Listen to the Japanese Studies Radio Hour

At the age of 22, courtesy of her determination and a remarkable series of events, Beate Sirota Gordon was in Tokyo, drafted to help compose the postwar Japanese constitution. Her influence on this process is credited with ensuring that the rights of Japanese women were constitutionally secured.

In 1997, as CJS turned 50, she visited Ann Arbor and recounted the journey, which took her from Europe, to Japan, to the United States, and back to Japan. The 8th installment of the Japanese Studies Radio Hour will put you in that room, with Beate and her amazing story.

Complement this recording with Sirota Gordon’s book The Only Woman in the Room: A Memoir of Japan, Human Rights, and the Arts.