It was my intention to post about the garbage system, seeing that it is remarkably different from that of the US. However, the last two days brought up a topic that I felt more pressing personally than the trash system. So that previous post (which has been started) will have to wait.
So, background of this new topic. This semester I am enrolled and actively taking a Japanese literature class that is focused on the literary works either published during the Occupation Era of Japan (post-WWII) or were popular during that time.
Thus far, it has been a truly interesting experience as a student, lover of Japanese culture and a young American who is not conscious of the lingering feelings from World War II-era America. There is truly a mix of emotions driving me to learn more about the international lead up to WWII and not just the American viewpoint of it. Having learned a little bit about the Japanese lead-up to the war, I have realized that there was more to the Pacific Theater than most Americans realize. Is this not the benefit of experiencing another culture: to better view the world and its history from the most well-rounded perspective? With this being said, this is not meant to be a dismissal of Japan's violent acts towards the cultures it was in contact with during the War, it is merely a recognition that there was a depth of confliction and turmoil politically and culturally in Japan during the lead-up of the War and amidst the battles.
So, to arrive at the topic of today's post. This week's reading in the class was a collection of excerpts from the book, "The City of Corpses" by Japanese author Ota Yoko (Sur-First). There are truly only two, maybe three critical historical events that one can assume will be the topic of this book: Hiroshima, Nagasaki and maybe Tokyo firebombings. And you are right. Amongst these events, is the topic of the book. That is the bombing of Hiroshima.
"The City of Corpses" is the recount of the author's experience of the devastation of Hiroshima and its aftermath. This, as you can imagine, is quite difficult. Ota is able to draw you into Hiroshima 1945 and forces you to experience all the fears and horrors of living in the days following the Bombing, not knowing when you might die because of the mysterious, swift and hellish atrocity that is atomic sickness. She makes the overwhelming...well...devastation of watching your neighbors go from being healthy and recovering to dead in the matter of days, often times less than a week or even a half of a week. This is something that we Americans do not know how to comprehend. We dropped the bomb, how are we expected to face the horrors that followed. This is not a statement of anger, this is a statement of human nature. We, as humans, do not like being confronted by the consequences of our actions, especially when the consequences have hurt another. This is the same human nature that troubles Japan in confronting the atrocities their men and government committed during the same era.
This memoir of events does not focus only on Ota's afflictions from the war, but is the afflictions of the people around her from her own view point as she tries to get a handle on what has truly happened to Hiroshima and its surrounding areas. For me, it does bring up the question of "Was the bomb too harsh?", but this question is laid in my desire to say that the Japanese did not deserve this. I love these people, so to admit fault on their side to the point of finding such horrifying destruction of them permissible is downright difficult. But, this is not meant to find blame on either side, this is to inform you of the confliction one has when caught between two cultures she loves that were once enemies of each other.
When I read literature usual, I tend to read as much as possible in one sitting, since it is not guaranteed that I will find my way back to the work at a later date. If I am really engrossed by the work, I might just finish in just a few sittings, depending on the length of the book. This work, however, was one that I could not do that. Just reading the section in regards to the atomic sickness was so emotionally horrifying that it was making me sick. This was in part to my love for Japan and the guilt-reaction to having come from the culture that dropped the bomb, causing the sickness. Again, not meant to put blame on the US, it is just the confliction within me.
In short, read this book! It has been published in English, so you can actually read it. I want you to read about the other side of the War, one that we do not discuss often. There is a cultural barring of indulge one's desire to understand the Japanese side of the War, as if there maybe blame to lay on our soldiers and our Nation. However, what was done was done on the information that was available at that time. This is referring to both government actions and civilian actions. To fully understand the mindset of each side of the war, you need to look past what the government was dictating and involve yourself with the understanding available to the civilians. Specifically addressing Japan, the entirety of its people should not be to blame for the atrocities committed, but rather the people who committed the atrocities themselves. I challenge you to explore the reasons behind Japan's refusal to admit responsibility for the atrocities and look to see who were refusing such admission. Look pass the government's actions within the war and explore why the soldiers acted in the manner they did, why the Kamikaze existed, when they actually were formed. The culture behind Japan's actions within the war and following the war is difficult for us Americans to understand, but trying to understand their reasonings is not a condoning of their actions, it's merely trying to understand the motivations of the War and the Japanese culture of that time.
This topic, as you can see, is a sticking point for me. To be caught between cultures of once-enemy countries is difficult. I just felt the need to jog you guys out of the American views and see the world as it really is: a mess of conflicting cultures and human sinfulness. When you get pass politics, sometimes in war, there is not one side who is completely in the right, nor is there one side who was completely in the wrong.
Sorry for the tough pill to swallow. As I repeatedly said, this is a topic that I am confronted with time and time again. Please, without ragging on the perceived brutality that has been found within historical Japanese culture, try to understand the cultural underworkings of both our culture and theirs that brings us to define Japanese culture as being "brutal".
Til next time, Later Peeps.
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