Posts Tagged ‘world war II’

Diecast models of Imperial Japan’s greatest warplanes

Don’t have the patience or money to build yourself a complex model of the Mitsubishi Zero? Weekly diecast models of Japanese warplanes might be better for you:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Japanese rock concert held on the USS Missouri

Japanese rock group VAMPS recently held a special concert on the deck of the USS Missouri, a battleship best known for hosting Japan’s war surrender ceremony on September 2, 1945.

Flanked by the ship’s 16-inch guns and with the stars and stripes flying behind them, the band performed 20 songs, including the upcoming release “Sweet Dreams.” About 600 fans paid $150 each to see the unique show. Vamps was formed in 2008 around L’Arc en Ciel frontman Hyde and Oblivion Dust guitarist K.A.Z. The lineup also includes bassist Ju-ken, who has performed with Gackt and X Japan’s Yoshiki. They have released one album and three singles. The tour took in 60 shows in Japan and the U.S. and finishing off in Hawaii, which is in more than one way the meeting point between the two countries, was heavily symbolic. Hyde said, “I think it’s great that an instrument of war can be used to send out a message of peace like this.”

According to the “Mezamashi TV” clip, about 600 Japanese and American fans attended the concert.

[hat tip to The Other East]

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Related video clip: a newsreel from 1945 showing the surrender ceremony:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Build your own Mitsubishi Zero

A commercial that’s been airing on TV a lot lately:

It advertises a model of Japan’s most famous airplane, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. It is sold through an interesting method that spreads out the overall cost of the model airplane. Each week, a new set of parts is released and sold at bookstores across Japan. Each set costs about $15, but sometimes it takes as many as 100 sets to complete an entire model. A very cool hobby, if you have the time and money to make it work.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Akagami – the red papers that sent Japanese to war

The other night, TBS aired an excellent documentary/drama about a man who delivered draft notices during the war:

As the 64th anniversary of Japan’s surrender approaches, the special memorial programs about World War II come faster and thicker. This week’s big event is a docudrama called “Saigo no Akagami Haitatsunin” (The Last Red Letter Deliveryman; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.). “Red letter” refers to the draft notices received by men during the war. These were hand delivered by special deliverymen. It was considered a great honor to receive a call to service by the Imperial Army, and families would celebrate out in the open, but, understandably, many recipients and their loved ones secretly dreaded the arrival of such notices.

In the drama portion of the program, Hidetaka Yoshioka plays the deliveryman, who distributes draft notices in a small village in Shiga Prefecture. The documentary portion traces the fates of the men who received notices and then left for battle.

Here are a couple excerpts you might find interesting:

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1. A young man goes to war, followed by his brothers

In this clip, we are shown a community celebrating the drafting of a local boy into the military. It takes place in 1939, a period when Japan was not yet at war with the United States. The boy’s brothers and parents seem sad for him to go, but there is an overall atmosphere of pride that he will go to serve his country.

The last portion of the clip takes place in the later years of the war after things have turned against Japan. The younger brother of the boy drafted in 1939 has been drafted. Few people are there to celebrate, and his parents pretty much understand that there will be little chance of him returning alive.

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2. The resentment of a community

In this clip we see the way the draft notice deliveryman is treated by his neighbors. It is only 1942, yet the draft has taken a tremendous toll on the community. Wives are left alone with small children while their husbands are sent to war, and almost everyone has had relatives drafted into the military. The draft notice deliveryman is treated with hostile glares every time he walks through town.
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Like most Japanese TV programs about the war, it seemed it was meant to reinforce pacifist ideas and remind younger generations about just how horrible it was when Japan last fought a war.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

World War II Manga

Japan Focus has posted an English translation of an educational manga about World War II written by Mizuki Shigeru, war veteran and creator of the famous GeGeGe no Kitaro series:

Mizuki’s historical perspectives, informed by his own experience of violence and the excesses of Japan’s wartime regime, do not fit comfortably with stereotypical “rightwing” or “leftwing” positions. Sharing elements of both, but with a strong progressive bent in the area of war responsibility, Mizuki has crafted a series of unforgettable war stories.

Have a look at the article/manga translation here, and also be sure to check Mutantfrog Travelogue’s post about Mizuki Shigeru’s war manga.

The Pied Piper of Saipan: Should he be given the Medal of Honor?

The Japan Times reports on a documentary advancing a campaign to award the Medal of Honor to Guy Gabaldon, a U.S. Marine who earned the nickname “the Pied Piper of Saipan” after convincing hundreds of Japanese to surrender during the battle for that island:

Using the Japanese language skills he learned as a boy, he warned the Japanese they would die if they stayed hidden and told them marines were not torturers as they had heard. The marines, he said, would feed them and give them medical care. Many agreed, and Gabaldon, just 18, led them back to U.S. lines.

By the battle’s end, Gabaldon had coaxed more than 1,000 Japanese out of the steamy caves. He was praised as being brave and compassionate, and he received a Silver Star — later upgraded to a Navy Cross. His actions were recounted on television and in movies.

Now, almost two years after his death, there is a renewed campaign to give Gabaldon the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award. A new documentary, “East LA Marine,” asks whether Gabaldon’s Hispanic heritage prevented him from receiving the medal, though others blame his tough and outspoken nature.

More details can be found on GetGuyTheMedal.com, the official website of the film.