Thoughts about session 6 (Japan w/Prof. Sam)

[Anonymous]

I found some points were hard to agree in the textbook, so I further searched in publications re Declining Birthrate in Japan.
The Declining Birthrate happens not only in Japan, but everywhere (literally everywhere which I didn't know) to most of developed counties. Spain and Italy, for example, has dropped even to 1.1, Hong Kong was even worse than Japan. 0.94 (land is expensive and scarce on top of lack of job security, etc.) back in 2003. UK has been low but Tony Blair brought the rate up by supporting long term childcare system. (this must be the key to solve part of this problem: there is not enough childcare system in Japan, some people had to live with parents to work outside)
The main reason of these low birth rate in japan was people's values changed in Japan. (Kazu, 2009) Back then men went to work, and the women stayed at home, taking care of home and children was norm to Japanese society. After women attained a higher education and established a career, this delayed a woman entering into marriage until 25-39 years old and child birth, according to him ..as textbook noted re the Crown Princes Masako's 29 years. The other interesting number I found in the paper was women over 40 had 2 children, but women below 30 had only 1 child (birthrate of 1.29) in 2009. Kazu explained that because of the reflection of current unstable social and economic environmental changes, women (and her husbands?) decide to have less children. These factors might have spurred the declining Birthrate in Japan. If the economy is not stable and you or your husband might lose employment at anytime, you won't bring a child (average expense of 10-30% of your monthly income) to the world. On top of that, there is now the radiation threat, I believe that the birthrate will decline further impacting the size of the Japanese population.
edited by hsakuma on 4/26/2011

[Anonymous]

Continuing with population issues in Japan, I read (or saw) something about the need to bring in several hundred thousand workers to fill jobs that will be left vacant by retiring workers. According to what I saw, the problem becomes how the Japanese feel about foreigners, which is not positive. This may lead to an economic decline in the near future, as well as the social and financial impact on how to care for an increasingly elder population.

[Anonymous]

Prior to this session I did not know that there were Neseis soldiers in the Japanese military. That piece of information has added to my understanding of the issue regarding the treatment of Japanese-Americans during the WW II. Professor Yamashita's personal stories from WW II were very interesting. They added a new dimension to the story of Pearl Harbor and the conflict between the US and Japan.

I was struck by the number of people who returned to Japan for schooling or a finishing off of their education. This definitely speaks to the importance of tradition and culture that bind people to their homeland and their roots.

[Anonymous]

Definitely the declining birthrate is problematic in many parts of Europe as well as Japan and Korea. In the Scandinavian countries, the birthrate is getting to 1 or lower. The demographics of all these countries are going to have to change to fulfill the needs of the aging population. Japan is going to have to deal with the demand for workers in their industries. The aging population in Japan is going to need support from the younger population. Given the fact that it is very difficult to become a naturalized Japanese citizen and the prejudice against foreigners is quite strong, Japan is going to have to do some soul searching or some consideration for the direction of the country.

[Anonymous]

Shortly after this lecture, and partly in response to it, my husband and I watched "Letters from Iwo Jima," the 2006 film directed by Clint Eastwood as a companion to his film "Flags of Our Fathers" (which I haven't seen). The two movies purport to portray the battle of Iwo Jima from both American and Japanese points of view. I was surprised, therefore, to find that the most sympathetic and heroic figures in "Letters from Iwo Jima" (which is almost entirely in Japanese, with Japanese actors) were the ones who had been to the US and seemed to represent a more "American" set of values -- being willing to challenge authority/question orders, emphasizing what was best for the individual rather than group honor (esp. as characterized by group suicide in the face of capture or death by the American forces), and a generally more relaxed and open approach to relationships with others. The two Japanese officers who had been to the US took a practical approach to the battle, trying to win or at least save Japanese lives rather than blindly following orders and focusing on allegiance to the emperor. I wondered what the Japanese reaction to the movie was, so I did a little online research and found that it was a critical and popular success in Japan -- but perhaps only because it is more sympathetic than many American depictions of the Japanese, especially during WWII! So the bar was set fairly low, I guess. Anyway, it's interesting to think about the evolving, and really rather startling, relationship between the US and Japan in the decades since WWII, and this is something that could be incorporated into either a US history class or a modern world history class.

[Anonymous]

Professor Yamashita's personal experiences made for an interesting and inspiring lecture. I was not aware of the extent of the discrimination that was going on in Hawaii. We have all learned about the internment camps here on the main land but once WW II was over they where closed down and people returned to what was left of their lives. But in Hawaii the racism and discrimenation twards Americans of Japanese decent, continued until the mid-sixties. How do we teach tolerance, how are to show our students that, you can not single out all peoples, because of the actions of a few. I am sure that Muslem Americans are still feeling some sort of backlash from the attacks of 9/11 and they will continue to do so for many years to come.

[Anonymous]

Of course as we read about Japanese history this spring, the recent tsunami and subsequent problems with the nuclear plant were on my mind, too. This article from the New York Times, written by a Harvard history professor, speaks movingly about the beauty of the coastal area devastated by the tsunami and the long-standing reliance upon technology to address the dangers of living in this particular landscape. The piece is well written and combines an understanding of history with an appreciation for the importance of geography (bringing together the two subjects I teach). It ends by raising some concerns about our continued faith in technology to solve problems of our own making, which could lead to an interesting discussion with upper-level students.

Here's the link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/opinion/20miller.html?scp=3&sq=japan%20tsunami%20markers&st=cse

[Anonymous]

Do you think that Japan will make it easier to become a Japanese Citizen once the full impact of their declining population is felt. They are already increasing the number of immigrant workers in the country. Or will they try to change their propaganda strategy and promote larger families in Japan. This would me a complete opposition to China's one child law. In fact I know that in France, people where being encourage to have more than one child. I don't know it this is still going on today, but I did see the propaganda when I was there several years ago.

[Anonymous]

Ever since I had the opportunity to visit Japan I fell in love with the culture and country. I found this session informative and enlighten regarding the connection between China and Japan. Before this class i never knew much about the political connection between the the two, plus the rich traditions and histroy of Japan.

[Anonymous]

I learned some japanese history after session 6 by Mr. Yamashita. I had a feeling that Japanese governers in the history was very aggressive since the beginning of its history. they developed their systems of fightings and Wars sincec their early history, and we can see that during thr WWII, I also learned that people suffered a lot during each war.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Hi all,

Please share your thoughts about session 6 on April 12 by replying to this thread. You may raise questions and share thoughts either before or after the session.

Best,
Xin

[Anonymous]

i had an deep impression the way Pro. yamashita lectured the Pearl Harber Event. he said right at the time the Japanese plane bombed the place, her mother was upstairs looking down, and somebody shouted to her saying" your people are bombbarding here". he said it in a light way with low voice and we laughed out a little bit. That is history. Sometime people can talk about heavy history in an easier way after it passed over.

[Author]

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