US-Japan Journalism Fellowship
2015–2018
JCIE’s US-Japan Journalism Fellowship brings American journalists to Japan to gain a deeper understanding of Japanese policymaking and the dynamics of US-Japan relations. Participants take part in a structured weeklong program of meetings with policymakers, social leaders, and innovators, then stay in Japan for one to two more weeks of individualized meetings and site visits.
At a time when Asia seems destined to play an increasingly prominent role in global affairs, the US relationship with Japan is a key to American policy in the region. This program gives outstanding journalists whose reporting will benefit from a deeper understanding of Japanese politics, economics, society, and foreign policy a rare chance to discuss the pressing issues of the day with leaders from different sectors of Japanese society. By exposing participants to leaders and thinkers with a variety of viewpoints, the program aims to develop a cadre of journalists who have a sophisticated understanding of the complex dynamics that shape US-Japan relations and, more broadly, the US role in Asia. It also helps them develop their professional network with experts in the region.
Hear what past fellows say about their experience...
PROGRAM ARTICLES
Seven Decades after the Bomb, Children of Hiroshima Victims Still Worry about Hidden Health Effects
Ibby Caputo
March 26, 2019 | PRI's The World
“Nakatani Etsuko says her father rarely spoke of the day that the world’s first atomic weapon killed 140,000 people in his city of Hiroshima, Japan. But she says he did mention one thing: ‘That there…
Japan Eases Immigration Restrictions to Fill Chronic Care Worker Shortage
Sally Herships
October 18, 2018 | Public Radio International (PRI)
In the past, Japan allowed mostly highly skilled professionals in the country. Now, due to severe labor shortages, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered the government to look into new policies that w…
How a Small Dairy Store from Ohio Became One of the Biggest Names in the Japanese Convenience Store Industry
Adrian Ma
September 5, 2018 | Marketplace
Japan and the United States have a long history of not only economic competition, but also cultural exchange. In the U.S., for instance, sushi and anime are popular. And the Japanese long ago adopted…
Take Me Out to the Japanese Ball Game
Byron Tau
August 24, 2018 | Wall Street Journal
Journalism Fellow Byron Tau dove into the world of Japanese baseball, exploring four stadiums around the country where visitors can take in the surreal rituals of Japanese baseball.
Abe’s Window of Time for Amending Japan’s Pacifist Constitution Narrows
Byron Tau
August 12, 2018 | Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal’s Byron Tau examines Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to amend the country’s pacifist constitution and the political realities he’s facing.
Why This Hiroshima Survivor Dedicated His Life to Searching for the Families of 12 American POWs
Ibby Caputo
August 6, 2018 | PRI's The World
A moving portrait by our 2018 Journalism Fellow Ibby Caputo of Shigeaki Mori, a man who survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and made it his life’s mission to seek recognition for the 12 Amer…
Postcard from a Japanese Steel Town
By Adrian Ma
August 1, 2018 | Marketplace
JCIE Journalism Fellow Adrian Ma, a reporter based in the American Midwest, explores Japan’s oldest steel town, Kamaishi.
Tokyo’s Best Karaoke Is Karaoke Sung Alone
Susie Armitage
August 3, 2018 | Daily Beast
A 2017 JCIE Journalism Fellow discovers the joys of “hitokara,” the private karaoke rooms for those who want to sing alone.
Why Japan Is Paying Single Mothers to Move to the Countryside
Susie Armitage
June 6, 2018 | PRI's The World
Japan’s population is projected to shrink by a third by 2065. With small towns getting smaller, local governments are looking for creative ways to bring in new people.
A DIY Sake-Tasting Tour in Japan
Jay Greene
November 9, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
US-Japan Journalism Fellow Jay Greene of the Wall Street Journal explores the delights of Japan’s sake industry.
Microsoft’s Futuristic Headset Strategy: Pilots Over Zombie Hunters
Jay Greene
Nov 2, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
Jay Greene discusses emerging augmented-reality technology from Microsoft and the way it is being incorporated into the pilot-training process at Japan Airlines.
In Japan, these Single Moms and Shrinking Cities are Trying a New Start – Together
Susie Armitage
Nov 2, 2017 | Christian Science Monitor
Susie Armitage writes on the relationship between Japan’s single moms, who face many challenges in Japan’s work culture, and the underpopulated areas that are developing programs to promote relocation…
Japan Exasperated by Trump’s Trade Policies
Adam Behsudi
October 15, 2017 | Politico
As US farmers suffer under high tariffs, Japanese officials are in no rush to cut a new trade deal with the United States.
