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GARY EICHTEN: NPR's Melissa Block reports.

MELISSA BLOCK: In his ruling, US District Judge Eugene Nickerson wrote that Gigante engaged in an extensive scheme to convince law enforcement and his doctors that he was insane. The ruling comes after three of four psychiatrists who said they found Gigante incompetent in 1990, changed their opinions and said they now believe he's malingering. Gigante's lawyer claims his client has been mentally ill for decades, that he's incapable of running a candy store, much less a major crime family.

Judge Nickerson found otherwise. He cited Gigante's trips in the middle of the night to his reputed mistress, his efforts to evade law enforcement, surveillance, and clandestine meetings he attended as proof that Gigante is, in fact, mentally competent. Gigante will be arraigned on September 6. Among the charges he faces, numerous counts of conspiracy to murder, including plotting the murder of John Gotti, head of the Gambino crime family. I'm Melissa Block in New York.

GARY EICHTEN: On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow Jones industrial average is down over 33 points at 5,679 in light trading of 174 million shares. On the over-the-counter market, the NASDAQ composite index is down 2 and 3/4 points. This is NPR News.

KAREN BARTA: Good afternoon. I'm Karen Barta with news from Minnesota Public Radio. Minnesota's delegation to the Democratic National Convention is eagerly awaiting President Clinton's acceptance speech to delegates tonight in Chicago. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen Louise Boothe reports.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: Minnesota's delegation is riding high following last night's official nomination of President Clinton for re-election. They did what they came here to do, and that is place into nomination Clinton's name on a unanimous state vote. The Minnesota delegation has been among the most prompt every night, often seating itself before United Center fills up with other states.

But they've celebrated, too. Many speaking in hoarse voices this morning learned how to say four more years in sign language-- coached by a hearing-impaired delegate. Reporting from the National Democratic Convention in Chicago. This is Karen Louise Boothe.

KAREN BARTA: Jury selection begins today in a 1988 Wilmer murder case that went unsolved for seven years. A former drug informant will be among the witnesses at Lawrence-Parker's first-degree murder trial. The 57-year-old Parker is charged in the December 26, 1988 shooting death of David Erickson. Authorities have cleared the scene of a fiery collision on Minnesota Highway 7 West of the Twin Cities.

A tanker and another truck collided around 6:15 this morning. A State Patrol trooper says neither driver was seriously injured. The collision resulted in an explosion and fire that sent flames more than 100 feet into the air. The state forecast this afternoon mostly to partly sunny, with highs from the middle 70s in the Northeast to the middle 80s in the West.

Tonight, mostly clear with lows in the 50s. For the Twin Cities this afternoon, partly cloudy, high around round 82. Fair skies around the region this hour, in Saint Cloud at 75 degrees, Duluth reporting 69. It's 72 in Rochester and 72 in the Twin Cities. That's news from Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Karen Barta.

GARY EICHTEN: 6 minutes past 12 o'clock. Time for today's Minnesota Meeting. Off we go to the Marriott Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.

GAIL DORN: Good afternoon. I am Gail Dorn, vice president of Communications and Community Relations for Dayton-Hudson Corporation and Target stores, and I am a member of the Minnesota Meeting Board of Directors. It's a pleasure to welcome all of you here today. I would also like to welcome our radio audience throughout the upper Midwest, who are hearing this program on Minnesota Public Radio's Midday program. Broadcasts of Minnesota Meeting are made possible by the law firm of Oppenheimer, Wolf, and Donnelly, with offices in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and major cities in the United States and Europe.

Members of the Minnesota Meeting represent this community's leaders from business, government, academia, and the professions. They meet 12 times a year to hear from and question leaders of national and international stature. This is our 15th year in the marketplace of ideas. I joined the Minnesota Meetings Board this year, and I'm very excited about the 1996-1997 season.

This year, we will focus on a nation of change, and we'll discuss such issues as the aging of America, the blurring distinctions between the public and the private sectors, and of course, this year's election and how they will affect America's role in the world. And with that in mind, we are very pleased to present to you today ambassador Walter F. Mondale, America's ambassador to Japan, and of course, the former vice president of the United States.

For the very few of you in this audience who are not long-term Minnesotans, let me give you a brief history of ambassador Mondale. Fritz Mondale was born and grew up in Elmore, Minnesota, and he spent his boyhood in the small towns of Southern Minnesota. One of the co-founders of the Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, Ambassador Mondale got his first real taste of politics, helping Hubert Humphrey win election to the US Senate for the first time in 1948.

