Analysis Of The Book ' Learning Of Bow, ' Little Boy '

Consistent with Japanese propaganda the nationalist leaders held belief that Japan was “the leader, protector and light of Asia”. However, this perception of liberation from colonial rule was a façade as the civilians of occupied nations experienced harsher treatment under the Japanese than they did under the colonial authorities.

When Japan was at the turning point of its economy and in the process of forming a new government, Nakae Chomin wrote A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government, a political theory book that primarily deals with question of Japan’s future with an interesting debate between Champion and the Gentleman. Character Champion thought that Japan should step out of their isolated island and become more forceful in its handling of foreign disputes. He believed that Japan will stay weak if Japan did not have the strength and forces to conquer other nations. The Western learning Gentleman on the other side is a proponent of the modern Western notion of liberty and equality. He criticized Western nations for maintaining large armies that drained their economy. He suggested that Japan should abandon all attempts to compete with the West militarily and commit itself fully to the values that the West did not have. Approximately sixty years has passed since then, and Champion, Gentleman, and Master Nankai have gathered around once again to discuss the postwar Japan, the rise of the militarism, imperialist aggression, and the subsequent adoption

The autobiography illustrates personal experiences of discrimination and prejudice while also reporting the political occurrences during the United States’ involvement in World War II. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States government unleashed unrestrained contempt for the Japanese residing in the nation. The general public followed this train of thought, distrusting the Japanese and treating them like something less than human. In a country of freedom and justice, no coalition stepped up to defend the people who had lived there most of or all of their lives; rather, people took advantage of the Japanese evacuation to take their property and belongings. The government released demeaning propaganda displaying comical Japanese men as monsters and rats, encouraging the public to be vigilant and wary toward anyone of Japanese descent. The abuse of the Japanese during this period was taken a little too lightly, the government apologizing too late and now minor education of the real cruelty expressed toward the nation’s own citizens. Now we see history repeating itself in society, and if we don’t catch the warning signs today, history may just come full

I first came to Japan knowing nothing about the language and the culture. Much more the issues the nation was facing. Most of the things I knew were taught to me by my father and I wasn’t intellectual nor educated enough to form my own opinions, thus, all my thoughts aligned with his, a typical conservative/ nationalist Japanese. As an individual of multinational backgrounds, I felt this strong desire to prove my Japanese-ness to others and indeed I tried.

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

In Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War by Akira Iriye, the author explores the events and circumstances that ended in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an American naval base. Iriye assembles a myriad of primary documents, such as proposals and imperial conferences, as well as essays that offer different perspectives of the Pacific War. Not only is the material in Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War informative of the situation between Japan and the United States, but it also provides a global context that allows for the readers to interpret Pearl Harbor and the events leading up to it how they may. Ultimately, both Pearl Harbor and the subsequent Pacific War between

George Takei, a Japanese-American actor and activist, discusses why he loves the country that was once unfaithful to him in his TEDTalk at Kyoto, Japan on June 2014. February 1942, Japanese-Americans were forced to stay in concentration camps by American soldiers ordering them out of their homes (Takei, 2014). George Takei and his family were once of many Japanese-American families that were sent off to the camps. After the war, everything was taken away from them, they had to build themselves up again from the beginning. Many young Japanese-Americans wanted to volunteer to fight for their country, when Pearl Harbour was bombed, but they were denied of service and categorized as the “enemy” (Takei, 2014). But when the government realized they

During WWII (the time that the stories in the book had occurred), Japanese nationalism was still very much alive and was soon being followed by ultra-nationalism, which was “the extreme devotion to or advocacy of the interests of a nation”, during the middle of the 1920’s (“Imperial”). This, in turn, influenced how many people reacted to the devastating attack on their own country. Those who were injured, like a son and father, felt as though they had

The Japanese-American author, Julie Otsuka, wrote the book When the Emperor was Divine. She shares her relative and all Japanese Americans life story while suffering during World War II, in internment camps. She shares with us how her family lived before, during, and after the war. She also shares how the government took away six years of Japanese-American lives, falsely accusing them of helping the enemy. She explains in great detail their lives during the internment camp, the barbed wired fences, the armed guards, and the harsh temperatures. When they returned home from the war they did not know what to believe anymore. Either the Americans, which imprisoned them falsely, or the emperor who they have been told constantly not to believe, for the past six years imprisoned. Japanese-Americans endured a great setback, because of what they experienced being locked away by their own government.

When the girl tells Stephen that “all the Jap kids at school are getting sent away” the application of this to “all” the Jap kids turns this particular case into a more general case that is associated to the larger Japanese population in Canada. Furthermore, when by saying “we are both the enemy and not the enemy” (319) the use of we can be implied to all Japanese-Canadians. By doing so the author persuades the reader that this is not only an individual case happening to this one specific

With the arrival of WWII came the arrival of change. Jeanne Wakatsuki’s memoir, Farewell to Manzanar illustrates the countless struggles that Japanese Americans faced during World War II. Distrust among the white Americans and Japanese Americans was at an all time high due to the war in the Pacific Ocean with Japan. With the American government encouraging wartime propaganda, the Japanese were dehumanized and ultimately forced to move into internment camps. Farewell to Manzanar explores the resilience of the human nature by illustrating the struggle of prejudice in a WWII era America.

Throughout the work, Fujitani draws evidence from, and references, a plethora of different sources that add validity to his statements and accounts of not only what the Japanese and United States did, but also why they acted the way they did. In a time of war, both countries took different actions that were not readily understood. Japan

The foundation of Japanese imperialism, which eventually led to World War II was in the Meiji Restoration of the 1870’s. At that time, pro-war sentiment and desire for national strength and growth arose as the national attitude of the Japanese people. Certain groups, which advocated return to the traditional Japanese ways, began to grow in power. Shinto, the traditional religion of Japan, was revived with a new emphasis on emperor worship. By the time Emperor Hirohito assumed power in 1926, the nation was ready for a second restoration.1

John Dower's "Embracing Defeat" truly conveys the Japanese experience of American occupation from within by focusing on the social, cultural, and philosophical aspects of a country devastated by World War II. His capturing of the Japanese peoples' voice let us, as readers, empathize with those who had to start over in a "new nation."

Japan, forced to rebuild itself from the ashes of defeat, was occupied by Americans in the aftermath of World War II. Although it was commonly perceived through the victors’ eyes, in John W. Dower’s novel, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II, Dower summarized his studies of Occupied Japan and the impact of war on Japanese society in the view of both the conqueror and the defeated. He demonstrated the “Transcending Despair” (p. 85) of the Japanese people through their everyday lives in the early stages of the occupation. In chapter three, Dower attempted to comprehend the hopes and dreams – as well as the hopelessness and realities – of the Japanese who were in a state of exhaustion and despair. In chapter four, due partly to the food shortage, crime rates rose as people began to steal. Women turned to prostitution while men turned to the black market. Some Japanese were so desperate that they stripped out of their clothing and exchanged it for food. Dower vividly conveyed the depth of loss and confusion that Japan experienced. On the other hand, Kasutori culture flourished in the 1950s as sexually oriented entertainments dominated the commercial world. In chapter five, the people of Japan turned wartime slogans into slogans for reconstruction and peace. They used witty defeat jokes as a way to escape despair. Even though they were defeated, the people of Japan pushed through the misery and sought to reinvent their identity as illustrated through prostitution, the black market, and “Bridges of Language” (p. 168).