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91�Թ� and are pleased to announce an upcoming Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum (EPIC) workshop for community college instructors that will feature a talk by  on his latest book, Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons. This free virtual workshop will take place on Tuesday, January 25, 4:00pm–6:00pm (Pacific Time). All attendees will receive a copy of Dr. Lin’s book after the workshop. Please see the workshop description below for more information as well as the registration link.

The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91�Թ�) and Stanford Global Studies (SGS) are continuing their partnership to offer engaging professional development opportunities for community college instructors who wish to internationalize their curriculum. This two-hour workshop is presented by 91�Թ� and SGS as part of the Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum (EPIC) and is supported by Department of Education Title VI funding.

This workshop will feature a talk by Dr. Herbert Lin on his latest book, Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss with Dr. Lin the cyber threat across the U.S. nuclear enterprise.

As noted by 91�Թ� Press, the publisher of Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons, “The technology controlling United States nuclear weapons predates the Internet. Updating the technology for the digital era is necessary, but it comes with the risk that anything digital can be hacked. Moreover, using new systems for both nuclear and non-nuclear operations will lead to levels of nuclear risk hardly imagined before. This book is the first to confront these risks comprehensively.” ()

Dr. Herbert Lin is Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, FSI, and Hank J. Holland Fellow in Cyber Policy and Security, Hoover Institution.

Please register at your earliest convenience and before January 21, 2022.

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

On December 8, 2020, January 19, 2021, March 16, 2021, May 18, 2021, and July 20, 2021, 91�Թ� posted five articles that highlight reflections from 41 students on the question, “What does it mean to be an American?” Part 6 features eight additional reflections.

The free educational website “” offers six lessons on immigration, civic engagement, leadership, civil liberties & equity, justice & reconciliation, and U.S.–Japan relations. The lessons encourage critical thinking through class activities and discussions. On March 24, 2021, ���ʱ��䷡’s Rylan Sekiguchi was honored by the Association for Asian Studies for his authorship of the lessons that are featured on the website, which was developed by the Mineta Legacy Project in partnership with 91�Թ�.

Since the website launched in September 2020, 91�Թ� has invited students to review and share their reflections on the lessons. Below are the reflections of eight students. The reflections below do not necessarily reflect those of the 91�Թ� staff.

Aime Chao, California
The American Dream is a set of ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and equality. These ideals are not necessarily the reality; for example, my Japanese American grandmother was unconstitutionally incarcerated during WWII. Yet, the same ideals made it possible for my family from East Asia to build a life in the United States. The juxtaposition of the American Dream and the facts on the ground unveils the characteristic of America that distinguishes what it means to be American—that everyone has a voice. I am growing up in a time when my country is increasingly polarized, and it can be challenging to identify or be identified with being American. However, the perseverance involved in bettering our future by bridging our reality with our ideals makes me proud of my identity as an American.

Jiahao Guo, Ohio
America is divided. And the division breeds inequality. But there is an often-ignored divide, a geographical one: Rural America vs. Urban America. As an Ohioan, the stark differences between the two Americas are apparent, encompassing all aspects of life, regardless of race or culture. Compared with urban America, the average income is much lower. Infrastructure is ignored. Education opportunities are far less accessible. And rural America is often forgotten or even dismissed by the rest of the country. There’s even a term for this: Flyover States. States so unimportant you can just fly over them. I am constantly reminded of this divide. Some say that this is just a fact to be accepted. But in the land of opportunity, we must do our best to bring about a more equal landscape.

Noah Kurima, California
America is a unique experiment. Our founding fathers concocted a country not based on race but on the unfathomable-at-the-time ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity. To me, to be an American means to aspire for these ideals during smooth sailing, but also when faced with adversity. There is so much noise right now—the pandemic, school shootings, the recent rise of racial hate and violence. But we must look around and observe the appalling abuses of authoritarian regimes around the world. We must acknowledge the immense power of our rights and freedoms, as well as their vulnerability. We must be willing to spend the long nights in the laboratory that is our democracy, avoiding corrosive missteps and working to perfect the seemingly volatile formula for liberty and justice for all.

