Killing The Pacific Front: An Analysis

Ashley Queener 10-13-11 HIST 399 INEVITABLE 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

Marek Sulich Mr. O'Connor American Literature 1 March 2011 Ghost Soldiers The novel, Ghost Soldiers, written by Hampton Sides, is a great work of literature, depicting the true horrors of war, friendship, and the one thing that was never lost, hope. The non-fictional book takes place in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation of

Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard is a descriptive, well written book wrapping up the end of World War II. Reading this book makes you feel like you are living in the midst of the vividly depictive and picturesque scenes that O’Reilly and Dugard bring the

In February of 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066; this gave the foundation for the mass relocation of more than 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry to internment camps. This mass relocation caused Japanese Americans -on the West Coast- to be removed from their homes for the majority of World War II. After a year of surviving in addition to waiting in the camps, the Japanese Nisei were allowed to join the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Making up the entirety of the regiment, the Japanese Nisei fought for their country during the events of World War II. During these events, the Japanese Nisei compromised their self-pride along with their lives for their country. Notwithstanding the fact of facing the battle on two fronts -the prejudice at home plus the fight on the enemy’s front- the Japanese Nisei of the 442nd RCT (Regimental Combat Team) came back from the war as Japanese American citizens, not “Japs.”

On the surface one may connect Bushido to Japanese tactics and strategy in World War II, but this relationship is only on the surface. Suicide charges and kamikaze pilots may look like and very well be ritual suicide, but the meaning is far too different. In Bushido killing oneself is the ultimate clearing of honor and debt. However the Japanese military coopted this premise and heavily altered the idea that shaming your master was reason enough to enact seppuku into essentially not winning being reason enough to do so. Continuing, the other tenants about honor, respect, and learning were countered by the poor treatment of prisoners, the numerous atrocities committed upon those in occupied lands, and blatant racial attacks on everyone that

When the U.S. joined the war, the U.S. soldiers expected the Japanese to be like them when it came to fighting, but they were wrong. Sledge, an American Marine (?) soldier , stated his reasons as to why he hated the Japanese, “Historians say we hated the Japs because we were racists. Racism had nothing to do with it. It was the way they fought” (Doc C [2]). Seeing the savagery of the Japanese soldiers influenced the way the U.S. soldiers fought. They went from merciful to doing the same as the Japanese. One of the soldiers even stated how Sledge changed the way he fought. In Guadalcanal, veteran Ore Marion pitched in about how a regimental

The book carries a lot of detail about the Second World War and has many descriptions and feelings during and after the war. Also in this chapter we learn about Kabuo, his Buddhism and beliefs. These beliefs say that everything has a soul and shouldn't be harmed and so he feels he carries the burden of war. The Americans didn't think about, or take into consideration the fact that the Japanese Americans would be going out to fight their own kind, people from their homeland. Kabuo feels enormous guilt about this and carried it through out his whole life.

The Japanese people are stoic patriotic people. They did come together as a community to assist each other but they suffered through their pain alone. They did not look for sympathy or a shoulder to cry on. Mr. Tanimoto wrote in a letter describing how some Japanese died without yelling out for help. He wrote, “They died in silence with no grudge, setting their teeth to bear it. All for the country (Hersey, p. 69)!” They were proud people for their country and didn’t want to appear weak. Mr. Tanimoto also wrote in his letter, “Look, I lost my home, my family, and at last bitterly injured. But now I have got my mind to dedicate what I have and to complete the war for our country’s sake (Hersey, p. 69).” Hersey also informs us of thirteen year old girls singing their national anthem while being crushed to death. Not concerned about their well-being but for the love of their beloved country. To know that you’re going to die yet sing something that means so much to you shows heroism. It is as if the thirteen year old girls died for

During WWII, when Benedict was assigned to study the Japanese, they were not well understood. Her job was to paint a portrait of the culture that would help the United States to understand how their enemy acted and why they acted the way that they did. Not only that but to also better understand how they would act to changes the United States planned to make for their government. The Japanese were not an easy culture to understand, which made the assignment even more difficult with Benedict not being able to observe in person. Benedict said, “The Japanese have been described in the most fantastic series of ‘but also’s’ ever used for any nation of the world” (Benedict, 1946:1). This is why Benedict’s use of the chrysanthemum and the sword was so fitting: the Japanese were unlike western civilizations and they did not fit into a stereotype. They are complex and very contradictory of

Introduction The term ‘Bushido’ has over the years developed from the traditional translation of ‘the Way of the Warrior’ towards the more modern notion of a “national spirit of Japan, especially the military spirit.” This paper will analyse the impacts that various religious traditions such as Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism have had on shaping the classical ideals of the bushido code and the influences that the bushido code played on the actions of the kamikaze fighter pilots during World War II.

Embracing Defeat by John Dower 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).

Chaos and continual disorder encompassed the people across the globe in the years prior to the declaration of war between the Axis and Allied powers in 1939. The Great Depression that had struck soon after the First World War left much of the world unemployed and desperate for relief. Nationalism swept through Germany in response to the terms of the Versailles Treaty that ended World War I. China and Japan had been at war since Japanese troops invaded Manchuria in 1931. Germany, Italy, and Japan began multiple invasions and occupations of nearby countries. When they received no meaningful consequences for their aggressive actions, they felt emboldened and World War II began. In the midst of war and the growing totalitarian aggression, the

An exhibition of “Japanese Propaganda Kimonos” consists of more than 30 Japanese kimonos with printed images celebrating Japanese military power. Kimonos are a long, loose robe with wide sleeves and tied with a sash, originally worn as a formal garment in Japan. These were mostly from 1930s and early 1940s when Japan invaded Manchuria, waging war against China. These kimonos reflects styles of Art Deco and Depression Modern. Some of the patchwork display fighter planes, battleships, antiaircraft artillery, and more. An example is a women’s kimono which shows red-and-yellow airplanes decorated with cherry blossoms with a background of horizontal red-and-white stripes. Through these kimonos it illustrates war isn’t a negative impact.

Over in Europe, Nazi Germany had surrendered to the victorious Allied troops. The War was over! Or at least for Europe. Japan had still not given up her own battle with the United States. Battle after battle was still being fought for control of the Pacific. American and Japanese troops were dying at a rapid pace and no ground was being gained on any side. Many people speculate over Japans stubbornness to surrender when obviously faced with a losing cause. This stubbornness can be attributed to the Japanese Culture. In their culture, the Japanese had a strong Honor-Shame society. This meant that honor was virtually everything to the Japanese people. If they had no honor, they were not worthy of living and were required to commit Seppuku [suicide]. According to the Japanese one of the most shameful acts was surrender. If a man surrendered he lost all honor in his society. This meant that the Japanese would rather be destroyed than surrender to America and bring shame upon not only themselves but future generations to come. To the Americans this was a foreign concept, who in their right minds would die rather than surrender?