Japanese soldiers and sailors were indoctrinated to chose death before the dishonor of surrender, but 35,000 had been taken prisoner before Japan surrendered. Thanks to the language skills and cultural understanding of Japanese-Americans as well as trained Caucasian intelligence personnel, we gained valuable intelligence that shortened the war. POWs had expected to be executed after repatriation, but once the war ended, as many Japanese said, "We had all become prisoners." For the most part, the Allies treated Japanese prisoners decently, a fact that contributed to the successful occupation of Japan that followed.

Rick Straus was born in Germany and lived seven years in prewar Japan. After the war ended he became a Japanese Language Officer and served in the Occupation at GHQ, Tokyo. This included selecting and translating German documents into English and Japanese for the Prosecution Staff at the Tokyo Trial.

While on a Fulbright grant at Keio University, Straus passed the Foreign Service examination. Half of his 30-year career was in Japan (Embassy Tokyo and Consul General on Okinawa). His last assignment was faculty member at the National War College. After "retiring", Straus taught adult education courses on Japan at Washington area universities and ran the Japanese Language Program at the Foreign Service Institute.

Since moving to northern Michigan a decade ago, Straus wrote The Anguish of Surrender (University of Washington Press, February 2004) based on U.S. and Japanese sources. A Japanese language version appeared last fall. He is on the board of the World Affairs Council of Traverse City, responsible for securing most of the speakers. He also does two commentaries a month on international affairs for the local PBS radio station. Straus' undergraduate and graduate training was at the University of Michigan.

The end of the Koizumi era has come, bringing to a close one of the longest-serving premierships in modern Japanese history and a period of intense change in Japanese domestic and foreign policy. At the dawn of the post-Koizumi era there many questions: How much of this change will endure? Will economic reform move ahead or stagnate? Can the ruling party hold on to power without the popularity of Koizumi? What is the future of Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors? Will Japan continue to expand its security role?

The Japan Society of Northern California and the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford have assembled a panel of experts for two Bay Area events to address these questions.

Speakers' Bios:

Peter Ennis, Editor, The Oriental Economist Report

As editor of The Oriental Economist Report (TOE), Ennis is responsible for overall news coverage, but focuses mostly on Japanese political and security developments. He is also US correspondent for the Weekly Toyo Keizai, with responsibility for coordinating coverage of economic and political developments in the United States that impact on US-Japan relations. For the past ten years, Mr. Ennis has written the "Inside America" column for the Weekly Toyo Keizai.

Mr. Ennis has been reporting and writing about Japan and US-Japan relations for 25 years. He began working for Toyo Keizai in 1985, first on a freelance basis, and then full time when the company opened its New York office in 1987. He became bureau chief in 1996.

Takao Toshikawa, Editor, Tokyo Insideline and Chief Correspondent, The Oriental Economist Report

Mr. Toshikawa began his career as a journalist in 1970 as a staff writer for the Weekly Post and became a senior writer in 1976. From 1970 to 1983, he served as special correspondent based in the United States covering American presidential elections and other political affairs.

In April 1983, he joined Insider Inc., and became chief editor for Tokyo Insider, an English language newsletter of Japanese political and economic affairs. He also established his own newsletter "Tokyo Insideline", a bi-weekly publication for the intelligence community. In 1997 he was appointed to the position of chief correspondent at The Oriental Economist.

Daniel Sneider, Associate Director for Research, Shorenstein APARC, Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University.

Sneider was a 2005-06 Pantech Fellow at the Center, and the former foreign affairs columnist of the San Jose Mercury News. His twice-weekly column on foreign affairs, looking at international issues and national security from a West Coast perspective, was syndicated nationally on the Knight Ridder Tribune wire service, reaching about 400 newspapers in North America. He has appeared as a foreign affairs commentator on the "Lehrer News Hour" and on "National Public Radio."

