"Sensei." Along with "sayonara," that is one of the first words most of us learn when we come to Japan. Though the image has been somewhat tarnished in these recent years of school disorders and juvenile delinquency, traditionally the word sensei, or teacher, has been one of the most honorific terms that can be used in Japan, and throughout most of East Asia as well. Elementary-school teachers, college professors, Diet members, all are called sensei, but sensei has an even deeper meaning. The original reading of the Chinese characters is "born before," signifying the Confucian respect for elders, those who have preceded us. We respect them and rely on their wisdom. It is a comforting word, signifying both closeness and deference. I don't think there is any way to express an equivalent of this feeling in English.

As an American noting that our national day is observed on the Fourth of July, I have been thinking of sensei in another context, remembering the many Americans whose translations and other writings have made it possible for us to understand and appreciate more deeply the values and culture of an ever-changing Japan. What makes the Japanese the way they are? Why do they think the way they do? Where is the motivation that makes them excel in so many fields? Japan may seem different, even baffling, but a deeper understanding can be gained through the knowledge provided by language, and only then can we begin to crack the barriers that may otherwise prevent a deeper relationship with this exceptional country. For this, most of us are dependent upon those who translate Japanese into English.

Today, when literally thousands of Japanese-speaking Americans and other foreign, young people are here in Japan doing a multiplicity of jobs -- secretaries to Diet members, translators, teachers (themselves sensei), journalists, and workers in banks, securities companies, high-tech industries and automobile enterprises -- it is hard to look back on the United States in the immediate post-Pearl Harbor period.

When the war began, there were probably no more than a few hundred Americans who had any familiarity with the Japanese language, and most of them were scholars whose knowledge was basically academic. The need for linguists was painfully apparent, and both the U.S. Army and Navy set up schools to train people to speak and understand Japanese, perhaps one of the world's most difficult languages to learn. The intensive training lasted a year or more, and graduates were assigned as combat interpreters, document analysts, interrogators and other fields of specialization.

After the war, many of them came to Japan to work with the Occupation. Others chose different fields. One result was some excellent translations of Japanese literature both classic and contemporary, deepening the world's understanding of Japan's rich traditions and current trends.

There is Edward Seidensticker, whose translation of "Genji Monogatari" is a masterpiece. He also made the works of Junichiro Tanizaki, Yukio Mishima and Yasunari Kawabata available to Western readers. When Kawabata won the Nobel prize, he invited Seidensticker to be with him when he received his award in Oslo. Ivan Morris, a British scholar/translator, received his early Japanese training at the navy school in Boulder, and, of course, Donald Keene has given us an extensive collection of both academic studies and translations. Other language students have served in high positions with the U.S. State Department, Congress and the Defense Department, while some have gone on to success in other fields, not all requiring Japanese proficiency.

Most of them are now in their 70s and even 80s, but what a contribution they have made to international understanding. Today they have been replaced by hundreds of young people involving themselves with Japan in many productive ways, but those who went before were the sensei. They dedicated themselves to understanding their enemies, beginning a process which continues even today, and one that has made a massive contribution not only the U.S. and Japan, but internationally as well. It is good occasionally to take time to acknowledge those who, for us, are the ones who have gone before, laying the foundation for better understanding of the world we live in.