Riya Narayan, Tennessee
The American Dream is the idea that our country fosters equality, peaceful opportunity, and the freedom to pursue life. It is through this simple notion that millions of people immigrate to the United States every single year, and it’s why my family immigrated here in 2011. What does this American Dream stand for? For me, it symbolizes the peaceful unity of people from different cultures, backgrounds, and identities. It represents the sharing of ideas and a drive for positive change. For my family, it represents a world of opportunity. My parents and I became American citizens in May 2019, and ever since, we have worked to uphold this purpose: to be a vessel for the innovation, creativity, and equality our country brings for the betterment of others. This, for me, is what it means to be an American.

Jack Pelster-Wiebe, Minnesota
I have a complicated relationship with America and American-ness. I am not legally a citizen, but I am a white person who’s lived in the United States for the majority of my life. I also speak English with an American-adjacent Canadian accent, and so I’ve rarely been treated as though I don’t belong here. But still, I am not an American. When I think about what divides my American friends from me, I find largely nebulous contradictions that can’t apply to everyone. Then maybe there is no one defining characteristic of an American, nothing that makes them any more or less citizen than the neighbors around them. It’s up to each person to define themselves what makes them American, decide whether they want to tie themselves to the land, border, culture, or whatever feels like “America” to them.

Kevin Phan, Hawaii
I believe it is the cultural practices of every nation that make them distinct. It is what makes the German people German. It is what makes the Chinese people Chinese. Our culture is what makes us American. One doesn’t need to enjoy every single tenant of American culture, but rather enough of it to where it has a strong influence in our lives. People around the world can enjoy things like the NBA, the Kardashians, and Taylor Swift, however, it is only Americans who are able to enjoy those things and more. Thus, it is not an appreciation of our history, nor our citizenship that make us American. It is the love and interests that we culminate through exposure and experience that makes us a part of this nation.

Kasha Tyranski, Florida
“The frog is almost five hundred million years old. Could you really say... that America… will last as long as... the frog?” I can respond to Catch-22’s question with one word: yes. Perhaps not a physical America—but the essence of what it means to be American will outlive the frog. To be American is to be a quilt—a patchwork of struggles, triumphs, and dreams that transcend time. America is my ancestors joining za chlebem with whispers of hope hidden in their coat folds. America is speaking in Tajiki to Dushanbean students, describing the skyscrapers of the place I call home. America is opportunity, dynamism, reflectiveness, and reconciling the past and present. It means being part of a story greater than myself—one that will continue being woven, with or without frogs.

Andy Wattanaskolpant, Tennessee
The concept of being American is rooted in complexity, curiosity, and change. It is based on the notion that our uniqueness and individuality help to unite us. Indeed, our country has been marred by a history of injustice that still impacts us today, however, the fundamental idea of being American is the eagerness to push for change. Over the years, I have noticed the dynamic change happening in America—within the police system, the political environment, the food industry. There is no doubt that the rudimentary attitude of change is continuing to perpetuate inside the minds of Americans. I find myself realizing that utilizing love as the drive for change makes the fight all the more worth it. To love is what makes me most American.

91�Թ� has been working with the Navajo Nation for ten years. 91�Թ� featured Dr. Harold Begay in a webinar called “Indigenous Voices: Educational Perspectives from Navajo, Native Hawaiian, and Ainu Scholars in the Diaspora” on June 18, 2021. On the occasion of National Native American Heritage Day, November 26, 2021, 91�Թ� invited him to share reflections on his life.

