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AnonymousAfter reading about Modern Japan from 1900-1931 it was interesting to read the section on “Modern Urban Culture” and also the section about “Material Culture” and the homes of the middle class. I thought the interest in Western style homes made sense. Western homes can definitely be appealing considering the furniture can be comfortable and homes often seem inviting or meant for entertaining purposes. Whereas a traditional Japanese home was described as more of something to show off and be seen, but not touch the items in the home. The Japanese homes always required someone to be home to let others in, or guard the home, and traditionally have a lack of walls and doors within the home.
I am not so curious as to why the Western style home became popular when it did for the middle class, but more curious if it remained popular during WWII when Japan was at war with the US between 1942-1945. I am also looking forward to the Japanese Gardens at the Huntington and asking the opposite questions regarding whether or not the Japanese Gardens were still popular in the US and California during WWII.
edited by skroop on 10/2/2015
AnonymousMost shocking excerpt from the diary of Nakane Mohoko was the description of the activities the students were doing basically to prepare these young kids for war recorded on June 17th, 1945. Among the daily entries any typical 4th grader might record about what they did for daily activities or schooling and what they ate, it was shocking to hear about the war like practices these kids were doing at that age. In June of 1945 I can imagine there was a possibility of land invasion, but clearly kids 6-11 would not be throwing hand grenades or spearing someone, which was what was recorded that day. I imagine the Japanese were preparing the kids for the future not for an attack in the next year, right?
Even so the amount of propaganda these kids were fed during their schooling in “ethics” class or during their “spiritual training” may have really affected their attitudes towards Americans. The fact that many of these children had their childhood homes burned down makes it reasonable for them to have so much hatred towards the people that would do this. When Professor Yamashita mentioned the anger that the kids had at the end of the war (as mentioned in diaries), and the ideas of revenge that surfaced, I don’t know if it was so much propaganda as much as it was that these children were uprooted from their own homes, removed from their families, and then had very little to return to in their hometowns.
Anonymousi found the piece about children being "evacuated" in 1943-44 to be heartbreaking, as I'm sure many of us did while reading this piece and sitting in on the lecture on Saturday. It was interesting to read the diary entries in contrast to the way Professor Yamashita described the conditions evacuated children lived in, because I think Nakane takes on a mostly positive retelling of her experiences. Professor Yamashita mentioned that by the end of the war, children were eating 1 cup of food per day. In her diary, Nakane has many entries about the food they were being fed. She makes note of being full and having 5 potatoes in 1 sitting. She also describes her food as "delicious" almost every time she mentions what she has eaten. It was also interesting to see how the children took part in very "normal" activities, like celebrating birthdays and going swimming, all while getting news of their homes burning down and being forcibly removed from their homes. I think this practice of evacuating children during a war time is really interesting. I can't recall any other wars that I've heard where a country carried out a decision like this. If Japan was the first country to do this, I wonder why they made the decision, because it does seem like a monumental task to take-on during war. Also, I can't help but think of diary entries that I have read of Japanese children who were held in internment camps during WWII. I think it could be a really interesting exercise to have students read both Nakane's diary entries and some of the entries from internment camps and compare them.
AnonymousThe readings for this session definitely helped set the context for Dr. Yamashita's lecture. As I mentioned in a previous post, it was interesting to read the diary entry by Nakane Mioko and the different experiences she went through while evacuated. The food descriptions, festivals, courses she took, etc. help set the context, and once we heard the lecture it help set the context even more. The images especially that Dr. Yamashita shared in lecture helped me better imagine the experience that Nakane Mioko went through while in this new school setting. I have the students journal each day when they first enter class, and I would love to share these excerpts with kids, and have them compare them to their lives and spot out the differences as well.
Another part of the readings I found interesting was the piece on the "Rise of Modern Japan." I found it interesting to read about the mass movements that developed in Japan during early 20th century. I especially found the burakumin (outkast) liberation movement interesting, in that they focused on the problems the outcasts had on the prejudice and discrimination they endured. I definitely want to look more into this movement, and see if there are ways to compare these movement to other movements wi have had in the US, such as the discrimination endured in the US in the 1960s, and the Civil Rights Movement.
AnonymousThe readings and lecture were very interesting, but most compelling was the reading on Japan, 1948 - 1964. It seemed as if they could've become a model for altruistic society with the way the constitution was written, but somewhere the old fascist got in the way, probably because of the US's concern over communism. Still, when compared to today's U.S. Corporate greed, they look pretty good. It used to be that the president of Sony didn't make more than 100 time more than the lowest paid workers, compared to American corporate presidents making 1,000 times as much and more!
AnonymousUpon reading about Korean under Japanese colonial rule, I was most interested in how the roles of women were impacted by colonialism. I was not surprised to read about the abduction of Korean women and their subsequent subjugation as sex slaves. However, the newfound autonomy of Korean women was somewhat surprising. Like in many patriarchal societies, women experience various levels of subjugation, as was the case in Korea. For instance, this article mentioned how under Korean rule, women faced more repression and limited educational opportunities. However, with the dismantling of Korean rule, women began to gain higher levels of education and the effects of this was clearly evident in their work in various social and political groups. The lingering question about colonialism and its impact on the status quo of Korean woman, is how they interpreted Japanese rule. Clearly, the rights of Korean citizens were limited, but at the same time significant strides for women occurred as a result of Japanese occupation.
edited by nramon on 1/10/2016
AnonymousAs I read Nakane Mihōko’s diary, it was interesting to see the things she valued in a time of austerity in Japan. I am not too familiar with diets in Japan, but it seems that the food that the children ate a very simple diet, and this was very indicative in the weight of the children. As I read the first diary entries, I was surprised to see that the war was not a phenomenon that was explicitly present in the consciousness of the diarist. There were mild references to war as students practiced combat training, but overall I was surprised at how normal life seemed to be for the author. As I read the August dates, I expected Mihōko to mention the dropping of the atomic bomb, and when she did not, I wondered how efficient networks of communication were at the time. The last diary entry in which the diarist talked about eating sweeks allowed me to gain a better understanding of the austerity of Japan during this time.