Japan on Missile Mission to Get 127 Million People to Hide—Fast
Natalie Andrews
Sep 15, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
Natalie Andrews reports on Japan’s efforts to train its citizens how to effectively respond to a missile threat, a necessary process given looming threats from North Korea.
Immersive Learning: A Haunted House in Japan Teaches Citizens Earthquake Preparedness
Taylor Wofford
November 1, 2016 | Quartz
At the Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park, visitors go through an “experience learning facility” where they’re taught how to survive in the immediate aftermath of a major natural disaster. In a cou…
Toilet Power: Toyota Is Using Sewage Sludge to Power Its New Electric Car
Taylor Wofford
September 20, 2016 | Quartz
Hydrogen fuel cell cars could help solve the global warming crisis, but nobody wants to buy them. But Toyota thinks it may have found a solution. For unlimited clean energy, it’s turning to one of the…
LBO Focus: Japan’s Aging Population Burnishes Health Deals
Laura Cooper
September 6, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
The Japanese government realizes the country lacks a sufficient capacity of nursing homes and senior-care facilities. For the past five years, the government has worked to incentivize the private sect…
Dogfights in Japan Are a Family Outing
Taylor Wofford
September 1, 2016 | Newsweek
With a long cultural history and deep ties to the yakuza, dog fighting is a lucrative business in Japan. Laws surrounding the fights are vague and rarely enforced, with members of the Japanese Animal…
There Are More Adult Diapers Sold in Japan Than Baby Diapers
Sally Herships
August 29, 2016 | Marketplace
Japan is now arguably the oldest country in the world. It’s not like you couldn’t see it walking around Tokyo or the countryside. But one of the biggest indicators of this shift is that, with declinin…
Japan's Centuries-Old Tradition Of Making Soba Noodles
Ina Jaffe
August 28, 2016 | NPR
Here in Japan, the buckwheat noodles known as soba are a staple. Nowhere more so than in the mountains of the southern island of Shikoku. The soil there is poor. Buckwheat is one of the few crops that…
How Art Transformed A Remote Japanese Island
Ina Jaffe
August 27, 2016 | NPR
Art can enlighten, soothe, challenge and provoke. Sometimes it can transform a community. Case in point: a 5.5-square-mile island called Naoshima in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, where art tourism has brou…
A Dying Japanese Village Brought Back To Life — By Scarecrows
Ina Jaffe
August 26, 2016 | NPR
Japan’s population is declining. For example, the rural village of Nagoro used to have around 300 residents. Now it has 30. Visitors know they’ve arrived when they see the three farmers in floppy hats…
For Some Older Adults In Japan, A Chance To Stay In The Workforce
Ina Jaffe
August 25, 2016 | NPR
Hiromi Yamamuro is doing something that’s relatively rare in Japan. At age 67, he’s still working in the corporate world, where traditionally, the mandatory retirement age has been 60. But Yamamuro ke…
93,000 People Voluntarily Left Japan for North Korea After World War II. Or Did They?
Julie Makinen
August 24, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
In April 1960, not yet finished with high school, 17-year-old Eiko Kawasaki boarded a Soviet ship called the Kryl’ion in the Japanese port of Niigata and set sail on the journey of a lifetime, to a pl…
Beyond Slurpees: Many Japanese Mini-Marts Now Cater To Elders
Ina Jaffe
August 23, 2016 | NPR
In Japanese cities, space is at a premium. So convenience stores that cram everything from Kleenex to rice balls into a few square yards are everywhere. But they’re not just a place for Slurpees and s…
Japanese City Takes Community Approach To Dealing With Dementia
Ina Jaffe
August 23, 2016 | NPR
No government plan can keep people with dementia from wandering. But health officials in Japan hope there eventually will be entire communities prepared to help keep them safe, if and when they do. Th…
How Japan Is Dealing With Impacts Of Supporting The Oldest Population In The World
Ina Jaffe
August 21, 2016 | NPR
Japan has the oldest population in the world. Nearly 27 percent of the people there are 65 or older. NPR’s Ina Jaffe shares her stories on how Japan is changing as its population grows older.
