 elite high schools (out of 4,856 high schools in Japan), 14 were private schools, 10 were all-boys schools, and 19 were in cities with a population of 500,000  or more.^[1] The same book called our attention to how female students make up less than 30 percent of all undergraduates in the top-ranking national universities in Japan, even though they are 45.6 percent of all undergraduates nationwide. At the University of Tokyo specifically, the gender gap is even wider, with female students occupying only 20.1 percent of the undergraduate student body.^[2] And, as one can easily imagine, female representation among the faculty at these educational institutions is even smaller. 

SPICE offers its online courses and educational resources free of charge to most students in Japan because of the support SPICE receives from the Yanai Tadashi Foundation, private donors, prefectural and municipal governments, and schools. It has been expanding its regional programs especially to address these educational disparities. Stanford e-Wakayama was launched in 2022 as a part of this effort. Eleven of SPICE’s 13 instructors teaching courses to students in and from Japan are women, promoting female representation and diversity. 

The growth and development that the students achieve through these courses are remarkable. Two student alumni noted the following:

Participating in Stanford e-Wakayama, I was exposed to many fields of study and research I did not know and my world was greatly expanded. I was also made aware of limitations that I had unknowingly placed within myself. …I realized the importance of challenging myself.” – Tappo Takeuchi, Stanford e-Wakayama 2023–24 participant.

I think my values have changed after talking with many people in Stanford e-Wakayama. Everyone I met through the course was really kind and gave me many encouraging words. I would like to be in that position in the future and help many people. – Niina Ohashi, Stanford e-Wakayama 2023–24 participant

And it IS possible to have the best of both worlds, teaching these virtual classes across the Pacific Ocean, and getting to meet the students in person at the end! After six months of online instruction, I was kindly nudged to attend Stanford e-Wakayama’s closing ceremony in person by SPICE’s director, Dr. Gary Mukai. I prepared colorful pouches filled with American candies to sweeten their milestone. Each student had prepared a 90-second speech reflecting on their six-month journey of discoveries and delivered it at the ceremony. After each speech, I shook their hands, and handed them the pouch. 

At the end of the official ceremony, I announced that I would be happy to meet with anyone who wanted it. To my surprise, every one of my students stood in a line to wait for their turn to meet with me. Attending officials from the Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, and accompanying teachers and parents, watched and smiled as we met, and took photos to commemorate our celebration. I am looking forward to meeting another class of Stanford e-Wakayama students at the 2024–25 opening ceremony in September.

SPICE is currently accepting applications for the China Scholars Program (CSP), an intensive, college-level, online course on contemporary China for U.S. high school students. The program is open to rising 10th, 11th, and 12th graders across the United States. The Fall 2024 course will run from late August through December.

Stanford University China Scholars Program for high school students
Fall 2024 session (late August through December)
Application period: April 15 to June 15, 2023
Tuition: $2000

This exploration of China’s internal dynamics and recent history, as well as its complicated relationship with the United States, offers students critical insights into the world’s largest economy and growing superpower of the 21st century. “This program has provided me with a much broader and more nuanced understanding of China and U.S.–China relations. It has reshaped the preconceived notions I held about China and replaced them with academically vetted historical analyses” (Fall 2023 CSP student). 

Designed to provide high-achieving high school students a rich and comprehensive online learning experience, the CSP offers college-level instruction, featuring guest speakers from Stanford University and other top-tier institutions. Students engage with leading scholars, experts, and diplomats on Zoom each week, read deeply on that week’s topic, and engage in analytical discussion with classmates from across the United States. CSP students will also have an opportunity to meet online with Chinese students enrolled in the Stanford e-China Program.

The rigorous level of readings, discussion, research, and writing is a key feature of the program, helping students build a strong foundation for their college careers. Students who complete the course will be equipped with an unusual level of expertise about China and international relations—something notably lacking in the current generation of university students—which may guide their career choices. Many CSP alums have gone on to major in international relations, journalism, business, and other fields with global dimensions.

“CSP has helped me contextualize China’s transformation as it’s happening, which is something you wouldn’t really be able to study in any other kind of course,” said Angela Yang, a 2018 CSP alum who is now a reporter for NBC. “The curriculum is intensive yet very comprehensive, and it gives the inquisitive young mind a strong foundation to launch into further study of China or just a new lens through which we can better understand the world.”

