Observe more than half a century of change in Japan through photographs and stories. Dr. Keith Brown has been traveling to Mizusawa, a town in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, for 53 years.

Dr. Brown has captured the emergence of car culture and the evolution of agriculture from labor-intensive hand cultivated rice to capital-intensive highly mechanized agriculture. As in America, "Main Street" in the center of town has hollowed out as suburban big box stores have overtaken small shops.

But what does that mean for the lives of the farmers there? Has this Japanese town been "McDonaldized?" Join us for this free evening at the USX Building, Conference Room 33C12, from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m., January 29, 2015. Light hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be provided. Space is limited so please register by January 23 at http://www.us-japan.org/jasp/events.html.