Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to the Brad Richardson Memorial Fund 2020 campaign. With 15 donors we have raised $1,300 already!  Please join IJS this week on February 27 for a lecture supported by the Brad Richardson Memorial Fund “China’s Hot-Button Maritime and Territorial Claims: A Role for Japan” by Professor David Welch, Research Chair and Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo and on Friday, February 28 for the 2020 Brad Richardson Memorial Lecture.

2020 Brad Richardson Memorial Lecture: "Effective Leadership in Japan: The Case of Shibusawa Eiichi, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist"

Friday, February 28, 2020

• Gil Latz, Vice Provost for Global Strategies and International Affairs, and Professor, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University
• Discussant: Professor David Welch, Department of Political Science, The University of Waterloo, and Balsillie School of International Affairs
• Jennings Hall Room 01 (1735 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH) Map
• Opening Remarks: 4:30 - 4:45 pm
• Lecture with Q&A: 4:45 - 6:45 pm
• Reception: 6:45 - 7:30 pm
• Flyer: Latz Flyer

Abstract: The presentation addresses possible lessons for twenty-first century Japan by reviewing the leadership and vision of Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931), a significant figure in modern Japanese history who played a key role in the country’s transformation into a modern nation. Eiichi is widely regarded as a key leader in the development of Japan as a modern country, as a dynamic force in the industrial world, and as a person dedicated to social and public welfare. To realize a new and more appropriate social system for the country, Eiichi argued that Confucianism legitimizes economic activity as a rational act, laying the foundation for Japanese leaders, and society-at-large, to embrace the need for change from feudal to modern.  Such neo-Confucian thought included a distinguishing characteristic: all social organizations are expected to define their relationship to the public interest, and to do so hand-in-hand with their mission or profit-seeking agenda. 

There is a remarkable similarity between the national challenges tackled by Eiichi throughout his long life—values, citizenship, and world affairs—and those facing Japan today. Were he alive, Eiichi would not be alone in arguing for discussion of these factors and their contribution to Japan’s social cohesion. His voice is noteworthy, however, because of the unique, Confucian-based principles he brings to such discussion.

Eiichi approached Japan’s modernization based on a framework that recognized roles for entrepreneurship as well as for philanthropy, particularly in relation to government, business, and NGO collaboration.  The presentation incorporates this framework to address two themes: first, the role of historical analysis in understanding Japan’s realities, identifying the challenges and opportunities facing modern Japan; and second, Japan’s future, by identifying practical strategies for the emergence of a “New Meiji.” Specifically, by introducing ideas related to individual empowerment and better governance, as well as venture philanthropy, I identify the elements that might comprise new international and regional development thinking that creatively address various challenges and opportunities facing Japan in the first quarter of the 21st century. The presentation is based on: G. Latz. “Effective Leadership in Japan: The Case of Shibusawa Eiichi”. Japan's Future and a New Meiji Transformation: International Reflections. Ken Coates, Kimie Hara, Carin Holroyd, Marie Soderberg, ed. Routledge, 2019, pp. 120-29.

Free and open to the public

This event is supported by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant to The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center, the Brad Richardson Memorial Fund, and the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Consulate General of Japan in Detroit.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed so far to the Brad Richardson Memorial Fund campaign! We have raised $475 already!  Please join us this month on February 14, February 27 and February 28 for lectures supported by the Brad Richardson Memorial Fund:

• IJS Lecture Series: “Abenomics and Monetary Policy” by Joshua Hausman, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, February 14, 2020. 

• IJS Lecture Series: “China’s Hot-Button Maritime and Territorial Claims: A Role for Japan” by David Welch, Research Chair and Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo, February 27, 2020. 

• 2020 Brad Richardson Memorial Lecture: "Effective Leadership in Japan: The Case of Shibusawa Eiichi, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist" by Gil Latz, Vice Provost for Global Strategies and International Affairs and Professor, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University. Discussant: David Welch, Department of Political Science, The University of Waterloo, February 28, 2020.