More information on the China Scholars Program is available at http://chinascholars.org.

The China Scholars Program is one of several online courses offered by SPICE.

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When I was a child, my parents subscribed to Life magazine. Some of the photographs from Life editions have remained seared in the back of my mind. The assassination of President Kennedy was one of the major shocks of my childhood and I vividly remember the Kennedy funeral edition cover photograph. One of my family friends came back from the Vietnam War as a quadriplegic and later died and I remember how much the multiple photos of wounded American soldiers in several editions affected me. During my last month in high school, I saw an article, “Death-Flow from a Pipe: Mercury Pollution Ravages a Japanese Village,” and photographs about Minamata disease that appeared in the June 2, 1972 edition of Life. Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning and was first discovered in Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture, in 1956. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in industrial wastewater by Chisso Corporation and the consumption of the contaminated fish and shellfish. The photos of deformed victims caused by Minamata disease really haunted me as a child.

During my time with SPICE, I had the honor of working with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and during the development of a curricular project, “Music Travels the Silk Road,” Calliope: Exploring World History (January 2007, Volume 17, Number 5) that was developed specifically for sixth grade teachers in the New York City Public Schools, I learned about Silk Road Ensemble musician Ko Umezaki’s visit to Minamata City. Reading about his visit brought back memories of the Life magazine photos from 1972. 

My father was born in Minamata. My grandparents’ business, Umezaki Seizaisho (梅崎製材所), was located on what is now the M’s City department store. I have many memories of visiting Minamata while growing up in Tokyo, like going to Ume-no-Yu (梅の湯), Yunoko Onsen (湯の児温泉), and the bridge my father used to do diving from into the Minamata River. It has always been a special place for me. — Ko Umezaki

In 2020, I was reminded yet again of the Life photographs of Minamata disease when the film Minamata was released. The film shows Minamata through remembrances by W. Eugene Smith and Aileen Smith, who moved to Minamata in 1971 to document the suffering and challenges of the victims and their families.

Over 50 years after I saw the Minamata photographs in Life magazine, Shorenstein APARC Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar Makoto Shishido reconnected me with former Shorenstein APARC Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar Hiroki Hara, who is currently Director-General of the General Affairs Planning Department, Minamata City Hall. They invited me to meet with five students from Minamata High School via Zoom. The students made very impressive presentations on issues in Minamata and I had one of the most meaningful conversations with students in my career in education. Fortunately, during a trip to Japan last month, I had the chance to visit Minamata City for the first time in my life. 

I had the honor of meeting Minamata Mayor Toshiharu Takaoka and was so inspired by the environment-focused recognition the city has received over the years and impressed by Mayor Takaoka’s vision for his city. In 2011, Minamata won the Japanese Top Eco-City contest and Minamata was selected as “SDGs Future City” in 2020. My family’s ancestral roots are in Hiroshima City and I have often been asked if it is safe to visit, and residents of Minamata City are asked this as well. Minamata was given a clean bill of health in 1997. Mayor Takaoka and I reflected on this issue and also spoke about the effect of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture in 2011 and how it has shaped the current public image of the prefecture. 

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Following my meeting with Mayor Takaoka, I had the pleasure of meeting the five Minamata High School students whom I had met via Zoom. They as well as Director-General Hara, the Minamata Environmental Academia Secretary General Kayo Fuchigami, and Minamata High School Planning Manager Yoshiko Nishikii accompanied me to picturesque Minamata Bay. It was hard to imagine that the bay was once heavily polluted. We also visited the Hyakken drainage outlet, which was the originating point of Minamata disease, and also spent time in Eco Park Minamata, which included a stroll through a bamboo forest. I remember thinking of the residents of Minamata as having the characteristics of bamboo, being able to sway with the winds yet remaining sturdy. In the photo above, the students and I are standing in front of the Minamata Disease Cenotaph; photo courtesy Minamata City. 

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I also had the opportunity to give a short lesson on Japanese American history to the students. Kumamoto Prefecture (like Hiroshima Prefecture) is the ancestral home of thousands of Japanese Americans and I thought that the topic would be of interest to them. Throughout my time with the students, I was so impressed with their attentiveness and their questions. Photo above courtesy Minamata City. 

