Consul General Hisao Yamaguchi gives lectures at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (left)
and the University of Waterloo's Renison College (right).
Consul General's Lecture Provides Insight
to Japan's Modern History
Canadian audiences were given a rare perspective on Japan when Consul General of Japan in Toronto Hisao Yamaguchi presented his personal views on the country's modern history and its effect on its present role in the international community in a lecture given at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) on Nov. 23 and at the University of Waterloo's Renison College on Nov. 24.
Approximately 90 people in attendance at the JCCC, and 30 at Renison College, heard how Japan's successful rapid modernization in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries unfortunately also set it on a course toward imperialism, militarization, war and ultimately defeat. However, the Consul General went on to explain that in the decades since the end of the war, Japan grew into a peaceful, commercial trading nation with a strong aversion to war. He also described how Japan's position in the international community changed from the 1980s when it was a economic superpower to rival the United States, through the '90s when its economy stagnated and when it was humiliated in the wake of the Gulf War of 1991, to the present day when it faces challenges of pressure to arm itself with nuclear weapons and of maintaining positive relations with China. The Consul General concluded that it would be precisely the experiences Japan gained through its modern history that will enable it to deal successfully with these challenges.
The full text of Mr. Yamaguchi's lecture is available here. In order to view the pdf file, you will need Adobe Reader, available for free here.
The response from the audience at each venue indicated great interest, prompting many questions.