Flush, then Fill Up: Japan Taps Sewage to Fuel Hydrogen-Powered Cars
Julie Makinen
July 31, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
When Mutsuro Yuji, chief of the central sewage plant in Fukuoka, first heard about the idea of making hydrogen from biogas — the combination of methane and carbon dioxide produced by the breakdown of…
Citizen Science Takes on Japan's Nuclear Establishment
Julie Makinen
July 27, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
As other Tokyo office workers poured into restaurants and bars at quitting time one recent evening, Kohei Matsushita went to the eighth floor of a high-rise for an unusual after-hours activity: learni…
What’s Hot in Japan Right Now? Los Angeles, Circa 1976
Julie Makinen
July 19, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
Julie Makinen highlights the social fascination with a 40 year-old Japanese magazine depicting West Coast life, and how reactions to it have changed or stayed the same among Japanese readers.
As Japan's Population Shrinks, Bears and Boars Roam Where Schools and Shrines Once Thrived
Julie Makinen
July 10, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
In Hara-izumi, there’s no worry about an influx of foreigners. There are no immigrants here, nor the prospect of any. A bigger issue now is wildlife: The village’s population has become so sparse that…
No TPP Trade Deal? Some Japanese Farmers Say All the Better for Them
Julie Makinen
July 5, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
Rice farmer Takao Terada isn’t following the U.S. presidential election too closely. But there’s one issue that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton seem to agree on — that the U.S. should not ratify…
President Trump? Among U.S. Allies, Japan May be One of the Most Anxious About That Idea
Julie Makinen
June 26, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
By Julie Makinen Is Japan gaga for Donald Trump? That was the impression created by a spellbinding YouTube video that went viral last week. Despite the video’s popularity, the reality is that perhaps…
Japan’s Population is Plunging, so Where are the Babies?
Sally Herships
Apr 20, 2016 | Marketplace
Sally Herships analyzes the cultural factors that are contributing for population decline in Japan.
A Vote for Trump is a Vote for China
Isaac Stone Fish
Apr 12, 2016 | Foreign Policy
Isaac Stone Fish writes on how Donald Trump’s policies benefit China and the effect this has on the US-Japan relationship.
Challenges Ahead as Japan Seeks More Women Workers
Sally Herships
Mar 3, 2016 | Marketplace
Sally Herships writes on the conflict between an increased need for women workers in Japan and the multitude of obstacles facing working mothers that keep them from staying in the workforce.
Come on Japan, Get with the Program
Sally Herships
September 21, 2015 | Marketplace
Founding a startup today has become the stuff of TV and movies around the world. But in Japan today, founding a tech company is not what you might call super popular. Silicon Valley appreciates a goo…
Rebel Without a Country
Isaac Stone Fish
August 31, 2015 | Foreign Policy
Rebel Pepper, China’s most notorious political cartoonist, fled his native land for Japan. But life in exile is tougher than he expected.
How Japan Pushes Coal on the World
Darius Dixon
August 12, 2015 | POLITICO
While the U.S. backs away from its dirtiest power source, its closest ally in Asia is building, selling and financing coal plants worldwide.
Etiquette and Rituals Rule in Japan's Business Culture
Sally Herships
August 11, 2015 | Marketplace
At a dinner meeting in Tokyo recently, two Japanese professors, Ryo Sahashi and Satoru Mori, arrived and sat down at their booth. Even though it meant one of them would shortly have to get up to make…
A Toilet for All Techies
Sally Herships
July 29, 2015 | Marketplace
There’s really no other way to describe them: The toilets of Japan are fabulous. But most U.S. consumers don’t know there’s a whole wide high-tech toilet world out there. It’s something that has to be…
Does Japan’s Conservative Shinto Religion Support Gay Marriage?
Isaac Stone Fish
June 29, 2015 | Foreign Policy
In 1999, a Shinto priest unofficially married two men in a shrine in Kawasaki, an industrial city near Tokyo. Literally “the way of the gods,” Shinto is one of Japan’s major religions, but it does not…
Japan Alone Cannot Guard or Sustain Peace
Isaac Stone Fish
June 19, 2015 | Foreign Policy
When one speaks of turmoil on the Korean Peninsula, it’s usually in reference to North Korea, not South Korea. But Itsunori Onodera, who stepped down as Japan’s defense minister in September 2014, has…
PROGRAM NEWS
2018 Journalism Seminar | Diversity in the Trump Era
June 29, 2018 |
In a June 29 public seminar, four fellows participating in JCIE’s 2018 US-Japan Journalism Fellowship reflected on how issues related to diversity are manifested in American politics and society today…
The US Presidential Election and Social Diversity—A Dialogue with US Journalists
June 29, 2016 |
A distinguished panel of journalists engaged in a lively discussion on the 2016 US presidential election and how women, youth, and other minority groups are shaping American politics.