A U.S.-Japan Exchange for Policy Solutions

By Linda Tarr-Whelan, CPA President

Seven CPA leaders participated in the first annual U.S.-Japan Exchange on Women in Public Policy November 27-December 7, 2000. The Exchange arises from an understanding that women are not only directly affected but are also the leading voices for solutions to public policy problems in both societies. CPA was selected to partner with the Japan Society on this program because of its reputation for bringing unlikely allies together.

The Exchange created a special opportunity for women policy leaders from Japan and the United States to share information, solutions and strategies in two areas of interest to both countries – elder care and domestic violence. The Japan Society received a three-year grant from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Center for Global Partnership of The Japan Foundation to promote an exchange between these two cultures. The U.S. delegation will make a return trip in 2001 and a delegation of Japanese women will journey to the United States to do the same in 2002.

In addition to our delegation of state legislators, Japanese participants included journalists, academics, state and local elected officials and women leaders from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Diet, the National Parliament, and Non-Governmental Organizations.

Tokyo was the first stop on a four-city tour of southern Japan. In the capital city, like the rest of the stops, the delegation was wined and dined Japanese style and took in plenty of area landmarks. In the cities of Kita-Kyushu, Nagasaki and Yokohama, representatives from local Women’s Centers hosted the delegation. These unique institutions are publicly funded from the municipal or prefectural level and provide educational and cultural programs for women’s empowerment.

The delegation also toured state-of-the-art community-based elder care facilities and nursing homes that demonstrated how the culture values the need to keep elderly people as independent as possible in the community. Japan has the fastest growing aging population in the world and the longest life expectancy. The tradition in this once-feudal society was for the parents to be cared for by their eldest son and his wife. As Japan became more urbanized and women became more independent, a personal and private problem has become a matter of public debate in search of a solution. In April 2000, Japan began implementing a universal long-term care insurance program to complement their universal health insurance. In the United States, Maryland and Washington policymakers are developing similar policies to support a continuum of care for the elderly, albeit piece by piece over many years.

Japan’s domestic violence prevention and awareness movement has just recently started to break the silence on the country’s problem of abuse whereas the U.S. government’s role in preventing domestic violence dates back 25 years. We visited one of the country’s first shelters in Yokohama and were able to share ideas and strategies from the U.S. with our Japanese counterparts from the national and state level. Georgia Senator Connie Stokes (Flemming Fellow ’96) shared her success in sponsoring a resolution that created the Senate Task Force on Violence in the Media and a long history of legislation in Georgia to prevent discrimination against victims of domestic violence.

By bringing state elected leaders closer to the widening globalization of policy ideas, our first exchange was a big success. The members of the delegation look forward to bringing the lessons home to their constituents and legislature and to continuing to foster the relationships and connections initiated in Japan.

"The trip provided me with significant insights into public policy development relating to long-term care and domestic violence in Japan, but also what still needs to be addressed in my state of Washington as well as throughout the United States. While we were able to provide helpful information relating to our accomplishments in the domestic violence front, we learned a great deal from our Japanese hosts about what Japan is doing relating to long-term care that we could emulate. The dialogues, observations and informal conversations were fascinating in this most worthwhile trip!"

– Washington Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles
(Flemming Fellow ’99)

U.S. Delegates to Japan North Carolina Representative Beverly Earle Juley Fulcher, Public Policy Director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Maryland Senator Paula Hollinger Washington Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (Flemming Fellow ’99) Hawaii Representative Marilyn Lee (Flemming Fellow ’99) Georgia Senator Connie Stokes (Flemming Fellow ’96) Maryland Delegate Adelaide C. Eckardt (Flemming Fellow ’99)

To view a follow-up report on the Exchange written after this article was published, click here.

Participants in the U.S.-Japan Exchange stand in front of a statue symbolizing women’s empowerment at the MOVE Women’s Center in Kita-Kyushu, Japan. From left to right: Juley Fulcher; Ruri Kawashima, VP Japan Society; Beverly Earle; Adelaide C. Eckardt; Linda Tarr Whelan; Connie Stokes; Marilyn Lee; Jeanne Kohl-Welles; Professor Masami Shinozaki; and Paula Hollinger.

Paula Hollinger and Linda Tarr-Whelan participate in a public forum on long-term care in Kita-Kyushu, Japan.

In honor of the U.S. – Japan delegation, Yoshiko Misumi, Executive Director of the Kita-Kyushu Forum on Asian Women, performs a tea ceremony at a Women’s Center in Kita-Kyushu, Japan.

Originally built in 1602 and rebuilt in 1963, the Kokura Castle in Kita-Kyushu, Japan, now functions as a museum of Karakuri theatre.

Tarr-Whelan Appointed to Trade Policy Committee President Clinton has appointed CPA President Linda Tarr-Whelan to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN). Members provide overall policy advice on matters concerning objectives and bargaining positions before entering into a trade agreement and other matters arising in connection with U. S. trade policy. ACTPN is broadly representative of key sectors of the economy, particularly those affected by trade.