The lives of John D. Rockefeller the 3rd and Shigeharu Matsumoto, their 50 year friendship, interrupted but not destroyed by the war, and the vital projects they worked on together to cement a lasting two-way relationship between the United States and Japan. Their life exemplifies the idea that the relationship between countries is built upon the relationship between their peoples, and through examining their life and friendship this documentary presents an opportunity to consider the challenges facing the present day United States, engaged around the world with unfamiliar cultures and customs forced to come to grips with the dynamics of western style globalization.—Anonymous
June 17, 1952: Only seven years after the end of World War II, the flags of the 'Rising Sun' were flying high over Fifth Avenue in New York. They marked the re-opening of Japan Society. In Tokyo, in the same year, International House threw open its doors. The goal of both organizations: to promote cultural and intellectual exchange between the United States and Japan and to foster mutual respect and understanding in an effort to avert the horror of future wars. Two remarkable men guided this process, making it their life's work: John D. Rockefeller the 3rd, scion of one of America's most prominent families, and Shigeharu Matsumoto,journalist; their friendship lasted over 50 years.
The Quiet Builders John and Shige- depicts the friendship of the two men and recreates their extraordinary times through their diaries, notes and letters and studies how their behind-the-scenes diplomacy during the complicated post-war period helped to shape the present US/Japan relationship.
Both men found that their experiences during the war left them with a shared sense of how to rebuild the relationship between their nations; they both believed that learning and understanding the other country's culture was of vital importance, that diplomacy must be a two-way street. Based on this common recognition,JDR and Matsumoto took on numerous grass-roots projects to move both countries closer together.
This 60 minute documentary is the story of a friendship, but also the story of two nation once separated by war and the unexpected connections their people achieved in the post war period.
