{"id":2060,"date":"2020-05-31T01:16:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-31T01:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/rutgers-meets-japan\/?p=2060"},"modified":"2020-05-31T02:13:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-31T02:13:26","slug":"updated-sas-news-on-our-seminar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/rutgers-meets-japan\/updated-sas-news-on-our-seminar\/","title":{"rendered":"Updated SAS News on Our Seminar!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The updated SAS news<\/a> on our seminar includes our virtual joint class with the Fukui University students:<\/p>\n

Despite Lockdown, Rutgers Students and their Japanese Counterparts Find Ways to Mark Historic Friendship<\/h2>\n
\n
Written by John Chadwick | SAS Senior Writer<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n

Remembering a tragic death and a fateful journey in 1870<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"KD20<\/p>\n

An undergraduate honors seminar this semester is exploring the early connections between Rutgers and Japan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rutgers is known as a diverse place.<\/p>\n

But not everyone knows that the university\u2019s inclusive, globally-engaged culture was developing as early as the 1860s, when Rutgers became one of the first American colleges to enroll Japanese nationals.<\/p>\n

\n

\"13<\/p>\n

Kusakabe Taro with Yokoi Brothers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And few today know the tragic tale of how the first of those students\u2014a brilliant samurai named Kusakabe Taro<\/a>\u2014died from tuberculosis weeks before his graduation in 1870 and was buried in New Brunswick after a funeral service hosted by the Rutgers president.Later that same year, Kusakabe\u2019s fellow Rutgers student, friend, and tutor\u2014William E. Griffis<\/a>\u2014accepted an offer to teach in what is now Fukui, Japan. He went on to become an influential figure in Japan\u2019s modernization, and a renowned writer, lecturer, and scholar of Japan.<\/p>\n

Over the last semester, Rutgers students in an undergraduate honors seminar have been studying these historic events. And last week they discussed their work during a joint video conference with students at the University of Fukui who are also learning about the legacy of Griffis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are breaking new ground here,\u201d Ryuhei Hosoya, a professor at Fukui told both groups of students. \u201cThe first joint class here online between the two universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conference ended a semester that was supposed to include several major events to mark the 150th anniversary of Kusakabe\u2019s death and Griffis\u2019 journey. But those plans were put on hold after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The students taking the seminar had been looking forward to making a two-week visit to Japan this month and attending a symposium at the University of Fukui titled: \u201cGriffis\u2019 Fukui: 150 Years On.\u201d And the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences had been planning to host a symposium in March titled \u201cRutgers Meets Japan: Foreign Teachers, Missionaries, and Overseas Students in the Early Meiji Era.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"JapanZoom<\/p>\n

Students from Rutgers and University of Fukui shared research during a video conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Haruko Wakabayashi, a professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures<\/a>, is hoping the trip and the symposium can take place in the 2020-2021 academic year. She said the story of Rutgers\u2019 early encounters with Japan offers enduring lessons for the university community and the public. And there is a wealth of university resources documenting those connections, including The William E. Griffis Collection\u00a0<\/a>in the Special Collections and University Archives, Alexander Library.\u201cThe story of Kusakabe and Griffis is a great example of how people from very different cultures met and learned to appreciate each other,\u201d Wakabayashi says, \u201cAnd it\u2019s worth remembering that just a few years after the Civil War, Rutgers is accepting Japanese students, and in fact, educating the future leaders of Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hosoya, the professor at Fukui, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWilliam Griffis laid the foundations of education in Fukui as well as for the whole of Japan,\u201d Hosoya says.<\/p>\n

\n

\"54<\/p>\n

William E. Griffis and Boys from Fukui Tokyo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Students taking the honors seminar say they\u2019re fascinated by the Rutgers-Japan connection.\u201cOnce I realized Rutgers had such a long relationship with Japan, I just had to take this class,\u201d says Evan Feldman, a sophomore in the SAS Honors Program majoring in computer science and economics. \u201cThis is very outside of my main fields of study and it\u2019s like a breath of fresh air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aishwarya Sridhar, an honors program junior majoring in cell biology and neuroscience, hopes one day to go to medical school and work in another country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to learn about another culture,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd this class is completely eye-opening!\u201d<\/p>\n

During last week\u2019s video conference\u2014which took place at 8:00 a.m. EST, and 9:00 p.m. Japan Standard Time\u2014the Rutgers students, including Camille Romano, Stephanie Loy, Izzy Bonvini and Feldman shared their work which has been compiled in an online exhibition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Their research left the Fukui students impressed. Tanaka Miori told a Fukui newspaper: \u201cIt was very meaningful having an exchange among people who were drawn to Griffis.\u00a0 I would like to learn from the research done by Rutgers students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"KD20<\/p>\n

Aishwarya Sridhar and Camille Romano exploring the Rutgers-Japan connection<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Before the conference ended, the two groups of students agreed to collaborate on a project \u2014a Fukui Google map created by one of the Rutgers students, Shannon Hiner, that is part of the online exhibition.<\/p>\n

The connection between what was then Rutgers College and Japan goes back to the college\u2019s roots in the Reformed Church in America. Christian missionaries in Japan encouraged Japanese students to study at Rutgers.<\/p>\n

From the late 1860s to 1912, as many as 200 Japanese students came to New Brunswick, most of them to Rutgers Grammar School (later Rutgers Preparatory School), and, if successful, to Rutgers College. The students came during what is known as the Meiji era in Japan when the country began moving from an isolated feudal society to a modern industrialized nation.<\/p>\n

Kusakabe Taro became the first to attend Rutgers College. He studied mathematics and physics as well as humanities subjects such as Latin and English. He excelled in all. He died on April 13, 1870 and is buried in Willow Grove Cemetery. He was 25, and posthumously awarded his bachelor\u2019s degree and Phi Beta Kappa key.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was number one in the Class of 1870,\u201d Fernanda Perrone, curator of the Griffis collection, Special Collections and University Archives, told students during a recent session of the seminar. \u201cWhich is really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Griffis, meanwhile, arrived in Japan in early 1871, teaching English and science at a local school and later relocated to Tokyo. He visited Kusakabe\u2019s father, and presented the deceased student\u2019s Phi Betta Kappa key. Griffis returned to the U. S. in 1874 and embarked on a 50-year career preaching, lecturing, and writing.<\/p>\n

In the following decades, a number of Rutgers graduates as well as a professor, David Murray<\/a>, visited Japan and exerted a modernizing influence on the educational system. Some came as missionaries and started schools. Murray served as an advisor to the Japanese government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many dimensions to this,\u201d says Paul Schalow, Chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. \u201cAnd it started with that early welcoming spirit at Rutgers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"KD20<\/p>\n

From left, Haruko Wakabayashi, Ryuhei Hosoya, and Fernanda Perrone<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The updated SAS news on our seminar includes our virtual joint class with the Fukui University students: Despite Lockdown, Rutgers Students and their Japanese Counterparts Find Ways to Mark Historic … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":481,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUpdated SAS News on Our Seminar! - Rutgers Meets Japan: Early Encounters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/rutgers-meets-japan\/updated-sas-news-on-our-seminar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Updated SAS News on Our Seminar! 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