Three distinguished lecturers gave short lectures examining immigration issues in Japan and American from three different perspectives. Dr. Ishida discussed the connection between changes in the international political situation and mass migration of the Jewish people. He also touched upon the unique connection between Israel and America due to the Jewish people‘s migration between these two countries.

Dr. Erin Chung enlightened us on the misrepresentation of Japan as being ethnically homogeneous-no longer the case due to an unprecedented growth in immigration. While the image of Japan being a difficult place to immigrate to is not unfounded, Japan also has many organizations both governmental and non-governmental, that aid immigrants, though primarily on a local level only. Changes are necessary but difficult as most immigrants are Asian and can “pass” as Japanese, making the immigrant issue virtually invisible.

Finally, Dr. Mayer spoke of the connection between Japanese immigrants to the U.S. and baseball and how the immigrants used it to overcome hard times during WWII. He also used baseball as a way to examine the cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan by looking at the way the game is played and enjoyed in the two countries.