Klaus Pringsheim Memorial Lecture Distant Relatives: Canada, Japan and Bridging the Pacific Jsac Presentation, October 6, 2013
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DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC 1 JSAC/ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE, OCTOBER 6, 2013 _________________________________________________________________________ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC JSAC PRESENTATION, OCTOBER 6, 2013 INTRODUCTION: KLAUS PRINGSHEIM - IN LATE SUMMER OF 1975, I MOVED FROM ANKARA, TURKEY TO YOKOHAMA, JAPAN, TO STUDY JAPANESE. I SPENT TWO YEARS THERE, LEARNING WHAT I COULD OF THE LANGUAGE AND THE COUNTRY, SOMEWHAT ISOLATED BECAUSE OF THE CHALLENGE OF MY STUDIES, AND IN OBVIOUS NEED OF TEACHERS OF EVERY KIND TO ASSIST ME IN THE HIMALAYAN TASK OF LEARNING NOT ONLY JAPANESE, BUT ABOUT JAPAN. - BEING FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO WORK, EVENTUALLY, IN THE CANADIAN EMBASSY IN TOKYO, AS A MATTER OF COURSE, I MET A WIDE VARIETY OF INDIVIDUALS, JAPANESE AND JAPAN HANDS WHO WOULD TEACH ME SO MUCH ABOUT A COUNTRY THAT BECAME MY SECOND SPIRITUAL HOME. - IF MEMORY SERVES ME WELL – AND USUALLY IT DOESN’T – I WAS AT THE IMPERIAL HOTEL IN ITS PRE- TOWER PERIOD WHEN I MET KLAUS PRINGSHEIM. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT EARLY 1978. I WAS ATTENDING A CANADA-JAPAN SOCIETY EVENT, I THINK, AND KLAUS WAS INTRODUCED TO ME THERE. - HE WAS SPEAKING JAPANESE AND, FOR THE STRUGGLING APPRENTICE THAT I WAS THEN AND REMAIN TODAY, HIS WAS A VERY IMPRESSIVE DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC 2 JSAC/ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE, OCTOBER 6, 2013 _________________________________________________________________________ PERFORMANCE. I RECALL THAT HE AND I CHATTED ABOUT HIS BACKGROUND AND THAT OF HIS FAMILY. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF MY FRIENDSHIP WITH KLAUS, PUNCTUATED BY LONG PERIODS OF NON- CONTACT, IN THOSE PRE-EMAIL DAYS. THUS, I AM PLEASED TO BE THE INAUGURAL SPEAKER FOR THE KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE. - KLAUS WAS BORN IN GERMANY IN 1923, INTO A FAMILY OF HIGH CULTURE AND ACCOMPLISHMENT IN THE WORLD OF THE ARTS, LITERATURE AND MUSIC, NOT LEAST BECAUSE THE PATRIARCH, KLAUS’ FATHER, HAD BEEN A STUDENT OF GUSTAV MAHLER AND KLAUS-PÈRE’S WIFE WAS THE SISTER OF THOMAS MANN. - KLAUS PÈRE WAS NOT ONLY TO BECOME A NOTED COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR AND TEACHER, HE WAS ALSO POLITICALLY ATTUNED ENOUGH TO REALIZE, IN THE DECLINING YEARS OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC, THAT THE RISING FORTUNES OF ADOLPH HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY COULD ONLY BE ACCOMPANIED BY THE CATASTROPHIC FORTUNES OF THE JEWS WHO WOULD LIVE AND DIE UNDER HIS DICTATORSHIP. KLAUS AND FAMILY MOVED TO JAPAN IN 1931. - THE KLAUS PRINGSHEIM THAT WE KNEW THUS SPENT HIS LATE CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE IN JAPAN, LEARNING BOTH ITS LANGUAGE AND ITS CULTURE WITH INCOMPARABLE FLUENCY. A SEEMINGLY IDYLLIC EXISTENCE CAME TO A CRASHING END DURING THE PACIFIC WAR, KLAUS BEING IMPRISONED AS A SUSPECTED SPY. DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC 3 JSAC/ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE, OCTOBER 6, 2013 _________________________________________________________________________ - THE OCCUPATION RESCUED KLAUS IN MANY WAYS. HIS DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF THE COUNTRY LEAD TO A POSITION IN THE OCCUPATION AUTHORITY’S CIVIL CENSORSHIP DEPARTMENT. IT ALSO CONNECTED HIM AND HIS FAMILY TO THE UNITED STATES, WITH KLAUS EVENTUALLY PURSUING POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDIES