St. Paul's School students and teachers head for class
after assembly in the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul, in 1999.

Foreword

"What changes in the life of St. Paul's School do you intend to introduce this year?" A concerned mother of a new student had directed this question to Henry C. Kittredge, sixth rector of St. Paul's School.

It was September 1949.

The answer Mr. Kittredge gave was characteristically informative, humorous, and somewhat blunt: "None. I do not plan to introduce any changes this year because I expect it will take all of my energies and time just to respond to the changes that will be forced upon me by students, faculty, and alumni."

Did this really happen? I have heard Mr. Kittredge tell this story about himself many times, so I am sure the meaning conveyed is accurate. Henry Kittredge saw himself as the conservator of a fine educational institution, not as a revolutionary reformer.

How, then, could this amiable schoolmaster have been responsible for initiating a program destined to exert great influence throughout the cultural and political life of two great countries, the United States and Japan? For that, surely, is what has happened as a consequence of the decision by Mr. Kittredge to admit one student from Seikei School of Tokyo to the Sixth Form of St. Paul's School, in September 1949, four years after the end of World War II.

One recalls large-scale activities underway in 1949. In Europe, through the Marshall Plan, the United States was busy helping reconstruct buildings, bridges, and infrastructure so recently destroyed, and mending the shattered lives of people everywhere. Most importantly, this nation was planting and tending seeds for the growth of democratic, free-market societies.

In Asia, after widespread destruction, the United States was engaged first in helping the Japanese achieve the necessities of daily life, then in fostering the development of business activities necessary for a strong, modern state. Through the forceful efforts of General Douglas MacArthur, America was emphasizing the principles of modern democracy. This was the work of an idealistic people.

It is perhaps no wonder, then, that in one small corner of the United States, at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, a decision based on hope and trust in the future would be taken.

Mr. Kittredge did not initiate important change? Oh yes he did. In this one small step, the admission of one young man from Tokyo, probably without realizing it, he set loose forces that would gain momentum and power over the following 50 years, as friendships and ambitions and respect and affection multiplied, producing what is now known as the Seikei-St. Paul's partnership.

In writing A Generous Idea David T. Dana SPS '55 has told the story of a remarkable cooperative achievement, from small beginnings to the present era of substantial influence. As a student in St. Paul's School, from September 1950 through graduation in 1955, Mr. Dana knew the second Seikei student. The third Seikei scholar was his classmate and friend. Having watched the developments through these 50 years with keen interest, he is an authoritative voice in their telling. Graduates of the two schools and concerned members of the government, business, and cultural communities of both countries will be grateful for this book and will be caught up in the fascinating details of these relationships so clearly related.

Mr. Kittredge believed he was not an initiator of change. In what a positive and wonderful sense he was wrong! The heroic courage of the Seikei students in coming to an unknown land, and the heroic courage of students and faculty in so warmly receiving them, produce a powerful story.

Our two countries and our world are much the better for it. The lessons Mr. Dana highlights could well be applied among many people in the world today.

William A. Oates
Rector Emeritus
St. Paul's School

The Seikei School motto,
"Peaches and plums utter no words, yet underneath will form a beaten path,"
adorns a scroll brushed by the calligrapher Shinzan Kamijo.
Hanging in SPS's Ohrstrom Library the scroll
was given by Seikei alumni and teachers in 1978.

>

Acknowledgments

When my classmate Yoshiaki Shimizu asked me to help celebrate the St. Paul's-Seikei 50th anniversary, I offered to write a history of the exchange program. When I made that offer, I had not given any consideration to what kind of history it would be. I suppose I pictured a historical narrative filled with facts, statistics, dates, and procedures like most histories I had read. I wanted to find out how a relationship between a preparatory school in a rural New Hampshire hamlet and one in a metropolitan Japanese capitol began, how it grew, what supported it, how problems were overcome along the way, and what was accomplished.

The Japanese have an apt word, shoshin. It means "an empty mind." It does not mean "stupid" or "empty headed"; rather, it is complimentary: a "beginner's mind" ready to be filled, to accept new ideas, open to anything. An ideal student has shoshin. I had shoshin.

However, bit by bit, as I learned more and more about the program, a concept for the history revealed itself.

This was not to be a history of the schools. Institutions can create opportunities and St. Paul's and Seikei certainly did, but individuals take the opportunities and make things happen. This is a story of people, not of facts, statistics, or procedures. It is a story about remarkable people of two nations---farsighted educators and courageous young men and women---all highly intelligent, perceptive, articulate scholars. This history is their story. It had to be told in their words as much as possible.

Many people did research and writing for this history. Foremost I must thank André O. Hurtgen. The recently retired St. Paul's teacher, former head of the Modern Languages Department, and for many years a mentor to students in the Seikei connection, was my indispensable presence at SPS. Because I live in California, I could not investigate the school's archives. André did that for me, carrying out every request with enthusiasm and thoroughness. He spent hours poring over old SPS publications, yearbooks, minutes, and files. He hounded the SPS administrative staff. He supervised mailing my questions to Seikei alumni and teachers. His suggestions and advice saved me from mistakes. And he compiled information, sending me numerous e-mail messages, photocopies, letters, and photographs. And, of course, his recollections and writings added immeasurable detail and color. Thank you, André.