He then earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, served as a corporal in the US Army, and in '56 graduated from the University of Minnesota's law school. In 1960, he became Minnesota's attorney general and four years later was asked by Governor Karl Rolvaag to fill the US Senate seat vacated by Hubert Humphrey when he became vice president. Minnesota voters sent ambassador Mondale back to the Senate in 1966 and 1972.

And 20 years ago, this election season, Walter Mondale was elected vice president of the United States, along with President Jimmy Carter. Eight years later, he ran for president against Ronald Reagan, winning in Minnesota by a very large margin. And I just have to add--

[APPLAUSE]

I just have to add one of my personal favorite campaign slogans from that campaign. I think one especially appropriate to Dayton Hudson was Mondale, not just another shopping mall.

[LAUGHTER]

Since 1984, Ambassador Mondale has practiced law privately, lectured, studied, and traveled. He was named US ambassador to Japan in the summer of 1993. Ambassador Mondale will focus his remarks today on America's relationship with Japan and Asia as a whole, and he will then take questions. Gloria McClanahan and also Jane Mrazek of the Minnesota Meeting will move among you to manage the question-and-answer session. So please join me today in welcoming one of Minnesota's favorite sons, the honorable Walter F. Mondale, US ambassador to Japan.

[APPLAUSE]

WALTER MONDALE: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Gail, for that wonderful introduction. I don't know who does your research, but I'd like to put them on my staff as quickly as possible because his understanding of certain earlier historical events is far more optimistic than mine.

I want to thank the Minnesota Meeting Board and leaders for sponsoring today's luncheon, and for all that they've done now for 15 years to be one of the central opportunities for Minnesotans to stay up to date, to listen, to explore the central questions of our time. It is now a seasoned, established organization, and they deserve an awful lot of thanks for what they do.

Same thing goes for Minnesota Public Radio. It's a magnificent contribution to this whole region that comes from that unique media access to our people that has time to discuss issues and to pursue things of importance, whether they have commercial value or not. And I am very, very grateful to MPR for what it does for all of us.

So many people here to recognize that-- I think I'll just skip it, except just mention a few. And the rest of you who resent me for having been omitted, please talk to Joan following the meeting. I want to mention, particularly Reverend Dennis Dease, the University of Saint Thomas, one of really the top educators in our region, if not, in the nation, who's doing a superb job heading that most important institution now with a special emphasis on the urban ministry. And I admire your work. And I'm very grateful that you would be with us today.

To Jerry Joseph, former US ambassador to the Netherlands who headed up my effort at the university in the Mondale forum. I'm so glad that you're with us today. To former Congressman Tim Penny, who is also with us, David Lillehaug, US attorney, and Lynda Pedersen, who serves as my executive assistant in Japan. Joan and I are having a wonderful time. The job is challenging and exciting.

It's our first experience living as expats overseas, and we find ourselves constantly pressing to try to understand and to respond to Japan's unique society. Joan has taken a unique approach to it. She decided to emphasize the arts and ceramics. She has now met every artist and every potter in Japan. And starting last month, she's starting the second time around. And it's been exciting to learn about that rich aspect of Japanese life and to watch Joan enjoy it.

I'd like to make just a few points and then take questions. My first point is about Minnesota and East Asia. In our part of the country, it is perfectly possible to live out our lives without speaking another language, without any significant exposure to other cultures. And this is especially the case when we look at the new Japan and East Asia. Most of us come from European stock.

If we think about foreign matters, it tends to be Euro-centered. But if we're not careful, we will miss the incredible changes occurring in Asia and fail to see the enormous stake that we have in that part of the world. Asia, for example, is now the fastest-growing area in the world. We do more trade with the Asian Pacific region than we do with Europe.

And just a very few years, we'll do twice as much trade with that region than with Europe. Japan and the United States are the two most impressive economies in the world. Together, we produce 40% of the world's goods. Japan is America's largest agricultural market, and that will continue to grow. And many, many businesses benefit from that. Minnesota businesses are very much involved there.

Northwest Airlines, 3M, Honeywell, Medtronic, Saint Jude, Cargill, SuperValu, Andersen and Marvin Windows. And many, many others are found there. And many of them are doing very well. But there are other important elements to this relationship as well. We have an enormous stake in the stability of what has been a historically unstable region.

