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Volume 3, Number 1
Summer 1996
In This Issue: Index of other issues (Japanese names are presented western style, family name last, except for historical figures and bibliographic entries.)
- Letter from Chairman Lewis Robinson
- Letter from Executive Director Taeko Floyd
- Come to Colorado! The 6th Japan-America Grassroots Summit Preview
- Program Report (Fairhaven/New Bedford Spring Trip, Kushikino Students' Visit, Summer Camp in Virginia)
- On U.S.-Japan Friendship
- The Summit Changed my Life
Letter from Chairman Lewis Robinson
As we approach our sixth annual Summit in Colorado, many items come to mind worthy of mention in this newsletter. Quite a bit of activity is underway to plan this year's event. The folks in Colorado Springs, as well as in Denver, have been most helpful and accommodating, as we greatly appreciate all that they have done and are doing.On another matter, the Board of Directors has received with regret the resignation of Rod Armstrong as a member of the Board. Rod served ably and we wish him well in his endeavors. The position of President will remain unfilled for the foreseeable future and all duties and functions previously handled by the President will be administered by the Chairman and the Board of Directors.
Looking to the future, we are all excited about next year's event scheduled to take place in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. A number of this year's participants from Japan will be reciprocating next year in Yamagata Prefecture. The following year the Board is considering having the Summit in Orlando, Florida, which should be of universal interest to everyone involved.
In concluding, the genesis and what the Board considers to be the heart and soul of the Manjiro Society for International Exchange, Inc., is the homestay program. Regardless of where each annual Summit takes place in the future, the homestay is what will always be the highlight of each participant's visit. We are thoroughly committed to this most successful method of introducing individuals to one another and to the culture of each county.
Look forward to seeing you in Colorado.
Letter from Executive Director Taeko Floyd
It's an exciting time to be involved with Manjiro-related exchange activities. President Bill Clinton mentioned Manjiro in an April 18 address at a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Hashimoto, and he has also called for more people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.We at the Manjiro Society are working hard to develop new programs to complement the Grassroots Summit experience and expand our activities as a catalyst for Japan-U.S. grassroots exchange. However, we are also struggling to fund our organization. Many of you have experienced grassroots-level exchange and know its value, but it is often hard to convey the importance of this exchange to those who have not experienced it personally.
You as Manjiro Society members play an important role in our efforts to sustain and develop the Manjiro Society. We want to make more people and organizations aware of the valuable work we are doing. You can help us do this by talking to your friends and acquaintances about the Manjiro Society, and by letting us know about companies and organizations that can support our work.
We would also like to mobilize more members as volunteers. I hope you will take a minute to fill out the volunteer form and return it to us. You can specify the areas in which you would like to help and the time you have available. I know our members have a lot of talent and great ideas, and we want to put this to use. Feel free to stop by our office as well, especially if you live in the Washington, D.C. area. Our staff is small, but with the help of volunteers we can do the work of an organization many times our size.
Your support is essential at this crucial time. We've planted the seed for ongoing grassroots exchange--let's all help it grow and develop.
Come to Colorado! The 6th Japan-America Grassroots Summit Preview
Enjoy beautiful mountain scenery and warm hospitality at the 6th Japan-America Grassroots Summit. The 6th Summit is scheduled for October 4 through 7, 1996 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The schedule is as follows:Most participants coming from Japan will arrive in Denver on October 2. They will spend the following day sightseeing and attending a welcome reception sponsored by Colorado Governor Roy Romer before departing for Colorado Springs on the morning of October 4. U.S. participants will join up with them in Colorado Springs on October 4 for the main portion of the Summit.
