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(l. to r.): Professors Todd Munson, Timothy Brown, Lauren Bell,
James Doering, David Clark, Raymond Berry |
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8/8/12 Six Randolph-Macon College professors recently traveled to Japan in preparation of integrating Japanese studies into their curricula. The trip was made possible through The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership grant, “
Honoring the Life, Work, and Good Spirit of Taylor Anderson: Enhancing Japanese Studies at Randolph-Macon College.” Taylor Anderson ’08 died as a result of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The grant will help R-MC reach its goal of increasing course offerings in Japanese language and culture and will allow students to travel to Japan as part of their studies.
Professors Lauren Bell (
political science), Raymond Berry (
studio art), Timothy Brown (
religious studies), David Clark (
mathematics), Todd Munson (
Asian Studies) and James Doering (
music) met with scholars in their respective fields. Several professors posted
blog entries on the R-MC Web site during the trip.
“Having known Taylor as a student and advisee, I’m confident she would have been pleased with the outcome of our trip – which was to build bridges, make friends, and establish connections that will last a lifetime,” says Munson, director of the
Asian Studies program. “I am honored to have been a part of this effort.”
Bell is grateful to the Japan Foundation for this unique travel opportunity.
“My work centers primarily on the legislative and judicial institutions of American government, but my graduate training included a significant amount of study of the governments of other countries,” she says. “This trip gave me a chance to return to some long-standing professional interests in comparative institutions and expanded my horizons to a part of the world that I had not previously studied. In addition, the trip afforded the chance for Randolph-Macon to rekindle its relationship with its sister school, Kansai Gaidai University, and to recommit to a stronger relationship between our institutions.”
During the trip, Bell met with several scholars and practitioners.
“Professor Daniel Foote at Tokyo University and Professor Tsukasa Mihira at Kyoto University graciously spent hours with me discussing Japan’s legal and judicial systems, and Professor Gregory Noble at Tokyo University helped me to understand current public policy issues confronting Japan,” she says. “Ms. Tomomi Hioki and Mr. Michiharu Honda—a current and a former policy secretary at the Diet, respectively—spent several hours with me discussing Japan’s national legislature. Our conversation about the differences between filibusters in the U.S. and Japan was fascinating; Japanese filibusters involve parliament members walking incredibly slowly to cast votes, such that voting can take hours or days.”
Another highlight of the trip was a briefing and tour of the Supreme Court of Japan, conducted by Judge Masakazu Kamakura. “I even had a chance to sit in the Chief Justice’s chair in the main courtroom,” says Bell. She also visited historical and religious sites in Kyoto, Yokohama, Kamakura and Tokyo.
“I was blown away by the thousands of red torii gates at Fushimi-Inari in Kyoto and by the tranquil beauty of Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji,” says Bell. “Kyoto’s Nanzen-In garden is one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I have ever seen. And I will never forget the experience of meeting Jim Sweet ’10, who just happened to be visiting Tokyo, at the Tsukiji Fish Market. We had an amazing sushi breakfast, and it was fun to catch up with him!”
Bell is excited at the prospect of incorporating her Japan experiences into her classes.
“I hope to offer again my Parliaments and Legislatures course, this time using Japan as the point of comparison,” she says.
In one of his
blog entries, Clark wrote about his meeting with Fukugawa Hidetoshi, one of Japan’s leading experts on traditional Japanese mathematics and
sangaku, mathematical tablets.
“We rode a taxi up steep, narrow streets to a lush hill overlooking the large town, on top of which stood the Myojorinji Temple,” wrote Clark. “Ancient moss-covered stone Buddhas and lanterns around every turn, with not a tourist in sight. Such natural and unspoiled beauty would be reason enough to visit this magical place, but one of the temple buildings contained an even sweeter prize: a large s
angaku from 1865, nearly perfectly preserved. Devoted to the temple by the Asano school, the tablet boasted eleven geometry problems with answers (but, of course, no solutions), each with a meticulously crafted colored diagram. Over tea with the temple’s priest and a few locals, Dr. Fukagawa expounded upon the culture of aesthetics and enjoyment of mathematics in which the tradition of
sangaku thrived. His enthusiasm and generosity were as humbling as the beauty of the tablet itself.”
