I am the inaugural Mansfield Chair of Japan and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Montana. This position, named for former ambassador to Japan and longtime Montana Sen. Mike Mansfield was made possible through a generous donation from the Japanese government to the university. Along with educating a new generation in international affairs and conducting research, I will also work with the Mansfield Center at the university to promote international exchange and bring Montana to the world and the world to Montana.
This week, my Japanese politics class was joined by 25 students from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. Together, they tackled a deceptively simple question: What are the most pressing issues facing the Japanese government today?
For the next hour, the classroom buzzed with conversation. What unfolded was not only a spirited debate over policy, but also a powerful demonstration of why international exchange matters.
The Japanese students spoke candidly about their country’s demographic crisis: Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world and a strikingly low birthrate. My Montana students, who had prepped for the day’s activities by reading through headlines and news reporting, encountered the issues through the voices of peers living with the consequences every day. Conversations turned to youth engagement in politics, and the obstacles of living in societies governed by leaders who are overwhelmingly gray-haired and far removed from the concerns of young people.
Students compared their visions for what future leadership should look like and where they might fit within it. They shared their worries about inflation, economic opportunity, and whether their voices would be heard. And they also laughed together, talking about everyday life as young people from two very different corners of the world.
Afterward, my University of Montana students reflected that while we were studying Japanese political and economic in the classroom, the experience brought it real meaning. Reading headlines often frames Japan only in terms of elite politics, trade tensions, or stories that directly connect to broad U.S. interests. But hearing about the daily challenges and hopes of Japanese peers allowed Montana students to go beyond the headlines. We dove under the “high politics” of leaders and summits into the social interactions and lived experiences that shape political futures in profound ways. Exchanges like this one reveal not only how global challenges might affect us in Montana but also what lessons we might take from other societies facing parallel struggles.
That is the heart of international exchange. It is not only about diplomacy or business deals, but about equipping the next generation with the tools to think critically, empathetically, and globally. In an era when isolationist voices are growing louder, these conversations remind us that the world is interconnected — demographically, economically, environmentally, and politically.
And Montana, despite its distance from Tokyo or Washington, is deeply tied to the world. Japan is one of Montana’s most important trade partners, purchasing our beef, wheat, and other agricultural products. Japanese companies are exploring investments in Montana’s energy and technology sectors. Our state has also cultivated a long-standing sister-state relationship with Kumamoto Prefecture, which Governor Gianforte will visit later this year. Exchanges like the one in my classroom build the human relationships that underpin these economic and political connections.
The conversations in my classroom did not produce policy solutions. That wasn’t the point. What mattered was that students began to see themselves as part of a global generation facing similar challenges of aging societies, economic uncertainty, and the struggle to ensure political systems respond to young people’s needs.
International exchange, whether in classrooms, sister-state partnerships, or study abroad opportunities, gives young people the chance to build understanding and trust across borders. These experiences may seem small, but they add up. They shape the leaders, voters, and neighbors who will guide our communities into the future.
When Montana students sit down with peers from Japan, they are not only learning about another country. They are also learning about themselves, their place in the world, and their capacity to help build it. That is why international exchange matters, now more than ever.
Dr. Kristin Vekasi is the inaugural Mansfield Chair in Japanese and Indo-Pacific Studies at the University of Montana.
AloJapan.com