In my lifetime, the three most serious wars have all started, and many of them have been fought out in that region. And while the Cold War is over in Europe, vestiges of it still remain in Asia. We have a large military presence in Japan and Korea with treaty responsibilities. And that region, lacking a peacekeeping structure like NATO, heavily depends on us to sustain the peace.

The largest massing of hostile forces in the world is found on the North and South Korean border. Their newly wealthy region is threatened by growing arms expenditures, by the production of weapons of mass destruction, and by the risk of nuclear proliferation. And there is a growing dependency in this region upon imported energy, because as Asia grows, you're finding a sharply rising demand for imported oil, and this, in turn, is triggering competing claims over territory thought to contain energy supplies and growing interest in assured access to the high seas.

The task of encouraging Asia to peacefully solve these problems and to refrain from using arms to solve them must continue to be a very central goal of our national policy. With their new and growing wealth, Japan and the other players in the region, like China and Korea and the ASEAN countries, will be increasingly influential in the world. The world must make room for them and be prepared to listen much more carefully to what they're saying. Our nation cannot escape involvement there or isolate itself from the consequences of developments there.

Moreover, we sometimes forget that here. America is a distinctly Pacific power. Our nation borders on the Pacific. We have millions of American citizens of ethnic Asian origin. Hawaii sits in the middle of the Pacific, and our fellow Americans are found throughout the region in Guam, Samoa, midway, and throughout the Pacific area. Our view of Asia and Japan should not be cast solely in terms of risks. We must also see the incredible potential to flow from a vigorous and thoughtful American presence there.

America offers much to Asia. First of all, we're their largest open market, their major source of security. And more of their young attend American universities and colleges than do the students of any other part of the world. We have many of them in Minnesota. America remains the world's preeminent source of science and technology. Our businesses pace the world in productivity and innovation.

American cultural influence is profound, while often controversial. America is seen as the world's leader on issues like human rights, nuclear non-proliferation, anti-terrorism, the environment, health and business ethics. And while our leadership is often criticized, in my opinion, more than is generally realized, Asia and the world depends upon America for leadership and direction.

I believe that America is admired and enjoys enormous moral authority, but I must quickly add that our leadership must nevertheless be characterized by a decent respect for others and for the strengths that they too bring to the hope for human advancement. With Asian and Japanese support, our ability to shape the course of the world developments is greatly enhanced. Thus, American policy must constantly engage Asian leadership across the entire spectrum of human endeavor.

Now, none of this is easy. First of all, it's expensive. We need people who speak their often different languages. We must understand and respect their very different histories and cultures. Many of these nations, not including Japan-- I'm glad to say-- still have authoritarian systems of government. Human rights abuses are found in many of them. Their religious and cultural foundations are much different from ours and different as between the nations of Asia. Their governmental systems and methods of decision-making often differ greatly from ours. In fact, I spend most of my time trying to figure out what's going on.

[LAUGHTER]

Asia is just beginning to develop institutions for regional understanding and cooperation, like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference, known as APEC, or the ASEAN Regional Forum, known as ARF. They have no regional security institution at all and won't have for many years. Many of these nations, which enjoy largely unrestricted access to our open markets, pursue mercantilist and protectionist policies that block an equivalent access for our exports and direct investment into their markets.

Like us, they, too, are very proud and believe in themselves. With their new wealth and growing confidence, national egos could drive sharply rising military budgets and dangerous and destabilizing claims against others. Perhaps most important of all, what we do with them will be largely colored by what we do at home. I believe that our greatest gift to the world is America's commitment to human liberty and to the individual and his rights.

We must lead by our example. We cherish the individual and his or her capacity to grow, to create, to learn, to be heard in our society. We protect that cherished goal in our Constitution, in our laws, in everything we do. It is the essence of America. The strength of our moral authority abroad will flow not from our sermons, but from the example we set by our own behavior at home. They are watching us all the time.

Asians are always weighing our individualism against their much more group-oriented systems. Confucianism, still basic to much of Asia, emphasizes group harmony and hierarchy-- the obligation of the governed to the governors, of the employee to the employer, of the wife to the husband, of the children to the father, and of everyone to the group. With the growth of the middle class, there is a rising trend toward democracy with an Asian face.

But there remains a very strong belief in many of these countries that their society requires authoritarian restraints. And they look at the violence in America at the wanton use of guns here, and argue that our emphasis on the individual really means personal license at the expense of society. That remains the tyrant's best case against Democratic reform.