For Doering, the trip was filled with exploration and discovery.
“We had meetings at the U.S. Embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership,” he says. “We also attended a performance of kabuki theater, and I did some exploring on my own, including a section of the city, Asakusa, which has a historical connection to film.” Doering, Munson and Bell traveled to Kansai Gaidai University, where they met with the dean and the senior exchange coordinator of the Center for International Education.
In Kyoto, Doering toured the Toei Studios Movie Theme Park, where he viewed music manuscripts by Japanese film composer Fumio Hayasaka. In addition, Doering and Munson met with Mark Schilling, senior film critic for the Japan Times. Other highlights included a trip to the Min-On Music Museum, where Doering met with the curator of their collection of historical instruments, and a trip to the National Film Center.
“I was captivated by Japan,” says Doering. “I learned so much about its history and culture. Everyone we met was incredibly gracious and eager to help us learn about Japan. There seems to be a tremendous sense of humility and respect built into the Japanese way of life: respect for one’s neighbor, the environment, life itself.”
Inspired by the trip, Doering is eager to develop a travel course about Japanese music.
“This trip was invaluable in helping me understand how that might work,” he says. “I had experiences that I want to include on future trips. I learned a great deal about Japanese film music, particularly from the silent era. I made a startling discovery at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, when I learned that the focus of their exhibit on silent film featured ‘Antony and Cleopatra,’ a 1914 film that I have written about and performed an accompaniment to. I realized that other sources about this film must survive in Tokyo. The trip taught me a lot about Japanese music and opened my eyes to all sorts of future areas of research. That learning will filter into all of my R-MC courses and my professional work.”
"I think that I, like most of my colleagues, had set plans and perceived outcomes when we left for Japan, all of which changed in some way after a few days in country," says Berry. "I had a goal of looking extra hard at gardens and the landscape in general, something that I was able to do but not at the expense of other things that seemed to intrude on my preconceived notions about Japan. First and foremost was the overwhelming respect that I gained for the Japanese people. Their dignity, friendliness and charm simply blew away any other 'subject matter' we seemed to be after, whether it was their calm and fortitude during a train ride during rush hour, or their professionalism and respect during conversations and meetings that came up during our sojourn.
"Japan is an aesthetic culture. That’s my strongest thought about the top and bottom of the Japan that I was able to witness. In large things and in small things, it’s all done with economy, simplicity and beauty. The 'scenic' parts of Japan: the shrines and temples, the gardens and parks, are wonderfully maintained and kept for the many tourists and Japanese who enjoy them each day. But then so was the local bakery (which our group basically turned into a place of morning worship) and the amazing Seven Eleven stores (it’s a Japanese company since the '90s!) that we spent so much time in. How something is done in Japan is essential to understanding their great sense of quality and responsibility. There is no litter. The trains run on time and the garbage men wear uniforms and work as if they were on an athletic team. Children rule…they are the wonder of the Japanese. They can go anywhere alone and feel safe. It was one of the most wonderful dynamics to witness and at the same time painful, considering how it is in this country. The 'postcard Japan' is interesting; all those things are true. It’s the spaces in between that are the real Japan. I hope many of our students can visit and learn something from these wonderful people."
“This trip was perhaps my favorite Japan experience to date,” says Munson, who lived in Japan for four years. “I attribute the success of our trip wholly to my traveling companions, whose sense of curiosity and wonder reinvigorated my own interest in a country that had begun to seem ‘old hat’ in some respects. Nothing pleased me more than to see our five scholars make connections, accidental discoveries, and new friendships in Japan. I count myself as most fortunate to have served as their guide – and as equally fortunate to have been guided by them to a deeper understanding of Japanese culture and history.”