In recent years, many “ethnic music” events take place inside and outside of school as part of a program of “understanding different cultures”. But when the content is examined, such music events seem to stimulate only a superficial exoticism and fall within the boundaries of the students' comprehension. From this viewpoint, in this paper, I wish to show that “difficulty in understanding” is absolutely necessary for “understanding different cultures”.

  Namely, by showing the “difficulties in understanding”, students can reexamine themselves in terms of why they have difficulties in understanding different cultures. Moreover, “diversity” without “difficulty in understanding” never leads to an “understanding of others” in the sense that it cannot be a catalyst for students to reexamine themselves.

  This article will discuss the materials held in the Shuji Isawa archives at Bridgewater State College, Massachusetts, USA, and then address some key issues and questions relating to them. The materials are divided into the following three groups : 1) those directly related to Isawa such as his handwritten registration card or his portraits (five items) ; 2) records concerning Isawa kept by the school (nine items) ; 3) miscellaneous items such as a list of Japanese nationals who visited the Isawa archives, the letters and books that they subsequently sent to the school, and recent newspapers issued by the school. Photographs and scanned images of the group 1 and 2 materials will be available online in the near future.