Moments When I Feel the Generation Gap | Ikuo Kaneko (Dean, Graduate School of Media and Governance)
2009.04.30
Chizuko Ueno, renowned for her work in gender theory and women's studies, is one of the few "close friends" I have from my own generation. Ueno boasts that she shares a birthday with Julie. But wait, today's students probably wouldn't know who I mean by "Julie." Ah, the generation gap!
Because I spent 12 years in the United States from my twenties to my mid-thirties, after returning to Japan, I was unfamiliar with Yosui Inoue, Seiko Matsuda, Suguru Egawa, Isao Nakauchi, or even the up-and-coming Chizuko Ueno—all figures people my age would have naturally known. I happened to pick up and read her book "A Pleasure as a Woman" (Keiso Shobo) and was deeply impressed by its clear logic and unconventional ideas. It was then that I had the opportunity for a dialogue and met the great Professor Chizuko Ueno for the first time.
My academic interests had just shifted from optimization theory and numerical analysis during my time in America to the structure of society, and I knew nothing about sociology or women's studies. I was worried that Ueno would be exasperated and think, "You don't even know this?" But contrary to my expectations, when we met, she was surprisingly friendly and warm. She seemed to worry about me in various ways as I was adapting to Japanese society, much like an older sister helping her unlearned younger brother.
When we first met, Ueno, my contemporary, said something I couldn't tell was a compliment or sarcasm: "Our generation is supposed to have experienced the defeat of the Zenkyoto movement, but because you were in America during that time, you don't have that sense of defeat. You're like the blue skies of California." I see. So, compared to my peers, I have a 12-year "lost generation" gap. This means I have a generation gap with both today's youth and my own generation!
On New Year's Day this year, there was a full-page advertisement in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper commemorating the 70th anniversary of Iwanami Shinsho (Iwanami New Books). My book "Volunteer: Another Information Society," the only one I've written that became a bestseller, was featured as one of the seven "representative works" from Iwanami Shinsho's 70-year history. This was solely because Chizuko Ueno provided a prominent promotional blurb, calling it "a publication that could be described as an event that sparked the volunteer boom." A friend from one's own generation is truly something to be grateful for.
(Published: 2009/04/30)