The Journey from a Community Trash Dump Scavenger to U.C. Berkeley

There was a youngster, a scavenger at an early age who had to rummage through the community trash dump for winter firewood and other discarded household items. This youngster from a single-parent home living on a traditional livestock economy on the Navajo Reservation, speaking only his Navajo language, entered school in his elementary school years and was able to attain nationally normed test scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the upper 80s and 90s. He initially spent his kindergarten and first grade years as a student running away along with other local school kids from a U.S. government boarding school. He was transferred to the local state public school, and beginning in second grade, his homeroom teacher stayed with him grade-to-grade (looping) through his high school years. He dropped out of high school but came back, graduated, and was recommended by an Arizona State Senator, as required for admission, and by his high school teachers, counselors, and principal, to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He instead enrolled at Arizona State University with “Honors at Entrance.” He dropped out of pre-med, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and spent time in the Vietnam War before being medevacked out of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968. He spent some four weeks in the Naval Hospital in Guam, another month in the Naval Hospital in San Diego, and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Casualty Company and is a disabled veteran.

After Vietnam and work in construction as an iron worker, he returned to college, graduated in three years with a B.A. in psychology and earned an M.A. in counseling the following year from Northern Arizona University. He then earned a Ph.D. in school finance and education administration from the University of Arizona.

He began work at the University of Arizona for four years, then moved out to the most disenfranchised under-resourced rural school sites—school sites with the most persistent student academic underachievement state-wide. He began the local community college branch, then Navajo Community College, now Diné College, for his community and surrounding area wherein he taught for a couple years. He worked at the lowest achieving district with the second lowest per pupil wealth in the county. Within the past five years, in concert with 91�Թ�, his district high school exceeded all the eight school districts’ math achievement in the county, including the school district with the highest per pupil wealth.

He has been appointed as a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. He has published in refereed journals, and contributed chapters to two scholarly books. He has been honored by the Arizona State Department of Education with the “Certificate of Distinction Award” and “Stars of Arizona Education”; by the Arizona Gifted Education Association as “Gifted Administrator of the Year”; and by the North Central Association of Elementary and Secondary Schools with the “National Innovative Award.” He has turned down speaking engagements from several state education departments, school board organizations, and universities in countries including China, England, New Zealand, and Ecuador.

His school district has worked in collaboration with 91�Թ� for some 20 years and in the process has attained unprecedented academic achievement profiles for the school district. There is much more to this, but who is this person? The person is writing this brief bio for you so that you may get to know him a little better.
~Harold G. Begay, Ph.D.

Applications opened recently for the Spring 2022 session of the 91�Թ� Scholars Program for Japanese High School Students (also known as “Stanford e-Japan”), which will run from mid-February through the end of June 2022. The deadline to apply is December 31, 2021.

Stanford e-Japan Program for high school students in Japan
Spring 2022 session (February to June 2022)
Application period: November 15 to December 31, 2021

All applications must be submitted at via the SurveyMonkey Apply platform. Applicants and recommenders will need to create a SurveyMonkey Apply account to proceed. Students who are interested in applying to the online course are encouraged to begin their applications early.

Accepted applicants will engage in an intensive study of U.S. society and culture and U.S.–Japan relations. Ambassadors, top scholars, and experts from 91�Թ� and throughout the United States provide web-based lectures and engage students in live discussion sessions.

“Participating in Stanford e-Japan has been one of the highlights of my high school experience,” reflected Fall 2020 honoree Allison Lin. “Through the course, I gained the opportunity to learn from intelligent and experienced scholars which I wouldn’t have had otherwise and found myself aspiring to be like them in the future.”

Stanford e-Japan is offered by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (), 91�Թ�. The Spring 2022 session of Stanford e-Japan is generously supported by the , Tokyo, Japan.

For more information about Stanford e-Japan, please visit .

To stay informed of news about Stanford e-Japan and ���ʱ��䷡’s other student programs, or follow us on , , and .

91�Թ� offers separate courses for U.S. high school students. For more information, please visit the Reischauer Scholars Program (on Japan), the Sejong Scholars Program (on Korea), and the China Scholars Program (on China).

