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Soft Power: The U.S. Cultural Offensive and Japanese Intellectuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Takeshi MATSUDA
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By the end of World War II, the U.S. government had recognized how important a cultural dimension of foreign policy was to accomplishing its broad national objectives. International relations in the twentieth century was no longer just a matter of relations between governments; it was a matter of people-to-people contact as well. President Harry Truman clearly sensed the advent of a new age. On August 31, 1945, he proclaimed that “the nature of present-day foreign relations makes it essential for the United States to maintain information activities abroad as an integral part of the conduct of our foreign affairs.” In September 1945, Assistant Secretary of State William Benton articulately expressed similar beliefs about the importance of an international information program: “The development of modern means of communication has brought the peoples of the world into direct contact with each other. Friendship between the leaders and the diplomats of the world is important, but it is not enough. The people themselves must strive to understand each other. We must strive to interpret ourselves abroad through a program of education and of cultural exchange.”

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Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , February 2008 , e18
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Copyright © The Authors 2008

References

Notes

1. Quoted in Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945–1961 (London: Macmillan, 1997), 5.

2. William Benton, “Statement,” Department of State Bulletin, September 23, 1945, 430, as quoted in Howard R. Ludden, “The International Information Program of the United States: State Department Years, 1945–1953,” Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., 1966, 44.

3. As quoted in Warren M. Robbins (USIA), “Toward an American Global Cultural-Educational-Informational Program in the Framework of the Present World Scene,” December 14, 1960, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Historical Collection, Special Collections Section, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville.

4. As quoted in Hixson, Parting the Curtain, 5. Also see Rosemary O'Neil, “A Brief History of Department of State Involvement in International Exchange,” fall 1972, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, file 12, box 103, Historical Collection, Special Collections Section, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville.

5. Ludden, “International Information Program of the United States,” 91 and Niles W. Bond, USPOLAD, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, USIE Country Paper on Japan, August 16, 1951, 511.9421/8-1651, U.S. Department of State, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. (hereafter NARA)..

6. Richard T. Arndt, “Beikoku no bunka koho gaiko–Kiwadoi baransu” [Cultural and informational diplomacy in the U.S.: The precarious balance], Kokusai Mondai 338 (May 1988): 46; Ludden, “International Information Program of the United States.'; U.S. Department of State, Secretary's Seventh Semiannual Report, 46, cited in Ludden, “International Information Program of the United States, “157.; Hixson, Parting the Curtain, 16; Dubro and Matsui, “Hajimete veru wo nugu amerika tainichi senno kosaku no zenbo.“; U.S. Department of State, Secretary's Seventh Semiannual Report, Table 1, 5, as cited in Ludden, “International Information Program of the United States, “162.

7. Robert S. Schwantes, Japanese and Americans: A Century of Cultural Relations (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1955), 313–314.

8. Saxton Bradford, USPOLAD, Tokyo to the Department of State, Desp. No. 370, September 7, 1951, 511.94/9-751, U.S. Department of State, NARA.

9. NSC 125/2, “United States Objectives and Courses of Action with Respect to Japan,” August 7, 1952, Papers Relating to Foreign Relations of the United States 1952–1954, vol. 14, China and Japan, Part 2 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1985), 1306; Confidential memorandum, Notes on USIE Japan, March 3, 1951, U.S. State Department, 511.9421/3-351, NARA.

10. Information in this section is from Saxton Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, “Attitudes of Japanese Intellectuals towards the United States,” June 4, 1952, 511.94/6-452, U.S. Department of State, NARA.; Earl R. Linch, AMCONSULATE, Nagoya, to AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, “Semi-annual Evaluation Report,” December 18, 1952, 511.94/12-852, U.S. Department of State, NARA.; Confidential memorandum, Notes on USIE Japan.

11. This information was provided by Prof. Kon Madoko with the cooperation of Ms. Bungo Reiko. An American library operated abroad under the jurisdiction of the State Department was called an American information library, whereas a library run under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army in occupied countries such as Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea was called an information center. In Germany, however, the American information center had been called Amerika Haus since October 1947. As many as twenty-seven such centers were operating in Germany in 1951. Kon Madoko, “Amerika no joho koryu to toshokan” [Interchange of information on America and library], Kiyo Shakaigakka (Chuo University) 4 (June 1994): 38. See also Barnes and Morgan, Foreign Service of the United States, 288. Similar functions for the occupied areas of Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were performed in coordination with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Occupied Areas. Ludden, “International Information Program of the United States,” 96.