The five students not only taught me about the tragic history in their city but also illustrated how they have learned important lessons from the history, and they as high school students offered such rays of hope and symbols of the promise of Japan’s young generation. I hope that someday SPICE will be able to work again with high school students in Minamata. I have so much more to learn from Minamata and its leaders like Mayor Takaoka and its students. 

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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 2024, top students of the Spring 2023 and the Fall 2023 Stanford e-Japan courses will be honored through an event at Stanford University.

The three Spring 2023 honorees—Asumi Kato (Matsumoto Fukashi High School), Luna Kihara (Osaka Jogakuin High School), and Satoshi Yamamura (Tokyo Metropolitan Fuji High School)—will be recognized for their coursework and exceptional research essays that focused respectively on “The United States and Capitalism: How the U.S.-Led Economic System Has Affected the Planet,” “Godzilla and U.S.–Japan Relations,” and “Media Influence on Elections in the U.S. and Japan: A Comparison.” 

Takuma Kawaguchi (Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School) and Kanako Miyazaki (Saikyo Municipal High School) received Honorable Mentions for their research papers that focused respectively on “History Textbooks and Divergent Perceptions,” and “CEO Compensation in the U.S. and Japan.”

The three Fall 2023 honorees—Hisataka Kadota (Okayama Prefectural Okayama Asahi Senior High School), Shoma Nishida (Canadian Academy), and Rei Ozawa (Keio Girls Senior High School)—will be recognized for their coursework and exceptional research essays that focused respectively on “A Board Game Showcase to Analyze Japanese Companies and American Companies,” “Divergent Perspectives on Nuclear Weapons in Japan and the U.S.: What Are the Future Implications?,” and “The Color of the Courts: Racial Discrimination Within the U.S. Judiciary.” 

Mayu Anzai (Seiun High School) and Rihito Kotani (Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School) each received an Honorable Mention for their coursework and research papers on “The Ainu Revival: Learning from Hawaii” and “Media Bias in Shaping Public Perception: United States and Japan.”

In the Spring 2023 session of Stanford e-Japan, students from the following schools completed the course: Chigusa High School (Aichi); Chuo Secondary School (Gunma); Hiroo Gakuen High School (Tokyo); Hiroshima Global Academy (Hiroshima); Hokkaido Sapporo Minami High School (Hokkaido); Hyogo Prefectural Ashiya International Secondary School (Hyogo); Joshigakuin Junior and Senior High School (Tokyo); Kaishi Kokusai High School (Niigata); Kaiyo Academy (Aichi); Keio Girls Senior High School (Tokyo); Matsumoto Fukashi High School (Nagano); Miyazaki Nishi High School (Miyazaki); Musashi High School (Tokyo); Osaka Jogakuin High School (Osaka); Otemon Gakuin High School (Osaka); Saikyo Municipal High School (Kyoto); Saitama Municipal Omiya International Secondary School (Saitama); Saitama Municipal Urawa High School (Saitama); Senior High School at Ostuka, University of Tsukuba (Tokyo); Shizuoka Salesio High School (Shizuoka); Takada Junior & Senior High School (Mie); The University of Tokyo Secondary School (Tokyo); Toho Senior High School (Tokyo); Tokai High School (Aichi); Toko Gakuen (Kanagawa); Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School (Tokyo); and Tokyo Metropolitan Fuji High School (Tokyo).

In the Fall 2023 session of Stanford e-Japan, students from the following schools completed the course: Canadian Academy (Hyogo); Eisugakkan High School (Hiroshima); Gunma Prefectural Chuo Secondary School (Gunma); Gyosei High School (Tokyo); Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima Junior and Senior High School (Hiroshima); Kaishi Kokusai High School (Niigata); Kanazawa Nishigaoka High School (Ishikawa); Keio Girls Senior High School (Tokyo); Keio Senior High School (Kanagawa); Meijo University Senior High School (Aichi); Niigata High School (Niigata); Okayama Joto High School (Okayama); Okayama Prefectural Okayama Asahi Senior High School (Okayama); Osaka Municipal Suito International Junior and Senior High School (Osaka); Otemae Takamatsu High School (Kagawa); Saiko Gakuin (Kanagawa); Saikyo High School (Kyoto); Saitama Municipal Omiya International Secondary School (Saitama); Seiun High School (Hyogo); Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba (Tokyo); Senzoku Gakuen High School (Kanagawa); Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Makuhari Senior High School (Chiba); Shizuoka City High School (Shizuoka); Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School (Tokyo); UWC ISAK Japan (Nagano); Waseda University Senior High School (Tokyo); and Yokohama-Suiran Senior High School (Kanagawa). 

