by Laura Richardson, '08
 When Ranko Iwamoto, '60, (at right in photo) left her Japanese homeland in 1956 to study journalism at Whitworth, she had a mission: to learn about Americans. "I thought the best way to do that was to live among them and get to know their experiences of daily life," Iwamoto says.
Once at Whitworth, she encountered an unfamiliar culture in which she had to learn new concepts in her second language, English. She became fascinated with intercultural communication. "I felt I was destined to come to the United States to facilitate communication [between Japan and the U.S.]," she says.
Iwamoto's Whitworth memories revolve around the people she met and the defining moments in which she learned about herself. In her English-literature class with Professor Clarence Simpson, she would write down her questions and visit his office after class to ask them. "He was always very courteous," she says. "Dr. Simpson remained a symbol of the democratic character of the United States, and that impressed me most at Whitworth College: The professors are very much a part of us students."
After graduating cum laude with a degree in journalism, Iwamoto earned her master's in journalism from Boston University. She then spent 14 years with Ruder & Finn, Inc., a major public-relations agency in New York, where she focused on helping resolve economic, communicative and cultural frictions between the U.S. and Japan. "It was a very challenging environment. It became my experiment lab for discovering the challenges of American-Japanese communication," she says. In 1978 she left Ruder & Finn, Inc., and founded Ranko International, her own public-relations company.
Eventually, Iwamoto decided to write a book focused on her time in post-WWII Japan and the U.S. In Purity and Power: The Spirit of a Female Samurai, available from Biblio.com and other online vendors, she points out that, as a result of its adventurous history, American culture is always looking forward. "American people are action-oriented," she writes. "They are basically interested in overcoming hardships." Japanese people have grown used to living in an environment of limited space, Iwamoto says. Because multiple generations often live in the same household, people are very careful of what they say. "I try to exercise the best of the two approaches: active and passive, involved and detached," she says.
Although writing in one's second language is challenging, Iwamoto says that it has been her most rewarding profession. People tell her that they have been moved and inspired by her book. "A couple told me they cried at certain chapters, at certain points in my writing," she says.
Iwamoto doesn't have much time to promote the book because she is constantly busy with Ranko International. She recently traveled to Japan to publicize Japanese designer Chie Imai's fashion show. The show featured recycled polyester from Japanese plastics/pharmaceutical maker Teijin Limited, one of Iwamoto's clients. "Every day brings a new challenge," she says. "I have been blessed with the best teacher in life – experiences."
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