session 7 w/Prof. Sam Yamashita

That's interesting that you should mention the "Fog of War." I was thinking about the exact same thing as Prof. Yamashita was talking to us. It's horrific to consider that the firing bombing of Tokyo killed almost as many people as the dropping of the atomic bombs.

Thank you for posting that Youtube. I was googling "Curtis Lemay" as our Professor Yamashita mentioned him. I recalled his name from the 60's. Now this Youtube clip has another 60's notable -- Robert McNamara -- speaking quite frankly. I remember the review of this documentary mentioning he sounded like he was dealing with "old ghosts". His comment that we haven't really grappled with the "rules of war" -- still to this day -- behaving like war criminals. Then his provocative question, are you a war criminal if you win. Another important thought from the other night is the long-held resentments that older family members held "I refuse to buy anything from Japan". Looking at this Youtube about the U.S. bombing of Japan, it's amazing the human spirit can ever forgive and move on.

Wow...that video affected me...I had no idea when Mr. Yamashita was speaking of the "Road to World War II", the proportionality of what he was talking about. Japan is such a small island and the list of comparable US cities was overwhelming and that even was before I saw the high speed flashing of the total list...67 in all. War criminals or Heroes...it depends on who wins...but immoral is immoral despite what we call it.

Recently, I implemented my lesson called, An Enemy Within, that I developed for the USC-UTLA Fall class that is currently posted on the website. I was satisfied with the results of the lesson plan, but I did make a few minor changes that proved useful, one which was playing the newsreel of the official U.S. explanation of why Japanese-Americans were sent to internment camps as they circulated around the room and did their gallery walk. It was a great coincidence that we had a class with Professor Yamashita before I covered WW2, in fact Ben DeLeon and I both used some of the notes we took in class to teach our classes. As I covered WW2, one of the most compelling topics for my students was the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Opinions varied, but most of my students were regretful that United States government had done this and were shocked by the destruction that nuclear power has. Part of the discussion we had on Hiroshima and Nagasaki strayed to last year's earthquake in Japan and the damage the nuclear power plant had caused and how it might have stirred deep seated fears in the dangers of nuclear power.

Dr. Yamashita's personal connection to the content really affects me. He discussed both his family lineage and the personal diaries that he translated discussing various perspectives on wartime. I am inspired to show more first-hand accounts of the effects of war on various people in various stages of their lives. Oftentimes, we read about one singular perspective from a history book written by, yet again, someone different than who actually endured the experience of what is being discussed.

The movie that he mentioned, The Twilight Samurai, sounded interesting. It is set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meji Restoration. it follows the life of a low-ranking samurai employed as a bureaucrat. The Twilight Samurai was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003.The Twilight Samurai also won an unprecedented 12 Japanese Academy Awards.

To see a clip :

Thanks for posting this article. I subscribe to the New Yorker too, but it helps to have friends point out stories to not miss. The article about the city of Macau is like a magic mirror that shows the shape of the world soon to come. I can see having 12 graders who are studying Econ. and Expository Composition doing a Humanitas project based on the many threads of this article: the place of gambling in society; Chinese vs. Americans propensity to accept risk (Chinese are more willing!), the underworld -- mafia -- that accompanies high stakes enterprises, the rapid climb of associated businesses that support Macau , such as high speed rail, a project that perennially hits setbacks in California.

Another way to respond to this article is to rewrite a scene in the genre of a dystopian short story. The excess of population, money, luxury items, urban growth . . . what is the consequence? The article discusses the lax legislature and the role of the newly endowed millionaire. Students could have a field day creating a society, based on this article.

Professor Yamashita's lecture on Japan during World War II was absolutely fascinating. I am currently covering World War II and the timing could not have been more perfect. As educators attempting to cover so much material in such a limited amount of time, I've found that we tend to address curriculum thematically and sometimes, with more breadth than depth. Professor Yamashita's lecture was incredible because of the nuances and details that his lesson provided - details that are both wildly intriguing and gives us a better understanding of the Japanese psyche during the war years. Understanding the deeper political and economic motives to attack Pearl Harbor and comprehending the immense mobilization of the Japanese imperial forces made that part of history come alive for my students. Furthermore, learning about the party/governmental line of the "fight to the death" mentality of the Japanese (both from the government and from the first hand accounts written by Japanese citizens and translated by Prof. Yamashita), gave my students a better understanding of the phenomenon of kamikaze pilots and even helped them understand some of the rationale for one of the reasons why the United States justified the dropping of the atomic bomb.