On Veterans Day last week, I was reflective of my relatives and friends who are veterans of U.S. wars. My parents were migrant farmworkers and sharecroppers before and after World War II and several of my relatives are veterans of World War II. I also grew up as a farmworker, and most of my co-workers were migrant laborers from Mexico contracted through the Bracero Program. The Bracero Program was a 22-year initiative started in 1942 that allowed the United States to recruit temporary guest workers from Mexico. The laborers, called braceros, or individuals who work with their arms, were mostly concentrated in California. I attended school with many children of braceros.

Several of my classmates and family friends—including some children of my bracero co-workers—served in the Vietnam War, referred to by Vietnamese as the American War. A family friend, John Nishimura, died of wounds on April 4, 1968 sustained from hostile gunfire that left him as a quadriplegic on December 10, 1967 in the central highlands province of Kontum, Vietnam. Like other Asian Americans who served in Vietnam, he faced race-related challenges during his service. This topic is covered in the PBS series, , for which ���ʱ��䷡’s Waka Brown developed a .

During my freshman year at U.C. Berkeley, 1972–73, I witnessed anti-Vietnam War protests and took a course in Chicano Studies (now Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies). Because of my childhood, I felt more Mexican than Japanese in many ways. In the Chicano Studies course, I recall a lecture on Chicano veterans of U.S. wars. The informal learning (observing the protests) and formal learning in Chicano Studies marked the first time in my life that I had been introduced to perspectives on the Vietnam War that were not included in my high school U.S. history textbook.

After graduating in 1976, I entered a teaching credential program at U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education that was called the Black-Asian-Chicano Urban Program or BAC-UP. One of the students was Charley Trujillo, a recent graduate of U.C Berkeley who majored in Chicano Studies. I felt a closeness to him because of my upbringing, and also recall how much I appreciated what we would now call “global perspectives” that he shared. We completed BAC-UP in 1977 and I went to teach in Japan and lost touch with him.

In 2014, while planning for a 91�Թ� event that honored braceros with Dr. Ignacio Ornelas, the grandson of a bracero, Ornelas asked to introduce me to his friend, Charley Trujillo, and I immediately recalled Charley Trujillo from BAC-UP and wondered if he was the same person. I looked up his name online and was pleasantly surprised that he was the same person whom I had last seen 37 years prior. During our reunion, I learned from Trujillo that he had become a novelist, editor, publisher, and filmmaker. He is very well known for his book and documentary, . While in BAC-UP, I didn’t know that he was a disabled Vietnam War veteran and that his father was a veteran of World War II. After hearing about his experiences in Vietnam, the global perspectives that he shared during BAC-UP became even more poignant. I also recalled how he sometimes challenged our professors—something that I could not do—on topics related to the “master narrative” of U.S. history.

Prior to my reunion with Trujillo, my former colleagues, and , developed a 91�Թ� curriculum unit, , which I encourage high school teachers to use as a supplement to the information about the Vietnam War in their U.S. history textbooks. The five lessons in the curriculum unit are described below. Someday, I would like to add Trujillo’s documentary as the foundation for a sixth lesson.

• Lesson One examines the political and economic aftermath of the Vietnam War. Students learn about the political situation following the war, Vietnamese emigrants known as the “boat people,” and post-war economic development.
• Lesson Two examines the impact of warfare on human health and the natural environment. Students learn about tools of warfare, including Agent Orange and landmines, and their harmful consequences on the ecosystem as well as on generations of civilians and veterans.
• Lesson Three combines a number of neglected and hidden themes in the Vietnamese war literature, including the experience of Vietnamese Amerasians and the involvement of non-U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam.
• Lesson Four gives voice to different categories of Vietnamese who have migrated abroad in the decades following the war: Vietnamese Americans, the Montagnards, and Vietnamese brides in Korea.
• Lesson Five investigates the idea of history as competing narratives. Students examine three representations of the Vietnam War—the war as depicted in American history textbooks, the war as exhibited at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, and the war as represented in an effort to build a monument to the U.S.–South Vietnam alliance by the Vietnamese American community in Wichita, Kansas.

