Reporter Volume 25, No.23 April 7, 1994

Needed: Cultural Understanding As Well As Economic Diplomacy

By PHILIP G. ALTBACH
and WILLIAM K. CUMMINGS
The end of the Cold War has brought with it many changes. One of them
is exemplified by the failure of the United States-Japan trade talks
during the Clinton-Housokawa summit. As President Clinton said,
economics has become part of diplomacy. National security no longer
dominates U.S.-Japan relations, and this link, so important for both
countries, has become much more complex. The Washington meeting showed
that domestic political requirements and continuing friction over
trade are the key factors at present. This is unfortunate if one takes
a long-term perspective. What is needed is cultural diplomacy, or
better yet, cultural understanding, as a key underpinning for all
relationships between the two countries.
	Considerable ignorance persists. Just look at the images
portrayed on television or in the newspapers of one country concerning
the other. The Japanese public sees a colossal misunderstanding of
American society and American reality portrayed even by the highest
officials. Racial and ethnic stereotypes are endemic. Few in Japan
have a clear understanding of the complexity of American culture and
society. Similarly, Americans are woefully ignorant of Japan. Films
such as Rising Sun feed misunderstanding. Japanese investments come in
for harsh criticism, while Dutch or British investments cause no
problems. Reporting on Japan is generally unsophisticated and tends to
reinforce stereotypes rather than build understanding.
	We need to rethink a half-century of cultural and educational
contacts and programs. We need, on both sides, to develop a set of
cultural relations that will improve basic understanding of two
complex cultures so that policy can be made on a firm base of
knowledge, and so that public opinion in both countries is
well-informed. As relations between Japan and the United States grow
more complex, the need for more knowledge and understanding is great.
	There is an impressive knowledge base. Most Japanese students
study English, although few have opportunity to use it, and fewer
still have the ability to speak it with any fluency. There is a
considerable literature concerning both countriesQsocial science
studies abound and small groups of academies in each country know a
good deal. Many books are translated. There are also significant
imbalances in this knowledge base. For example, very few Americans
study JapaneseQonly about 27,000 at the secondary level and 46,000 in
college. There are fewer than 2,000 American students in Japan, while
some 40,000 Japanese study in the United States. Two thousand
different books are translated annually from English into Japanese
while only 50 are translated from Japanese into English. There has
been significant progress, but there is also a long way to go.
	During the 1960s, as Japan's economy bubbled, several new
initiatives were launched, including the Ministry of Education's plans
to host 100,000 by the year 2000, and the plans of groups like the
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to sponsor foreign
researchers in Japan's laboratories. The argument was advanced that
Japan should take these steps as a payback for the benefits it has
received in the past from the U.S. Fulbright program and other
binational opportunities. These Japanese initiatives were open to
American young people, but relatively few Americans responded.
Gradually, students from other nationalities, especially Chinese and
Southeast Asians and recently Russians, participated. One reaction in
Japan is to wonder whether there is anything more that Japan can do to
make studying in Japan more attractive to Americans.
	The answer is yes, there are other measures that Japan can
consider. At the university level, more active international exchange
offices and better housing arrangements for foreign students would be
helpful. The Ministry of Education could ease accreditation rules for
U.S. universities in Japan, and develop more flexible terms for
foreign researchers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs could ease visa
regulations.
	There are also many measures worth considering in the U.S.
High school social studies courses should show adequate recognition of
the changing world economy and of Asia's contribution, both past and
present, to world civilization. Japanese language should be as
available in high schools as French or Italian. Language requirements
should be strengthened at the university level. All of this will
become possible if America's national leaders say that culture is as
important as mathematics and economics, and that Asian culture
deserves as much consideration as the European tradition.
	In the current climate, it seems as if educational and
cultural relations are taking a back seat to hardball economic and
political maneuvering. Our argument is that the Japan-United States
relationship is of primary importance for both countries and that both
sides need to take steps now to ensure that there is a basis for
knowledge and understanding in this relationship. Of course, knowledge
does not always lead to agreement, but it is a basic requirement for
informed decision-making. Further, people at all levels of society
need to have an unbiased and well-informed understanding of the two
flagships of the Pacific RimQJapan and the United States.

Philip G. Altbach is professor and director of the Comparative
Education Center, and William K. Cummings is professor of education
and director of the Asian Studies Program, both at UB.