Many Japanese students have been killed in America. Recently, a top Japanese doctor in California and his 13-year-old daughter were gunned down outside their home. Such things are beyond belief in Japan, where guns are carefully regulated and where people freely walk in the streets. When I first got to Japan and I'd see young couples walking in out into dark spaces in a park at night, my reaction was watch out.

And after a month or so, I realized, you can do that there. It's safe. I have met with sad parents of young Japanese students who went to America with love in their hearts, but who were killed despite their innocence. And I've done that more than once. All I could do was apologize. But with each new example of violence, apologies lose their meaning.

Failure to deal with violence in America, failure to restrain the use of guns as weapons of wanton bloodshed is no longer just a domestic issue. It is costing us terribly. It shatters our moral authority, and it arms the advocates of authoritarianism with their strongest case for oppression at home. We must stop it not just for ourselves, but also for mankind.

[APPLAUSE]

Another challenge is the very low level of savings in America. We are great consumers, but we save far less than do the Asians. As a percentage of our GDP, gross private savings in Japan are 32%. In the United States-- 15%. That means hundreds of billions of dollars in added savings to the asset side of the Japanese economy.

This enormous capital accumulation in Japan is, I believe, their greatest asset in meeting the American economic challenge. It is true that the openness of the American economy presses our businesses to make far better use of its capital and produces far higher returns from our investments. Our free capital markets are vastly more efficient than theirs.

Our flexible entrepreneurship permits Americans to tap the richness of our scientific advantage much more rapidly and innovatively than is permitted in their system. We must retain all of those advantages. Nevertheless, enhanced emphasis on increased American savings would produce improved American competitiveness. It would also reduce American reliance on foreign capital and assure that more of American wealth would remain at home to strengthen our nation.

Another problem is what I see as the know-nothing belief that all-American public expenditures are always wasteful, and that all budget cuts and foreign aid and in support of our diplomatic service and for our public commercial activities can be forgone with no loss to the nation at all. A sharp eye for waste is essential. Budget pressure has resulted in sensible savings, but we are now cutting muscle and bone. It is demoralizing our superb foreign service professionals, weakening our influence abroad, and restricting the capacity of your government to represent American interests around the world.

This past year, if you can believe it, we closed the American Cultural Center in Kyoto, which has been open for 45 years. Now, this is the heart and the essence of the history and the culture of Japan. We could afford it for 45 years, but no more. Britain, France, Germans have a consulate there, but we're not represented there. It was an awful blow to the stature and appeal and sensitivity that we demonstrated, that we enjoyed in that community. Now, I never go near Kyoto because I don't hear about it.

One wonders why we can no longer afford such a center when other countries can. Last year, we very nearly closed our consulate in Sapporo, although the economy of the area served by that consulate is larger than that of Korea, Taiwan, or Australia. And we just came that close to closing it. There is virtually no US foreign aid at all left in Asia. This undermines our influence. We spend much time urging Japan to be more helpful.

In the crucial North Korean Kaito project, in which we're trying to press North Korea away from building nuclear weapons, the House of Representatives cut our commitment in half. Japan and South Korea will spend billions of dollars to build peaceful power plants in North Korea. Our commitment was to spend $25 million to get it started, and that was cut to $13 million. Breaking our word to our allies, these senseless cuts demean our nation and cripple our effort to turn a dangerous nation away from acquiring its own nuclear weapons.

One of the great American advantages is its leadership in science and technology. You see that everywhere. World's awed by that dimension of America. We're the envy of the world. Nevertheless, our system of research is heavily dependent upon public support for our superb centers of research in our national institutes and our great research universities. These things are almost by definition, going to be supported by the public or not at all, because pure science is that way.

Japan now spends more in support of research per capita than do we, and very soon will be spending more in absolute terms on scientific research than are we. We need not fear this. We should welcome scientific advance. Nevertheless, we need to realize that American leadership in science is one of our most precious assets. And since so much of this is dependent on public support, is troubling to see public support actually decreasing. Such cuts are not savings. They are serious assaults on the American advantage in science and technology, where so much of our future is to be found.