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 Stanford University Scholars Program for Japanese High School Students or “Stanford e-Japan” is an online course sponsored by the Yanai Tadashi Foundation and the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), Stanford University. This online course teaches Japanese high school students about U.S. society and underscores the importance of U.S.–Japan relations. Through Stanford e-Japan, ambassadors, top scholars, and experts throughout the United States provide web-based lectures and engage Japanese high school students in live discussion sessions called “virtual classes.” Stanford e-Japan is now in its 10th year and about to begin its 18th session overall.

In mid-January 2024, spring session instructor Waka Takahashi Brown notified 28 high school students across Japan of their acceptance to the Spring 2024 Stanford e-Japan Program. The online course officially began on Monday, February 12, 2024, and runs until June 30, 2024. It includes students representing Akita, Chiba, Gifu, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Kanagawa, Kyoto, Nagano, Okayama, Osaka, Saitama, and Tokyo. In addition to a diverse geographical representation within Japan, the students themselves bring a diverse set of experiences to the program, many having lived overseas in places such as Bangladesh, Canada, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States.

The selected Stanford e-Japan high school students will listen to lectures by renowned experts in the field including Stanford Professors Clayborne Carson, Kathryn Gin Lum, Kenji Kushida, and David Labaree on topics such as “Civil and Human Rights: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy,” “Religion in the U.S.,” “Silicon Valley and Entrepreneurship,” and “American Education as a Balancing Act.” Live virtual classes include guest speakers such as Ms. Suzanne Basalla (U.S.-Japan Council), Mr. Vincent Flores (EducationUSA), and Mr. Tameyasu Anayama (Aamilia, LLC). The spring session also includes two virtual classes with the U.S. high school students in the Reischauer Scholars Program.

In addition to weekly lectures, assignments, discussion board posts, a group project, and virtual classes, the program participants will complete a final research paper on a topic concerning U.S. society or the U.S.–Japan relationship. All students participate in the program for free, thanks to the generous support of the Yanai Tadashi Foundation.

Many Stanford e-Japan students in the current cohort (as well as past ones) have mentioned their desire to study in the United States. The Stanford e-Japan Program equips many students with the motivation and confidence to do so, in addition to many of the skills they will need to study at U.S. universities and colleges.

“This cohort seems eager and ready to take advantage of all the Stanford e-Japan Program has to offer,” Brown said. “I’m hopeful that they will form friendships and connections that will last well beyond the program itself.”

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, as well as numerous local student programs in Japan. For more information about Stanford e-Japan, please visit stanfordejapan.org. 

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It’s hard to believe four years have passed since I nervously logged on to meet the first fall Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan cohort. As I prepare to start my fifth year and reflect on the recent fall course that concluded in February, I am filled with a profound sense of growth and gratitude. Each year has been a journey of learning and discovery, not just for my students, but for myself as well.

Seeing the growth and development of my students over the course of just four months has been incredibly rewarding. From timid beginnings to confident presentations and impactful research papers, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing their transformation firsthand. Students not only engaged with complex social issues intellectually but also connected with them on a deeply empathetic level.

Koki Ukai shared his thoughts on the course. “While I thought I knew about the society we live in, participating in this program made me realize that the world is filled with much more complex issues that have not yet been addressed or even recognized. Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan has broadened my perspectives to be aware of these problems and taught me the power of social entrepreneurship in tackling them.”

The course underscores the role of empathy in problem-solving via design thinking. But one of the most impactful lessons I’ve learned from my students is the importance of empathy and vulnerability in creating a supportive learning community. This year, in particular, I was inspired by the way students embraced these values, sharing their personal stories of loss and hardship with courage and openness. Some students also initially hesitated to broach sensitive topics due to emotional discomfort. However, upon hearing their peers’ presentations, they recognized the value of sharing their perspectives on difficult topics to raise awareness about these issues. Their willingness to be vulnerable with one another fostered a sense of connection and solidarity within our virtual classroom. 

