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I am pleased to present this first issue of the International ReVisitor newsletter. As the title implies, we hope that this publication will give you a chance to "relive" your International Visitor experience and to renew your contact with the United States. This newsletter will try to achieve its objective in several ways: by giving IV program participants an opportunity to write about their experiences and read those of others, by providing news about the activities of previous visitors, and by offering information about the activities of the Nagoya American Center and the United States Information Service in Japan.
Recently, the Cultural Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy, which oversees the IV program in Japan, conducted a survey of IV grantees from 1986 and 1991. Remarks such as "I realized my view of America, based on Washington and New York, was inappropriate and I gained a wider view of the whole of America" and "I was amazed at the difference between reality in the U.S. and my previous knowledge from television" are testimony to the effect of the IV program in enhancing mutual understanding. I know I can say similar things about the insights I have gained during two years in Japan
One previous grantee commented, "A chance for all the participants to meet again and to discuss about America would be interesting." We hope that this publication provides the opportunity for such a discussion in print, with the possibility of arranging verbal exchanges in the future. I encourage you to make your own submissions to this newsletter, and to let us know what the Nagoya American Center can do to enhance the contributions you have already made to relations between Japan and the U.S.
A Chinese proverb says:" A picture is worth one thousand words." As former international visitors, you can attest to the importance of "seeing the picture for yourself", which is the essence of the program. Meeting face to face with professional colleagues and with other Americans makes dry facts come alive. And in their turn, Americans you have met have had their understanding of Japan greatly enhanced.
International Visitors from Japan have been coming to the United States since the end of World War Two. Although the program has changed over the years, most of our visitors are mid-level professionals from the news media, academia, politics, government and today, increasingly from non-governmental organizations. As all former visitors know, there are great opportunities to meet colleagues and fellow professionals. And today, with e-mail, staying in communication after returning home is much easier.
This year, we are focusing on topics of considerable mutual interest. Environmental questions rank quite high, and we have Japanese visitors representing both government agencies, and private, non-profit groups (called NGOs in Japan, I believe). With the recent international environmental conference in Japan, the question of global warming has received increased attention.
Trade and security policy are two additional topics which interest both Japanese and Americans, as we have very close relations in both these topic areas. With regard to both trade and security, we have Japanese visitors from government, academia and from the news media. The world economic picture changes, sometimes quite rapidly, as it has over the past few months in Southeast Asia and in Korea. What do the changes mean for economic policy makers in Japan and in the U.S.? That will be the question uppermost in our minds over the next several months, as policy makers in both countries try to provide constructive solutions.
In the security area, policy makers try to analyze the "new world disorder" which seems to have sprung up in so many parts of the world. How do we cope with these new problems? Do we have any responsibility to assist in diplomatic and peace-keeping activities in those areas? Those are some of the questions which our upcoming visitors will be discussing with American counterparts in the ensuing months, and possibly years.
As we approach the end of this century, our hope is that over the past fifty years, this program has helped the people of Japan and the people of the United States develop a greater understanding of each other. If we have succeeded in some small way, then we believe it has been well worth the effort.
Nagoya American Center has made a top priority of responding to the desires of local business specialists and journalists for information regarding venture businesses and high-tech entrepreneurship in the United States. Various International Visitors from the region, including Seiji Teramoto of the Chunichi Shinbun (see his article in the Japanese version), have explored this theme during their U.S. programs. Nagoya American Center decided to bring some of this expertise to the Nagoya area with a March 11 program entitled "AdVentures in Capitalism: The Entrepreneurial Experience in the United States and Japan."
In a panel discussion led by Eizo Takeuchi, chief of the Nagoya branch of the Japan Public Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Mr. Takeuchi has recently transferred to Tokyo), and Jeffrey Jamison, director of the NAC, four entrepreneurs doing business in Japan--two Americans and two Japanese--related their experiences and described what they felt were the necessary conditions for entrepreneurial success in Japan. The panelists were Sachiko Suno, president of MBL Inc., Nobufusa Yamada, president of MOC Corp., Robert Roche, president of Oak Lawn Marketing and the American Business Community of Nagoya, and Bradley Bartz, president of Internet Access Center, Tokyo.
On the personal level, they noted the following prerequisites for success:
On a more systemic level, they argued for various changes that would encourage the development of venture businesses in Japan, some of them learned from the U.S. example. These included:
NAC intends
to continue this focus in a series of programs designed to encourage an open economic
environment for venture-business-based development in the Chubu
region. This will include information programs regarding local
and regional economic revitalization efforts in the U.S. To
participate in these programs, or to help us develop and organize
them, please contact us. You may also
contact us to request a videotape of this program, suitable for
university classes or other study groups.
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