Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

104 • HEUSKEN, HENRY
free medical care to many Japanese living in the Kanagawa–
Yokohama area while Clara Hepburn worked as a teacher for Japanese
girls. Dr. Hepburn produced the first Japanese–English dictionary
in 1867, and then an English–Japanese dictionary a few years later.
He devised a coherent system of writing Japanese words with romanized
letters, known as the Hepburn Romanization System, which
is still the standard system used when translating between English
and Japanese. Dr. Hepburn also helped establish the first Presbyterian
Church in Japan, and later he assisted fellow missionaries
Samuel R. Brown and Guido Verbeck in establishing Meiji Gakuin
University. See also CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN; YATOI.
HEUSKEN, HENRY (1832–1861). A native of Holland who immigrated
to the United States, Henry Heusken accompanied Townsend
Harris, America’s first counsel-general to Japan, as secretary and interpreter
of the American legation. Heusken’s language fluency in
Dutch, English, and Japanese proved invaluable during treaty negotiations
and discussions between Harris and Japanese officials such
as Naosuke Ii. Heusken also assisted the British and Prussian delegations
during their negotiations with Japanese officials. In January
1861, Heusken was assassinated by anti-foreign samurai from the
Satsuma domain. See also ANSEI TREATIES; U.S.–JAPAN
TREATY OF AMITY AND COMMERCE.
“HIGUCHI REPORT” (THE MODALITY OF THE SECURITY
AND DEFENSE CAPABILITY OF JAPAN). Believing that arms
control would be a trend in the security environment after the end of
the Cold War, the Morihiro Hosokawa administration established the
Advisory Group on Defense Issues in February 1994 in order to acquire
a basic philosophy for a new defense program outline. This
group consisted of nine members, all intellectuals in the private sector,
chaired by Hirotaro Higuchi of Asahi Breweries, Ltd. The group
submitted to Prime Minister Tomiichiro Murayama the final report,
“The Modality of the Security and Defense Capability of Japan—The
Outlook for the 21st Century.” This report suggested that Japan
should adopt more active security policy. “Japan should extricate itself
from its security policy of the past that was, if anything, passive,
and henceforth play an active role in shaping a new order.” The re-