SPS Rector Craig Anderson and Vice Rector Sharon D. Hennessey gave their support to the project. They made it possible for members of the school staff to take time from regular duties to respond to my requests. Benjamin R. Neilson, chairman of the St. Paul's School Board of Trustees, smoothed the way to research in the trustees' minutes.

Members of the St. Paul's administrative staff helped. Joan C. Smith of the Alumni Office coordinated mailing, receiving, and forwarding questionnaires. Bob Rettew, director of Information Systems, and David Levesque, librarian, gathered information from the Ohrstrom Library archives. Dr. J. C. Douglas Marshall, dean of faculty, Robert W. Hill III, associate dean of faculty, and Donna M. Bowe, their assistant, gathered material about SPS faculty. Nicole C. Springer, Joan Smith and Debbie Tattersall of the Alumni Office prepared and sent questionnaires and helped find facts on alumni. Jeffrey Bradley, director of the Advanced Studies Program (ASP), and Joyce Ashcroft, his secretary, collected ASP student statements and advised about the ASP program. Michael R. Barwell, director, Cindy Foote, and Mary Ann Murphy in the Communications department collected photographs.

In Japan, Professor Mamoru Shimizu, former Seikei principal, copied and sent his entire file of correspondence from the 1950s --the early correspondence between SPS and Seikei. Satoru Nakajima, Seikei's coordinator of Exchange Programs for many years, answered questions and sent much important information. He selected photographs of SPS students in Japan and of school scenes. His recollections, descriptions, and stories were invaluable. Makoto Tokutomi also provided photographs.

Yoshiaki Shimizu started me on this project. To him I owe thanks for introductions, recollections, photos, and hours of conversation; for advice on Japanese language, manners, and customs; for correcting mistakes and offering thoughtful analysis.

William A. Oates, eighth SPS rector and now rector emeritus, spent hours looking in his files and sent me many documents, photos, articles, and letters. I could not have done without his recollections, passed on through letters, telephone conversations, and a delightful time at his home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA; Jennifer Peters, assistant archivist for reference and public service, Episcopal Church Archives; and Rev. Samuel I. Koshiishi, general secretary, Nippon Sei Ko Kai, all helped track down information from their respective archives. Maygene Daniels, chief archivist at the National Gallery of Art, furnished information.

I am grateful to all the program graduates who replied to my written questions. Whether or not I used quotations or information from them, their recollections gave me the flavor of student experiences and painted a total picture of the program, for there were responses about every decade of the 50 years. The Japanese graduates were Minoru Makihara '50, Tatsuo Arima Hachiro Nakamura '61, Yoshiharu Akabane '63, Matsumi Kikyo '71, Kaoru Yamauchi '75, Amy Yoshiko Nobu '78, Hiroko Yamashita Teratani '81, Akiko Higaki '84, Miki Tanaka '84, Yoko Nishikawa '90, Michiyuki Nagasawa '91, Hana Sugimoto '92, Leon Ochiai '94, Kiyoshi Ayako Kubota and Shunsuke Okano '97.

The American graduates who sent answers were Loring R. McAlpin '78, Elisabeth Bentel Carpenter '83, Charles Dunn McKee, Jr. '83, Tara McGowan Okada '84, Craig D. Sherman '85, Joshua H. Brooks '86, Caroline Kenney '91, Julian J. Wimbush '91, and Timothy Cooke Ferriss '95.

These Seikei teachers who traveled to SPS for one or two weeks to participate in the Advanced Studies Program also provided recollections of their experiences: Sayaka Atobe, Takahiro Hiraoka, Hisao Minami, Satoru Nakajima, Koichi Nihei, Hiromi Takahashi, Tadaaki Shimizu, and Michiko Yamato.

These ASP students sent recollections after Jeffrey Bradley contacted them for me: Crystal Brunelli, Katy Clark, Charo D'Etcheverry, Abigail Dunne, Kara French, Joshua Hornik, Jason Kidd, Juliana Mastronunzio, Jessica McDermott, Shireen Meskoob, Mary Mulcahey, Kristen Ray, and Kristen Schade.

People who gave more extensive oral or written interviews, or both, were André Hurtgen, Yoshiaki Shimizu, Mamoru Shimizu, William A. Oates, Satoru Nakajima, Richard Okada, Frank T. Griswold, Kathleen Zimpfer, Jeff Bradley, Masatoshi Shimano, Alan Hall, Robert A. G. Monks, and H. Douglas Barklay.

Many of the students and teachers who replied to the questionnaires sent personal photographs. André Hurtgen, Yoshiaki Shimizu, and William Oates also furnished pictures never before published. Seikei and St. Paul's supplied campus scenes and archival photographs.

William A. Oates, André Hurtgen, and Yoshiaki Shimizu reviewed a draft manuscript. Their attention to detail, knowledge of facts, and experience correcting papers saved me from mistakes in both fact and grammar.

This history project could not have happened without the support of all these many alumni, teachers, and administrators. I thank them all.

Finally, my editor, Philip Kopper, contributed a sense for the right word, attention to detail and perceptive suggestions, all of which added color, interest and completeness. Importantly, he provided a perspective to the story independent of those personally involved. For all that, and his friendship, I owe him many thanks.

I have tried to tell stories and record accurately the important events that took place over 50 years. If there are errors of any kind, whether in judgments, facts, interpretations, or quotations, the responsibility is mine alone.

D.T.D

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