Records of the Center for the Study of U.S.-Japan Relations

The Records of the Center for the Study of U.S.-Japan Relations fill three and a half boxes, spanning the years 1976 to 1983. The Records document the establishment of the Center and the directorship of Theodore Welch. The bulk of the records consist of correspondence, financial forms and statements, proposals and plans, flyers, articles, and notes. The records are divided into seven subseries: organizational materials; correspondence; financial materials; events, programs and activities; plans, proposals and reports; articles and news releases; and general materials. Additionally, within the events, programs and activities series are five categories: events, film showings, programs, trips and visiting scholars.

Organizational material spans the dates 1979 to 1983 and consists of documents relating to the planning and oversight of the Center as a whole. This subseries includes earlier proposals for Law School and Graduate School of Management (now the Kellogg Graduate School of Management) programs on Japan and for a Japanese-American Trade Studies Center, as well as correspondence, a Five Year Study Program, articles on Advisory Council members and potential members, minutes, mailing lists and other lists of group members.

Correspondence spans the dates 1976 to 1983 and consists primarily of correspondence to and from Executive Director Theodore Welch, as well as correspondence of which Welch received copies. This subseries includes correspondence with Japanese visitors to Northwestern University and with individuals Welch and others planned to visit while in Japan, as well as correspondence regarding internal university matters, the Center's finances, topics of interest to the Center, invitations to events and correspondence with undergraduate and graduate students. Included at the end of this subseries is a folder of correspondence in Japanese, which may have dates but has not been arranged in any order.

Financial materials, covering the years 1981 to 1983, include primarily standardized documents and forms as well as some correspondence. The standardized documents and forms include monthly budget statements, gifts reports, accounts of the remodeling done on the Center's offices, and information on the Center's account with the Industrial Bank of Japan. Requisition forms, requesting reimbursement for expenses, provide a vivid picture of the Center's daily operations and activities, ranging from salaries and office expenses to travel and entertainment expenses. Also included in this subseries is a BRAC report from 1983 which indicates that the Center might lose some or all of its University funding for the following school year.

Files documenting events, programs and activities sponsored by the Center span the years 1978 to 1983, and include five categories. Events folders contain correspondence, invitations, and flyers relating to events such as dinners, receptions, speakers and visits by Japanese groups. Film Showings folders include flyers and notices about various Japanese films shown by the Center. Programs files contain correspondence as well as surveys and test sheets from a language testing program conducted for United Air Lines. Trip files document travels by Welch, alone or with colleagues, for purposes of development and establishing connections with Japanese universities, businesses and government. These files include correspondence and travel related forms. Three folders relate to Japanese visiting scholars, and contain correspondence and various government and university forms. In addition to the types of documents already mentioned, the files in this subseries as a whole contain a significant member of handwritten notes. The files also contain some documents in Japanese, which have been filed with the undated documents at the end of each folder.

Plans, proposals and reports cover the years 1981 to 1983. The folders in this subseries contain primarily the plan, proposal, or report itself; some also contain correspondence introducing the document or drafts of the document. Folders with several different documents are filed at the end of the subseries. Within the folders, documents are arranged chronologically.

Articles and news releases span the dates 1978 to 1982 and include information relevant to the focus of the Center, but not produced by or relating specifically to the Center. The topics covered include Japanese business practices, the dynamics of U.S.-Japan trade relations, the Japanese government and economy, import and export practices and visits between members of the U.S. and Japanese governments.

General materials includes some documents dated 1983, but mostly contains undated correspondence, notes, and business cards, as well as unidentified documents in Japanese and a file on a proposed trip to Japan by the Northwestern University women's volleyball team (not sponsored by the Center).