This is a study of the experiences and present attitudes of Japanese and American Fulbrighters who went to the United States and Japan during the period 1951-90. The theoretical problem of interest is to understand the ways in which individuals incorporate educational and related experiences in a different society and culture into their own lives.
Recipients of Fulbright grants provide particularly appropriate subjects to study this process. All Fulbrighters were adults, socialized in their home countries; Japan or the United States; who spent an important period of time in the host country undertaking graduate education, research, or teaching. The vast majority of Fulbrighters have returned to their home countries to pursue their careers and live out their private lives. Thus, a study of Japanese and American Fulbrighters illuminates how intercultural educational experiences are incorporated by individuals in the context of changing historical relationships between two countries