An unabating tension between conflict and cooperation has been an undercurrent of U.S.-Japan relations in the past 150 years, at times erupting into clashes reaching the scale of world war and at times allowing for measured collaboration. We will explore the U.S.-Japan relationship from the perspectives of both countries with a focus on how culture, domestic concerns, economic and political aims, international contexts, and race have helped shape its course and nature. This course will fulfill the requirements of the Exploring Diversity Initiative by examining not just the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Japan, but also how various types of interactions have influenced the dynamics of power between these two countries and have shaped the ways in which each country has understood and portrayed the other. Topics will include early U.S.-Japan encounters, the road to World War II, the politics and social history of the Occupation, trade relations, and the U.S.-Japan security alliance. Contemporary topics will also be discussed and due attention will be given to the larger context of U.S.-East Asia relations.