There are a lot of people who would like to get out and see Japan, but often it seems the cost outweigh the experience. Now U.S. citizens can avoid this dilemma, thanks to a wide-ranging exchange program based on one of the first Japan-American cultural exchange projects. It dates back to 1841 when Nakahama Manjiro's fishing boat was lost at sea. The illiterate 14-year-old boy was rescued by a whaling ship captain, William Whitfield, who was impressed by the boy's curiosity and eagerness to learn. During the 10 years he lived in the U.S. where he absorbed the ways of a different world and experienced the opportunities available even to an uneducated Japanese visitor under a democratic form of government. He returned to Japan hoping to share his new values with the shogunate, perhaps the first cultural exchange effort with the West.

Manjiro suffered the same fate as others who had managed to return home after a period of foreign "contamination." He was isolated with no way to tell others of his experiences. But times change, and when Admiral Perry arrived with his black ships, determined to establish a port in Japan and to open the nation's doors to the world, Manjiro's linguistic skills and knowledge of America became essential. Some felt that the favorable reports he gave of American generosity and that it was a country that could be trusted encouraged Japanese leaders to open their country to its first foreign contacts in almost 300 years.

After World War II, the two names were linked again in the Manjiro-Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange. One of the programs is a Grass-roots Summit, a program for couples, families and individuals from both countries to exchange visits. Costs are kept low, home stays are featured and special attractions of a selected area are explored. This year Americans will be visiting Shizuoka. Seventeen itineraries are offered, each centered on some specific topic and including local history, cultural events, festivals, local foods -- the list is long and the experience deep.