Let me close by talking about Minnesota for a minute. As you know, I think I have proven to be a shameless apostle of that state, but I didn't realize I had overdone it until they held a reception for Joan and me on the Blue Ridge, which is the command ship for the Seventh Fleet. And as I was piped aboard, I saw the three great flags of the world's great powers on the mast-- Japan, United States, and Minnesota.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

He got another star shortly after that. I have always believed that we are a special state capable of producing leadership and the promotion of human values in quantities far disproportionate to our size. I often tell the Japanese that for some reason, history can no longer explain, as the United States was forming a disproportionate and skewed amount proportion of the talent in America settled here.

Minnesota's presence in Japan is a source of great pride to me, and I hope to you. The great differences between us, which I've discussed just earlier, requires the best scholars learning and teaching the next generations. The University of Minnesota does not have much available in this field, and President Hasselmo is concerned about it. Carleton has a good program. Macalester is doing quite well, and I'm sure there are other efforts around. You see some good news.

A few weeks ago, there were hundreds high school students from the United States visiting Japan, and you had to have two years of Japanese to qualify. And there was heavy national competition. Of the 100 students, nine were from Minnesota, and partly that's because Minneapolis has-- offers Japanese to some students. And some of the other schools do. And I was so proud to see that.

We have a campus in Akita, Japan, called the University of Minnesota, Akita, which is sponsored by our own state university system and heavily supported by the local prefecture. This is a wonderful program. It's a small program, but it may be the best branch campus in Japan. And one of the aspects of it is not only that we have 60 or so of our students studying there, but there's about 200 Japanese college students attending our state university system this year. And it's one of the best things we got going. And I hope we'll keep it up.

Nevertheless, we need to greatly enhance Minnesota's understanding of Japan and Asia. The study and teaching of Japanese and Asian scholarship in this state is still far short of what is needed for the training of young Minnesotans who will live in a world of ever increasing Asian importance. We need to increase the offering of Japanese in our schools, our colleges, and our universities. And I hope that every high school system that can, every college and university that can, will take a hard look at how they can increase scholarship and training in this area.

In my opinion, virtually nothing we can do will help Minnesota and this next generation more than preparing them for their future, in which Asia will be increasingly important. I would like to see Minnesota become the most advanced state in the nation in the preparation of its students for this new world. What Japan and Asia decides is and will be decided by them, but what we do will be decided by us. Ignorance is the most dangerous policy of all. As always, Americans and Minnesotans must look to themselves for their basic answers. I think we know that, and now we must do it. Thank you very much.

[APPLAUSE]

Thank you.

GAIL DORN: Thank you, Ambassador Mondale. You are listening for our radio audience. You are listening to Walter Mondale, the US ambassador to Japan, on the stations of Minnesota Public Radio. We have a first question here from Tony Kozlowski, who is the president of the American Refugee Committee.

TONY KOZLOWSKI: Thank you. Mr. Ambassador, we're being offered a choice today by the two major political parties concerning a number of domestic issues of crucial importance to this country. Not much is said during an election years about foreign policy and foreign issues. What, from your perspective, is the difference being offered to us by the two parties as far as foreign policy is concerned? And secondly, if you were Secretary of State, what would be the first three or four priorities on your agenda?

WALTER MONDALE: I have to leave.

[LAUGHTER]

One of the joys of my position is that ambassadors are supposed to remain out of politics. I represent the country and not a political party. Although if you can depoliticize me, you've really done a lot. You've created a new human species, in fact. I suspect that somewhere along the line-- not right now-- but somewhere along that we will see foreign policy issues start to surface in the campaign.

And I hope that there will be an appropriate discussion about the tremendous significance of these Asian developments that I try to discuss in my remarks today. Thus far, from what I can see, that is not yet taking shape. But I think before it's over, we'll see some foreign policy issues. It's important. We only have one shot at the presidency every four years, and this is the time to have our national discussion.

And this great country of ours is not just by itself, as we know, where it fits in the world, how it leads the world. These are among the most sacred questions of all, and I'm sure we'll start hearing it. And I look forward to that.

GAIL DORN: Thank you, Ambassador Mondale. Our next question is from Jeff Arnold, who is vice president of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

JEFF ARNOLD: Mr. Ambassador, the people of Minnesota felt a special connection to the people of Kobe during the earthquake as a result of your presence, and I think everyone here was proud of the assistance you provided and the recognition by the Japanese government. Would you please provide us with an update on the reconstruction process now that Kobe has kind of dropped out of the headlines? And also, share your thoughts about the impact of the earthquake on the Japanese people and especially the Japanese economy.

