August 3 - Session 2 - Pitelka - Imperial Japan and the Pacific War - Evaluations

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Hi everyone,

Please share your thoughts about our August 3 afternoon session on "Imperial Japan and the Pacific War" by Professor Morgan Pitelka by replying to this post.

-Miranda

[Anonymous]

The ”Hull Note” sent to Tokyo with preposterous demands was a bit of an eye opener for me. I knew of Secretary of State Hull but hadn't read about his note to the Japanese leadership. What a massive misunderstanding this note led to! How he thought it would start a haggling session on East Asian situations that could satisfy both sides is beyond me. I've studied a considerable amount on this type of foreign policy haggling, but I thought his note went a little too far. It is no surprise to me that the Japanese thought it was ludicrous and sent their fleet to Hawaii to quickly defeat USA. If Hull looked at his own note from the perspective of the Japanese, he would read it the same way they did in the context of the recent US military buildup in the Pacific and their embargo on trade with Japan and the freezing of Japanese assets. What a huge political blunder that was. Not that the administration would be too upset, given that they wanted war with Japan. I will definitely make use of this information in my classes.

[Anonymous]

Growing up in Taiwan, I often heard many old generation of Taiwanese people who still maintain a strong unofficial relationship with their colonial friends. They love to recall the good old days when Japan occupied Taiwan for fifty years. I think even today clever as Japan, they have use mass media to catch the heart of the youth across the board. Many of our students are paying a lot of attention to what the most updated development of newly made computer games, by the way, they are made in Japan. Some of them want to be next "super-person living in this planet" like those characters they saw at Japanese animate manga. As I recalled part of my childhood was actually watching Japanese made cartoon TV shows. It might be Asian complex psychology that continues maintaining the "love and hate" relationship with Japan.

Accidentally I had a chance to translate a few documentary films about the Pacific battles between Japan and United States. I would never forget the brutality and cruelty repeatedly shown throughout the films I saw on the screen. On the back of my mind, I still wonder why Japanese government wants to wash out part of the historical moments and denies the right to participate for its own citizens to witness bloody scenes of the Pacific War on the curriculum of World History Textbook around the world? julie

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed learning more about the beginning of the Japanese Empire and Japanese colonialism. Although familiar with the Meiji period and some of cases of Japanese imperialism, I hadn't really thought about what it really meant for Japan to be a modern nation. I also didn't know about the Cherry Trees in Washington, D.C., in terms of what they symbolized. Students would find this interesting. I'd like to look at the Treaty of Portsmouth in greater depth as well as the impact of the Japanese winning the Russo-Japanese War.

[Anonymous]

Today Morgan briefly mentioned that we would be talking about Japan and popular culture tomorrow. I thought I’d jump in with a little bit of my own expertise in regards to video gaming. (Ok…I’ll admit it…I am a hard-core video gamer myself!)

I’ve been a part of the online, video gaming community since Sony launched one of the first MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) called “Everquest,” many years ago. I now play Everquest II several nights a week, with other players around the world. Many of your students probably play World of Warcraft (WOW), which is a similar game that attracts a younger audience. The games are popular all around the world and make an incredible amount of money for both their publishers and “gold farmers” who are people (usually East Asians) who are paid incredibly low wages to play the game and earn virtual items which are then sold by their employers for real dollars. (See the article in US-China Today, “From Gold Farmers to Kings: Online Gaming in China.” http://www.uschina.usc.edu/

Another interesting aspect of the games (which are designed here in the United States) is the way some of them are marketed to Asia. A few years ago, Sony Online Entertainment came out with new racial models, known as SOGA models.

“These character models were created as part of the EverQuest II East project, in which Sony Online Entertainment partnered with Gamania to form SOGA and truly localize EQII for the Asian market. Not only did we create new character models, but user interface modifications have been made (such as click to move) along with other changes to make EQII East appeal to the markets in China, Korea, and Taiwan.”
http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/news_ff.vm?FeatureName=SOGAmodels

I’ve attached the models. They are very similar to the anime or manga drawings, or the old Japanese cartoons such as Speed Racer or Kimba the White Lion. Turns out the models were not that popular, and Sony had talked about later removing them entirely, but that has not been done.

Why do the Japanese in particular find these models pleasing (most Westerners prefer the older model)? I noticed a similar thing with the Barbie Dolls in Japan. They had different heads than the Barbies marketed her, with much bigger eyes. I'd be interested if anyone could shine some light on this for me?

[Anonymous]

I knew the army was responsible for the Mukden Incident - but I'm glad that I now have a name for the branch of the army, Kwantang. It would be interesting to see if the army commanders had connections to the companies and families developing colonial resources. Were there payoffs, kickbacks, or was it just plain power seeking generals? With the Marco Polo Bridge Incident - was this started by the army, a push from the government, or the army supported by the government? Were they so successful in Manchuria that they thought the rest of east China would be easy, or were they dillusional from the start?

[Anonymous]

This afternoon's session was very informative and fast paced! i was reading in our school textbook over the weekend about Karea and the issues leading to the Russo -Janapanese war... that was like a drop in the ocean compare to the information that Morgan gave us today. Ihad no clue that other asian countries were so influenced by Japans victory.

