Studies in Debate and Oratory
Abstract
Ending 215 years of “national seclusion,” in 1854, Japan ratified the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States and opened its doors to the rest of the world. Because of this special bilateral relationship, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, more Japanese began traveling to the U.S. than to any other country. Focusing on young Japanese who went to the U.S. as students and participated in debate and oratorical education during this period, this essay will re-examine the history of the U.S.-Japan relationship in terms of academic debate and oratory. During this period, American forensics was in transition and hence took a variety of forms. This essay will demonstrate that young Japanese participated in these different forms of early American forensics, contribute to a more thorough understanding of the history of that relationship, and shed light on this previously little-known trans-Pacific connection.
Recommended Citation
Aonuma, Satoru; Morooka, Junya; and Kanke, Tomohiro
(2026)
"International Students in Early American Forensics: Notes on the History of the U.S.-Japan Forensics Relationship During the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries,"
Studies in Debate and Oratory: Vol. 3:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholar.stjohns.edu/sido/vol3/iss1/3
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