WALTER MONDALE: Minnesota doesn't have earthquakes, so I had no experience with it. You get over that in a hurry. In Japan, that's the Earthquake Training Center in the world. And I remember I was sitting on a chair with rollers, and I was being interviewed by a Japanese reporter. And suddenly, I started rolling across the room without intending to do so. Didn't bother him at all. But for some reason, I was unnerved.

The Kobe earthquake was horrible. What? 8,000 people were killed. Joan and I visited it about eight days after it happened. And you can't describe the devastation that occurred, and the miles upon miles of collapsed homes, collapsed businesses, the dislocation of thousands and thousands of people. The old, traditional Japanese home has a heavy tile roof, and it's supported by one beam-- one post and one beam.

And a lot of those support systems were old and rotten-- some of them. And 3,000 or 4,000 people died almost instantly in their own home because the earthquake lifted up. And then it had both a horizontal and a vertical slant. The violence was unbelievable, and it came down. And these people found their home as their tombs. And the port, which Kobe relies on-- it's one of the largest ports in the world-- was just down. All these great cranes are on their side. They had a lot of fill there that was all-- went back to the sea. And this was very sad sight.

But the Japanese are diligent. And they went back at it in a hurry. The town is back on its feet. The port is fully operational. The streets are cleaned up. All the highways and train systems and so are back in business. A lot of new housing has been built. One of the sad things is there's still, I think, about 40,000 or 50,000 people that can't find permanent housing, and that continues to be a growing problem. But in two years, they really did a very impressive job there.

GAIL DORN: Thank you, Ambassador Mondale. We have a next question from Emily Anne Tuttle, who is the president of the Minnesota International Center.

EMILY ANNE TUTTLE: Thank you so much, Ambassador Mondale, for speaking about our need for greater internationalism. Obviously, it's a tremendous issue in this area, but I wonder now. You were talking a little bit about the traditional values and how you see them changing to some extent, and a little bit about the role of families and whether they are becoming more international in their view of the world as you perceive it from your vantage point there.

WALTER MONDALE: Very good question. Japan has had a unique history. It lived as a remote, isolated island kingdom for literally thousands of years. And the last 250 years before the Meiji period-- so that's like the early 1600s. For 250 years, they had a deliberate policy of isolation. One law said, for example, if a sailor got lost at sea and came back, he was to be executed. They wanted no-- they didn't want to mess with the rest of the world. So you had this unique tradition of living that way.

Now, they've just started opening up in Meiji era. That's about 1868, and they've done a lot. They've sent people around. They've got schools and so on. But then they know more and really got started. And then World War II started. And they were isolated again. And then they were in terrible shape for five or 10 or 15 years after the war. And it's just now that they're starting to move out again. They have about 15 million tourists.

I think half of them go to the Mall of America because they all tell me about it. About 4 million come to the United States. Of course, you have hundreds of thousands of Japanese businessmen and their families living around the world. A high number of Japanese students study elsewhere and more in the United States than anywhere else. They are tremendous consumers of Western culture. There's always an orchestra, a dance group, a poet, someone coming through there.

The St. Paul chamber was there a few months ago. Big crowds. Very, very successful. I was very proud of them. I hope the Minnesota Orchestra will come because AGOA should fit just right there. And of course, they have open television and radio. This is a free society. This is not a rigged country. And so they're becoming more and more a part of the world. Nevertheless, you find a reluctance to give up the comfort of the Japan-only thing. It demonstrates itself in foreign policy and security policy and trade and many, many other ways. It's the way they do things.

GAIL DORN: Thank you, Ambassador Mondale. Our next question is from Doug Beal, who is a travel agent with Travelways.

DOUG BEAL: Hello, Mr. Ambassador. I just wanted to ask to learn more about the cultural dynamics of Asia that you spoke of Japan or Asia. Are there any good books you would recommend?

WALTER MONDALE: Oh, yeah, there's a lot of them. Reischauer has written four or five books. He was the ambassador in the '60s under Kennedy and was a great Japanese scholar, and grew up there. I would recommend those. There's a Sir George Sansom, who wrote the short cultural history of Japan. This is one of the great classics of the cultural side.

There's a standard history by Beasley, a British historian, that I recommend to a lot of people because it's about the only readable, relatively short history. So in high school, kids come through. And so I always demand that they read something. And that's the best shot. And then there's just books coming out all the time. Many of them quite good. It depends on where you want to go. But just to get started, I would recommend things like that.