Friday, Oct. 4 Late afternoon welcome reception sponsored by Mayor Robert Isaac of Colorado Springs Saturday, Oct. 5 Opening Session. Group Sessions Sunday, Oct. 6 Sightseeing and group activities. Farewell party at the Flying “W” Ranch Sunday, Oct. 7 Depart Colorado early morning. Begin optional post-Summit tour of the American Southwest The optional post-Summit tour is especially designed for the visitors from Japan, but U.S. Summit participants are welcome to join as well (at additional cost). The trip includes stops at Mesa Verde National Park, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon, and will finish on October 10 in Las Vegas.
The Colorado Springs and Denver Steering Committees are working hard to make the event the best Summit to date. The Opening Session on October 5 will feature performances by the Kyomai dancers from Kyoto and the Colorado Band of the Rockies. Other presentations will include a lecture by William Hosokawa, Honorary Consul General of Japan and Denver, on the Japanese-American experiences in Colorado, and an introduction of Yamagata Prefecture, the site of the 1997 Summit.
Families in Colorado are already gearing up to host visitors from Japan during the homestay portion of the Summit on October 5 and 6. Hosts will open their homes to the visitors and share various aspects of daily life and culture in the U.S. Visiting U.S. participants will join activities with organized exchange groups or a planned program of sightseeing while the Japanese participants spend time with their host families.
This year the Summit features a wide range of exchange sessions, and several programs will continue exchanges begun at earlier Summits. The postal employees program enters its fourth year, and the postal exchange will probable be the largest at the Summit. The U.S. park rangers are taking their turn to host Japanese park rangers after visiting Yaku Island in Kagoshima last year. Other exchanges continuing from the 5th Summit include sessions on sister cities, and agriculture, and a visit by a Little League baseball team from Japan.
The 6th Summit will also feature new exchanges on a variety of topics close to the hearts of Coloradans. A session on health issues and healthy lifestyles is appropriate for health-conscious Coloradans; Colorado Springs is also the site of the Olympic Training Center. Colorado is a popular retirement locale, and another session will center on retirement and senior citizens' issues. At other sessions, participants can discuss fine arts and culture, business and corporate issues, and space and technology. Many sessions will include visits to local sites such as the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the U.S. Air Force Academy. In addition, a planned exchange of hearing-impaired persons may be the first of its kind between Japanese and Americans.
If you have not received the 6th Summit promo and are interested in attending, please contact the Manjiro Society office for more information. A discount conference fare for flights to Colorado Springs from anywhere in the U.S. for Summit participants is also available through IACE Travel; call them at 202-223-9400 or 800-526-4223 for details. See you in Colorado!
Program Report
Fairhaven/New Bedford Spring Trip
Beautiful spring weather welcomed the 18 participants in the Manjiro Society Fairhaven/New Bedford Spring Trip to New England. The trip, which the Society hopes to make into an annual event, was designed to give Manjiro Society members and friends an opportunity to meet and get to know each other, as well as learn more about the relationship begun 150 years ago in the Fairhaven/New Bedford area between John Manjiro and Captain William Whitfield.
April 27-28, 1996The Society staff met a number of the participants in Boston on Saturday morning before traveling to Fairhaven to join the remainder of the group. Participants introduced themselves and enjoyed local seafood specialties during lunch at the Fairhaven Chowder House before beginning the tour of Manjiro-related sites in the area.
Gerald and Akayo Rooney of the Fairhaven-New Bedford/Tosashimizu Sister City Committee voluntarily led the afternoon tour. At the Millicent Library in Fairhaven, participants visited a special room filled with Manjiro-related memorabilia. Many signed the library's guest book, which includes signatures from famous visitors to the library including Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan, who were the Crown Prince and Princess at the time of their visit. The group then visited the home of Captain Whitfield where Manjiro stayed. The house is now owned by Peter Phillips, a Manjiro Society member and the president of the John Howland Foundation, a Fairhaven organization that is constructing a full-scale replica of the ship that rescued John Manjiro.
Other tour stops included the one-room schoolhouse Manjiro attended, and the grave site of Captain William Whitfield. In New Bedford, participants visited the New Bedford Whaling Museum to learn more about this industry that was so important to the local economy during the time Manjiro was in the U.S.
