UTSA East Asia Institute hosts Takeshi Matsuda

By Rebecca Luther
Director of Communications, Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

(Sept. 18, 2015) - - In 1986, Dr. Takeshi Matsuda came to UTSA as a visiting Fulbright scholar to teach a course in the history of American-East Asian relations. Twenty-nine years later, he is returning to UTSA to further promote understanding and collaboration between the U.S. and Japan.

The East Asia Institute will host next week's visit by Matsuda, who has been president of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (KUFS) since 2010. During his weeklong stay in San Antonio, Matsuda will give presentations and meet with UTSA administrators and faculty.

His visit to UTSA will culminate with a public lecture, "Drift or Mastery Revisited: A Path to Human Co-existence" on Thursday, Oct. 1. The event will be from 1 to 2 p.m. in the University Center Travis Room (HUC 2.202) on the Main Campus.

Matsuda's lecture will focus on the current state of Japanese politics in the context of the Japan-U.S. Alliance, as well as Japan's recently approved security legislation that has sparked heated arguments and passionate discussions throughout the country.

Born in Himeji City in western Japan, Matsuda attended Osaka University of Foreign Studies and studied English there for three years. As a scholarship and grant recipient, he was given the opportunity to study in the U.S. as an international student, and he attended University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned his B.A. in history and Ph.D. in U.S. history. He has taught extensively in Japan on U.S. history and foreign relations.

Matsuda was an organizer and founding president of the Kansai Forum of Japan-U.S. Intellectual Interchange, and he served on the Abe Fellowship Program Committee of Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership in cooperation with Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies of the United States. Matsuda also serves as vice-chairperson of Fulbright Japan Association.

Matsuda has published many books and journals to date. Some of his most recent publications include The Origins of Japan's Dependency on the United States: U.S. Soft Power Strategy (2015), Making Japan Which the Japanese Feel Proud of as Global Citizens (2010), American Soft Power in Early Postwar Japan (2008) and Soft Power and Its Perils: U.S. Cultural Policy in Early Postwar Japan (2007).

In addition to his public lecture on Oct. 1, Matsuda will speak to the UTSA Executive Leadership Council at its monthly meeting, to Honors College students at a brown bag luncheon, and to two Japanese language classes. He also will meet with administrators and faculty from the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, the College of Business and the Office of International Programs to discuss potential collaborations between UTSA and KUFS.

The UTSA East Asia Institute promotes appreciation and understanding of East Asian societies and cultures on campus and in the community through research, outreach, networking, education, student/faculty exchange, and business development and cooperation. The Institute organizes seminars, workshops, lectures, conferences, film festivals and visual art exhibitions, and it hosts performing arts groups from China, Japan, Korea and other Asian nations. It also encourages faculty research collaborations both within UTSA and with participating East Asian university researchers.

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Learn more about the UTSA East Asia Institute.

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