The Media in U.S.-Japan Relations: A Look at Stereotypes is Part 2 of the three-part curriculum unit series, U.S.-Japan Relations: The View from Both Sides of the Pacific. The media is a filter through which Americans and Japanese try to understand the relationship between their two countries and has a critical role in defining the public perceptions of this important, yet often troubled, relationship. People look to the media for help in learning about other countries. It is, therefore, a very powerful element in shaping our impressions of other countries' people and cultures, and in determining how we evaluate the actions and aims of other countries. In the March 7-13, 1994 edition of The Japan Times, Philip G. Altbach(professor and director of the Comparative Education Center, State University of New York at Buffalo) and William Cummings(professor of education and director of the Asian Studies Program, State University of New York at Buffalo) contributed an article, "Cultural Education Needed to Strengthen Ties." The article opens with a reference to the talks between President Clinton and then Prime Minister Hosokawa in Washington, D.C., in February 1994:

The failure of the recent U.S.-Japanese summit shows that cultural diplomacy, or better yet, cultural understanding, is needed as a key underpinning for all relationships between the two countries.

Considerable ignorance persists. Just look at the media images of one country concerning the other. The Japanese public sees a colossal misunderstanding of American society and American reality portrayed even by the highest-ranking officials. Racial and ethnic stereotypes are endemic. Few in Japan have a clear understanding of the complexity of American culture and society. Similarly, Americans are woefully ignorant of Japan.

We need to rethink a half-century of cultural and educational contacts and programs. We need, on both sides, to develop a set of cultural relations that will improve basic understanding of two complex cultures so that policy can be made on the firm base of knowledge, so that public opinion in both countries is well informed. As relations between Japan and the United States grow more complex, the need for more knowledge and understanding is great (The Japan Times, March 7-13, 1994, p. 8).

During a 1991 conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, focusing on "Japanese and American Media: Coverage of Friction Between Two Nations," Yukio Matsuyama, Chairman of the Board of Asahi Shimbun (a leading newspaper in Japan) said the following in his opening address:

In the early 1960s, the United States tended to ignore Japan. When Kennedy mentioned Japan in the State of the Union message, the Japanese celebrated. At that time, almost all Japanese products were viewed as cheap and low quality. Now things have changed greatly.

American newspapers have changed greatly because 30 years ago, Japan was never on the front pages. Now Japan has become a national issue. Some people say the threat from Japan is greater than from any other country.

The U.S. media sometimes goes to an extreme in pointing out the dark side of society. Also, some coverage of small events is too great. There are still many press stereotypes regarding Japan (Proceedings, "Japanese and American Media: Coverage of Friction Between Two Nations," April 28-May 1, 1991).

The goals of The Media in U.S.-Japan Relations: A Look at Stereotypes are to help students distinguish fact from opinion, identify point of view and objectivity, understand bias, and recognize multiple perspectives in the media. Using historical and contemporary images and themes seen in U.S. and Japanese media, we introduce students to how the media sometimes creates and perpetuates stereotypes and shapes opinion in its dissemination of information. We hope to stimulate students to question their sources of information regularly so that they may form and articulate their own informed opinions.

Lesson 1 of the unit introduces the concept of stereotypes by presenting impressions of the United States that exist in Japan. Students compare their experiences to newspaper accounts and media images of the United States in Japan and consider how the media may create an image of their society that is distorted or inaccurate. The activities of the lesson generate awareness of an reflection on the creation, presence, and use of stereotypes in everyday circumstances; and help students distinguish between fact and opinion.

Lesson 2 focuses on the social and political consequences of a specific stereotype, using the ban of the children's book Little Black Sambo in Japan, which resulted from an international conflict over stereotypes of blacks. The activities in this lesson concentrate on evaluating the original sources of the stereotype, how it was used in political and social contexts, what international consequences it engendered, and the role of the media in perpetuating, publicizing, and defining the stereotype and surrounding controversy. Newspaper editorials expressing different perspectives on the banning of the book are used for comparative analysis and to help students understand point of view and objectivity.

Lesson 3 turns the skills students have acquired in analyzing and evaluating stereotypes toward U.S. images of Japan. A slide presentation of magazine covers from the 1940s and 1980s is used to illustrate the historical consistency of themes of conflict, domination, militarism, and economic hegemony in media treatment of U.S.-Japan relations and will introduce students to the notion of bias in the media. Students will also have the opportunity to analyze the 1912 Life Magazine images depicting people and cultures from around the world.

In Lesson 4, part 1, students will hold a debate on a complex and highly emotional controversy: Japanese business purchases of highly visible "cultural properties" in the United States. The process of reading and analyzing multiple perspectives in the media on the several issues that make up this controversy, then reasoning out their own opinions and formulating them into arguments for a debate will teach students (a) to recognize the biases and opinions that inform media presentations; (b) to analyze the complexities of the controversy and the depth of the issues; and (c) to formulate their own opinions based on understanding and consideration of the issues. In part 2, students will examine images of Japan in Hollywood motion pictures, and design Hollywood motion picture posters based on these images and movie reviews.

The activities of Lesson 5 focus on many different types of media in the United States and Japan. Having learned to evaluate the complexities behind simple media images, as well as the specific cross-cultural perceptions in U.S.-Japan relations, students practice evaluating the messages, implications, and effectiveness of various presentations in advertising, newspaper articles and editorials, opinion polls, Hollywood movies, and political cartoons.

Unit Goals

In this curriculum unit, students will

• learn to distinguish between fact and opinion; identify point of view, objectivity, and bias; and recognize multiple perspectives presented in the media
• learn to recognize, evaluate, and see beyond cross-cultural stereotypes that have existed historically between the United States and Japan and that continue to be perpetuated
• learn how stereotypes affect international relationships and events
• develop a sense of personal and national responsibility for the projection and acceptance of stereotypical images, as well as for the consequences of international misunderstandings and events
• understand the influence of media images and accounts in shaping impressions and opinions
• learn to evaluate media presentations critically
• become familiar with and analyze the complex issues contributing to some controversies between the United States and Japan, including conflicts in Japanese and African-American relations and the purchase of famous U.S. film studios by Japanese corporations
• learn to think critically and make informed opinions
• evaluate different opinions and generate alternative perspectives on an issue
• learn tools to enhance awareness and communication
• work effectively in small and large groups
• organize and express opinions in a debate