Synopses & Reviews
Japan Table Tennis Association President Goto Koji (1906-1972), the founder of Aichi Institute of Technology and Meiden High School, nurtured youth socially through sports education and used table tennis as a means of promoting international friendship and peace. The expertise Goto accumulated through his lifework as an educator and civic leader culminated in his decision to invite China to the World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya in 1971. Notwithstanding the stalemate in the negotiations with Chinese officials on the terms of Chinas participation (China linked its participation to the “two Chinas” issue), Gotos convictions and principles earned Premier Zhou Enlais respect and made Chinas participation possible. Were it not for Gotos initiative, President Richard Nixon would not have visited China in 1972. After four decades of obscurity, it is high time to set the record straight and give Goto long overdue credit.
Review
“Makes a contribution to local history through the authors enlightening references to the political and economic factors peculiar to the Nagoya region, factors that contributed to Gotôs rise as a local civic leader, and which served as a background to the events of 1971-2. The authors extensive references to personal interviews and memoirs by his friends and associates are especially insightful in drawing a portrait of a man very much centered in the community in which he lived almost his entire life. It deserves to be read, and undoubtedly will be, for its comprehensive treatment of the factors behind ping-ping diplomacy.” --Stephen J. Roddy, Associate Professor, University of San Francisco
"Well-researched, well-framed analytically, and highly original. Sheds important new light on how today's complex yet fatefully important US-Japan-China triangle came to be." --Kent Calder, Director, Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies, SAIS/Johns Hopkins University
Synopsis
Why and how did Japan Table Tennis Association President Goto Koji invited China to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, in 1971 (the Nagoya Worlds)? Against strong opposition at home and abroad, Goto Koji created a stage for Premier Zhou Enlai to launch Ping-Pong Diplomacy, which changed world history forever, opening Chinas “bamboo curtain,” paving the way for Sino-U.S. rapprochement in 1972 and for détente in East Asia, ending the Vietnam War.
About the Author
Mayumi Itoh is a former professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has also taught at Princeton University and Queens College, City University of New York. She is the author of Globalization of Japan: Japanese Sakoku Mentality and U.S. Efforts to Open Japan (1998), The Hatoyama Dynasty: Japanese Political Leadership Through the Generations (2003), Japanese War Orphans in Manchuria: Forgotten Victims of World War II (2010), and Japanese Wartime Zoo Policy: The Silent Victims of World War II (2010). She has written extensively on Japanese foreign policy and domestic politics in academic journals.
Table of Contents
International Political Background * Goto Koji and Meiden School * Goto Koji and Table Tennis * Goto Makes the Decision * Mr. Goto Goes to China * Nagoya World Table Tennis Championships * U.S. Response: President Nixon Goes to China * Japans Response: Prime Minister Tanaka Goes to China * Conclusion: Lessons of Ping-Pong Diplomacy