Trujillo and I are in periodic touch and he continues to expand my perspectives on the Vietnam War and its legacies by sharing his riveting and heartbreaking yet inspiring story. Most recently, we met at the . He is in the midst of producing a film based on his book, Dogs From Illusion, a Vietnam War novel on the Chicano war experience. Ornelas, a social studies (including ethnic studies) teacher at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, is currently enrolled in the Principal Leadership Institute at U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. It’s very gratifying to know that Ornelas, Trujillo, and I share similar cultural histories that are not usually included in U.S. history textbooks at the high school level, and also share similar academic experiences that were only made possible by those who came before us. I am eternally grateful to Trujillo, Nishimura, and other veterans who sacrificed so much to make our lives better. I feel that it is essential for us as teachers to include their unique perspectives in the teaching of U.S. history.

My first visit to the University of Tokyo was in autumn 1977. I distinctly recall walking through Akamon and being in awe of the contrast between the autumn leaves and the red gate. I last walked through Akamon in autumn 2019. I had kindly been invited by , Director, Center for Advanced School Education and Evidence-based Research (), to give a guest lecture on “University–High School Collaboration” at the Graduate School of Education. I was scheduled to visit again in March 2020 but my trip had to be canceled due to the pandemic. Despite the pandemic, Fukudome conceptualized a lecture series that would allow 91�Թ� staff to virtually walk through Akamon to collaborate with CASEER faculty and University of Tokyo students.

On November 1, 2021, the lecture series—91�Թ�/Stanford–UTokyo Partnership on International and Cross-Cultural Education and Global Citizenship—was launched. The goal of the lecture series is to provide a platform to share current research and practice. The discussions will ideally result in opportunities to collaborate between both organizations, and also opportunities for student engagement.

Fukudome delivered the first lecture, “Multiculturalism and Classical Tradition in Liberal Education: Comparative and Historical Perspectives.” Since his was the first lecture of the series, he opened by sharing important information about the University of Tokyo to help set the context for the series. This included the vision of the new president of the University of Tokyo—including an emphasis on diversity and inclusiveness—and information about University of Tokyo admissions. President Teruo Fujii’s vision is captured in , a statement of the guiding principles of the University of Tokyo that is titled “Into a Sea of Diversity: Creating the Future through Dialogue.” It focuses on the need to build a democratic society in which each individual can live with respect.

Sprinkled in his lecture were comparisons between the University of Tokyo and 91�Թ�. One of the comparisons—that 20 percent of undergraduates at the University of Tokyo are women, versus 51 percent of undergraduates at 91�Թ�—was very surprising to the 91�Թ� staff and prompted discussion. He also noted that most students are admitted solely based upon test scores, and that only three percent are admitted through a process translated in English as “self-recommendation,” which is a more holistic review process to determine admissions. In addition, he noted that in Japan, universities do not identify students’ socio-economic background in the admissions process.

In the heart of his lecture, Fukudome shared comments on the many different ways of thinking about liberal education in the United States. He noted two major trends that form the ideological foundation of liberal education. One is the classical approach, or the idea that the cultural and spiritual foundation of the United States is to be found in Europe and that the core of liberal education is to learn about Western civilization, which originated in Greece and Rome. The second is multiculturalism, or seeing the cultural origins of the United States as diverse and made up of many races and ethnic groups. He noted, “These ideas are often viewed in opposition to each other over the undergraduate curriculum. From the perspective of how to think about the ideological basis of the curriculum, both ideas can provide suggestions for Japan. In this sense, the ideological debate over liberal education in the United States has an essential meaning for Japan as well.”

The 91�Թ� staff is looking forward to further exchanging ideas with Fukudome and his CASEER colleagues and the University of Tokyo students on topics related to liberal education and other topics of mutual interest. The second session on December 6, 2021 will focus on ���ʱ��䷡’s online instruction for high school students, including Stanford e-Japan, ���ʱ��䷡’s first online course for high school students in Japan that is supported by the . The following are the list of speakers and their topics for the first six session of the lecture series.