12. American Embassy, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, Memorandum of conversation between Professor SaitÅ of Tokyo University and Cultural Attaché Margaret H. Williams, May 5, 1953, 511.94/5-1153, U.S. Department of State, NARA.

13. Tokyo 1020 to U.S. Department of State, February 2, 1951, 794.00/2-251, U.S. Department of State, NARA; Saxton Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, “IIA: ICS: American Books in Japanese Translation, 1952,” April 1, 1953, 511.9421/4013, U.S. Department of State, NARA.

14. Entry of June 19, 1951, John D. Rockefeller 3rd Diaries, series 1-OMR files, record group (RG) 5 (John D. Rockefeller 3rd), Rockefeller Family Archives (hereafter Rockefeller Diaries), Rockefeller Archive Center, Tarrytown, N.Y. (hereafter RAC).

15. Tokyo 1020 to the Department of State, February 2, 1951.

16. Report to Ambassador John Foster Dulles, April 16, 1951, folder 446, box 49, series 1-OMR files, RG 5 (John D. Rockefeller 3rd), Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.

17. John K. Emmerson to Dean Rusk, confidential office memorandum, May 18, 1951, 794.00/5-1851, U.S. Department of State, NARA. For more information on Emmerson's thoughts, see John K. Emmerson, The Japanese Dilemma: Arms, Yen and Power (New York: Dunellen Publishing Co., 1971); and Emmerson, The Japanese Thread: A Life in the U.S. Foreign Service (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1978).

18. “Japanese Peace Treaty Problems, Sixth Meeting, May 25, 1951,” Council on Foreign Relations Study Group Report, Manuscript Division, Council on Foreign Relations, New York.

19. Entry of Otis Cary, undated, Rockefeller Diaries.

20. Maruyama Masao, “Kindai Nihon no chishikijin” [Intellectuals of modern Japan], in Koei no ichi kara [From the position of the rearguard] (Tokyo: Mirai Sha, 1982), 71–133.

21. Takauchi Toshikazu, Gendai Nihon shihonshugi ronso [A debate over modern Japanese capitalism] (Tokyo: San-ichi ShobÅ, 1973); Kojima, Nihon shihonshugi ronsoshi.

22. Present at the meeting were ÅŒhira Zengo, professor of international law, Hitotsubashi University; Amamiya Yozo, chief of the Science Department, Yomiuri Press; Naoi Takeo, a New Leader correspondent; Hazama Shinjiro, an independent socialist; Fukuzawa IchirÅ, an author and critic; Tsushima Tadayuki, a painter and author of a book on Soviet economics; Okura Asahi, an executive secretary of Japanese Committee for Cultural Freedom; Arahata Kanson, a socialist leader and former member of the Diet; and Kohori Junji, an independent socialist. Yomiuri Shimbun, January 16, 1952; Saxton Bradford, USPOLAD, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, January 18, 1952, 511.94/1-1852, U.S. Department of State, NARA.

23. Niles W. Bond, USPOLAD, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, USIE Country Paper on Japan, August 16, 1951, 511.9421/8-1651, U.S. Department of State, NARA; Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, “Attitudes of Japanese Intellectuals towards the United States.”

24. Saxton Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, “Psychological Factors in Japan,” February 28, 1952, 511.94/2-2852, U.S. Department of State, NARA;. Robbins (USIA), “Toward an American Global Cultural-Educational-Informational Program in the Framework of the Present World Scene.”; Linch, AMCONSULATE, Nagoya, to AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, “Semi-annual Evaluation Report.”

