A Student's View (2005)
Heather Velez, Brown '05
In the Spring 2003, Professor Susan Smulyan offered an American Civilization undergraduate seminar entitled, "Perry to Pokemon: Japan in the United States, the United States in Japan." Beginning with the American expedition to Japan under Commodore Matthew Perry, in 1853-4, the course traced all subsequent cultural exchanges between the two countries. Professor Smulyan told the class that the decision to examine the cultural interactions between the two countries corresponded to the growing trend in American Studies of transnationalism. Course topics included art and music, the allied occupation of Japan after World War II, the popularity of anime in the United States, and the importance of American popular culture in postwar Japan.
The introduction to the course began with a visit to the John Hay library to study an anonymously painted Japanese scroll. The twelve panels bound in silk depicted various events that occurred among Commodore Perry, the American squadron, and Japanese officials. Each student participating in the class chose a panel and wrote a brief essay describing the event it depicted, whether the Americans displaying the telegraph or the sumo wrestlers carrying rice. The essays were then edited by the students and posted on the course web page. These essays can also be found on this web site, to offer a more narrativized version of the scroll descriptions found in the library catalog descriptions. Students found the opportunity to work with the scroll invaluable and integral to the understanding and study of the relations between the United States and Japan.
The students in the course proved to be an asset, as well. We came from different departments, backgrounds, and experiences. There was one exchange student from Keio University in Japan, a Brown sophomore who had just returned from a year abroad in Japan, and another Brown student who was writing a senior honors thesis on anime.
Professor Smulyan and I received a grant from the University to continue researching the scroll and develop this website. Over the summer of 2003 we reviewed all available resources on the Japan Expedition and worked with the Center for Digital Initiatives, Brown University Library, to produce a website. The website relies on the 12 panel painted scroll by an anonymous Japanese artist and 6 lithographs originally painted by Wilhelm, the official American artist of the Expedition. The concept of mirroring — Japan : United States — continues in the student essays since the Brown students tried to describe both Japanese and American sentiments. I chose excerpts from the official narrative and essays by accompanying officers to include on the website as well.
This is an ongoing project. We hope to get a group of Japanese students involved, who will also examine the scroll and produce narratives.