• 1st session: November 1, Hideto Fukudome, University of Tokyo, Multiculturalism and Classical Tradition in Liberal Education: Comparative and Historical Perspectives
• 2nd session: December 6, Gary Mukai, 91�Թ�/Stanford, Online Instruction for High School Students
• 3rd session: January 10, Yuto Kitamura, University of Tokyo, Teaching and Learning Transversal Competencies Through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): Implications from a Survey Conducted in Yokohama City
• 4th session: February 7, Rylan Sekiguchi, 91�Թ�/Stanford, Curriculum and Instruction: What Does It Mean to Be an American?  
• 5th session: February 28, Misako Nukaga, University of Tokyo, Visibilizing the Second Generation Immigrants in Japan: Divergent Pathways of Acculturation and Educational Inequality
• 6th session: April 4, Mariko Yang-Yoshihara, 91�Թ�/Stanford, Learning Assessment in Online Courses
   

The University of Tokyo faculty members who are participating in the lecture series all have experiences in the United States. Listed alphabetically, they are:

• Hideto Fukudome, Director & Professor (Former Visiting Scholar at U.C. Berkeley and Penn State)
• Yuto Kitamura, Deputy Director & Professor (PhD, UCLA)
• Kayoko Kurita, Professor (Former Visiting Scholar at Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford)
• Kanako Kusanagi, Assistant Professor (BA, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
• Yusuke Murakami, Associate Professor (Former Visiting Scholar at U.C. Berkeley)
• Misako Nukaga, Associate Professor (PhD, UCLA)
   

���ʱ��䷡’s Maiko Tamagawa Bacha is a graduate of the University of Tokyo and following the first session commented, “The lecture series brought back fond memories of my time at the University of Tokyo as an undergraduate. In particular, it was touching to see one of my fellow undergraduate students—Misako Nukaga, now an associate professor at the University of Tokyo—in attendance! I am grateful to Professor Fukudome for bringing us together again and for also bringing my academic and work institutions together.”

Since UTokyo Compass underscores (1) the importance of a university as a place where diverse people gather to discuss, share, and solve problems and (2) the importance for students to think from multiple perspectives, I hope that the collaboration with 91�Թ� will help to support UTokyo Compass. These two points have been central pillars of 91�Թ� since its beginning in 1976.

91�Թ� is pleased to share the announcement below from about an upcoming Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum (EPIC) workshop for community college instructors that will feature a talk by on his latest book, . This free virtual workshop will take place on Tuesday, November 9, 4:00–6:00PM (Pacific Time). All attendees will receive a copy of Professor Jiménez’s book after the workshop. Please see the workshop description below for more information as well as the registration link.

The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91�Թ�) and Stanford Global Studies (SGS) are continuing their partnership to offer exciting professional development opportunities for community college instructors who wish to internationalize their curriculum. This two-hour workshop is presented by 91�Թ� and SGS as part of the Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum (EPIC) and is supported by Department of Education Title VI funding.

This workshop will feature a talk by Stanford Professor Tomás Jiménez on his latest book, States of Belonging: Immigration Policies, Attitudes, and Inclusion. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss with Professor Jiménez the differing approaches and attitudes shaping today’s immigration policies in the United States.

As noted by the publisher of States of Belonging, “Political turmoil surrounding immigration at the federal level and the inability of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform have provided an opening for state and local governments to become more active in setting their own immigration-related policies. States largely dictate the resources, institutions, and opportunities immigrants can access: who can get a driver’s license or attend a state university, what languages are spoken in schools and public offices, how law enforcement interacts with the public, and even what schools teach students about history. In States of Belonging, an interdisciplinary team of immigration experts explore the interconnections among immigration policies, attitudes about immigrants and immigration, and sense of belonging.” ()

Tomás Jiménez is Professor of Sociology and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at 91�Թ�. His research and writing focus on immigration, assimilation, social mobility, and ethnic and racial identity.

Please at your earliest convenience.

Naomi Funahashi is the instructor of the Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP), an online course on Japan and U.S.–Japan relations that is taught to high school students across the United States each spring.

