Introduction

The first annual Shibusawa International Seminar took place July 3rd ~ 5th, 1999 at the Odawara MRA House, Asia Center, Odawara, Japan. The participants gathered for this event from six countries (Japan, United States, Canada, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia). The participants consisted of 12 scholars who had expertise in research in such fields as international relations, political science, economics, business and the several staff members representing the Shibusawsa Foundation and the International House of Japan were also present. Prior to the discussion sessions at the seminar, all the participants visited Shibusawa Memorial Museum at Asukayama, Tokyo. Masahide Shibusawa, CEO of Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation provided a lecture on the autobiography of Shibusawa Eiichi focusing on the last 30 years of his life.

There were two major themes which ran throughout the seminar; 1) Shibusawa Eiichi's ideals and activities, and 2) International roles which Japan might consider in the 21st century. The seminar took a free discussion format. Between the seminar discussions, some excursions occurred such as a day trip to Hakone and visit to a local hot spring, which provided the participants with opportunities to interact with each other in a more relaxed setting and to establish a long lasting rapport with each other. At end of the seminar, the participants moved to the International House in Tokyo, and held an open reporting session in which they shared the results of their individual sessions with the public. A reception followed the session.

The Issues Raised at the First Annual Shibusawa International Seminar

The 1st Session - Shibusawa Eiichi's ideals and activities
The participants mainly discussed the social-economic issues in Japan in relation to the following themes:

1) What role the private sector should play in guiding the director of public social welfare. Shibusawa Eiichi believed that the enthusiasm among the capitalists must be consciously aspired to develop the nation. In today's globalizing capitalistic era, this insight has not been given appropriate attention.

2) Policy Reformation:seeking more "transparency" in the political structure.
This particular theme reflects Shibusawa Eiichi's philosophies about reforming educational systems of the post-Meiji restoration. He emphasized a democratic decision making process, provided through easily accessed educational opportunities for all citizens, in contrast to the traditional power-based political structure. The "opaque" character of Japanese political system has often been criticized by both the international community and within Japan.

3) Leadership of Shibusawa Eiichi.
The discussion concluded that the leadership Shibusawa Eiichi practiced is independent of political intentions. The expectation cast on leadership varies according to the particular social trends of each era; what kind of leaders Japan will be able to produce today is a critical task, hence future discussions will be taking place on this topic.

The 2nd Session- International roles for Japan in the 21st century
The locus of the discussion concerned Shibusawa's strong resistance to kan-son-min-pi 'respecting the government, disrespecting the citizens,' which has been frequently associated with Japan's political conduct. What kind of opportunities are we to find so that Japan can transcend this attitude? The discussion proceeded as the participants sought guidance from Shibusawa Eiichi's experience. Two major aspects brought out are:

1) Various international roles for Japan: Japan must take the initiative to suggest its desired position with respect to its international responsibilities, as one of the economically powerful nations as an important participant in environmental protection movement, as a model of democratic government (both at local and global levels), etc. Such active participation is also important as the part of processe to establish an Asia-Pacific community as well as international policies needed to address future regional issues.

2) "Constraints" cast on Japan: to name a few socio-political constraints Japan is facing, we can point out historical problems stemming from WWII, international relations between a) Japan and the U.S., such as the issues concerning the Japan-United States Security Treaty, b) Japan and China, c) Japan and other Asian countries, and finally, Japan's Peace constitution, which often brings challenges for a powerful nation like Japan. What are the ways for Japan, despite such constraints, to assume its expected international responsibilities? During the discussion it was suggested that local communities such as NGOs or NPOs in Japan must actively engage in communication with Asian countries, and that there is a need to develop more efficient and systematic strategies to exchange information internationally. Japan's political security should be based on an internationally recognized framework. There is also a need to promote consensus the Japanese citizens about the future of the country.