Posts Tagged ‘world war II’

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.

March 10: An Anniversary To Remember

Today is the 63rd anniversary of the first large-scale U.S. bombing raid of Tokyo, an event that killed some 100,000 civilians. Several marking the anniversary were held in Sumida Ward, the area of Tokyo that was hardest hit by the firebombing. Mainichi’s English edition has an article up about a giant peace mural that has gone on display at the Sumida War Office.

There was a thought-provoking Sankei Shinbun editorial yesterday on Google News about war responsibility for the bombings, which I have translated into English below [contextual links and video added]:

March 10th marks the 63rd anniversary of the indiscriminate bombing of Tokyo by American forces, in which 100,000 people died. Similar to the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings (August 6th and 8th), it is a date that the Japanese people should never forget.

American long range bombers began full-scale bombing of the Japanese home islands after the summer of 1944. The early air raids were precision attacks on munitions factories, but that policy changed in January of 1945 with the appointment of Major General Curtis LeMay as commander of the bombing operations against Japan. LeMay adopted a new policy of indiscriminate bombing raids that targeted densely populated areas.

This was an inhumane policy that involved the dropping of incendiary bombs and carpet bombings aimed at closing up victims’ routes of escape. Indiscriminate bombing of this kind was used against Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and many other cities. The combined civilian death toll from the firebombing and atomic bomb attacks exceeded 500,000.

In 1922, a conference of Japan, America, Great Britain and other countries drew up the Hague Rules of Air Warfare. Under Article 24 of the agreement, aerial bombing of non-military targets was prohibited. The American government had justified the firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings as having taken place “to bring a quick end to the war.” However, it is very doubtful that the bombing of non-combatants was truly necessary at a point of the war in which there were already many signs that Japan had lost.

In Mirror for Americans, Japan, a book banned from publication during the American occupation, author Helen Mears stated that after the March bombing of Tokyo, the American military’s enemy was not merely the Japanese military: the general civilian population of Japan had become the primary target of the war. Mears also wrote that America knew of surrender negotiations Japan was attempting via Moscow, and the atomic bombings were dropped as part of America’s political conflict with the Soviet Union.

Ashita e no Yuigon (Best Wishes For Tomorrow), a film concerning the postwar trial of Lt. General Tasuku Okada for the wartime execution of American B-29 pilots, has been showing in theaters across Japan since March 1st. It is a film that raises questions about how leaders ought to act and the inhumanity of indiscriminate bombing. There has been a high interest level in the film among those who experienced war as well as younger Japanese viewers. It has been also said that the film received great applause when it was screened at film festivals in America.

The issue of responsibility for the indiscriminate bombing during the Pacific War should be re-examined, particularly by the younger generations in Japan and America.

[I am not a professional translator, so it's probably far from a perfect translation. However, I think I was able to get most of the meaning down correctly...]

A note for readers with access to Japanese TV: A special docudrama about a photographer who took famous photos of the Tokyo Firebombing will be airing tonight at 9:00PM on TBS. The Japan Times has mentioned that the film will recreate the firestorm that destroyed Sumida ward using state-of-the-art computer graphics.

Haiku Poet’s Pacifist Story

The Japan Times has a very interesting article today telling the life story of haiku poet Tota Kaneko, who embraced pacifism after witnessing the horrors of war:

Kaneko, a graduate of the school of economics at the Imperial University of Tokyo, enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Navy. After he was sent to the front, he came to realize “war is just about mass killings.” He’s now a staunch believer in the war-renouncing postwar Constitution.

These days, when he is not busy spreading the joys of 17-syllable poems, he lectures about his war experience and the Constitution. “Japan must never use military force and engage in military operations abroad,” he said.

Read the full article here.