Beneath the shade of the trees outside of Stanford’s Arbuckle Cafe on a recent Friday afternoon, I sat back and marveled at the vibrant sounds of laughter and conversation as I looked around the table. A large group of 91�Թ� undergraduate students—all alumni of the Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) spanning the 2016 to 2021 cohorts—were gathered for Japanese bentos and sushi, eager to meet one another in person for the first time. Given the virtual format of the RSP, the opportunity for me to connect with RSP students and alumni face-to-face is a rare and special gift.

After the COVID-19 pandemic had relegated virtually all student interaction to Zoom for 18+ months, it felt incredible to be sharing a meal together on campus. As students shared their course selections for the quarter, listed their favorite classes and professors, and chatted about their academic and extracurricular activities and interests, I was struck by the true sense of community that was building among the RSP alumni.

When the selection committee brings students together to form each RSP cohort, we do so in hopes that these young, bright, and diverse individuals from across the United States will find commonalities and bonds that will shape their development into young leaders. Students come to the RSP with different backgrounds, perspectives, and personalities, but with tremendous respect for one another and their shared interest in learning about Japan and the U.S.–Japan relationship with and from each person in their cohort. To see the growth of this RSP alumni community happening in real time around the table that Friday afternoon brought tears to my eyes.

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Others commented on different ways in which the RSP experience has continued to influence the opportunities they seek at the college level. For incoming freshman Amy Zhao (RSP 2020), “it was so great to find a community of RSP people here at Stanford. I’m still interested in promoting international and global education as well as further studying my RSP paper topic, which was minority rights in Japan. I thought it tied really well into my major interests, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE) and Public Policy, and I would love to explore the topic more while studying abroad in Kyoto!”

In previous years when we have gathered RSP alumni together at Stanford for an annual “shinnenkai” (“new year”) luncheon in January, it has always been wonderful to catch up with one another. As campus life at Stanford begins to return to some sense of normalcy, however, I feel an even greater appreciation for these opportunities to connect with my former Reischauer Scholars in person. I look forward to organizing future events for RSP alumni at Stanford and hope that they will build upon the connections that we made around the lunch table as new bonds and friendships continue to grow.

When I first met Mayor Norihiko Fukuda in Kawasaki City several years ago, he shared two important values that he embraces. They are “diversity brings strength and greater possibilities” and “recognizing differences is beneficial.” I also learned of the three pillars of Kawasaki’s industrial policy. They are life innovation, green innovation, and welfare innovation. I was struck by his vision that was shaped by his education in both Japan and the United States, and began discussions with him about the development of an online course for high school students in Kawasaki that would introduce topics related to diversity and entrepreneurship. Stanford e-Kawasaki was launched in 2019.

The opening ceremony for the third-year offering of Stanford e-Kawasaki was held on September 23, 2021. Mayor Fukuda addressed the new students, saying, “Today, I am very happy that many of you have decided to participate in this program. I think that the willingness to challenge yourselves is a very important mindset for you to embrace as you prepare for the future.” He continued,

Stanford e-Kawasaki Instructor Maiko Tamagawa Bacha and I represented 91�Թ� during the opening ceremony. During the ceremony, Bacha informed her 20 students from Kawasaki High School and Tachibana High School that they will be encouraged to think critically about issues related to diversity and entrepreneurship. Stanford scholars and leading entrepreneurs have been invited as speakers. Among the lineup of speakers are Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, 91�Թ�, and Sukemasa Kabayama, Founder and CEO of Uplift Labs in Silicon Valley and former President and Representative Officer, Telsa Motors, Japan. Reflecting on her first two years of serving as the Instructor of Stanford e-Kawasaki, Bacha noted, “Because I have family ties to Kawasaki City, formerly worked for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in San Francisco, and currently live in the United States, I feel both a personal and professional connection to Stanford e-Kawasaki. I hope that the course will inspire my students to pursue studies and work in U.S.–Japan relations as I have done.”

