We’re delighted to announce a new partnership between the Institute of Current World Affairs and the Blakemore Foundation to launch the Blakemore-ICWA Fellowship for advanced language study and independent writing, beginning with the appointment of the inaugural fellow in Japan, Julia Walton.
The program
The two-year Blakemore-ICWA Fellowship will help develop the next generation of specialists in East and Southeast Asia, starting with Japan. The program will build on the strengths of each organization’s fellowship models—combining Blakemore’s year of intensive advanced language study with a second year of ICWA independent field research, writing and cultural immersion.
The Blakemore-ICWA Fellow
Julia exemplifies the program’s integrated model of language study and field-based research.
She is a doctoral candidate in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a current Blakemore fellow completing a year of advanced language study at the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama, Japan. Her research examines how literature, media and games shape cultural relations between Japan and the United States. Her dissertation traces the emergence of “everyday life” as an aesthetic form in popular culture since the 1980s. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, where she majored in English and served as editor-in-chief of The Nassau Literary Review.
Beginning in September, Julia will spend a year examining how youth civic participation in Japan is evolving amid demographic change and shifting political structures.
A full-circle legacy
Thomas Blakemore arrived in Japan as an ICWA fellow in 1938 to study Japanese law and constitutional systems. His fellowship was interrupted by World War II, during which he evacuated via Shanghai on the last American ship, docking in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
He later served in US Army intelligence and returned to Japan as part of the postwar occupation, contributing to the revision of Japanese legal codes. In 1950, he became the first foreign lawyer in postwar Japan to pass the bar exam and practice with full courtroom status, later co-founding the Tokyo law firm Blakemore & Mitsuki.
In recognition of his contributions to Japan’s legal system, Emperor Hirohito awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class in 1987.
What began as an ICWA fellowship became a lifelong commitment to language, law and cross-cultural understanding, ultimately leading Tom and his wife Frances to establish the Blakemore Foundation in 1990.
About ICWA
Founded a century ago, the Institute of Current World Affairs advances understanding of international cultures and affairs through independent writing fellowships abroad for outstanding young professionals. Fellows examine countries, regions and globally important issues during two years of deep cultural immersion. Alumni have become leading experts in journalism, academia, diplomacy, civil society and other fields. ICWA nurtures the kind of knowledge future generations will need to ensure America’s role in the world is informed by wisdom, foresight and compassion.
About the Blakemore Foundation
The Blakemore Foundation supports advanced language study in East and South East Asian languages and expands access to Asian art. Its fellowships enable American professionals to develop the fluency and cultural insight needed to work effectively across Asia. Alumni serve in fields including business, academia, government, journalism, law, medicine and the arts, where cross-cultural understanding is essential to meaningful impact.
Top photo: Tokyo with Mount Fuji (Morio, Wikimedia Commons)