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	Edwin O. Reischauer Biography The career of Edwin O. Reischauer embraced nearly all areas of Japanese-American relations. In his day, his personal involvement with Japan was perhaps deeper and more intimate than that of any other American, and professionally he distinguished himself as a scholar, teacher, writer, and diplomat. Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was born in Tokyo on October 15, 1910. His parents were Presbyterian educational missionaries who had been in Japan since 1905. Although always aware of his identity as an American, Reischauer became deeply attached to the country of his birth. Growing up in Tokyo, he learned Japanese, developed an interest in athletics (especially tennis) and acquired many fond memories of the city. Reischauer studied at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he majored in history and minored in political science. He was a member of the glee club, vice president of the varsity athletics club, and captain of the tennis team. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the age of 20 and received his Ph.D. from Harvard in subsequent years. From 1943-1945, Reischauer served in the U.S. Army. He worked on Japanese occupation policy for the State Department and drew up the first plans for negotiating with the Soviets on the reunification of Korea. The State Department asked him to stay on, but he returned in 1946 to teach at Harvard. Protests in Japan concerning revisions of the United States-Japan security treaty in 1960 marked a period of tension in U.S.-Japan relations. Reischauer analyzed the situation and argued that Japan should have a fully independent foreign policy that reflected its own interests and aspirations. Only from a position of equality, he believed, could Japan establish a true friendship with the United States. This insight brought Reischauer's name to the attention of the new administration of President John F. Kennedy. The president was seeking ambassadorial candidates who were well acquainted with the countries in which they would serve. The natural choice for Japan was his former teacher at Harvard. The U.S. Senate approved Reischauer's appointment as ambassador to Japan in March 1961. As ambassador, Reischauer brought to the post a unique combination of linguistic competence, familiarity with Japanese history and customs, and insight into Japanese politics. His sharpness of intellect, integrity, kindness, and freedom from pretense made him a uniquely successful ambassador to Japan. Key to his outlook was the notion of equal partnership. "There are 93,000,000 Japanese," he wrote in the journal he kept at the time, "and, according to my idea of the job, these are my most important contacts." Reischauer left his ambassadorial post and Japan in 1966, satisfied with the progress that had been made in United States-Japan relations. "A sense of equality and partnership," he wrote in his autobiography, "was being established between the two countries." After his ambassadorship, Reischauer returned to Harvard where he taught until he retired in 1981. Only weeks before his 80th birthday, Edwin Oldfather Reischauer, the renowned scholar of Japanese studies and former United States Ambassador to Japan died on September 1, 1990. (text adapted with permission from the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University)