How Stanford e-Japan changed the way I see the World

By Tsuyoshi Wakiya

What comes to mind when you think of the United States? For many people, it’s Hollywood, the Statue of Liberty, or Taylor Swift. While it is true that these are a very important part of American culture, they only cover a small piece of it.

Before I joined Stanford e-Japan, I thought studying the U.S. would mostly mean learning about its economy, or maybe whatever field it leads in. However, I was wrong. Understanding a country takes more than GDP numbers or its government. Through Stanford e-Japan, I explored the history and culture behind American society, and it got me thinking harder about diversity and entrepreneurship than I expected going in.

Here are the three important lessons that stuck with me most.

Beyond the National Narratives

One of the biggest lessons from Stanford e-Japan was to look at history from more than one perspective. Before the program, I hadn’t really questioned it. If something appeared in the textbook, I assumed it was simply the historical events that I needed to know. 

Then one professor asked us, “Why am I being told to remember this?” It sounds simple, but it caught me off guard because I never ask myself why certain events get taught the way they do, or why we are even taught about this. The professor explained that schools and museums play a crucial role in shaping a country’s national identity. Every society decides which stories to emphasize, and those choices influence how people understand their past. 

Japan and the United States are a good example. Japanese classes tend to focus on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and what civilians there went through during the atomic bomb. Conversely, American classes lean more toward military strategy and the broader course of the Pacific War. Neither version is simply right or wrong. They simply reflect different perceptions. 

What I thought was the important lesson wasn’t the knowledge about history in the United States and Japan or identifying which country’s version is historically correct. Instead, but trying to understand why different societies remember the same historical events differently and what that difference reveals about their values and the experience. I believe that developing this habit of questioning ourselves will help us gain multiple perspectives. Only by looking beyond our own national narratives can we begin to understand both histories.

Laws Can Change Overnight, but People Cannot

Another lesson from our discussions on civil rights was that changing a law is a lot easier than changing what people actually believe.

Ruby Bridges’ story stayed with me the longest. In 1960, she became the first Black child to attend an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Although segregation was already unconstitutional by then, many people still refused to accept this change. So, Federal marshals had to escort a six-year-old to class every day while protesters yelled outside. This example showcases that even if the law itself has been changed, the prejudice built over centuries cannot disappear in just a single day. 

This story helped me understand the difference between civil rights and human rights. Civil rights describe the legal protection people have. Human rights are about dignity, about how people actually get treated. A law can guarantee equal treatment on paper, while stereotypes keep discrimination existing in everyday life. The lecture emphasized that the difference itself is not the problem. Fear and ignorance are the real problems, and those get passed down more easily than any law gets enacted or repealed.

Discussion about DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) similarly challenged my thinking. I used to think it simply meant taking opportunities from one group to hand to another. Instead, I learned that DEI means clearing away barriers that have been sitting there for generations. One example that I found easy to understand DEI is the opportunity of a parents’ love. Loving a second child does not mean loving the first child less. It means to simply extend their same love, extend their same care to another person. In the same way, creating opportunities for disadvantaged groups does not reduce opportunities for everyone else. It simply broadens access so that more people have a fair chance to receive opportunities.

Moreover, the biggest lesson I took away was about empathy. One professor explained that while governments can write policy, real understanding usually begins with something much smaller, in personal relationship. Listening to who has experienced different culture from yours, and understanding their perspectives can change our assumptions in ways that textbooks cannot do. It reminded me that meaningful social change is built not only through institutions but also through everyday interaction.

Innovation Begins with People

I expected the entrepreneurship sessions to be about business models and startups. We did, but what surprised me most was learning that innovation doesn’t start with technology. It starts with people who don’t all think the same way you do. That is what actually drives Silicon Valley, which is diversity. People from different countries and different backgrounds exchange ideas and challenge each other’s assumptions.

This made me realize that diversity is something that creates better ideas. Innovation doesn’t start when someone launches a company or anything. It starts much earlier with just being willing to stay open-minded and courageous enough to take a first step.

How It Changed Me

Stanford e-Japan taught me far more than facts about American history and culture. It changed how I think. 

I now see history as something with many perspectives rather than a single narrative. I have realized that real social change relies not only on laws, but also on empathy itself. And I now understand that innovation starts with people who are just willing to learn from one another. 

These lessons pushed me to question my own assumptions as well as prejudice, and get more comfortable thinking out of the box. If there’s one thing that will take away from Stanford e-Japan, it’s this understanding that the world takes more than simply observing it. It begins with a willingness to question it.