 |
NPR correspondent Yuki Noguchi |
 |
His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki
Ambassador of Japan to the United States |
 |
Taylor Anderson '08 |
Randolph-Macon College hosted the
Taylor Anderson/Japan Foundation Lecture, “Postscripts from Japan: Stories that Endure After the Earthquake and Tsunami,” on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. in Blackwell Auditorium, R-MC Center for the Performing Arts. This lecture commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which took the life of R-MC alumna Taylor Anderson ’08.
The program was made possible through a generous grant from The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, entitled Honoring the Life , Work and Good Spirit of Taylor Anderson—Enhancing Japanese Studies at Randolph-Macon College. The purpose of this grant is to create further awareness, understanding and appreciation of the Japanese culture and cultivate meaningful and lasting relationships with each country.
Ambassador of Japan to the United States
Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki attended the program and delivered brief remarks. A native of Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan, Ichiro Fujisaki became ambassador of Japan to the United States on June 4, 2008. Prior to his current post, he served as Ambassador to the United Nations and to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. While there, he also served as the chairman of the executive committee of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Fujisaki‘s career also includes political minister of the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC from 1995-1999; serving as a diplomat in Jakarta, Paris and London; and, as the personal representative of the Prime Minister to G8 Summit meetings.
Fujisaki’s association with the United States goes dates back to the 1960’s when he attended junior high in Seattle, Washington. He also studied one year each at Brown University and Stanford University Graduate School in the early 1970’s.
Keynote Speaker
The keynote speaker for the lecture was National Public Radio (NPR) correspondent Yuki Noguchi. Noguchi joined NPR News in May 2008 and covers business news for NPR’S National Desk. In April 2011, she filed several reports for NPR from the disaster area in Japan following the Great East Japan Earthquake. Noguchi's pieces can be heard on NPR programs including Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition Sunday.
Noguchi's parents left Japan to study in the United States in the early 1970s. Noguchi and her younger brother grew up in St. Louis. She earned her B.A. in history from Yale University. During a year off, she studied in Yokohama, Japan, and worked for Kyodo News Service in Tokyo.
The Japan Foundation
The Taylor Anderson/Japan Foundation lecture is sponsored through the generosity of The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership grant, entitled
“Honoring the Life, Work, and Good Spirit of Taylor Anderson- Enhancing Japanese Studies at Randolph-Macon College.” In 2011, Randolph-Macon College received the grant to strengthen Japanese Studies, a part of the college’s
Asian Studies program. The grant will help the College reach its goal of increasing course offerings in Japanese language and culture and allow students to travel to Japan as part of their studies. The college received $100,000 for this academic year with the anticipation of receiving additional funds during the five-year duration of the grant.
Taylor Anderson ’08 Taylor Anderson, who had a lifelong love of Japan, graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in
International Studies and minors in
Asian Studies and
Political Science. She joined The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program and was assigned to teach in Ishinomaki, Japan. The JET program is one of the world's largest exchange programs and is aimed at developing strong international relationships between Japan and other nations.
For more information about this event, please contact Pam Harris Cox at (804) 752-3712, pamelacox@rmc.edu or Anne Marie Lauranzon at (804) 752-7317, alauranz@rmc.edu.