AT BERKELEY AND COLUMBIA. - KLAUS ESTABLISHED HIS CANADIAN CREDENTIALS AS PROFESSOR IN THE POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF MCMASTER UNIVERSITY, WHERE HE TAUGHT FOR 23 YEARS. HE SUBSEQUENTLY BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF THE CANADA JAPAN TRADE COUNCIL IN OTTAWA, WHERE I HAD FREQUENT OPPORTUNITIES TO MEET AND CHAT WITH HIM ABOUT JAPAN, A CIVILIZATION, A CULTURE AND A PEOPLE WHO NEVER CEASED TO FASCINATE HIM, AS INDEED IT FASCINATES US. - KLAUS BECAME A NOTED PUBLIC SPEAKER, TV AND RADIO COMMENTATOR AND ANECDOTIST PAR EXCELLENCE. FOR ALL OF THIS AND HIS MANY YEARS OF ENGAGEMENT WITH JAPAN, HE WAS AWARDED THE THIRD ORDER OF MERIT OF THE SACRED TREASURES BY THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AGENCY. HE PASSED AWAY IN 2001. - ALONG WITH OUR MEMORIES, HIS MEMOIR, ‘MAN OF THE WORLD’, WILL TELL ALL OF US MUCH MORE ABOUT HIS REMARKABLE LIFE. - WHAT BRIDGE COULD I POSSIBLY OFFER IN MY REMARKS TODAY, DRAWING FROM KLAUS’S LIFE AND CONTRIBUTIONS? DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC 4 JSAC/ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE, OCTOBER 6, 2013 _________________________________________________________________________ - WELL, CERTAINLY, WE ALL SHARE KLAUS’ ABIDING LOVE FOR JAPAN, AND THINGS JAPANESE. MY PATH TO JAPAN - THOSE OF US HERE WHO ARE NOT JAPANESE EACH CAME TO JAPAN THROUGH DIFFERENT AND DIVERSE PATHWAYS, THOUGH NONE AS FORTUITOUS OR FRAUGHT WITH DRAMA AS WAS THE CASE FOR KLAUS. - MY ROUTE WAS THROUGH MY CAREER AS A DIPLOMAT, AND IT IS FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE THAT I ADDRESS YOU TODAY. - NOW, WE ARE AT THE END OF THIS CONFERENCE, SO I AM NOT SO SURE THAT A LENGTHY, FULL- THROATED ACADEMIC SPEECH IS IN ORDER; OR THAT I CAN ADD MUCH TO ALL OF THE INTIMIDATING AND SCHOLARLY REFLECTIONS OF THE LAST FEW DAYS; - I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD KEEP THINGS ON THE LIGHT SIDE, PERSONALIZE MY PRESENTATION, AND TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE LESSONS LEARNED AS A DIPLOMAT AND AS SOMEONE WHO HAS WORKED FOR CANADA IN ASIA AND IN JAPAN; - AND SINCE THERE ARE ALSO MANY STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS AT THE CONFERENCE, I THOUGHT I WOULD AIM MY COMMENTS PRIMARILY AT THEM, AS FUTURE SCHOLARS, AND PERHAPS, PLAYING A RECRUITMENT POSTER ROLE, ALSO AS FUTURE DIPLOMATS. DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC 5 JSAC/ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE, OCTOBER 6, 2013 _________________________________________________________________________ - I JOINED THE FOREIGN SERVICE WITH PERHAPS A BIT LESS FORETHOUGHT THAN YOU WOULD EXPECT. TO WIT: A FRIEND TOLD ME IN A BAR IN OTTAWA ONE NIGHT IN 1971 THAT I SHOULD WRITE THE FOREIGN SERVICE EXAM, RATHER THAN EMBARK ON A CAREER IN LAW, WHICH I HAD BEEN PLANNING TO DO BUT WHICH WOULD REQUIRE AN ADDITIONAL 5 YEARS OF TRAINING AND STUDY; - I KNEW THAT TRYING TO ENTER THE FOREIGN SERVICE WAS ONE OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE NON- CONTACT SPORTS THERE WAS, BUT I THOUGHT THAT I HAD NOTHING TO LOSE BY WRITING THE EXAM AND SO I DID. AND HERE WE ARE, 42 YEARS LATER. - I DID NOT PURPOSELY SET OUT TO BE AN AMBASSADOR OR HIGH COMMISSIONER. HAVING BEEN RAISED ON A SMALL FARM IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO, MY FIRST OBJECTIVE WAS TO DO INTERESTING THINGS IN PLACES AS FAR AWAY FROM SMALL FARMS IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO AS POSSIBLE. SHORT OF THE MOON, ASIA SEEMED ABOUT AS FAR AS I COULD GET. - MORE SERIOUSLY, ASIA BECAME MY PASSION BECAUSE I HAD MISSIONARY RELATIVES WHO, FROM MY EARLIEST MEMORIES ONWARD, SENT TO ME AND MY FAMILY