I would like my 10th grade studnets to research on " Pearl Harbor' right after they finish reading " Tora, Tora, Tora" by Mizuki to open a Unit of " Self-Strength" to the lessons we should learn from the Dec. 7th, 1941 Peral Harbor acctack, which caused our heavy loss of 18 ships sunk or damaged ( 8 battleships, 3 cruisers, and 3 destroyers); 188-292 aircraft damaged or destroyed; 2402 killed in action; 1282 were wounded in action. Professor Miyake introduced a lot of literature books reflecting Japanese culture and tradition, which is the greatest way for us to study and understand

I absolutely loved Dr. Miyake's presentation last week and was impressed with her enthusiasm, knowledge, and ability to adapt her discussion to use of her sources in our classrooms. The one manga that I found very interesting was the "Barefoot Gen" series. I did more research on the series and found Barefoot Gen is considered one of the most important anti-war manga ever written. The series focuses on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the aftermath of the Pacific War. For a while, Barefoot Gen was banned in Matsue City, Japan.  Barefoot Gen was removed from Matsue City school libraries because it was considered an “ultra-leftist manga that perpetuated lies and instilled defeatist ideology in the minds of young Japanese.” After tremendous outcry, the Barefoot Gen ban has been overturned.

According to scholars, why is this series so important?

• Understanding why Japan went to war and how China and Korea were stripped of their natural and human resources, including the enslavement of those captured.
• Seeing that while most Japanese blindly supported the Emperor’s “divine right” and rule, a growing number of people began to question and resist it.
• Learning the immediate effects of the bomb
• Understanding the long term effects of the bomb: limited/contaminated food and water, homelessness, orphans, radiation poisoning and medical/health issues that doctors were unequipped to handle, rampant crime, misuse and abuse of drugs and medications, and the crumbling of law and order.
  • Our 8th graders have used parts of Barefoot Gen in their classwork and have really gained better insights and understanding from this experience. I love the image from the 9th Volume titled "Breaking Down Borders."  I think this manga does a great job doing just that!
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I also absolutely loved Professor Miyakes lecture about Japanese Literature- she is funny, engaging, and made the content very exciting.  Although I wasnt surprised with the amount of female writers who executed their art covertly, I was surprised to learn about the candor in which they spoke about their lifes in their writing.  Lynne gave specific examples of this - noting the sad stories, true stories they spoke about.  I wonder if these women were ever shunned by society because of their writings.  

Kim,

I agree with the idea of promoting Barefoot Gen. I talked to our 8th grade United States History teacher about maybe doing a project with this series when they do World War II. She said she liked the idea, but didn't really know how to create a lesson plan around it. Thanks for posting the YouTube video of the movie. I might suggest this for her class--but will also need to be sure that it is age appropriate for 8th graders. 

Professor Miyake has such enthusiasm for her content area.  I was entralled by her knowledge and her zest for presenting Japanese literature and history.  I plan to use her graphic Japanese pieces with my 10th grade World History students.  Currently, my school librarian has generously offered to bind the pages of graphics into one book.  This book is going to be placed in my class library to encourage my students to read as a reward for doing a good job with their daily assignment or assigned homework tasks.  I teach my sophomores throughout the whole school year, and next semester we dive deeply into WWII, so this is going to be quite a treat for my students.  Professor Miyake has taken interesting graphics that will catch the attention of my students in a unique way.  Graphic novels are a great way to encourage reading for high school students.  

Anime is so popular with many students, and in my high school there is a large Korean student population.  We have a club that students dance after school to many popular Korean (K Pop) music.  One of my colleagues and I are co-advisors and the students dance every week to such music as BTS and CrayonPop.  What I love about Korean music is that the majority of it is extremely positive with strong character elements which are the lyrical focus.  I am adding Professor Miyake's anime section to my classroom and plan to give a second copy of the bound edition my librarian is making to my Korean club members.  As a teacher who has taught for twenty years, reading seems to be declining over time, and students are reading less and less.  This generation of high school students become engaged with graphic style presentations and anime can deliver this message to our classes.  I have many artistic students who have shared their creativity with me and my "student wall" that highlights creativity through various art mediums.  This wall has been a compliation over the years, and when colleagues or visiting students come to my classroom, they are amazed at the variety of art mediums.  Manga is a common art form that many students enjoy drawing.  With Professor Miyake's generous additons, my students have become even more interested in Japanese culture and art.

Hi Ingrid and Kim,

Thank you both for the promotion picture and the youtube video posted previously, my students in East Asia Origins club and I enjoyed the movie. High school students really like the cartoon characters, and they strated to draw all the cartoon characters in their schetch book. They even suggest we take a trip to Little Tokyo to explore more of the Japanese culture, which is on our agenda because we will join with our Animation Club to toure Little Tokyo as we planned when we come back from our Winter Break.