Charles Kraus, a Program Assistant with the Wilson Center's Cold War International History Project (CWIHP), recently visited the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in Tokyo.

Kraus met with Deputy Director Miruko Atsuta to discuss declassification and research procedures at the Diplomatic Archives, the availability of documentation related to Japan's post-war diplomatic history, and the possibilities for institutional collaboration between the Wilson Center and the Diplomatic Archives.

The visit is connected to a larger initiative being undertaken by CWIHP to obtain declassified documents relevant to Cold War history from Japanese archives, to promote collaboration and cooperation between scholars in the US, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia, and to encourage more scholarship on Japan's experiences of and involvement in the Cold War. CWIHP is interested in expanding its partners network to include scholars based in Japan and elsewhere working on recent Japanese diplomatic history using Japanese archival materials.