A REGULAR SPRINKLING OF LETTERS, POST-CARDS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TRINKETS FROM JAPAN, AND ALSO FROM WHAT I THOUGHT WAS CHINA – THEY TURNED OUT TO BE FROM TAIWAN – AND PURCHASED IN VANCOUVER. NEVERTHELESS, THEY REFLECTED A WORLD AS DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE I INHABITED AS I COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE. I DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC 6 JSAC/ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE, OCTOBER 6, 2013 _________________________________________________________________________ WAS FASCINATED BY ASIA BEFORE I COULD CONCEIVE OF ASIA. - I PURSUED THESE EARLY INSPIRATIONS WITH INITIAL STUDY OF MODERN CHINESE POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA, COURTESY OF PROFESSOR WILLIAM BADOUR WHO RETIRED FROM UVIC A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, IF I’M NOT MISTAKEN. THANKS TO HIS INCOMPARABLE TEACHING SKILLS, BILL’S CLASSES WERE SO DYNAMIC, SO INTOXICATING, SO SPELL-BINDING THAT I REMEMBER SKIPPING A MUCH ANTICIPATED LED ZEPPELIN CONCERT SO THAT I WOULD NOT MISS A PARTICULARLY DRAMATIC INSTALLMENT OF BILL’S NARRATIVE OF THE CHINESE REVOLUTION. IT ALSO INSPIRED ME TO START STUDYING CHINESE CHARACTERS – HANZI – A STUDY THAT KEEPS ME BUSY TO THIS DAY, BUT THROUGH JAPANESE RATHER THAN CHINESE. - THE THIRD MAJOR INFLUENCE LEADING ME TO ASIA WAS NO DOUBT OUR CANADIAN RING SIDE SEAT TO THE VIETNAM WAR WHICH, ALONG WITH ROCK AND ROLL AND MARIJUANA, DEFINED THE 1960s FOR MY GENERATION. I THINK THAT MANY YOUNG CANADIANS WERE VIETNAM OBSESSED, I KNOW I WAS, BECAUSE, SAFE FROM THE DRAFT, THE WAR WAS NEVERTHELESS RIGHT THERE, BROUGHT IN ALL OF ITS VISUAL DRAMA DIRECTLY TO OUR LIVING ROOMS THANKS, IN THOSE PRE-SATELLITE DAYS, TO ABC, NBC AND CBS. THE STORY WAS SO RELENTLESSLY CONTEMPORARY, THE PICTURES WERE SO GRAPHIC, THE PARTICIPANTS SO MUCH OF OUR GENERATION, AND THE DOORS AND THE STONES SOUND TRACKS DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC 7 JSAC/ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE, OCTOBER 6, 2013 _________________________________________________________________________ SO IRRESISTIBLE. IT WAS REALITY TV BEFORE THEY INVENTED REALITY TV. - ANYWAY, THIS WAS MY UNPLANNED, HAPHAZARD AND INITIAL EXPOSURE TO ASIA. IT SHAPED MY LIFE TO A GREATER EXTENT THAN I COULD HAVE IMAGINED. I HAVE NEVER REGRETTED FOR A MINUTE THE DIRECTION THAT THESE PERSONAL INFLUENCES SET FOR ME. - WHEN I ENTERED THE FOREIGN SERVICE, I WAS SINGLE MINDED IN MY DETERMINATION TO SPEND MY CAREER IN ASIA, AND IN THIS, AT LEAST, I SUCCEEDED, BOUNCING FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA AND VIETNAM, TO ANKARA IN ASIATIC TURKEY, TO JAPAN AND CHINA IN NORTHEAST ASIA, AND THEN TURNING BACK WEST TO SOUTH ASIA, TO INDIA, NEPAL AND BHUTAN. - IN OTTAWA, I ALSO FOCUSED ON ASIA, INCLUDING AS ASSISTANT DEPUTY MINISTER, AND ON ECONOMIC FILES WHICH INCLUDED APEC, AS SENIOR OFFICIAL. NOT A BAD RUN. - AS A DIPLOMAT, I WORKED BOTH IN OTTAWA AND ABROAD BUT I WAS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO THRIVED ON POSTINGS AND DID THE OTTAWA THING BECAUSE I HAD TO AND BECAUSE IT WAS, AS IT REMAINS TODAY, THE ONLY ROUTE TO PROMOTIONS. I HAD TO DO TIME, TO OBTAIN MY GET-OUT-OF-JAIL CARD. I THUS HAVE TO CAUTION YOU, MY AUDIENCE, THAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS CHOICE INCLUDE THE IMPORTANT FACT THAT MY PERSPECTIVES ON DISTANT RELATIVES: CANADA, JAPAN AND BRIDGING THE PACIFIC 8 JSAC/ KLAUS PRINGSHEIM MEMORIAL LECTURE, OCTOBER 6, 2013 _________________________________________________________________________ DIPLOMACY, FOREIGN POLICY AND THE FOREIGN SERVICE ARE LIKELY OF LIMITED ACADEMIC INTEREST.