Undergraduate Gets Book Published

By the time Harvard undergraduates leave Cambridge at the end of their College years, they will have bought dozens of books in Harvard Square. But one senior will also have sold his own work there.

Last month, a book by Steven Wardell '94-'95 was published. Rising Sons and Daughters: Life Among Japan's New Young, an anecdotal portrayal of young people in Japan, has earned rave reviews at Harvard and abroad.

"Talented young author Steven Wardell creates a fresh and vibrant picture of life in today's Japan--especially the new interests, hopes, and dreams of our young people," the former Japanese ambassador to the United States, Yoshio Okawara, writes in comments published on the cover of Wardell's book.

The Adams House resident says he took a semester off last year to write about his experiences as a 17-year-old summer exchange student with a Japanese family.

Wardell says he wrote down his observations in numerous journals. Prompted by his family and friends, Wardell compiled the notes from his journals into Rising Sons and Daughters.

During the writing process, Wardell says he recognized an interesting theme was emerging out of his notes.

"The culture gap between Japan's New Young and myself is narrower than the generation gap between Japanese young and old," says the blond-haired, blue-eyed Republican.

Wardell says too much emphasis is placed on the monolithic corporations of Japan rather than the people who live there. There are numerous similarities, Wardell says, between Japanese and American teens.

"The New Young are more individualistic, self-confident and, in a sense, selfish, than their parents," he says. "They love American culture, yet feel let down by America. Above all, they question authority."

Through the funny stories in his book, Wardell says he hopes to show Americans "the human face of Japan."

In one episode, Wardell recalls asking the Japanese students in his English class to write letters to Harvard supporting his application for admission. During a subsequent admissions interview, Wardell writes, the interviewer "seemed to pay particular attention to the letters."

Wardell says his Harvard friends and roommates have continually supported his efforts.

When one of his roommates read the manuscript, he read it straight through in a three-hour sitting and laughed the whole time. Since then, his roommates have called him "Stibu," the name used by Wardell's Japanese family.

Wardell says his work has even conjured up some healthy debate with his professors.

"One of my beliefs is that the New Young are so different from their elders that a profound change will occur in Japan in the coming years," Wardell says. "One of my professors argued with me that the New Young will conform in some degree and that the changes I foresee will not occur."

While waiting for time to determine the fate of his predictions, Wardell says he will spend this year writing a thesis on the American telecommunications industry.

During his time at Harvard, Wardell has been an officer of the Harvard Republican Club, the Harvard Philosophy Project and Lead or Leave, a youth organization whose goal is to increase awareness of the federal budget deficit.

Wardell has also been a member of the sailing team and the Adams House ultimate frisbee team.

Since his return from abroad, Wardell says his knowledge of Japan has been put to good use in his work for the campus magazine, Inside Japan.

After graduating from Harvard, Wardell says he plans to enter public service or business. He looks forward to returning to Japan at some point in his career.

Perhaps, as he says one of his teachers in Japan told him, he will return as ambassador someday.