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; As I read Nakane Mihōko’s diary, it was interesting to see the things she valued in a time of austerity in Japan. I am not too familiar with diets in Japan, but it seems that the food that the children ate a very simple diet, and this was very indicative in the weight of the children. As I read the first diary entries, I was surprised to see that the war was not a phenomenon that was explicitly present in the consciousness of the diarist. There were mild references to war as students practiced combat training, but overall I was surprised at how normal life seemed to be for the author. As I read the August dates, I expected Mihōko to mention the dropping of the atomic bomb, and when she did not, I wondered how efficient networks of communication were at the time. The last diary entry in which the diarist talked about eating sweeks allowed me to gain a better understanding of the austerity of Japan during this time.
edited by nramon on 1/10/2016
AnonymousAs I read Ebrey's article in World War II, I noticed many details that supported later historical patterns. For instance, noted that some of the most successful resistance movements towards Japanese power in China occurred in rural areas. As I read this detail, I automatically made connections to future developments in China, and how Mao would leverage the power of this sector of Chinese society to stage a movement. I was also very interested on the issues regarding comfort women and how race relations played a major role in how these sex slaves were treated. For example, notions on the “master race” from the Japanese perspective were very clear in the hierarchies that developed among the allocation of these women based on race. This is seen in how Japanese women were used for higher ranking officials whereas women from other nationalities were used for for lower ranking soldiers. The extent of Japan's power is also very evident in the fact that 80% of comfort women were Korean.
edited by nramon on 1/10/2016
AnonymousAgreed. Nakane Mihôko’s “An Evacuated Schoolgirl” would complement John Hersey’s Hiroshima. Especially as both chronicles the events of the Hiroshima bombing. Mihôko’s narrative presents a first person account that provides a more intimate narrative to Hersey’s more omniscient account. Though descriptive, Hersey’s work, when paired with a personal story adds depth and insight into the events of his historic tragedy. Additionally, this pairing would make a great connection to the Syrian refugees today. This comparison of personal accounts, using interviews, and expository writing, using news articles, would help students better learn the writing style of genres and authors. Additionally, the parallels of the two views makes for better analysis. I would definitely use Mihôko’s “An Evacuated Schoolgirl” in my Hiroshima for my AP English Language and for my narrative unit in my 10th English class.
AnonymousPart of Korea’s emerging identity was indeed a response from Japanese imperialism but it is also the imminent coming of the modern age. As indicated in “Modernizing Korea and the Colonial Rule” the sections neglect to include the emergence of han gul as the national language. While the progress of the nationalist movements include the formation of schools of hospitals and hospitals, including the grammar school, it seems odd that the excerpt neglects to mention the adoption hangul as the country’s language.
However, this introduction to Colonial Korea mentions the atrocity of the comfort women taken against their will to serve the Japan imperialists and their soldiers. Even in this text, the effect of colonial war was not limited to the landlords and businessmen but their oppression that stretched beyond the economical or political (398-9). Perhaps closure regarding this issue is only a reminder that despite the 100 years that have passed since Japanese Colonial rule, Korea continues to formulate their identity.
edited by crhude on 1/22/2016
AnonymousThese readings were particularly useful to me as I formed the basis for my curriculum unit focusing on how imperialism shapes identity. Prior to this seminar I knew scarcely little about colonization within and among the same continent. I had blithely thought only of Western hegemony spreading their territorial arms, largely due to land mass envy. I always found it bitterly ironic that countries as small in size as England, Portugal, Belgium and France had successfully "civilized" far larger civilizations in their quest for the three G-d holy grail: God, Glory and Gold.
The selection entitled "Modernizing Korea and Colonial Rule" shed new light on this incredibly arrogant and condescending conception of uprooting happy and healthy societies with the justification that "advanced" countries will give the gift of modernity and help lift the "disadvantaged" peoples out of the darkness in which they are not even aware they dwell.
Anonymous"Modernizing Korea and Colonial Rule" was a great selection for my class as we talk about Spanish colonization in the New World in my class. To show my students that these events kept happening all through history was striking for them. My students and I were on the same page on East Asian history, we knew nothing! The subjugation of women was what caused the most commotion in class. Sexually enslaving women is one of the worse crimes committed by the Japanese, and after this reading we can understand why our international Japanese and Korean students do not get along. There is still animosity among younger generations, and who can blame them.
AnonymousI found a website that is like a goldmine of lesson plans on Japan. The lessons are organized by topics like Geography, language, literature, math, science, art and so on. A few good lessons I plan to use are on Japanese culture for my AP Human Geography and Atrocities of WWII for my World History.
AnonymousThank you for sharing this site. I checked the lesson plans on Japanese Poetry and they're very engaging. High School students are not really into poetry, but a plan like this helps a lot.
AnonymousThe Diary of an Evacuated Schoolgirl is a story that I can (selectively) use with my students in third grade, because the story is about students the same age. It is also written in a similar fashion to a story in our Social Studies textbook called, "Rachel's Journal." It has been an impetus for me to teach my students about journaling and the many reasons for it. The structure of both stories are similar in that they both use dates as subtitles, and they are short writing entries, which contain personal information about the author, but also as a record of the situation in a given place. It's powerful to think that your simple daily entries in a journal could one day be an important piece of historical literature.
edited by erosales on 1/26/2016
edited by erosales on 1/26/2016