日本語   JCIE Japanese Language Site



The Role of Philanthropy in Postwar U.S.-Japan Relations

Pocantico Workshop
October 12-13, 2002
On the weekend of October 12-13, 2002, JCIE held a workshop outside New York City at the Pocantico Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The 23 participants, a number of whom were active in U.S.-Japan philanthropy during the period of the study, shared their views regarding the motivations of grantmakers, the influence of the cold war and anticommunist sentiment on Japan-related grantmaking, the relationship between the government and foundations, and the impact of American philanthropy on Japan's intellectual community and the U.S.-Japan relationship.

Agenda

Saturday, October 12

10:00-10:30 Session I: Introduction

Presentation:

• Tadashi Yamamoto, President, Japan Center for International Exchange

  • Project overview
  • Progress report on research and future plans
  • Reviewing and revising the research strategy
  • Workshop agenda
10:30-12:30 Session II: Historical Context

Presentations of Paper Writers:

"The Role of Philanthropy and Civil Society in the Evolution of U.S. Foreign Relations in the Post-World War II Era"

• Akira Iriye, Charles Warren Professor of American History, Harvard University

"The Evolution of the Japan-U.S. Intellectual Exchange"

• Makoto Iokibe, Professor, Kobe University; Harvard-Yenching Institute Coordinate Researcher

"The Renewed Role of Prewar Business Networks and the Emerging Post-WWII Corporate Role in Japan for U.S.-Japan Exchange and Studies"

• Masato Kimura, Director of Research, RYUMONSHA (Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation); Visiting Professor, University of Toronto

Comments:

• Gerald Curtis, Burgess Professor of Political Science, East Asian Institute, Columbia University; Director, Toyota Research Program

Discussion

14:00-17:00 Session III: Changing Priorities of Philanthropic Giving—Preliminary Findings and Hypotheses

Presentations on Preliminary Findings, Hypothesis, and Future Agenda

  • Changing priorities—Tadashi Yamamoto
  • Trends analyzed on the basis of the Japanese grantees—Jun Wada, Chief Program Officer, JCIE; Professor, Kanda University of International Studies
  • Grants to individuals—Kim Ashizawa, Senior Associate, JCIE/USA
  • Area studies/Japan studies—Kim Ashizawa
  • American studies—James Gannon, Executive Director, JCIE/USA
  • English language instruction—James Gannon
  • Grassroots exchange—Tadashi Yamamoto (representing Toshihiro Menju, Senior Program Officer, JCIE/Japan)

Discussion

Sunday, October 13

9:00-12:00 Session IV: Critical Issues Related to the Role of Philanthropy in the Postwar Era—Reflections and Explorations of Lessons to be Learned
  • Motivations for philanthropic contributions to Japan-related activities in the immediate post-war period (as compared with Europe)
  • Influence of anti-communism sentiment in the United States on philanthropy in the 1950s and 1960s
  • Degree of cooperation between the government and philanthropic/ civil society organizations during the Cold War period as well as in the following years
  • Priority setting and program implementation - roles of board members, senior staff, and field officers
  • Strategies for building the intellectual underpinnings of the bilateral relationship
  • Other key issues of salience to international relations and cooperation
12:15-13:30 Concluding Luncheon