1/25/10 -Session 7 - Pitelka - Japan: Postwar Growth and Crisis

One of the reasons Japan was so successful in growing its economy post WWII and actually out produced older industries in the West was because of American military protection, American military bases in Japan, including American nuclear weapons. Japan spent little money on its own military so it could invest more in its economy. It is a luxury most nations can't afford.

At the beginning of this session, Professor Pitelka spoke about the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki and the U.S. Occupation, 1945 - 1952. His timelines gave me a better understanding of our involvement in Japan. Shortly after this session, I stumbled across a documentary on the Smithsonian Channel titled, "The Last Bomb". It is the Official Army Air Force Film from 1946 presented by the War Department, described as the "planning and execution of a U.S. air raid on Japan in 1945." The staged propaganda consisted of actual footage of the bombing, mostly from the perspective of those flying the planes. The Smithsonian documentary also has current technical details of the B-29 edited into the footage. It may be too graphic for my fourth graders, but I think parts may be appropriate for middle to high school classes.

I was unable to find a video or dvd of this, but I did find it divided into 4 parts on YouTube.

I have been fortunate to visit both the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima and the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii. I have images and share my sentiments with my students about these places. Comparing the two memorials are a great lesson and my students are intrigued by what I saw on these trips. I am in Hawaii a couple of times a year, and often pass by Pearl Harbor. Each time I do, it brings back the memories of this horrific event in American history.

If you ever wanted a sign that the times are changing, I just read online that Princess Aiko is being bullied at school. Can you, as a teacher, imagine that parent conference? How much has Japanese culture changed to allow schoolyard bullies to push the emperor's granddaughter around at school? We learned that the imperial family lost a great deal of respect and stature after Japan's defeat in WW2, but I did not realize that it was this different.

Isn't it interesting. And again, it is so lucky to have been able to visit these sights as a teacher, and show them first hand to our students. They really can benifit from our experiences. I know my student love it when I share with them what I have first hand, saw.

Having three teens myself- it is an interesting problem. Some days my sons will want to play those horrible games & I have to go in our game room & stop them- usually I say "It's off in 5 mins or else I will turn it off." My children understand that when Mom says something she means it, so maybe the Japanese parents aren't as enforcing? We do not have locks on their bedroom doors either, it's an "open-door" house. Maybe with the dual, late working parents, in Japan, it gives the teens full reign on what they can or want to do. Maybe they need more guidance and opportunities to get out and be physical? Kids tend to be lazy, they need to be pushed a little into doing activities that once they are involved, they then see how great it really is.

Both the A-Bomb Memorial and Museum are really quite remarkable. Quite a sobering and depressing experience--but well worth attending.

I got some really interesting feedback from a few U.S. students last year re: the photos that I had taken at the museum (of various world leaders who had attended various ceremonies at the museum and/or sent letters of condolence). The visuals really went over well with many of them.