I would like to suggest to young people today at the beginning of the 21st century, since this is part of our theme, that within these limited language resources, there were other barriers, not the barriers of lack of dictionaries, textbooks, and grammar books, but rather human attitude. The nineteenth century Meiji Japan was a time of confrontation as well as cooperation. It was a colonial time, when Japan was facing whether it was able to maintain its independence from the colonial powers of that time.
It was a very difficult time. One of the barriers was the arrogance that existed, not only by the Europeans towards the Japanese officialdom and society, but in many cases also the arrogance of the Japanese government officials towards the Europeans. Certainly the pitfalls, the dangers of communication were horrendous. But what I would like to suggest is that people like Ernest Satow and Mori Arinori were exceptional in another sense. They were open, they had a genuine interest in Japan and the West, and theyere willing to learn. This openness and willingness to learn is a lesson which we still need today as we face and deal with people from other nationalities and other cultures.
So to summarize what I've had to say this afternoon: there are barriers, there are the great giants, they are the "concert pianists of the language" and communication world, but there are those of us that struggle along and make do. What is most important, I believe, is that as human beings we are able to be open to each other, that we accept each other, and be willing to make do, that is, we try to accomplish the goal of genuine understanding which we face in our respective worlds. The challenge to young people today is still to pursue their study with perseverance and dedication with an open mind to learning new and unexpected things. Thank you.
Ernest Mason Satow (1843-1929)
Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935)
William George Aston (1841-1911)
Sir Harry Smith Parkes (1828-1885)
Sir George Bailey Sansom (1883-1965)
Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904)
James Curtis Hepburn (1815-1911)
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Josiah Conder (1852-1920)
Mori Arinori (1847-1889)
Hugh Cortazzi (1924-)