To further emphasize the significance of sharing our stories, I invited guest speakers to practice mindfulness with the class. These moments of openness created a safe space for students to express themselves authentically and recognize the common humanity that binds us all together. And it has reinforced my belief in the importance of nurturing not just academic skills, but also resilience, empathy, and a sense of social responsibility.

I also never cease to be amazed by the innovative ideas and boundless energy that my students bring to the table. Their fresh perspectives and willingness to think outside the box and being a part of a student’s “aha moment” inspire me to push the boundaries of my own thinking and how I approach teaching. 

Yuzuka Seto also shared her thoughts. “Participating in Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan has imbued my Sunday mornings with anticipation, and has brought me invaluable insights and experiences. When I shared my passion-driven ideas and inquiries with Ms. Bryant, she graciously introduced me to a film aligned with the subject. The film not only expanded my perspectives and deepened my interests but also enabled me to discover a sense of purpose and responsibility in a new field.” For our student-led session, Yuzuka, along with Aylie Guyodo Oyama, gave a lesson on Single Mothers and Child Poverty in Japan, which was unfamiliar to most students.

I’m humbled by the lessons I’ve learned from my students and the impact they’ve had on me as an educator and as a person. Teaching this course has been a transformative experience, and I look forward to many more years of inspiring the next generation of social entrepreneurs. I’m grateful to everyone who has supported this program. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Gary Mukai and Mr. Yusuke Ed Matsuda for their vision and leadership and our fall Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan donors, Noriko & Norman Chen and Mako & Andy Ogawa, for their continued support. I’d also like to thank Maiko Tamagawa Bacha and the e-Entrepreneurship teaching team for their help in shaping this course.

Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is currently accepting applications for fall 2024.

Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is one of several online courses offered by SPICE.

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In a webinar that was offered on January 24, 2024 as a joint collaboration between the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, USC U.S.-China Institute, and SPICE, Kathryn Tolbert, a former long-time journalist with The Washington Post, noted that following 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. Tolbert’s mother was one of them. 

Tolbert spent a year traveling the United States to record interviews with these women and their families. The Japanese War Brides Oral History Archive (https://www.warbrideproject.com) is the result of her comprehensive 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. During the webinar, Tolbert shared moving clips from several of these oral histories during which Japanese immigrant women reflect on their lives in postwar Japan, their journeys across the Pacific, and their experiences living in the United States. In addition, she shared emotional clips from some of the children of these women and their American fathers. Tolbert described bringing the legacy of these stories to life through not only the oral history archive project but also, with colleagues Lucy Craft and Karen Kasmauski, a documentary film (Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight) and an upcoming Smithsonian traveling exhibit. 

Waka Takahashi Brown, SPICE Curriculum Specialist, shared an overview of the teacher’s guide that she developed to accompany Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight, which is available to download for free at https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/multimedia/japanese-war-brides-oral-history-archive. As part of her talk, Brown encouraged teachers to introduce Asian American history and offered specific examples of how Asian American-related topics can be introduced with topics that are commonly taught in U.S. history. For example, she suggested the introduction of the history of Angel Island—the site of an immigration station where officials detained, inspected, and examined approximately one million immigrants who primarily came from Asia—along with the introduction to Ellis Island. 

During the question-and-answer period, Tolbert was asked about the challenges of conducting oral histories of the Japanese war brides. She noted that “The[ir] children were my allies because their children and sometimes the grandchildren wanted to know the stories. The women didn’t think that they had a story. They didn’t understand that there would be interest in their lives… In every family there is a storyteller, and if you could find the person who can tell the family’s story or the mother’s story, then that’s what makes it work.” She was also asked for her suggestions on how a grandchild might start exploring their grandparents’ history because it is such an important part of identify formation. Tolbert replied, “I would start by looking at photographs… ask the grandparent to talk about the photos. And ask the grandparent to explain what they are, where they were taken, what was happening that day. And then you start to get a picture of life at another time.” Brown also noted how her involvement in the development of the teacher’s guide for Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight was very personal to her because though her mother wasn’t a war bride, she was a Japanese immigrant to the United States, and issues like cultural understanding/misunderstanding, identity, and assimilation—key issues for Japanese war brides—were important issues in her family as well. 

