The Contemporary Japan Group at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Social Science (ISS, or Shaken), welcomes you to a lecture by

Mary M. McCarthy

Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, Drake University

How American Legislators Came to Befriend the 'Comfort Women'
and Shake up U.S.-Japan Relations

DATE AND PLACE
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo

ABSTRACT
The U.S.-Japan relationship is being tested by the resurgence of history issues, and contending interpretations of the past and the meaning it holds today. In this project, I explore two crucial case
studies: passage of U.S. House Resolution 121, which called on Japan to acknowledge and apologize for the use of “comfort women,” or sexual slaves during WWII, and the erection of “comfort women” memorials throughout the U.S. My thesis is that processes of identity formation (at the individual, group, and national levels) have combined with domestic political dynamics to put the U.S. and Japanese governments at odds. My analysis explores how contemporary understandings were born and evolved and uncovers how these differing interpretations resulted in actions and reactions by the American and Japanese governments.

SPEAKER
Mary M. McCarthy is a visiting scholar at Tokyo International University and an associate professor of politics and international relations at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She received her B.A.
in East Asian studies and her Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. Dr. McCarthy specializes in Japan’s domestic and foreign policies.
She has published on topics including the Japanese media, and cooperation and conflict between Japan and China in the East China Sea. Her current research examines the historical legacies of the Asia-Pacific War on Japan’s foreign relations. Dr. McCarthy is a
2014 Japan Studies Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington and a Mansfield Foundation U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Scholar.

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN GROUP
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.

For maps and other information, please visit our
website: http://web.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cjg/ or contact Gregory W. NOBLE (noble[at]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp)