Their “Dual” endeavor is to win the war, not only with the enemy abroad but also with the racism at the home front. Takaki’s use of anecdotal narratives does much to illustrate the America in the 1940s, demonstrating the degree to which America was a white man’s country. In addition to this, Takaki shows the wartime responses from a variety of ethnic groups: Koreans, Japanese, Jewish, Filipinos, African Americans, and Italians. Among these groups, Takaki discusses about Japanese Americans in a full chapter, concluding with an examination of Hiroshima as a clear expression of racism.
Gene Luen Yang offers a humanistic perspective on western imperialism in China during the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century in his graphic novel Boxers, a tragic narrative about Chinese grassroots resistance against foreign occupation in which an armed revolution ultimately fails. The novel focuses on religious identity, and cultural connections in the face of invasion. Boxers highlights the negative effects of imperialism through clashes between different religions, ideologies and power structures. Therefore, the criticism of western imperialism presented in Boxers could support a world systems theory approach to international relations because it shows to exploitation through westernization and the squandering of cultural
When learning about and analyzing acts of mass atrocity during World War II, hundreds if not thousands of questions can be asked trying to gain a deeper understanding for their actions. Probably one of the most intriguing thoughts to ponder is what leads individuals and societies as a whole to descend to such a level of cruelty. According to the author of Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand, one reason may be, “Few societies treasured dignity, and feared humiliation, as did the Japanese, for whom a loss of honor could merit suicide. This is likely one of the reasons why Japanese soldiers in World War II debased their prisoners with such zeal, seeking to take from them that which was most painful and destructive to lose” (189). To elaborate, the Japanese
During the Second World War, many of those who came from Japanese descent were restricted from many freedoms that many others of different races had. Due to such a confinement, many felt conflicting attitudes in relation to such appalling events. Most notably seen in an excerpt from Joy Kogawa’s Obasan, through the author’s use of changes in point of view and figurative language, the complex attitude of pride, yet shame in the Japanese culture is revealed. The first section of this text reveals an interesting perspective through the use of first person plural point of view.
“Let me now just briefly introduce the topics of Inoue’s chapters. Interested readers may find some more to their taste than others” (Fogel 48). Little did Fogel know, most of his readers probably lost interest after reading the rest of his article. He completely switches from attempting to locate evidence for an argument into a complete critical review of Hiromasa’s book, “Crisis for the Chinese Empire.” Fogel goes on to analyze Hiromasa’s for the next four pages of his article, as an attempt to strengthen his own points.
In Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking, Mrs. Chang gives light into a subject not very commonly known that occured in December of 1937 and extended to January of the following year, the event was around four to six weeks in length, and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands and thousands more were mutilated, raped, tortured and killed. Mrs. Chang’s purpose of writing this text is to expose to the world an event not very well known, a Holocaust preceding that of the Jews. She does this by stating the issue of what caused this tragic and horrific event, in this case, the cause of why the Japanese did this is extreme nationalism. Mrs. Chang not only talks about the events that happened during those six weeks, but also of the safe zone created
The Fall of Han China The fall of Han China began with a decline in an interest of achieving Confucian intellectual goals, students were becoming restless. With this new restless tone, the empire started to let go of their morals, leading to a decline in work ethic, this ultimately meant that trade and agriculture were no longer thriving. Without trade and harvests the empire was no longer self-sufficient. Han China was a Confucian state.
Part III, The War in Japanese Eyes, allows the reader to receive a Japanese perspective and also grasp how devastating the results of war were. Chapter 8, “The Pure Self,” Dower explains the Japanese traditions and culture, along with the humiliation and discrimination the Japanese received. The Japanese believed their culture was unique, and spent this period of time during the war focusing on themselves and their race. Whereas yellow was the color of illness and treason and the Japanese were usually referred to as yellow, the color white symbolized purity which stood for the American race. On the contrary, the Americans were also known as demonic.
I first read ‘The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II’ by Iris Chang while in high school. My previous knowledge of what had happened during the Sino-Japanese war was related to stories I had been told by my mother about her father. My grandfather has been born in Hunan province in China between 1928 and 1933 (at the time, China lacked a widespread birth certificate system in rural areas at the time). The Japanese invasion of Hunan province occurred toward the end of World War two in 1945 when my grandfather was in his early teens.
In Julie Otsuka’s novel, When the Emperor was Divine, a nameless Japanese-American family is uprooted, exported, and abandoned by their own government. The family, along with thousands of others, lived in an internment camp for the duration of World War II, their only crime being their Japanese heritage. All Americans should know the story well, however, beyond public knowledge, there is a hidden history of Japanese-American imprisonment that extends beyond the less malicious internment of families. It is kept in the dark, easily overlooked, only found when one is willing to search.
- Because I was born in Japan and I grew up in country side society, I will talk about how America’s involvement changed Japanese thoughts towards “outsiders” and foreign countries after the World War II. MacArthur 's held his power of supreme commander for the in Japan from 1945 to 1951. MacArthur managed to implement a number of reforms in postwar Japan, including a new constitution, land reform, and giving women the right to vote, while at the same time encouraging Japan to disarm peacefully and formally renounce any future war plans. By keeping in place the highly respected Emperor Hirohito, he was able to effect a relatively smooth transition to peacetime, creating an economic environment that would make Japan a powerful force by the
During the first half of the 20th century, the Japanese empire was at the peak of its power. Starting form 1910 up until 1945, the end WWII, Korea was being held by Japan as a colony. During this time, Japan and China entered The Second Sino-Japanese War that stared in 1937 and ended with Japanese surrender in 1945. These Japanese actions have had such an impactful effect on the people that it hurt, that films, such as Devils on the Door step and The Handmaiden, have even contemporary films express negative emotions to the long-lasting effects of the Japanese empire.
China’s Last Empire. The Great Qing. William T. Rowe. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. 360 pages including Emperors and Dynasties, Pronunciation Guide, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Index, Maps and Figures.
It all started when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, causing the U.S. citizens to be extremely furious and unite the support of media to create propagandas. The Japanese are portrayed with slanted small eyes and buck teeth- undermining the intelligence of their race; moreover, they were even dehumanized and depicted as animals. The U.S media was very biased when comparing the Chinese to the Japanese. While the Chinese man had an amiable appearance and a slender body, the Japanese had an unpleasant frown on his face and was described as short and stout (Miles). The article “WWII Propaganda: The Influence of Racism” also states that “The Chinese man’s occupation implies that he helps people, while the title of Japanese warrior alludes to danger and disloyalty,” (ibid).
This is what makes the prime minister’s visit so controversial: by having him pay respect at a shrine that contains one thousand war criminals it becomes as if he is honouring the crimes that they committed. Needless to say, the crimes that these criminals committed were staggeringly erroneous, yet the Yushukan, or the museum within the Yasukuni Shrine, refuses to acknowledge any of them, which infuriates countries in the Asia-Pacific region who were directly affected by Japan’s actions in the past. “[The Yushukan] takes too many liberties with historical accuracy” recounted Mishra, who described that the museum presented The Rape of Nanjing in 1937 as “an incident in which ‘Chinese soldiers in civilian clothes’ were ‘severely prosecuted.’” Despite that, the Japanese Prime Minister Abe insists on visiting. His grandfather was arrested by the United States under suspicion of being an A-class war criminal, include how abe wanted to complete his dream of militarising japan after wwii therefore it is only natural for him to visit, as he found it to be his mission to perpetrate his grandfather’s dream of remilitarising Japan after
