Dealing with the war far from home

As the United States dropped its first bombs on Iraq the night of March 19, 21 IU students and two professors heard the news in the middle of a busy Tokyo day inside the newsroom of the world's largest newspaper, The Daily Yomiuri. The group, comprised primarily of juniors and seniors, spent nine days in Japan learning about Japanese culture and international business practices, though their time was eclipsed by the war in Iraq.\nBusiness professor Marc Dollinger said a tour guide was about to show their group the printing press when a Daily Yomiuri reporter brought them a stackful of special editions that announced in both Japanese and English that the war in Iraq had begun. \nDollinger said some of the students were aware that they were far from the United States during a major historic event.\n"It was a moment people were anticipating but not prepared for," Dollinger said. "A number of the students kind of gasped."\nSenior James Morris, an international business studies major, said the newsroom in the Daily Yomiuri was chaotic.\n"It felt very significant that everything was happening," Morris said. "Seeing all these reporters running around trying to get news to people in Japan, and here we were Americans and learning it for the first time as well." \nDollinger said the group had also taken a tour of the Japanese legislature building the same morning Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi announced the country's support of U.S. military action in Iraq. Students also witnessed one of the world's largest anti-war demonstrations in Tokyo later in the week.\nMorris said the protest in Japan wasn't too dissimilar from the anti-war protests in the United States, but he was a little concerned there would be some major movement among the people.\nSenior James Malenkos said it was refreshing to be outside of the whole picture as the war with Iraq began. He said he felt less a part of the negativity surrounding America.\n"On a college campus where people are young and liberal with few responsibilities, it's easy to protest something like war," Malenkos said. "It seemed more real to see people outside of the college community that were protesting."\nHe said he thinks after visiting Japan, many Japanese citizens, to a large extent, do not support the war. \nMalenkos, Morris and Dollinger all said they never feared for their lives as Americans in Japan. The war did not interfere with the group's itinerary in any way, Dollinger said.