Baseball was introduced to Japan in the 1870s by the U.S., and this marked the beginning of a long relationship between the two countries based on the sport. The first international exchange was in 1905, when the Waseda University baseball team traveled to U.S. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig went to Japan in 1934 as members of an All-Star team. Since the end of World War II, Major League Baseball has sent All-Star teams to Japan every other year. For more information about the Japan-U.S. Baseball history, check out “The History of the Baseball Partnership across the Pacific Ocean” by Junya Ishii at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.

As you might expect, there are some cultural differences between American and Japanese teams. It’s not necessarily about how they play the game. Recently the Nikkan Gendai sports newspaper reported that one major cultural difference is the way the teams treat the dugouts. After one international game, the custodians were shocked to see how dirty the Americans left the dugout. As a baseball fan, I am also surprised about this significant cultural difference. The way the Americans trash their dugouts has become famous in Japan. Japanese fans take photos of the American dugouts as omiyage (souvenirs) of the game. I wonder how Japanese players in the MLB teams are surviving in the messy American dugouts.

The midterm election is over. The Republicans won control of the Senate. Now President Obama focuses on building his legacy to help shape how he will be remembered by history. He will be busy tackling many unfinished tasks in his last two years in office. He needs to close the Guantanamo prison, sign the Anti-Land Mines International Treaty, and much more.

But I’d like him to add one thing to his list: Visit the Hiroshima and Nagasaki memorial ceremonies in August, 2015 or 2016. He would be the first President of the United States to do so.

President Obama made his great speech about Anti-Nuclear Weapons in Prague in April 2009 and shook the world! I cried when I saw it on TV. The same year he received the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s not a bad idea to conclude his presidency in those cities dedicated to Peace.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Barack-Obama-In-Prague-As-Delivered

Obama already left one great legacy with his magnificent bow to the Emperor. No previous American presidents ever bowed so respectfully. Look at the picture. The Empress was humbled enough to lower her knees for President Obama, which demonstrated great respect for him. Look at the Emperor’s smile and humble gesture. Bowing means mutual respect. It’s not a hierarchical greeting of submission that many Americans imagine it to be. Gathering his hands together, Obama bowed quite gracefully.

John Boehner couldn’t bow like that. Both liberals and conservatives in America told Obama not to bow to a former enemy….They don’t understand global culture. That has been a problem in America, a country founded and led by white men. President Obama needs to leave the legacy that none of the white Presidents could achieve. He should visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The people of Japan, one of America’s greatest allies and its second largest trading partner, would be forever grateful for that visit. It would be a strong expression of his desire for peace.

From a Japanese perspective, the second big action that would cement his legacy concerns his wife. First Lady Michelle Obama should finally join the President in Japan. She is the only First Lady in modern history who has never visited Japan. Where was she?

(Right: Students; Left: Teachers in training)  Mrs. Obama  needs to visit schools to observe their newly-reformed physical education classes. In 2012, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology launched a hip-hop dance exercise as a requirement for compulsory education. The Japanese philosophy of whole person education aims to integrate body and mind in exercises such as this. Each school invites visiting instructors from sports clubs that have hip-hop dance classes. Teachers also have to learn hip-hop moves. In Japan, elementary school teachers are also required to learn how to play keyboard or piano. The country’s diverse dance curriculum includes European and American folk dance as well.

In the past six years Mrs. Obama has repeatedly turned down Japanese invitations. According to Japan Times, Mrs. Obama’s spokesperson aid the First Lady’s absence is not a slight, and she has always chosen her trips on what’s best for her family. I believe Sasha and Malia would enjoy Japan, but if they can’t go, I think Mrs. Obama should go without them. They are big enough to stay home now.

Mr. and Mrs. Obama need to develop more human relationships especially in Japan. Mrs. Obama visited all six western nations of the G7 countries, skipping only Japan. Mr. and Mrs. Obama need to come to see local people outside Tokyo and especially Japanese children! They need to see Japan’s World Class Education system, complete with hip-hop dance classes!

