We students take a great deal for granted at Amherst. The truth is that many of the things that make the College so great would never exist if not for the behind-the-scenes work from ambitious and innovative professors such as Professor of History and Asian Languages and Civilizations (ALAC) Ray Moore, who is the only professor retiring this year. In fact, the ALAC department itself would probably not exist without Moore's work.

"Professor Moore is a very passionate person," said Professor of Asian Languages and Civilizations Wako Tawa. "He has taught about Japan and its history with great passion to many young people here at the College. His passion made it possible to found one of the very best study abroad programs to Japan." Moore has enhanced both the educational opportunities and the beauty of the College. "It was his passion that led to the creation of the Japanese-style garden here at the College, recognized nationally for its beauty," Tawa added. "This passion is what I will miss most after he leaves the College."

The young soldier

Moore's interest in Asia began at the tender age of 14 when he ran off to illegally serve in the U.S. Army. "Officially I was 17, and my mother was willing to say it was okay. But the fact was that I did join the army when I was 14 years and three months. I was probably one of the youngest American soldiers ever," said Moore.

Moore served in the army for two years before the Korean War broke out. "I had no idea that the war was coming," said Moore. "Not even [President Harry S.] Truman knew that it was coming. I was supposed to be discharged in February '51 but I ended up staying until April of '52."

A field communications specialist, Moore was stationed in Japan for three months before he was sent to Korea. He eventually wound up at Kojedo Island, a U.S. camp for prisoners of war off the tip of South Korea. "It must have had at least 150,000 prisoners," said Moore.

"While I was there a terrible, terrible thing happened," said Moore. "Some of the prisoners rioted and American soldiers began shooting them. Large numbers were killed-slaughtered. I helped to carry away 85 dead and 135 wounded on the first day alone. That was the first day of what turned out to be a mass slaughter of Korean prisoners of war."

After that, Moore could not remain in the armed forces. "Frankly, I was very upset by that particular event, so I decided to get out of the army. I didn't want anything to do with the military anymore. I had the GI bill, so I decided to go back to Japan and study Japanese."

Back and forth

Moore shuttled back and forth between the U.S. and East Asia quite a few times before settling at the College in 1965. He began his undergraduate work as the first American at the International Christian University in Tokyo but eventually transferred to the University of Chicago and then the University of Michigan.

Completely fluent in Japanese, Moore completed his masters degree before returning to Japan for several years to research his doctoral dissertation. Moore went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in early modern Japanese history.

No formal Asian studies department existed when Moore began teaching at the College, but he quickly worked to remedy that. In 1971, Moore co-founded the Associated Kyoto Program (AKP), which is today's junior-year abroad program at Doshisha University. Over 1,000 students from 16 liberal arts colleges, including over 100 from Amherst, have now taken advantage of this program. Moore still serves on the board of directors today and has raised $1.2 million for the AKP endowment.

Soon after implementing the AKP, Moore started a new project: heading the all-new Asian Studies Program. This program was the forerunner of the Asian languages and literatures department, which Moore also organized and chaired beginning in 1981. This new department existed in its original form until 1989, when Moore once again organized and chaired a new department that still exists today, the ALAC department.

Moore had felt a real need for the new ALAC designation. "No one had tenure in the literature department at the time, so we were afraid that it was going to collapse. [Several colleagues] and I all had tenure in our own departments, so we all proposed that we take joint appointments in this new department so that it would be safe and so that it would not collapse. We were just trying to make sure that the study of Asia continued at Amherst College."

Moore raised close to a million dollars to help create the new ALAC department. "I proposed it to the College and [the proposal] went to different organizations with the help of the office here," said Moore. "It was all very competitive, but we got the money." They did indeed, and Moore can leave knowing that the ALAC department will continue to thrive.