Session 6 (10/20) readings

[clay dube]

Military conscription begins during the early Meiji period, but in 1927 a Military Service Law was enacted. Men, at 20, had to report for examination. Assuming they could met the basic requirements (and those became looser over time), these men were obliged to serve for two years. Students could avoid service until age 26. A huge proportion of Japan's male population served during the Pacific War, an incredibly long war.

[Anonymous]

It was interesting to see how Japanese propaganda during the war differed from US propaganda. American propaganda was very visual and aimed at the Axis power in racist caricatures. The few visuals that we saw from Japanese propaganda were more about what was expected of the Japanese citizen (similar to the Uncle Sam, "I want you" but without the cartoon). It would be beneficial to present our students with examples of both American and Japanese visuals and compare and contrast. They can also come up with possible reasons why they were so different.

[Anonymous]

The historical events leading up to the rise of modern Japan presented in class today, are complex, richly informative and offer a relevant cultural/socio/political background essential to understand Japan's meteoric ascend as an economic power and its placement in the post war new world order.

[Anonymous]

During Session 6 the topic of War time propaganda was discussed. I am familiar, as I am sure are most, with American and European propaganda for WWII. I was curious if much propaganda was utilized by the Japanese and was surprised to learn that it wasn't used often. Propaganda is a powerful way to sway public opinion. I went on a search for more propaganda campaigns. I found this poster which was used in Australia to encourage the masses to fight and work otherwise they could perish at the hands of the Japanese. Primary documents like these can be used to show the differences in society and culture between varying nations during this time of war.

[Anonymous]

Life on the Japanese home front during WWII was extremely challenging. One of the points that most interested me was the fact that young children were separated from their families in 1944. As Professor Yamashita explained, they had to leave 11 cities. I've learned that about 333,000 children were relocated to inns, temples, and public buildings during this time. Some of the older children went to work in factories. Some of the children died because of the harsh conditions they were exposed to. By the summer of 1945, the children (like everyone else) were preparing for the decisive battle. They trained them to fight with bamboo spears and to throw rocks at targets.

I'm really interested in this topic and would like to learn more. I hope that the diaries we read for the next session will contain some more information on this topic.

[Anonymous]

When we were shown the photos of Japanese children evacuated to the country, my first thought was that they were protecting their future generations. I wondered though if they were training these children to be soldiers in the near future. I came across information that high school girls volunteered to make balloon bombs during this time. The balloon bombs were designed to travel across the Pacific jet stream to cause damage and injuries to the United States. They would appear as a dot in the sky. There were over 9,000 of these bombs launched with about 300 that actually made it to the United States and Canada between 1944 and 1945.

[Anonymous]

I was really struck by the pictures of Japanese American servicemen acting as translators during the war crimes tribunal. I can only imagine how difficult WWII was for them, and am in awe that they would willingly join the US army, knowing that their own country saw them as the enemy. I wonder what is was like for them, seeing and working with these Japanese officers.

[Anonymous]

The evacuation of Japanese children reminds me of the same thing done during the Blitz in Great Britain, yet they also differ greatly. During the Blitz, British families sent their children out to the countryside, away from the danger of the air raids over London and other cities. The Japanese also sent children from age 8-11 away, yet it seems to differ in that the Japanese government required that the children be sent away form the cities. Also, they took the children to educate and indoctrinate them into thinking as a soldier would. Professor Yamashita showed us the diary of a young girl that was taken away during this time and it illustrated that the children started to think as a soldier would. They were becoming more nationalistic and when the war ended, they wanted to seek revenge. This makes me wonder whether or not the Japanese actually thought that the war would last longer than it did or was it simply trying to prepare its people to get ready for an invasion. By educating the children, they were creating a sort of guerilla army in case the Allied powers did invade.

[Anonymous]

It was interesting to see the examples of wartime propaganda in Japan. I do an expository unit in my English classes on the Jewish Holocaust and students examine the anti-Semitic propaganda. The addition of the propaganda discussed in class would serve as a great example of how propaganda is used by so many various countries during wartime especially to dehumanize a people allowing for a justification of harming, killing, or eradicating a group of people. The Eternal Jew is a great example of a documentary I show the students. I'd be happy to find a similar documentary from the course to show various examples of such propaganda.

[Anonymous]

As we learned about the uprising problems on the homefront and the control over food, I was very struck with a fact that Professor Yamashita shared: Women and children were urged to leave their city and abandoned children in Japanese inns were hungry and didn't have enough food to eat. The worst were the 8 year old girls. They were bullied and forced to give food to the 11 year olds. Hearing this struck home as I have an 8 year old daughter. I can't imagine this happening to children and I feel sadden at the thought of the hunger these children had to face.

[Anonymous]

As Professor Yamashita presented his slide show, pictures of Japanese attire appeared on the screen which gave me an idea to incorporate the introduction of Kimonos to my kindergarten students. Comparing and contrasting attire from two different cultures such as attire from China and Japan will provide interest to my students and will be something I will definitely research to present to my classroom.

[Anonymous]

I was very moved by the "Crying Baby" photograph in Ebrey's "Connections: WWII" reading. According to the caption the photograph originally appeared in Life magazine following the Nanjing Massacre. During the Nanjing Massacre, the Japanese army justified the killing of thousands of Chinese civilians by claiming that Chinese troops had taken off their uniforms and mixing in with civilians.
The photograph is quite moving. It depicts a very young child sitting in front of piles of rubble while being completely alone. Apparently, this photograph was a part of the beginning of gathering American sympathy for China in its struggle against Japan. I can definitely see that, the photograph definitely pulls at your heartstrings.

[Anonymous]

Japan began to realize its strength as a world power early in the 20th century. After years of interactions with Korea and China, it seems like Japan began moving forward and asserting itself as not only a military power, but as a textile and agricultural power. People began to view Japan as more than an exotic culture with an emphasis on arts and education. People began to understand the significance of the place of education in Japanese society.

[Anonymous]

I agree with some of the comments on the Children of WWII. I find it reasonable and necessary to relocate children to prevent injury and death but the conditions (not that they were any better in Europe ) are not what I would have expected. It's not something one thinks about. We remember the war movies, the bombings, but as cliché as it sounds we don't think about the children.

[Anonymous]

Comparing propaganda sounds like a really engaging lesson.

You can actually buy prints of American WWII propaganda through Costco, if anybody is interested.

Also, I took a class during the summer and we were shown anti-Japanese cartoons made by Dr. Seuss. I had never seen these before, and it was quite jarring. Here's a link to some of his drawings. It might be interesting for older kids to look at these cartoons.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/politicaldrseuss/seuss_fla.html

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