I really appreciated hearing more about Korea and a bit of their perspective and reactions to what was happeneing to them. I also find it abit ironic that at first the USA stepped back and allowed Japan to take control of Karea but then ater on gets invovlved in the Korean war.

There is so much information that we all recieved today that is al useful and its probably going to take me a bit more to process it all, =).

[Anonymous]

Part II 1800-present

Wow… what an eye opener… Teddy Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize for giving Korea to Japan…I know that is a bit simplistic, but it is an enraging thought of course that is my 21st century attitude!

Where do I begin there is so much information covered today. I tired to keep up with my notes but not fast enough… would love it if Morgan gave us his notes he used along with the pp. I know the info is out there but who has time? A very thorough job of explaining the Japanese aggression into Taiwan and Korea, the Hull note, battles of Pearl Harbor and Okinawa. Everything is interesting!

The coverage of the Sino Japanese War was very informative and useful. To have this clarification will allow me to teach it more effectively. It is so interesting to hear about the Japanese treatment of the people they defeated compared to their treatment by the US, I will go a bit nationalistic and say I am proud of our behavior.

[Anonymous]

Again, to stress to students the interconnectedness of Asian history: during the three periods of occupation, as the priorities of the U.S. change in response to containing communism and the Korean War, a direct effect is seen on Japan that determines its future, especially its profiting economically.

Intriguing is the notion of ‘honne’ inner feelings vs. ‘tatemae’ façade you present to the outside world. How did the Japanese come to place such importance on this distinction and where does it fit in with their complex culture of etiquette?
That they have a single word to represent these ideas is significant.

[Anonymous]

Again, Professor Patelko covered a lot of ground on the Japanese timeline: from a feudal society to the 1900s modern industrial colonial power. What is interesting is the fact that America has had an on-going love/hate relationship with Japan since the Meiji period. The fact that America began a relationship with Japan by first demanding trade and port rights is indicative of a stormy relationship. Both Japan and America competed for colonial gains; is it no wonder that the Japanese who were a quick study of imperialism would become an enemy of the United States? Currently, it appears as long as the Japanese follow American diplomacy, relations are fine between the two countries. Interestingly enough, by adhering to World War II peace treaty demands, the Japanese do not have to defend or send their young men and women in harms way. Somehow the Japanese always turn a defeat or acquiescence in their favor.

[Anonymous]

There are a few new pieces of information that I am excited to share with my classes this year. These include that foreigners were thought to have smelled like butter, that the Japanese showered often (why is that? Is it connected to Shinto water purifying rituals?), that it was the alternative attendance program that really drove urbanization/modernization and cultural unity in the Tokugawa period.

I only teach up to 1700, so I don't teach the Meiji period, so I was shocked by how rapid the modernization was. It also seemed that there was not too much resistance to the radical changes- Daimyo just giving up their feudal rights and becoming governors? Maybe in reality that did not manifest is great power change, but I wonder if there was a strong resistance to change like there was in China.

[Anonymous]

oops so that last post should have gone under Meiji...

I think the state shinto efforts are fascinating- again so much thought control from above. I'm surprised that the early state Shinto efforts were underfunded and thought of to be a failure from the perspective of the early Shinto priests (1870s). I would think that if a state was going to use one religion, it use all means necessary or else the faith could lose all credibility. Although State Shinto seemed to lose some credibility in the early 1900s, the government was finally successful in making it into a unifying force for the war.

Reading the homefront stories makes me wonder if Japanese men or women had it worse during the war. Men obviously faced death when forced to join the army, but the women faced poverty, the strain of farming with any male help and raising children while having practically no resources at all. I really admire the strength of the Japanese and the Chinese - their hardships have been more than I can imagine.

[Anonymous]

The butter smell interested me too...I also want to add the Cherry Trees gifts to D.C.
Even as small as these moments in history may seem, these types of anecodotes is what hooks students!

[Anonymous]

I know much about WWII due to family history, etc. I knew the Cherry Blossoms came from Japan, but I didn't know the story behind them. I get to go to DC next summer again, so the seeing those trees through different thoughts will be great.
I know a lot of talk was about Korea and China not liking Japan and wanting an apology over the atrocities done, so my question is: do the younger generations feel the same about Japan as those that lived through it? Is the idea that Japan is not nice (to put it nicely) and needs to apologize, and mean it, hinder relations between the three countries? What does Korea really think about the way Japan bounced back after losing the war, to become a world player, especially through technology?

[Anonymous]

You brought up a lot of interesting points. First off I totally agree about the interesting background on the Cherry Blossoms! I had an idea/rumor about their origins, but I never knew why they were there or what they represented. I hope to go to DC in the near future to explore all the neat hidden National Treasures just like Nicolas Cage did in the movie. j/k

On your second note, I had the same thought. Yes there were atrocities in Korea and history does note them and frankly govts are cautious of acknowledging them but what about the next generation? Do they care, are they informed? are they proactive? I'm not even sure what the average Korean or Japanese student may think of one another. Yes there is trade and ideas are exchanged, but I would like to know whats on their minds 😛

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