Japan: From China War to China Peace

Corporate Evening Lecture
Centennial Speakers Series
Tuesday, February 20
6 – 8 pm

Read the Event Summary.
 
Speaker
Ezra Vogel, Henry Ford II Professor Emeritus of the Social Sciences, Harvard University

Presider
Michael Auslin, Associate Professor of History, Yale University

In 1871, the Iwakura Mission, composed of key Japanese officials, boarded a boat to the West for 21 months to learn the secrets of modernization. Within two decades, Japan was well on its way to modernization. It was a century later, in 1978, when the Gu Mu Mission, composed of key Chinese officials, boarded a plane to Europe for 36 days to learn the secrets of modernization. Within two decades, China was well on its way to modernization. And then, when both countries were strong for the first time in centuries, relations between them deteriorated. Why?  Tensions between the two have centered on Japanese cruelties in World War II, but the issues are deeper. Can two countries with very different cultures, competing for resources, markets, influence, and pride of place, avoid conflict as the forces of globalization bring them into greater contact? Can they recapture the good relations that had begun to blossom in the 1970s and 1980s?

Agenda
6 – 6:30 pm    Registration
6:30 – 7:30    Lecture/Q&A
7:30 – 8     Reception

Admission: Corporate members are entitled to a designated number of free admissions to this event, based on their company’s current membership level. These reservations must be made at least 48 hours prior to the event.  Additional corporate registrants and Japan Society individual members at the Patron level and above pay the discounted corporate member rate of $10 for the lecture. Nonmember admission: $15 for the lecture.  The academic and government admission rate is $10. When payment is required, prepayment must be made, or registration secured, with a credit card. All registrations and cancellations must be made at least 48 hours prior to the event. Substitutions are welcome.