George R. Packard on the life and career of Japan expert Edwin O. Reischauer
October 15, 2010 was the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Edwin O. Reischauer, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and a key leader in establishing the field of East Asian studies. George R. Packard, president of the United States-Japan Foundation, worked with Reischauer in the 1960s and recently published a biography about him entitled Edwin O. Reischauer and the American Discovery of Japan. Packard spoke at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center on October 28 to share his perspective on Reischauer's life and career.
Reischauer was born to
missionary parents in Japan, where he spent the first part of his life.
According to Packard, Reischauer had a lifelong appreciation for Japan that
deepened with time, but he also recognized that the more time he spent living
in and studying Japan, the more that there was for him still to learn.
Reischauer attended Oberlin College as an undergraduate and Harvard University
as a doctoral student. During World War II, he worked for the U.S. State
Department translating intercepted messages.
The Pearl Harbor-era view of Japan in the United States was that of a
"treacherous" country-one that still surfaces from time to time, according to
Packard. Reischauer's life's work was to improve American education and
understanding about Japan. While teaching at Harvard University, Reischauer,
along with China studies pioneer John King Fairbank, helped to build the field
of East Asian studies in the United States. Packard credits their efforts for
changing the British imperial-era designation of the "Far East" to "East Asia."
In addition to his works such as Japan,
Past and Present and A History of
East Asian Civilization, Reischauer was committed to writing about Japan in
popular publications like Reader's Digest.
Reischauer served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 1961-1966. While there, he
helped to diminish the "Occupation mentality" of Americans in Japan and planted
the seeds for the eventual return of Okinawa, said Packard. During his time as
ambassador, Reischauer suffered many professional and personal setbacks,
including the death of President Kennedy, a supporter of his efforts; the
escalation of the Vietnam War, for which he drew criticism although he was not
a proponent of it; and being stabbed by a deranged student. According to
Packard, after the stabbing incident Reischauer was deeply concerned about
generating negative sentiment toward Japan, and thus intentionally kept quiet
about it to the media. After returning to Harvard University in the late 1960s,
Reischauer continued to draw criticism for the Vietnam War and in later decades
was labeled as a "Japan apologist."
Despite his critics, the wisdom of Reischauer's work in academia and government rings true today, as evidenced by Japan's place as a global economic power and the successful and significant role that the U.S.-Japan relationship plays in the peace and economic stability of East Asia.