Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Rutgers honors its first Japanese student
By Madelline Pizarro
Daily Targum (Rutgers)
10/08/2007

(U-WIRE) NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — On April 13, 1870, classes were canceled and the churches were draped after a Rutgers University alumnus died of tuberculosis.

Japanese student Kusakabe Taro had spent three years at the University and had become an integral part of the University community, said Abe Juri, a professor of sociology at Rikkyo University in Tokyo.

Students, faculty and New Brunswick residents attended Kusakabe's funeral, and his degree was given to him posthumously, she said.

Kusakabe was unique because he was one of the first Japanese students to study in America, Abe said.

Kusakabe was sent overseas during the Meji Era after Japan's commercial opening to the outside world, Abe said.

A delegation of representatives from Fukui, Japan gathered Thursday in the Scholarly Communication Center at Alexander Library on the College Avenue campus for a lecture called "Moment of contact: first encounters between Japan and New Jersey."

Nobuko Hori, the Public Relations executive board member of Rutgers' Association of Nippon Students, talked about the symposium's representation of diversity at the University.

"Rutgers represents a huge melting pot of diversity, of different cultures," she said. "[The symposium] fosters a universal understanding of [different] cultures. It is very important in our university to have that. This is what helped start [relationships between Japan and the West]. Relationships like this."

Paul Schalow, a professor of East Asian studies, attended the symposium and talked about the University's historical importance.

"Globalization is really localization," he said. "Without these local ties, we wouldn't have the ties that bind the globe. I'm reminded how important local history is in making the world a better place where people can relate to each other."

Kusakabe is the first example of globalization from a local perspective, Schalow said.

Celebrating Kusakabe's life is important because of the ties he created between the Rutgers-New Brunswick community and Fukui, Japan, said University President Richard L. McCormick during his speech at the Japanese symposium.

"In the 21st century, the world will need more than ever linkages between peoples across cultures and across oceans," he said. "We especially cherish ours with [the Fukui community]."

These ties cross boundaries and are important in today's world, McCormick said.

Fernanda Helen Perrone, the archivist and head of the Exhibitions Program, said she hoped the program would help people to learn about new research regarding Kusakabe and his time at the University. She said the collection is important because the artifacts are a good way to teach history and the global connections of the 1860s.

Kusakabe was buried in the Willow Grove Cemetery in New Brunswick. Abe recounted the thousand days spent at Rutgers. She incorporated documents from Kusakabe and his friend, William Elliot Griffis, in her lecture. Abe displayed documentation, report cards and diaries during her speech.

"[This] is a part of our history and a part of yours," McCormick said as he ended the symposium. "It is also important that we maintain the friendships and relationships with the people in Fukui and continue to build connections between our two cities."

[ Back to Student Voices ]