The group gathered for a dinner/reception on the evening of April 27. Local guests included Bob Hamilton of the Fairhaven Selectmen, and Ed Camara, who represented the city of New Bedford for Mayor Rosemary Tierney. Bob Whitfield proudly announced to the group the birth of Wyatt, the 7th generation descendant of Captain Whitfield., and his wife Kathi read the poem she had written during their homestay at the 5th Summit. The participants also presented the Rooneys with a small donation to the Sister City Committee as thanks for their help with the weekend events.
The group departed Fairhaven on the morning of April 28. They visited Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum of the 17th-century settlement in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and stopped by Plymouth Rock before returning to Boston.
Summer Camp in Virginia
Children ages 10-15 can enjoy hiking, fishing, and camping in the Shenandoah Valley, and day trips to various areas in Virginia and Washington at the Manjiro Society's "Summer Camp in Virginia" July 29 through August 7. Participants coming from Japan and participating in the entire 10-day camp will pay $1,000, including food, lodging (some evenings in tents), transportation for the day trips, and all entrance and camp counselor fees.
July 29-August 7, 1996Children in the U.S. can join the camp for the entire time, or participate only on specified days such as the welcome barbecue at Great Falls National Park on Monday, July 29, and the Japan-U.S. Exchange Day with sports and games on Saturday, August 3. For more information please call the Manjiro Society at 703-847-3906. Space is limited.
Kushikino Students’ Visit
Grassroots exchange is growing roots of its own. Six students and their teacher, Mr. Taka Osa, from Kushikino City in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, spent 11 days in Virginia and Washington, D.C. March 24 through April 3. Mr. Osa, well-known to the 5th Grassroots Summit visitors to Kushikino for whom he served as a guide and interpreter, contacted the Manjiro Society in early March with a request to plan a visit for his students. Walle Hargreaves of the Society arranged homestays, school visits, and sightseeing activities for their trip.
March 24-April 3, 1996Some 5th Summit participants who visited Kushikino took the opportunity to return the hospitality shown to them during their stay last year, and welcomed the students into their homes for homestays. Over 45 people from the homestay families turned out to greet the group at a welcome dinner on March 24. The students spent a week with their homestay hosts, joining daily activities like shopping and attending movies. Every morning the group gathered again for the day's events as they exchanged stories about their experiences from the previous night with their homestay families.
The students visited Great Falls Elementary School, Cooper and Franklin Intermediate Schools, and Langley High School in Fairfax County during the week of March 25. Exchange activities at each school gave both the Japanese and American students an opportunity to compare lifestyles and customs in their respective countries and to practice their English and Japanese skills. The positive attitudes of the American students and the prevalence of computers in education impressed the Kushikino visitors.
They spent three days sightseeing in Washington and visiting the Smithsonian museums and area monuments. The adventurous group used public transportation on their own, and even talked a cab driver into letting all seven of them share one cab! On April 1 and 2, they also took a two-day historical tour of Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia. Mr. Osa knew the area well, since he was also a participant in the 1994 Grassroots Summit in Williamsburg.
The students said good-bye to their homestay families at a farewell pot-luck dinner at Taeko Floyd's country home in the Shenandoah Valley. They dyed and hunted for Easter eggs with their American friends, planted a commemorative tree, and sang a farewell song for their homestay hosts. Ms. Masayo Sonoda, a Tsuda Women's University student from Kushikino and the representative for group, remarked, "Our stay of only 11 days was very short, but I believe the experience is irreplaceable for each of us." Mr. Osa added, "everything was marvelous. I'm very proud of my students and feel grateful to everyone who assisted with our visit. I'll be back soon!"
On U.S.-Japan Friendship
Remarks by President Bill Clinton at a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Hashimoto of Japan, April 18, 1996...the friendship between [the people of Japan and the U.S.] began well over a century ago. The first known Japanese citizen to live in the United States was a young sailor named Nakahama Manjiro. He was shipwrecked in 1841, rescued by an American whale boat, sent to school in Massachusetts.
