Bowers Writers House was full of students from Associate Professor of Japanese Dr. Mahua Bhattacharya’s Anime to Zen class to discuss the writings of Nicholas Kristof in his book, “Thunder from the East: Portrait of Rising Asia.” Kristof is this year’s Ware lecture guest and will be on campus on April 13 and 14.

Kristof is a columnist for the New York Times and writes primarily on human rights, social justice and global affairs. His writing has earned him two Pulitzer Prizes and 1.3 million followers on Twitter. His book “Thunder from the East: Portrait of Rising Asia,” was written in 2000 and elaborates on the social, economic and environmental issues Japan, China and India must overcome after their economies burst in the 1990s.

Although Kristof’s book hits all three of those countries, the meeting in the Bowers Writers House was primarily about Japan’s struggles and issues. Kristof has lived in Japan and experienced many of these problems firsthand.

Many of Japan’s issues stem from their economic policies. Kristof explained how they have a somewhat careless approach. It was said high level executives go out and have thousand-dollar dinners and simply put it on the company. This causes some Japanese companies to have extremely high expense accounts because somebody still has to pay for these meals. This leads to corruption in these individuals. These corrupt leaders only continue to hurt the economy of their country.

Kristof states in the book that the West has been able to succeed because of their greed. Japan must acquire this greed. He also continues to say if Japan would adopt democracy, this would also help them regain control economically and politically.

Even though the Japanese have their problems, they are innovators in the field of robotics. Robotics was talked about extensively at the event. The use of robotics is becoming highly advanced in Japan.

The term robotics isn’t only a term for technology, but also for the people who use it. With such a high use of technology, Japan is starting to lose its human touch and is becoming very dependent on robotics.

Japan has been so successful in the field of technology because they have an educated work force, but the schools are actually overfunded in Japan.

The meeting eventually extended out of the book and into the hands of the group. Questions were then raised about more modern issues, such as pollution, nuclear power plant renovations and problems stemming from the 2013 Fukushima typhoon.

The book discussion was meant to raise awareness of Kristof’s visit, his writing style, articles and interests, because he will be visiting Elizabethtown College later this month. “The main goal was to motivate students to go to his lecture,” Bhattacharya said. “The book was merely a supplementary tool to raise awareness of Kristof but also to raise awareness on the issues that the far east has struggled with.”

“I’m more of a listener, and it was really cool to see the perspectives everyone has,” sophomore Caitlin Lockard said.

The book discussion was formed by Bhattacharya and Professor of Religion and Asian Studies Dr. Jeffery Long. They provided a very open and calm environment for their students to speak and share their opinions. This gave a different feeling than a classroom lecture and allowed more students to get involved and interact with each other. The students built off what one another said, but also challenged each other.

Kristof is scheduled to speak at the College on April 13 in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center at 7:30 p.m.