GAIL DORN: Can we, at some point, expect a book by Ambassador Walter Mondale?

WALTER MONDALE: That will be out Friday.

GAIL DORN: Good, good, good, good. We could have you come back to Minnesota--

WALTER MONDALE: I think it's going to run short. So if you leave your deposits here, we'll do it.

GAIL DORN: Great.

WALTER MONDALE: What is going to be about? I'm not sure yet. But if you want to be in on the ground floor--

GAIL DORN: Good, good, good.

WALTER MONDALE: And then over in this table, we're signing up shares in the movie rights.

GAIL DORN: For our radio audience, you are listening to Ambassador Walter Mondale, the US ambassador to Japan, speaking to the Minnesota Meeting on the stations of Minnesota Public Radio. Nate Garvis, who is the director of government affairs at the Dayton Hudson Corporation, has a question for you.

NATE GARVIS: Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. I look forward to your signing at Dayton's.

WALTER MONDALE: I sign there quite often.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

NATE GARVIS: Very, very happy to hear that. I appreciated your remarks on articulating perhaps our new foreign policy direction that is centered around economics but in International trade. But we continue to support a very large military presence, continuing to play the role of the world's policeman sometimes with great controversy, as you are personally well aware of in Japan. But given this new economic path that we're on, of international trade and a new world order without another world superpower-- military superpower out there-- what should the role of the United States military be, in particular, in the Asian theater?

WALTER MONDALE: It's defined largely by treaties that we have, for example, with Japan, with Korea, and with some others. As I said in my opening remarks, the only source of security-stability in Asia are the US forces. And all of these countries have all said they want us to stay. There's a lot of potential instability there, again, with countries getting money now, building up weapons, making competing claims, growing energy dependence and some leftover hangovers from the Cold War that are still around.

The Japanese pay 70% of the cost of being there for our forces. It would cost more to take them home than have them there. Because of the distances in that part of the world, we're either there, or we can't get there if there's trouble. For example, if a war started in Korea, it might be a week before we get a notice of it before it starts. I think in many ways, it's the best investment because it's the one hope for peace.

And history has taught us that we can't remain aloof from what happens in Asia. We've learned that the hard way. Now, it's not just military. We're trying every way to increase the web of understanding and cooperation. This APEC organization that really moving now very impressively, I've been to all the meetings. The ASEAN regional forum, which, for the first time, brings about some 18 key powers together to discuss Asian regional and security problems.

Many, many other ways of cooperating to try to find a way of evolving toward community out there that can work and be stable and require less by way of military. But I think at the present time, we would be very foolish. And it would prove very costly if we were to withdraw or diminish the American presence there.

GAIL DORN: Thank you, Ambassador. We have a question now from Jean Cid, who is chairman of CID Investment.

JEAN CID: Thank you, Fritz. I'd like you to focus on what ails the Japanese people today. Is it the financial meltdown, the job retrenchment? I ask that because that's going to really influence future policy directions in Japan. So if you can share with us what really troubles the Japanese people today.

WALTER MONDALE: Very good question. I think a lot of things. I think they're worried about the inefficiency of much of their economy, the inefficiency of their capital, whether the old system of controlling and regulating everything can work anymore. I think there's a lot of concern about that. I think they're concerned about the sluggishness of their political system, and the weakness of elected officers is against the bureaucrats.

I think they're worried about signs of corruption and some of the financial institutions and elsewhere. They were just stunned by the arm problem. Remember these crazies that planted this Sarin gas And if they hadn't caught that stuff, there could have been thousands of people killed. The wife of one of my first assistants was on one of the cars where this stuff was dropped, and she was eight months pregnant.

And she saw that funny stuff. And she choked and ran into the next car immediately. And there's very good chance if she hadn't done that, she'd have been dead. Because the way it was, she still spent five days in the hospital. And this sort of thing-- the thought that some of the bright kids in Japan who've had good education is not the kids from the wrong side of the track that did this stuff.

I think, really, the question is about why would people be so alienated do such things. I think there's concern about opening up the society for a more independent kind of scholarship. Japan's education is very group oriented. You listen to the sensei, the teacher, and you write it down. You don't question it, and you answer it.