I joined the rally against the Washington football team’s racist name with my husband Steve on November 2, 2014. It was a chilly and sunny Sunday morning, so we wrapped up in our warm winter clothing. I carried the sign that we made the previous night:

News Media, You, Too! False Objectivity is Racism!

I’m really hurt and bothered whenever I see or hear news reports using the R-word. Do the news media think that they are being objective when they use this offensive word? Howard Zinn said that there is no such thing as objectivity. According to Webster’s dictionary, the R-word has been known to be offensive for more than 30 years, so why keep using it?

In their irresponsible false objectivity, the media pretends to avoid taking a side by “balancing” their stories. They include some Native people recruited by the Washington team who say they don’t feel offended. This allows the media to continue using the R-word in the face of all the protesters and tribal leaders who are quite articulate in their condemnation of the word. The media are taking sides by continuing to use the R-word. Journalists dedicated to the status quo ignore the dictionary. The New York Times and AP decided to keep using the R-word “for now.” They don’t really give a reason. Just like the Washington fans say, it seems that tradition is its own justification.

Jesse Ventura did a good job explaining why reporters or the Washington team stubbornly use the R-word, despite the fact that it is a wrong word. He said that individuals are sued or get fired if they use a racist word, but institutions, such as the Washington team and news media, can get by with it. Racism is a combination of power and race. The collective power of racism – institutional racism — seems to be the biggest problem in this country.

The media are powerful and effective. I hear that the R-word is becoming more popular than ever. Even people who don’t care for football know the R-word because of its overuse in the headlines about the controversy. I am sad when I think of small children are using the R-word while watching the game or just the news…. On the other side of my sign, I displayed examples of the local news media’s headlines using the R-word, editing them out in proofreader’s style. I noticed that some news media avoided taking a picture of my sign. Others were interested. Some participants gave me some good feedback, saying, “I like your sign” or “I agree with you.”

It was fun to meet our friends at the rally, and I was so excited to see many famous speakers! Winona LaDuke, Bill Means, and Clyde Bellecourt (our old boss) talked powerfully, as usual. It was good to see Steve’s old boss, too, Jesse Ventura, a longtime opponent of the R-word. He refused to use it in the early ‘90s when he did some sports broadcasting! Clyde noted that it has been 45 years since the American Indian Movement was founded. Steve and I met at AIM’s 20th anniversary, so our life goes on with AIM’s history.

The rally and speeches were so peaceful and powerful. Most of the speakers avoided mentioning the R-word. Instead they said, “Washington” or “Snyder.” I even noticed a reduction of the R-word in the media reports of the rally, where they substituted “Washington” for the offensive name. Maybe they saw my sign!

When I went to see Dear White People, I was wondering how the younger generation of African American filmmakers would deal with racial issues. This is the generation who voted for the first black president in U.S. history. The film doesn’t deal with poor black people, but with young blacks who are struggling with their identities in a privileged white environment. The film reminds me of Beverly Tatum’s book, “Why are All Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Even in college, there are black students who are still on the “pre-encountering stage” in terms of racial experiences. Some people are like the character of Sam, whose campus radio show, Dear White People, gave the title to the film. She notes on her program all the mindless things whites do without realizing how racist and annoying they are – such as touching black people’s hair as if they were in a petting zoo. Whites should also not accuse non-whites of racism. To back this up, Sam quotes Tatum: “People of color are not racist because they do not systematically benefit from racism.” That was a powerful and timely message. The other black students react in different ways to her bold expressions of anger, showing how African Americans are not a monolithic group, and that there are many variations of perspective. Most of the white students in the movie are stereotypically naïve and generally clueless. This culminates in a blackface hip-hop party, where the white students have no idea that they are doing anything wrong. They feel that they can’t be racist because they are not trying to be racist. It’s kind of like the Washington fans who don’t see anything wrong with the R-word, and defend it by saying they don’t intend for it to be racist. Even though it is.

In our white-dominated society where white culture is norm, the notion of a colorblind society is a fantasy. This film shows how whites need to get clued in, and that even blacks struggle to find their identity in our multicultural society. Teachers and educators need to watch this.