  Past Brad Richardson Memorial Lectures:

• 2019 Brad Richardson Memorial Lecture: "Abenomics: Escape from the Lost Two Decades of the Japanese Economy,” by Takatoshi Ito, Professor, International Public Affairs, Columbia University, February 22, 2019.  

• 2018 Brad Richardson Memorial Lecture: "Has Abenomics Revived the Japanese Economy? Comparative Macroeconomic Perspectives with the US Economy," by Takeo Hoshi, Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Senior Fellow, Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center & Professor of Finance, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, February 26, 2018.   

• 2017 Brad Richardson Memorial Lecture: "Japan’s Grand Strategy and the US-Japan Alliance," by Richard J. Samuels, Ford International Professor of Political Science and Director, Center for International Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology, February 17, 2017.  

• 2016 Brad Richardson Memorial Lecture: “Natural and Unnatural Disasters in the U.S.-Japan Comparative Perspectives: 3/11, 9/11, Asbestos, and the Unmaking of Japan’s Modern World,” by Brett Walker, Regents Professor and Malone Memorial Professor of History, Montana State University, and 2015-16 Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies, Harvard University, March 4, 2016. 

Other lectures that have been supported by the Brad Richardson Memorial Fund:

• IJS Lecture Series: "Patsy Takemoto Mink and Anti-Nuclear Politics:  Atomic Testing in the Pacific during the Cold War" by Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Professor and Chair, Department of Asian American Studies, University of California, Irvine, April 3, 2017.

Bradley M. Richardson, Professor Emeritus in Political Science, the founding Director of the Ohio State Institute for Japanese Studies and a former Honorary Consul General of Japan for Ohio who continually tried to raise awareness of Japanese studies and U.S./Japan relations. We seek to continue his legacy through various academic, educational and outreach programs made possible with this funding.

Order of the Rising Sun Award (2008): Brad Richardson was honored with the Order of the Rising Sun, a national decoration that the Japanese government awards to individuals who have contributed greatly to the nation and the public in politics, business, culture and the arts. Brad Richardson was recognized for his outstanding accomplishments in Ohio State’s goals in international relations, education and exchange that relate to Japan to the U.S, Ohio and local communities.

Honorary Consul General of Japan for Ohio: Brad Richardson was Honorary Consul General of Japan for Ohio from 1999- 2004 to strengthen the U.S.–Japan relations, especially through Japan’s growing ties with the State of Ohio. 

Japan-America Society of Central Ohio (JASCO): Brad Richardson was a founding member of the Executive Board of the Japan-America Society of Central Ohio (JASCO) in 1997 and served many roles on its board and programming committee through 2015.

Ohio-Saitama Sister State Relationship: Through the Ohio-Saitama Sister State relationship, he established the Ohio-Saitama Company Internship program in which 88 Ohio students from 13 universities and 29 students from Saitama universities participated during 1991-2014.  

Leadership on campus: Brad Richardson was the Founding Director of the Institute for Japanese Studies (IJS) from its inception in 1985 until 2002. He also was the Director of the East Asian Studies Center (EASC) during 1977-1980 and 1999-2002.

Scholarly pursuits: Brad Richardson was a leading scholar in Japanese politics as well as a notable academician, lecturer and author on Japanese culture, business and politics, and received The Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award in 1996. 

Education: Brad Richardson received his PhD from University of California at Berkeley, his MA from Columbia University and his AB from Harvard College. His languages included Japanese, Spanish, German and French.  At Ohio State, he taught Government and Politics of Japan, including comparative political behavior. He had over 20 publications, such as, “Political Parties in Japan,” and “Japan’s 1955 System and Beyond,” in Political Parties and Democracy, eds. L. Diamond and R. Gunther, John Hopkins University Press, 2002; and “Political Traditions and Political Change: The Significance of Postwar Japanese politics for Political science,” Annual Review of Political Science, (with D. Patterson) 4, 93-115, 2001.