Reflecting on the webinar, moderator Naomi Funahashi commented, “As I mentioned in my opening comments, my grandmother was a Japanese woman who married an American GI after World War II. Thus, it is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. The webinar heightened my knowledge of what these women—including my grandmother—endured during the post-war period. The webinar really underscored the power of learning history through personal narrative.” 

A recording of the webinar is now available at https://youtu.be/sp4EWuLct7E.

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A class photo is like an optical illusion. From behind the orderly, pixelated representation of this group of students, I can’t help but see the depths and nuances of their minds, courageously shared over the last six months spent in class together. As this year’s course draws to a close, I’d like to share a little about the course and this year’s students, focusing on a few unexpected qualities they demonstrated. I’d especially like to share some of their voices directly.

Stanford e-Hiroshima is a course which introduces aspects of U.S. culture and society to high school students in Hiroshima Prefecture, designed by SPICE, in collaboration with the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education in Hiroshima, Japan. Conducted in English over six months, the course is comprised of seven, online “virtual classroom” sessions, followed by an extensive final research project. By examining the United States through the four broad lenses of diversity, entrepreneurship, peace education, and environmental issues, as well as from two specific perspectives of Japanese history in the United States, and the Hiroshima–Honolulu sister city relationship, students are invited to draw comparisons between various facets of the United States and Japan. The ultimate mission of Stanford e-Hiroshima is to provide students with the ability to glean from fresh perspectives insights and learnings relevant to their own goals and visions for the future.

Now in its fourth year, Stanford e-Hiroshima 2023–24 commenced in September 2023 and will conclude at the end of this month, February 2024. The 29 students enrolled are first- and second-year students from 17 different high schools in Hiroshima Prefecture. They are all Japanese nationals, and several have had prior international exposure through participation in programs such as Global Miraijuku and Empowerment Program, or through homestays in Australia, Canada, and the United States. At the onset of the course, however, the majority of students expressed their concern about their ability to communicate in English.

To participate in Stanford e-Hiroshima, applicants are required to write two essays, one describing their personal goals, and another analyzing a current social challenge and describing their vision for a more ideal society. Student candidates are selected from among the applicants by the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education based on two criteria: clarity of purpose for joining the course, and desire to solve a social problem. Following the course Opening Ceremony, held on September 2, 2023, Mineko Kobayashi, Teacher Consultant with the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education, described this year’s students as impressively motivated, based on their active participation during the ceremony.

As instructor of Stanford e-Hiroshima 2023–24, I’ve had the privilege of observing and interacting with this group for nearly half a year, both in our virtual classroom and through weekly assignments and discussion boards. In an introduction to the course, I asked the students to focus on practicing skills and learning together, and highlighted my commitment to creating a space where differences such as in English language ability are respected. While I believe that there will be a place in education for translation services and generative AI tools, there is a policy against using them in this course, and there has been nothing more gratifying to me than seeing a student articulate their thoughts in front of the class, or reading a student’s unique stance written unabashedly in non-native English. These students’ strength of belief and determination to communicate just radiates off the screen and page.

In these students, I’ve observed several qualities such as being well-mannered, respectful, and hard-working. The students are exceedingly respectful of me as instructor, of our guest lecturers, and of each other. They are also respectful of schedules and deadlines. Students may not have been able to attend class due to other commitments, but no student ever showed up late to class. School work, part-time jobs, club activities, leadership roles, extensive interests and hobbies fill the plates of these students to the brim, and yet they consistently show up with their assignments complete, and full of enthusiasm to engage. These are wonderful qualities not to be taken for granted, however, there is a certain precedence for them based on my many years of interactions with Japanese students.

I’ve also observed three qualities which came as a surprise:

1. Directness of expression. A high tolerance for ambiguity and tendency to minimize disruption is encoded in the Japanese language through, for example, its nuanced use of the passive voice, or sophisticated double negatives. Perhaps by virtue of their using English, this year’s Stanford e-Hiroshima students have surprised me by their directness. Their enthusiasm is unveiled in the use of simple, direct expressions such as “I believe,” “I think,” and “I don’t agree.” These expressions are substantiated by the use of specific, concrete, well-researched, and well-cited examples.
   
   
2. Hunger for diversity. During the third virtual classroom we welcomed Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu to speak on the topic of “Diversity in the United States and in Japan.” The students were quick to identify differences in the way differences themselves are perceived in the two countries. They were also quick to embrace diversity. One student expressed her desire to “make friends that have similar opinions AND friends with opposite opinions.” Another student articulated the need to “see things from multiple perspectives to solve something.” Another asserted, “expressing an opinion and imposing an opinion are two completely different things. One may develop the world while the other may cause strife.” These are the voices of young adults hungry for differences.
   
   
3. Connectedness to past and future. During our sixth virtual classroom we welcomed Maya Mizuno, Program Coordinator at The University of Peace (UPEACE) to speak about Peace Education. As students in Hiroshima Prefecture, one of two regions which have experienced devastation as a result of deployment of nuclear weapons, the topic of peace education is not only extremely saliant but also promotes a world view in which connecting past and future is literally vital. Naivete is palatably absent from this group. “I think it is dangerous to assume that all the history we have learned in our school classes is correct or factual” wrote one student. Their interests reveal a mature understanding that they are not responsible for the past however their carrying forward an understanding of the past, and creation of a future is crucial. This student’s expression gave me goosebumps: “By feeling it through your skin, you can learn how your thoughts and the results you get from taking on challenges are connected.”

I asked guest lecturer Maya Mizuno about her experience with these students, and she shared this description:

In my session, we discuss what peace means and how we can develop society through education. The topic is quite complex. However, the students are very sharp, talented, and passionate, so they demonstrate a high level of engagement in the session activities. I always get inspired by what they contribute to the dialog among us. 

Like Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers say, “Our efforts are humble, but not powerless.” As long as we keep moving forward, even if it’s a small action, the change will come. I hope that the students carry their experience at e-Hiroshima to become global changemakers in the future.

Like Maya, I’m grateful to the students of Stanford e-Hiroshima 2023–24 for their candor and engagement over these six months. The qualities they’ve demonstrated are bellwethers of hope for our collective futures. My wish for these students going forward is the same as my expectations of them in class: independent thought and 100 percent participation. I’d like for every student to find and speak their own truth, and to experience the joy of their truth being heard. Very much in this spirit, one student reflects on her experience: “I was surprised by American education in Stanford e-Hiroshima; we students could think freely and share our own ideas with friends, and that was so fun!!!” 

SPICE is grateful to Superintendent Rie Hirakawa and Teacher Consultants Mineko Kobayashi and Noriyo Hayashi of the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education for their ongoing support of Stanford e-Hiroshima and its students, and to Maya Mizuno for her lecture and contribution to this article.

Stanford e-Hiroshima is one of several online courses offered by SPICE.

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The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), in collaboration with the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), is excited to announce that applications for the 2024 Virtual SPICE/NCTA East Asia Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers are now open.

The application is available at https://bit.ly/3vDYgFn. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2024.

Taking place from June 24 to June 27, 2024, the institute aims to promote the integration of Asian studies into middle school social studies and language arts curricula. Participating teachers will explore the geography, cultures, religions, history, literature, and arts of East Asia, with a particular emphasis on ancient Chinese dynasties, feudal Japan, and the Silk Road. 

Four immersive sessions will be conducted synchronously via Zoom, taking place each morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm. Sessions will feature guest speakers, curriculum demos, and opportunities for teachers to engage in discussions centered on content and pedagogical approaches to teaching about Asia.  

Participants will receive comprehensive instructional materials developed by SPICE covering topics related to China, Japan, Korea, and the Asian American experience, all tailored for effective classroom use. Additionally, educators who fulfill attendance requirements by joining all four Zoom sessions, completing designated readings, and actively participating in group discussions will receive a $200 professional stipend and will qualify to earn three quarter credits (3 units) from Stanford Continuing Studies.

The institute is open to all grade 5–8 teachers in California and is designed to be most relevant for social studies and language arts classrooms.

We hope you will join us this summer and take part in a community of educators committed to a long-term engagement in the exploration of East Asian studies.

For more information about the SPICE/NCTA East Asia Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers, visit the program webpage. To apply, submit the online application by March 1, 2024.

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

In addition to this program, SPICE offers a variety of teacher PD opportunities virtually and in-person for middle school teachers, high school teachers, and community college instructors. For more information on those programs, please visit the webpages below.

• Virtual East Asia Seminar for High School Teachers in California

• East Asia Seminars for Teachers in Hawai‘i

• Community College Programs