25. Confidential–Security Information. USIE Country Plan–Japan, Priority III, December 4, 1951, 511.94/12-451, U.S. Department of State, NARA; Civil Information and Education Section, General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, Mission and Accomplishments of the Occupation in the Civil Information and Education Fields, January 1, 1950, folder 444, box 49, series 1-OMR files, RG 5 (John D. Rockefeller 3rd), Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC, 10; “Japan Between East and West, Fourth Meeting, May 21, 1956”; Council on Foreign Relations Study Group on American Cultural Relations with Japan, “The Exchange of Cultural Materials,” Working Paper No. 5, prepared by Robert S. Schwantes, April 22, 1953, folder 42, box 6, collection III 2Q, RAC.; Sato Tadao, “Wareware ni totte amerika towa nanika” [What does America mean to us?] Shiso no kagaku 68 (November 1967): 4; Linch, AMCONSULATE, Nagoya, to AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, “Semi-annual Evaluation Report.”;. Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, “Attitudes of Japanese Intellectuals towards the United States”; Arthur Thompson, “The Development of American Studies in Japan,” American Studies 5 (July 1960): 2.

26. See the entry “The Hepburn Chair” in Nichibei bunka kÅ ryÅ« jiten [A dictionary of Japan-U.S. cultural interchange], ed. Kamei Shunsuke (Tokyo: Nan-undÅ, 1988), 222–223; Fukuda Sadayoshi, “Hanbei shiso” [Anti-American thought], Bungei ShunjÅ« (September 1953):.

27. Memorandum from Round Table Conference on Christian Culture and Peace, submitted to John Foster Dulles, April 19, 1951.

28. Ibid.

29. “American Cultural Relations with Japan, Sixth Meeting, June 3, 1953,” Council on Foreign Relations Study Group Report, folder 42, box 6, collection III 2Q, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC.

30. Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, “Attitudes of Japanese Intellectuals towards the United States.”

31. Tokyo 1275 to U.S. Department of State, March 15, 1951, 794.00/3-1551, U.S. Department of State, NARA.

32. Saxton Bradford to Niles W. Bond, Top Secret Memorandum on Draft Psychological Strategy Plan for the Pro-U.S. Orientation of Japan, July 28, 1952, 511.94/7-2852, U.S. Department of State, NARA. Tsurumi Shunsuke, “Nihon chishikijin no Amerika zÅ” [Japanese intellectuals' images of America], ChÅ«Å K&Kring; ron (July 1956): 170–178.

33. Robert D. Murphy to Secretary of State, confidential security information, September 5, 1952, 511.94/9-552, U.S. Department of State, NARA.

34. Bradford to Bond, Top Secret Memorandum on Draft Psychological Strategy Plan.; Interview: entry of Matsumoto Shigeharu, November 4, 1954, folder 868, box 100, series 200, RG 1.2, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC.

35. “Seminars in American Studies in Japan, 1950, Report of the Stanford Professors: Joseph S. Davis, Claude A. Buss, John D. Goheen, George H. Knoles, and James T. Watkins,” folder 5, box 1, series 205, RG 1.2, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC (hereafter “Report of the Stanford Professors”).

36. Entry of March 2, 1951, Charles B. Fahs Diaries, series 12.1 diaries, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC (hereafter Fahs Diaries).

37. “American Cultural Relations with Japan, Sixth Meeting, June 3, 1953,” Council on Foreign Relations Study Group Report, folder 42, box 6, collection III 2Q, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC.

38 “Report of the Stanford Professors.”

39. Howard S. Ellis, Department of Economics, Stanford University, to Joseph H. Willits, director for the Social Sciences, Rockefeller Foundation, September 2, 1951, folder 6, box 12, series 205, RG 1.2, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC.

40. Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of States, “Attitudes of Japanese Intellectuals towards the United States.”; Thompson, “Development of American Studies in Japan,” 2.

41. Ellis to Willits, September 2, 1951.

42. Entry of May 7, 1950, Fahs Diaries.

43. Bond, USPOLAD, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, USIE Country Paper on Japan.; Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of State, “IIA: ICS: American Books in Japanese Translation, 1952.”;

44. Bradford, AMEMBASSY, Tokyo, to U.S. Department of States, “Attitudes of Japanese Intellectuals towards the United States.”

45. John W. Dower, “E.H. Norman, Japan and the Uses of History,” in Origins of the Modern Japanese State: Selected Writings of E.H. Norman (New York: Random House, 1975), 1-6.