In this day and age, with telecommunications and all, software and new-world entrepreneurship that must be swift and the rest, whether that kind of very disciplined, group-oriented, consensual, almost interminable way of deciding things will do it anymore, I think, is worrying a lot of Japanese. They got a lot to be proud of. But I think there's a lot of questions in the minds of Japanese about what changes might be needed.

GAIL DORN: Thank you, Ambassador Mondale. We have time for two quick questions and two quick answers. Paul Kenworthy with Felton and Kenworthy, an investment management firm.

PAUL KENWORTHY: Yes. Ambassador Mondale, on languages, though, shouldn't there be more emphasis in all Asian languages, including Chinese and more Asian studies?

WALTER MONDALE: I didn't mean to say Japan only. East Asia, many, many specialties, different languages. And I didn't want to be heard to say that. Although I think because of the tremendous importance of Japan, with its wealth and all that it means, we need to get going there. But surely, China, Korea, the ASEAN countries-- all of that requires very careful learning.

And by this, I don't mean just languages. I mean getting into the issues. So our young people coming up can come to grips with the real-- I mean, what's going on there is utterly stunning. And I don't think most Americans realize how that's changed. When I was a young man, Japan was an afterthought 'til the war started. It couldn't have been very important. We used to laugh about their products never any good. And so, well, we're not laughing anymore. That's where our young people are going to have to be. And we need to train them.

GARY EICHTEN: US ambassador to Japan, Walter Mondale, speaking today at the Minnesota Meeting in downtown Minneapolis. Unfortunately, we don't have time for that very last question. We've run out of time. But hope you enjoyed the broadcast today. Reminder that broadcasts of Minnesota meeting are made possible by Oppenheimer Wolff and Donnelly, with offices in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul, providing legal services to businesses around the world.

That does it for our Midday program today, an invitation to join us this evening. More live coverage from the Democratic National Convention. Of course, tonight is the night that Bill Clinton officially accepts his party's nomination for reelection-- president. And you'll be able to hear that speech tonight. Al Gore is also scheduled to speak. If you can't hear those speeches tonight, we will be rebroadcasting at least the president's speech tomorrow over the noon hour.

So you get a second chance to hear the speech, or if you miss it altogether, why? First chance to hear it. Anyway, we'll get to that tomorrow over the noon hour. And a special treat tomorrow-- two-part edition of Midday. At 1 o'clock, we're going to continue the program. We're going to be joined here in the studios by Minnesota astronaut, Bob Cabana. He is back here in Minnesota vacationing, and he's been kind enough to agree to come by tomorrow at 1 o'clock on a special edition of Midday to take your questions about the space program. That should be a great discussion.

He was just named to be the commander of the International Space Station mission, the shuttle mission. Next year, they're going up to start work on constructing the Space Station. Bob Cabana at 1:00. Bill Clinton at noon. Should be a jam-packed Friday. And we hope you'll be able to join us. Gary Eichten. Thanks for tuning in today.

SPEAKER: This week on The Splendid Table, we're live from the Minnesota State Fair with cultural historian, Karal Ann Marling, so be sure to stop by. That's this Saturday at noon on Minnesota Public Radio KNOW-FM 91.1.

GARY EICHTEN: You're listening to Minnesota Public Radio. We have a fair sky, 78 degrees at KNOW-FM 91.1, Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Our Twin City weather forecast, partly cloudy through the afternoon. We can look for a high in the low 80s, then clear skies tonight, low from 55 to 60. Sunny skies are forecast for the Twin Cities tomorrow with a high near 80 degrees. It's 1 o'clock.

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RAY SUAREZ: From NPR News in Chicago, I'm Ray Suarez, and this is Talk of the Nation. After weeks of tough, hard-edged rhetoric from all sides of the political debates, couldn't you use a laugh?

JIMMY TINGLE: To tell you the truth, I don't think Bush really wanted the job. I think Bush looked around and said, gee. There's 3 million homeless people, 37 million people without health care. We're $4 trillion in debt. You win.

RAY SUAREZ: That's political humorist, Jimmy Tingle. He's been at the convention all week, eyes and ears open, and has a few things to say about Democrats and Republicans. And we'll be joined once again by the foreman, who've been working on being the official troubadours of the political conventions. Guitars at the ready. They'll provide sweet harmonies with a tart aftertaste, political humor, live from Chicago Afternoons.

CRAIG WINDHAM: From National Public Radio News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham. Dick Morris, the top political advisor to the president, is reportedly resigning today after a tabloid newspaper accused Morris of consorting with a $200--