@article{oai:nichibun.repo.nii.ac.jp:00007178,
 author = {SAEKI, Chizuru},
 journal = {Japan review : Journal of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies},
 month = {Nov},
 note = {This article analyzes Helen Keller’s civil diplomacy in U.S.-Japan relations through her visits to Japan in 1937 and 1948. In 1937, Keller visited Japan and Manchukuo (Japan’s puppet state in Manchuria) at the moment when the Marco Polo Bridge incident was poised to break out. Keller was welcomed in Japan by the Japanese emperor, the prime minister and other government officials. She delivered a letter from President Roosevelt that reconfirmed America’s friendship with Japan. American ambassador to Japan, Joseph Grew, described Keller as one of the most successful American diplomats. Keller’s trip was even extended to Korea and Manchukuo, which were under Japan’s occupation at that time. Although the promotion of welfare was her purpose, Keller’s trip to Manchukuo was enthusiastically supported by the Japanese government and by the Kwantung Army, eager to explain Japan’s policy in northern China to the United States. In 1948, only three years after the Pacific War ended, Helen Keller was invited to Japan a second time. She toured over thirty cities across the nation, inspiring MacArthur to improve U.S.-Japan relations. As Keller toured ruined Hiroshima and Nagasaki, met Emperor Hirohito, shook hands with hundreds of thousands Japanese citizens, mutual perceptions and public opinion in Japan and the United States started changing. Emperor Hirohito was portrayed as the benevolent leader of a new democratic Japan, a man who understood the significance of welfare for the disabled. Hiroshima and Nagasaki citizens interpreted Keller’s trip to their cities as an America attempt at atonement. Keller’s successful civil diplomacy in Japan made the U.S. State Department recognize her as their most effective symbol of America and so a valuable political asset.},
 pages = {201--220},
 title = {Helen Keller’s Civil Diplomacy in Japan in 1937 and 1948},
 volume = {27},
 year = {2014}
}