46. Matsumoto Shigeharu to Charles B. Fahs, August 26, 1954, folder 12, box 2, series 609, RG 1.2, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC.

47. Entry of April 7, 1952, Fahs Diaries. Careful readers may recognize that these cutting remarks on Japanese historiography by Japanese liberals such as Matsumoto and Sakanishi set the stage for the Showashi ronso (Showa history debate) in the 1950s. Showashi, a short history of ShÅ wa Japan, was written in 1955 by three scholars of Japanese modern history: Toyama Shigeki, Imai Seiichi, and Fujiwara Akira. An article written by Kamei Katsuichiro, a literary critic, triggered the famous debate over the writing of the modern history of Japan. This concise history of the ShÅ wa period, 1926–1988, captivated many historians, political scientists, philosophers, and critics, no matter their ideological persuasion, from 1955 and beyond.

48. Entry of Paul Langer, undated, Rockefeller Diaries.

49. “Humanities Program and Related Foundation Interests in History, 1950–1960,” prepared by Charles B. Fahs, November 16, 1960, pp. 6–7, file 18, box 3, series 911, RG3, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC.

50. Ibid.

51. Matsumoto Shigeharu to Charles B. Fahs, August 10, 1954, folder 12, box 2, series 609, RG 1.2, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC.

52. “Humanities Program and Related Foundation Interests in History, 1950–1960,” prepared by Charles B. Fahs.

53. Entry of April 26, 1956, Charles B. Fahs Diaries, Box 18, Record Group 12.1, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, N.Y

54. Tokyo University Center for American Studies (Tokyo Daigaku Amerika KenkyÅ« ShiryÅ SentÄ), ed., Ueno NaozÅ sensei ni kiku [Interview with Professor Ueno NaozÅ], vol. 10 of American Studies in Japan: Oral History Series (Tokyo: Tokyo University Center for American Studies, 1980), 28.

55. Dean Rusk (president), “Statement of the Rockefeller Foundation and the General Education Board to the Special Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations,” Eighty-third Cong., 2nd sess., August 3, 1954, 1070.

56. Benjamin I. Schwartz, “Presidential Address: Area Studies as a Critical Discipline,” Journal of Asian Studies 60 (November 1980): 15.

57. William N. Fenton, Area Studies in American Universities (Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1947), 82, 22.

58. Robert Hall, Area Studies: With Special Reference to Their Implications for Research in the Social Sciences (New York: Committee on World Area Research Program, Social Science Research Council, 1948); Miyoshi Masao and Harry D. Harootunian, eds., Learning Places: The Afterlives of Area Studies (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2002); “Discussion on ‘Chiiki kenkyu no arikata‘” [“How area studies should be pursued”], American Review 6 (1972): 52–78; Tokyo University Center for American Studies, Matsumoto Shigeharu sensei ni kiku [Interview with Professor Matsumoto Shigeharu], vol. 9 of American Studies in Japan: Oral History Series. (Tokyo: Tokyo University Center for American Studies, 1980), 54–55.

59. Bruce Cumings, “Boundary Displacement: The State, the Foundations, Area Studies during and after the Cold War,” in Learning Places: The Afterlives of Area Studies, ed. Miyoshi Masao and Harry D. Harootunian, (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2002), 264.

60. Harry D. Harootunian, “Postcoloniality's Unconscious/Area Studies' Desire,” in Learning Places: The Afterlives of Area Studies, ed. Miyoshi Masao and Harry D. Harootunian, (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2002), 155.

61. Miyoshi and Harootunian, Learning Places, 268.

62. “The Program in the Humanities: A Statement by Fahs,” undated. folder 33, box 4, series 911, RG 3.1, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC; Robert Gordon Sproul, president of University of California, to Chester J. Barnard, president of Rockefeller Foundation, July 12, 1950, folder 5, box 1, series 911, RG 3, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC.; Cumings, “Boundary Displacement,” 261.

63. Harootunian, “Postcoloniality's Unconscious/Area Studies' Desire,” 156.

64. Stanley J. Heginbotham, “Shifting the Focus of International Programs,” Chronicle of Higher Education, October 19, 1994, A68.