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

U.S.–JAPAN CONFERENCE ON CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERCHANGE • 251
peace toward Japan—or the debate over the fundamental meaning of
unconditional surrender—remained unresolved even as Japan’s postwar
occupation got underway. See also SUPREME COMMANDER
FOR THE ALLIED POWERS (SCAP).
Unequal Treaties. See ANSEI TREATIES.
U.S.–JAPAN CONFERENCE ON CULTURAL AND EDUCA-
TIONAL INTERCHANGE (CULCON). The U.S.–Japan Conference
on Cultural and Educational Interchange was established in
1961 by an agreement made at a summit meeting between Japanese
Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda and U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
The Conference’s primary purposes are: to discuss various problems
concerning cultural and educational exchange programs between
Japan and the United States by assembling Japanese and American
persons of learning; to provide recommendations to the Japanese and
U.S. governments; to increase exchange programs in cultural and educational
fields and to improve mutual understanding. The first
Japan–U.S. joint conference was held in Tokyo in January 1962.
Since then, a joint conference has been held every two years in Tokyo
and Washington, D.C., in turn.
In 1968, the Japanese and U.S. governments exchanged official
notes to establish a joint committee that regularly examines
Japan–U.S. cultural and educational problems and that indicates the
implications of CULCON’s proposals and recommendations. At the
15th committee held in 1991, it adopted a resolution entitled “Towards
a Stronger CULCON” in order to further revitalize CULCON’s activities.
The committee agreed to establish an ad hoc task force to deal
with specific problems and a permanent secretariat at the Japan Foundation.
The Japanese secretariat is funded by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the Japan Foundation. As for the United States, the
Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission serves as permanent secretariat.
The U.S. secretariat is funded by the Department of Education.
In order to prepare the joint meetings and to follow up their proposals
consistently, two panels, one for each country, consisting of 12
members, representatives of government, the business world, academic
circles, and many other walks of life has been established in
both Japan and the United States. Moreover, in order to implement