Sneider has had a long career as a foreign correspondent. He served as national/foreign editor of the San Jose Mercury News, responsible for coverage of national and international news until the spring of 2003. From 1990-94, he was the Moscow bureau chief of the Christian Science Monitor, and 1985-90, he was Tokyo correspondent for the Monitor, covering Japan and Korea.

Sneider's writings have appeared in many publications, including the New Republic, National Review, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Time, the International Herald Tribune, the Financial Times, the Dallas Morning News, and the Sacramento Bee.

The end of the Koizumi era has come, bringing to a close one of the longest-serving premierships in modern Japanese history and a period of intense change in Japanese domestic and foreign policy. At the dawn of the post-Koizumi era there many questions: How much of this change will endure? Will economic reform move ahead or stagnate? Can the ruling party hold on to power without the popularity of Koizumi? What is the future of Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors? Will Japan continue to expand its security role?

The Japan Society of Northern California and the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford have assembled a panel of experts for two Bay Area events to address these questions.

Speakers' Bios:

Peter Ennis, Editor, The Oriental Economist Report

As editor of The Oriental Economist Report (TOE), Ennis is responsible for overall news coverage, but focuses mostly on Japanese political and security developments. He is also US correspondent for the Weekly Toyo Keizai, with responsibility for coordinating coverage of economic and political developments in the United States that impact on US-Japan relations. For the past ten years, Mr. Ennis has written the "Inside America" column for the Weekly Toyo Keizai.

Mr. Ennis has been reporting and writing about Japan and US-Japan relations for 25 years. He began working for Toyo Keizai in 1985, first on a freelance basis, and then full time when the company opened its New York office in 1987. He became bureau chief in 1996.

Takao Toshikawa, Editor, Tokyo Insideline and Chief Correspondent, The Oriental Economist Report

Mr. Toshikawa began his career as a journalist in 1970 as a staff writer for the Weekly Post and became a senior writer in 1976. From 1970 to 1983, he served as special correspondent based in the United States covering American presidential elections and other political affairs.

In April 1983, he joined Insider Inc., and became chief editor for Tokyo Insider, an English language newsletter of Japanese political and economic affairs. He also established his own newsletter "Tokyo Insideline", a bi-weekly publication for the intelligence community. In 1997 he was appointed to the position of chief correspondent at The Oriental Economist.

Daniel Sneider, Associate Director for Research, Shorenstein APARC, Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University.

Sneider was a 2005-06 Pantech Fellow at the Center, and the former foreign affairs columnist of the San Jose Mercury News. His twice-weekly column on foreign affairs, looking at international issues and national security from a West Coast perspective, was syndicated nationally on the Knight Ridder Tribune wire service, reaching about 400 newspapers in North America. He has appeared as a foreign affairs commentator on the "Lehrer News Hour" and on "National Public Radio."

Sneider has had a long career as a foreign correspondent. He served as national/foreign editor of the San Jose Mercury News, responsible for coverage of national and international news until the spring of 2003. From 1990-94, he was the Moscow bureau chief of the Christian Science Monitor, and 1985-90, he was Tokyo correspondent for the Monitor, covering Japan and Korea.

Sneider's writings have appeared in many publications, including the New Republic, National Review, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Time, the International Herald Tribune, the Financial Times, the Dallas Morning News, and the Sacramento Bee.

Steven K. Vogel, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

Vogel specializes in the potlicial economy of the advanced indistrialized nations, especially Japan. He has recently completed a book entitled Japan Remodeled: How Government and Industry are Reforming Japanese Capitalism (Cornell, 2006.) His earlier book Freer Markets, More Rules: Regulatory Reform in Advanced Industrial Countries (Cornell University Press, 1996) won the 1998 Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize. He has also edited a volume entitled U.S.-Japan Relations in a Changing World (Brookings Institution Press, 2002.)

Vogel has written extensively on comparative political economy and Japanese politics, industrial policy, trade, and defense policy. He has worked as a reporter for the Japan Times in Tokyo and as a freelance journalist in France. He has taught previously at the University of California, Irving, and Harvard University.