rofessor Len Schoppa has been awarded The Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan. The Order of the Rising Sun is one of Japan's highest honors, awarded for distinguished service to Japan and its people in various fields. Schoppa, who has taught in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia since 1990, specializes in the politics and political economy of Japan. He spoke to UVA Global about his work between Japan and the U.S. and his advice for students interested in Japan.

You are being honored for your exceptional contributions to promoting academic exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and the United States. Tell us a little about this work.

Schoppa: I began writing about Japanese politics and policy in the 1990s when there was great anxiety in the United States about the rising economic power of Japan, similar in some ways to the anxiety one sees today about China. There were tense trade negotiations and politicians who characterized the relationship in zero-sum terms. Whatever Japan gained came at American expense. In my published writing and as a speaker before Congressional hearings at DC think tanks, I always insisted there was room for both countries to gain by getting to cooperative outcomes in their negotiations. The way to get there was to understand what Japan needed and to find places where US interests were served by negotiating outcomes that would also address those Japanese needs.

In more recent years, I have served for long stints on advisory boards that support US-Japan intellectual exchange, including study abroad in each other's countries and programs that introduce scholars in both countries to the policy communities in Japan and the United States. The organizations I served included the US-Japan Friendship Commission (a US government agency) and the Japan Foundation (a Japanese government agency that supports Japanese studies in the United States and elsewhere) as well as private foundations that work in this area like the Mansfield Foundation.

What do you think are the most important themes in cultural and academic relations between Japan and the U.S.?

Schoppa: One of the most important parts of the infrastructure that enables US-Japan mutual understanding is study abroad, especially programs that allow Americans to spend quality time studying in Japan and learning the language, and vice versa. About 10 years ago I co-chaired a US-Japan committee that was tasked with implementing a joint agreement between the Japanese Prime Minister and President Obama that committed the two countries to doubling two-way student exchange. That was an interesting opportunity to interact with politicians and officials from both countries who work in this policy area.

Tell us about your research.

Schoppa: I study and write about the political economy of Japan. Early in my career, I focused on how US-Japan economic negotiations drive policy change in Japan in a book titled Bargaining with Japan: What American Pressure Can and Cannot Do. I wish President Trump and his team would read it since, if they did, they would know that aggressive threats focused only on what Japan can give up to avoid the US implementing sanctions are not productive. I argued that US pressure works when we identify changes Japan could make that simultaneously improve US market access and serve powerful constituencies in Japan that have been stymied in their efforts to change policy. If we work with internal advocates for change in Japan, we can get real reforms implemented.

More recently, I have been writing about Japan’s response to declining fertility. You can read some of my thoughts on that topic in this recent UVA Today article.

How did you get interested in these research questions?

Schoppa: I grew up in Japan in my childhood, as the son in a missionary family from 1963-1973. When I got to college in the 1980s, everyone was interested in the Japanese economic miracle, and so I decided to invest in recovering and building on my Japanese language skills and taking classes on Japan’s history and politics. I did not study abroad myself while I was in college but spent the first year after college teaching English in Japan. That is what hooked me on devoting my academic career to studying politics and policy in Japan.

What advice would you give to students at UVA interested in pursuing Japanese studies?

Schoppa: Study abroad or sign up for the JET Program (Japanese Exchange and Teaching program, which puts young people right of college in Japanese public schools to help with English teaching. Many students interested in Japan these days seem to arrive at this interest after reading manga and enjoying anime and video games. I wish more of these students would take courses on Japanese history and politics to broaden their understanding of the society.