Bacha introduced the course requirements, including the development of final projects, and noted that the top two performing students will be invited to 91�Թ� for a ceremony during which they will be honored along with the top two students in ���ʱ��䷡’s four other regional programs in Japan. Earlier this year, two of the students in the 2020–21 Stanford e-Kawasaki course were honored. They were Eric Silang, whose final project was titled “Humor and America,” and Shunya Tani, whose final project was titled “Possible Ways to Promote Renewable Energy in Japan and the U.S.” Silang’s project noted the importance of considering diversity through the lens of cultural differences in humor, and Tani’s project stressed the need for Japan and the United States to cooperate, rather than compete, in promoting the use of renewable energy to tackle climate change.

I am most grateful to Mayor Norihiko Fukuda for his vision and for making this course possible. I would also like to express my appreciation to Mr. Nihei and Mr. Katsurayama from the Kawasaki Board of Education; and Mr. Abe, Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Kawato, and especially Mr. Inoue from Kawasaki City for their unwavering support. Importantly, I would like to express my appreciation to Principal Iwaki and his staff of Kawasaki High School and Principal Takai and his staff from Tachibana High School for their engagement with Stanford e-Kawasaki.

When I saw the photo (above) of the Port of Kobe, I immediately thought of my paternal grandmother, Wakano Mukai, who, at the age of 17, departed on the SS Manchuria from the Port of Kobe on January 10, 1910. She left Japan to join her husband, Buntaro, in California. She had agreed to marry him based only upon a photo that she had seen of him. If Wakano were alive today, I would ask her about what the voyage from Kobe to Honolulu to San Francisco was like and what her life in California had taught her about the world.

The goal of educating youth about the world has been promoted by Kobe City Mayor Kizo Hisamoto, who supported Kobe City’s decision to collaborate with the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91�Թ�) on the development of a new online course, Stanford e-Kobe. The opening ceremony for the inaugural Stanford e-Kobe course was held on September 18, 2021. The course will help high school students in Kobe expand their knowledge of the United States and U.S.–Japan relations—including topics like diversity and entrepreneurship—beyond just a superficial level. In his opening comments, Mayor Hisamoto noted, “Our city strives to create an environment in which young people could fully realize their potential. We have already implemented a number of startup support programs in cooperation with various universities and private companies in the city.” He continued,

���ʱ��䷡’s Alison Harsch, Stanford e-Kobe Instructor, and I represented 91�Թ� during the opening ceremony. During the ceremony, Harsch told the 29 students that they will be encouraged to think in an “internationally minded manner”—that is, to think about different points of view. She also emphasized that students need not be concerned if they encounter small setbacks in the course, and to “fail forward.” Harsch offered students a glimpse into what Stanford e-Kobe will be like with its active learning and student-centered focus. Teacher Consultant Tomoko Nakamura, Fukiai High School, commented, “Alison-sensei’s words encouraged our students a lot. They must think that it is important to be positive and express their opinions without hesitation… I am grateful for her welcoming of our students so warmly into Stanford e-Kobe.”

Harsch noted that “students should come away from the course with a much deeper understanding of the United States and its strong history of diversity, including early Japanese immigration.” Wakano was never able to return to Japan after immigrating to the United States in 1910. She died in 1947. I wish that she were alive today to hear me share with the students of Kobe, who are about her age when she left Japan, that her last fading glimpse of Japan—that of Kobe—has become clearer again through students of Kobe who aspire to build bridges between their city and the United States and to encourage their peers in the United States to see Kobe firsthand.

I am grateful to Mayor Kizo Hisamoto for making this course possible and for his vision; and to Superintendent Jun Nagata for his leadership and support. I am most grateful to Masanori Nagamine, former Director, Kobe Trade Information Office in Seattle, and Dr. Takaaki Hoda, Kobe University, for allowing me to consult with them while they were in Seattle and at Stanford, respectively. Importantly, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Tomoko Nakamura from Fukiai High School and Toshihiro Nishiyama from the Kobe Board of Education for their kind correspondence and unwavering support; and to Satoshi Kawasaki as well.