"Ten years later, he returned to Japan and became one of the few Japanese-English interpreters in this country. Then he was chosen to accompany the first Japanese diplomatic delegation to the United States in the spring of 1860. President Buchanan hosted these Japanese envoys with a state banquet. Tens of thousands of Americans turned out to see them in Baltimore and Philadelphia, hundreds of thousands of Americans filled the streets of New York City as their parade went by, and our great poet, Walt Whitman, memorialized this event in a poem called 'A Broadway Pageant.'
"Today, our contacts are more common so they don't attract so much notice, but they are very important. We see them in the Japanese students who attend our universities, in the American schoolchildren the Emperor and Empress met when they came to the United States, who spent half of each day learning Japanese.
"We see it in the friendships which have developed over time.
"Japan and the United States must forge a partnership for leadership in the 21st century. But we should all remember that if we are to succeed as partners and as allies, we must first be friends. It is that friendship which I honor today and which I dedicate myself to strengthening."
The Summit Changed my Life
A Profile of Michael Rice
Michael Rice may be retired, but the energy he brought to his experience in Kagoshima makes him seem like a man half his age. Mr. Rice joined the exchange at Tanegashima Island during the Grassroots Summit in Kagoshima last year. The exchange there focused partially on the Japanese space program, and he was working for NASA at the time.Mr. Rice had little contact with Japan before his trip to Kagoshima, however. He grew up in the Bronx in New York City, spend four years in the Air Force, and worked for 26 years as an air traffic controller before beginning to work for NASA, where he spent the remainder of his career. His impressions of Japan came from vague memories of the World War II era, and awareness of Japan's subsequent economic development. As he says of his pre-Summit experience: "I have seen the birth of electronics and automotive products in the United States from Japan that are truly remarkable. But, I never knew any Japanese people."
That changed after the Grassroots Summit. "I had no idea what to expect before I went to Japan, and the experience really blew me away. During our stay in Tanegashima, we visited a shrine to U.S. sailors... A large number of people had come out to greet us, and to see all of these people and this outpouring of friendship and good will was extremely rewarding."
Mr. Rice says his experience at the Summit literally changed his life. Although he had previously traveled to several countries in Europe, the homestay experience was a first for him. "Being totally immersed in a different culture [during the homestay], I realized that I couldn't just turn around and ask someone for help. I had to rely on my own wit to communicate," he said. "At one point, we were leaving a theater, and I had the boy [from my homestay family, the Honjos] on my right hand and the girl on my left. A woman walking ahead of us was twirling an umbrella, and I said, 'Hey, Mary Poppins.' The kids seemed to know this, and as they were ambling along next to me I started singing 'Doe, a deer, a female deer' and they picked it up right away in Japanese. The parents joined in too, and we sang all the way to the car. This was the moment we really broke the ice and started feeling comfortable with each other."
It is difficult for Mr. Rice to correspond with his family because his poor eyesight prevents him from writing. He did send pictures to them, however, with the help of one of the translators from the exchange at Tanegashima. His poor eyesight did not prevent him from enjoying the trip, and in fact he was overwhelmed by the help he received from everyone at the Summit, including his homestay family. "Of course I couldn't see to read the English-Japanese dictionary, but Mrs. Honjo was using it all the time!" he said.
Mr. Rice has continued to be actively involved in other Manjiro Society activities. He recently joined the trip to Fairhaven/New Bedford, Massachusetts, and plans to attend the 6th Summit in Colorado as well. He says, "I now have positive thoughts and a broader understanding of [the Japanese] culture which truly pleases me... I consider the homestay experience an extremely important part of the program. It is only by personal association that one nationality or race can truly transcend a lack of knowledge of others." The spirit of the Grassroots Summit is alive and well in Michael Rice.
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