Reflections for Session #11 (Pacific War)

My only regret for this session was that there was too much information crammed into too short of a time period. Regardless of that, Sam did a great job in teaching us about the events that led up to the Japan's role in World War II. He gave a clear lecture on how the growth of industry during the Meiji Period coupled with political decisions led to war with the United States. I appreciated the multi-tiered lecture detailing points such as The Washington Conference, domestic Japanese politics in the 1920s, and the China and USSR and United States contexts.

His knowledgeable lectures on the Japanese home front was interesting, but I wish we had more time for him to discuss his writings on Japanese diaries from the time. He did say that he was consolidating material from three lectures into our brief session. But he also provided us with a detailed bibliography and the titles of his books, these are resources that I am grateful for and I look forward to reading some of these works.

I really enjoyed this session, partly because it was incredibly timely. My class is wrapping up World War II and the topic for Wednesday (the day after our Tuesday class) was the Pacific war and the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagsaki.

I used the textbook excerpt and timeline to make a PowerPoint presentation that would frame our class discussion about the justification for dropping the bomb.

I (again) found Professor Yamashita's use of the concentric circles to contextualize the event as a useful way or organizing my thinking on the topic of Pearl Harbor. Many of my students wanted to know what the Japanese were thinking and what their goals were in the invasion. With hindsight, to them, it appears like an insane choice that could do nothing but bring the US into the war. After the class readings and the lecture, I felt confident to explain that Japan calculated it as the best option, considering their lack of vital war materiel and resources (particularly oil).

I also found the information about the homeland experience in Japan during the war to be very interesting--I had never studied this point of view or learned much about what "total war" looked like anywhere but in the US. It was a really informative and enlightening session.

A final thought. I recently re-read John Hersey's book Hiroshima which is a collection of first hand accounts of survivors of the bomb in that city. One of the featured survivors is a German Jesuit (who in subsequent years takes Japanese citizenship). I was wondering if this man represents a longer relationship between Germany and Japan, prior to the Tripartite Agreement of 1940, or if his presence in Japan is merely coincidental. Does anyone know more? I know the Professor described a special connection between the Dutch and the Japanese.
edited by abrown on 4/20/2013
edited by abrown on 4/20/2013

I found Professor Yamashita’s questions on his outline very helpful. The most intriguing was: What responsibility, if any, do ordinary Japanese citizens have for Japanese aggressive actions during WWII? I have decided to base my curriculum plan with this question in mind. I think it is important for students to recognize the humanity on all sides of a conflict. I was further inspired when perusing the book he brought - Senso: The Japanese Remember the Pacific War. It’s important to get students to examine multiple perspectives of the war.

First of all I want to begin with a comment. I think we all would consider ourselves fairly eductaed with US history especially regarding WWII/20th century. I used to teach US history and haven't taught it for years and listening to Professor Yamashita's lectures really makes me wish I still did. I ramble, sorry. As an eductaed invidual, I am reminded of just how "ignorant" I am of the Pacific theater. There is such a wealth of material, and I know Sam mentoned that it was his most complicated lecture, but know I undertsand and appreciate it. The details of how Japan had a "head start" on China in terms of industrialization with access to the west and the development off textiles leading to a primitive arms race with US was foreign to me, and the rapid pace is just amazing. Loved the fact that Sam pointed out that because of that development, US officials with the Washington Conference had predicted that the next big was was going to be opposite Japan. It still boggles my mind that we seen as a country to be dismissed, that we would roll over and surrender or negotiate surrender. Fascinating stuff, and yet as someone in clas stated, how can Japan and Germany see us as such. There was a pereserverence in the country, the Depression had dealt us a blow, but like Germany was redeveloping rapidly. Hard to see that Japan would ignore the signs, they really did need an economist to look at the facts and have them present and plead a case to the Japanese war ministry. Really illustrates how valuable it is to have a cabinet/advisers that are well informed to make a total informed decision.

One last note, I am going to have to adopt Sam's "Histoire Probleme" approach when beginnig a new unit in my class. Good way to introduce new and somewhat familiar concepts. I also am going to have to adopt the concentric circles to show the relevance and the big picture approach. Once again I am feeling pretty privileged to have Sam lecture for us. Loved having him come in and wishing I was a student at Pomona. thanks so much Professor.

I really appreciated all the stories that made the history come alive. I am surprised by how little discussion we have in our culture about the carpet bombing of Dresden and Tokyo. I was also intrigued by the plight of the children in the cities of Japan, and drew comparisons to the lives of children in England during that time. I am also intrigued by the motivations of the US in changing its policy from retribution to rebuilding - as plan to create a bulwark against communism.

I really liked this lecture. I especially liked when the professor lectured about reasons why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. I had never really experienced the start of the war from their perspective so it was interested to hear about their reasons for engaging. It was almost like reading about Pearl Harbor from another country’s history book. Also, the first time he lectured I was a bit confused about his approach of contextualization because it seemed like the lecture was backwards, but now that I understand his approach I appreciate it and will use a little bit of that style in my lectures.

After this session with Professor Yamashita’s I was very sorry that I was not able to attend the Saturday session. I thought he was entertaining and most of all very informative. I appreciated the format that he used with the various handouts; this was helpful because it was easier to follow his lecture. The production statistical information on Japan’s economy really made an impact. I thought the increase in industry, aircraft carriers, and battleships tremendous. I also found his personal stories about his parents during Pearl Harbor very interesting. It made me think of how we sometimes treat immigrants in our country. I would like to incorporate a lesson on Tolerance with my students.

This class lecture was extremely informative and certainly pertinent to my current teaching rosters, World History and U.S. History. The insights regarding the homeland in Japan was especially interesting to my World History students who already have a lot of prior knowledge regarding World War 2. The information about Japan was new to them which is always nice. In addition, I didn’t realize how complex Japan’s decision to invade Pearl Harbor. I always thought it was cut and dry, destroy America’s navy and it’s will to fight. The lecture and the complexity regarding the decision was interesting.