On this, the fiftieth anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards, it is a pleasure and an honor to write a few words of congratulations for an organization that has done so much to strengthen cultural ties between Japan and the United States. For five decades the Japan Foundation has been committed to supporting Japan studies in the United States and facilitating intellectual exchange between Americans and Japanese. Over time, and in step with the momentous changes that have occurred in the international system and in Japan's regional and global role, the Japan Foundation has expanded its programs both geographically and substantively. But it has remained true to its original objective of encouraging greater knowledge about Japan in the US and elsewhere and supporting the free exchange of ideas and cultural understanding.

I have had a long, enjoyable, and meaningful personal relationship with the Japan Foundation. I served on the American Advisory Committee of the Japan Foundation in its early years in the 1970s. In 1991 I was invited to join the member of the Advisory Council of the newly established Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. Then in 2002, on the occasion of the Foundation's 30th anniversary, I was privileged to receive the Japan Foundation Award in the presence of the Crown Prince. The annual Japan Foundation Award continues to the present day to recognize Japanese and foreign individuals and organizations that have contributed to strengthening Japan's cultural relations with the rest of the world.

The strength and resilience of relations between the US and Japan are not just the consequence of a pragmatic assessment of national interests. The relationship is strong because it has deep roots in both of our societies. The Japan Foundation has nurtured those roots through its support for grassroot activities, intellectual exchange, and other cultural programs. The work of the Japan Foundation is far from over. Its role in ensuring that those roots remain healthy and grow ever larger and stronger will be at least as important over the next fifty years as it has been over the past half century.

Gerald L. Curtis

(Original text in English)

Gerald L. Curtis (U.S.A)