(See earlier activities)

Trial By Jury: What It Means in America, What It Could Mean in Japan

On October 22, three Bar Associations in Tokyo hosted TAC speaker Robert Precht, Director of the Mansfield Center Juries and Democracy Center on "Techniques for Persuading Lay Citizens: Learning from the U.S. Jury System." Precht's presentation centered on his experience as a defense lawyer for one of the defendants in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case, explaining the ins-and-outs of jury selection, witness testimony, cross-examination and other tasks that will become important as Japan adopts a lay-judge system with citizen-jurors in 2009. The overview also shed light on how the U.S. grapples with difficult issues in its criminal justice system through the principle of public participation.

Mr. Precht will do a similar presentation for student audiences on February 20 as part of the "Kiso Koza" series of the Information Resource Center. For more information please refer to the IRC page.

Sharing U.S. and Japanese Objectives for Asian Economic Integration

Nishogakusha University hosted an international symposium on "Rethinking Cooperation and Competition between East Asia and Japan," a December 1 joint program by the Japan-China Economic Association and Tokyo American Center, along with the Japan External Trade Organization and the Japan Institute of Overseas Investment. The symposium's two sessions - International Politics and Economics, and International Business - brought together panelists from Japan, China, Southeast Asia, Australia and the U.S. Attorney Dennis Unkovic of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott, invited by TAC to represent how some American businesses and their advisors are approaching economic developments in Asia, pointed to commonalities and contrasts among the major regional actors as a challenge for achieving successful integration.

American History Through Music, American Music Through History

Gregory Reish, Assistant Professor of Music History at Chicago's Roosevelt College, played and sang "old time" musical selections (19th century and early 20th century folk music) on guitar and banjo for a November 20 audience at the Tokyo American Center. Before each song, Reish set each song in its American historical context by describing the story behind the song, or where it takes place in America, and even talking about the origin of bluegrass, folk and country music. The performance of entertaining and charming songs allowed Reish to communicate important aspects of unique moments in American history, such as the Gold Rush, Dust Bowl days and Prohibition.

On October 10, the Mike del Ferro Trio performed at the auditorium of Seisen Women's University, for an audience of about 150, including students, faculty, alumni and other friends of the Tokyo American Center. The repertoire ranged from jazz standards by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to original compositions by del Ferro which interpreted opera and Italian folk songs through a jazz vocabulary. Del Ferro's repertoire, it is fair to say, broadened the audience's view of what jazz is and showed it to be a vibrant, evolving and inclusive American art form.

U.S. Economic Experts Welcome Discussions with Japanese Counterparts

Participants enjoy a briefing in the conference room of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors

Six promising Japanese economists, representing leading institutes in Tokyo, spent the week of July 8 exploring "The Current Status and Outlook of the U.S. Economy: Its Implication for the Japanese and World Economy," in a (hot) whirlwind tour developed in cooperation with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation (MMMF). During this study tour, the sixth of its kind, leading U.S. policy makers and analysts from the sixteen public and private sector organizations welcomed the group and took on all questions concerning current and long-term economic concerns. Topics included macroeconomic policy, monetary policy, trade policy, regulatory reform and Asian regional integration, as well as strategies for sustainable global, U.S. and Japanese economic growth.

Cultural Program Highlights

Director Jerry Chan takes a crack at a probing question from the audience.

Several recent Tokyo American Center programs have spotlighted contemporary U.S. culture and the themes that have inspired American artists. On June 29, the TAC spotlight was on filmmaking, as the five U.S. filmmakers participating in the 2007 Short Shorts Film Festival related their experiences and artistic visions to a full house. The film showing a panel discussion covered important issues in contemporary America - including the war in Iraq and gang violence - and offered the audience a different view of American society and culture than that normally found in mainstream, feature-length Hollywood films, as well as demonstrating the freedom American artists have to explore dissenting views or controversial subjects.

Filmmakers looking forward to interaction with Tokyo cinephiles

Prize-winning Author Gives Public Reading

Pulitzer Prize winner Butler relates his unique art and literary vision.

Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler entertained an August 20 TAC audience with a presentation that included an evocative reading of the story "Crickets" from his award-winning book of short stories on Vietnamese immigrants in Louisiana, Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. Butler generously shared his thoughts on his own creative process and offered advice on how aspiring writers can hone their craft and find their literary voices.

Vietnamese-American Poet Performs, Discusses

Poet Mong-Lan shares moments from her life in the U.S. and in Japan.

The lasting impact of the U.S.-Vietnam connection was also evident in a poetry reading and discussion by Vietnamese-American poet Mong-Lan held at Sophia University on June 21. Reading works from her collection Song of the Cicadas, she shared her experience of growing up as an immigrant in the U.S. and elaborated on the background of the themes and styles of her poetry. Both presentations connected with an audience familiar with America's role in Vietnam, and Japan's own role in accepting Vietnamese refugees, but also introduced them to the less familiar world of the immigrants' experience in the U.S.

Tokyo American Center Hosts Japan Bowl Demonstration

American students prepare for another challenge.

Three teams of U.S. high school students visited Japan from June 21 to July 6, enjoying the fruits of their achievements in the Japan Bowl competition organized by the Japan-America Society of Washington. These representatives of the rising generation of Japan scholars displayed their knowledge of Japanese language, culture and history at a demonstration held at the Tokyo American Center on July 2.

More details on this event are reported in the current issue of the Embassy's Japanese-language online journal American View.