This paper discusses the history, which led to the formation of the American-Japanese alliance, the partnership itself in terms of its socio-cultural, economic and geopolitical dimensions and the prospects for the future.
Abstract This paper explains that the kind of partnership, which was forged between these two nations following Japan's defeat in the Second World War, is unprecedented, an unlikely alliance between conqueror and conquered, an unequal alliance that places both parties in a position of advantage. The author points out that a major social factor influencing American-Japanese relations is the sense of insecurity and vulnerability, which the Japanese have, being subject to earthquakes, typhoons, tidal waves and the possibility of domination by nations with greater military strength; whereas, to the Japanese, the high degree of self-confidence displayed by Americans comes across as being "mindless arrogance". The paper relates that the Japan's phenomenal economic growth in the span of a single generation, owing largely to its 1960 "income-doubling program", has raised serious problems for the American-Japanese relationship, especially since it was paralleled by a slow decline in the American economy up until the 1980s.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Historical Overview
Social and Cultural Dimensions
Economic Dimensions
Geopolitical Dimensions
Conclusion: The Future of U.S.-Japanese Relations
From the Paper "U.S.-Japanese relations date back to the middle of the nineteenth century, when, in 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay and opened up Japan to trade with the West. The U.S.-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce, signed in 1857, not only gave the United States an immediate advantage over its Western competitors, but also had the profound effect of re-instating the Japanese Emperor and launching Japan on the road to modernization. A more serious consequence, however, was Japan's emerging imperialist ambitions, which were early demonstrated in its launching of the Sino-Japanese War (1895-1895) with its resultant acquisition of Taiwan as well as in its success in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and subsequent annexation of Korea (1910) and Manchuria (1931). "
Tags: debt, conquer, multi-polarity, defense, military
Abstract This paper is a comparative review of three books on the subject of Japanese atrocities and war crimes during the Second World War. The three books to be compared are Yoshimi Yoshiaki's 'Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery in the JapaneseMilitary During World War II', Judith Pearson's' Belly of the Beast: A POW's Inspiring True Story of Faith, Courage, and Survival Aboard the Infamous WWII Japanese Hellship', the Oryoku Maru, and Yuki Tanaka's 'Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II'. Although all three of these books deal with related subject matter, they take very different approaches, thus casting light on the subject matter from different directions.
A study of the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal, convened in December 2000, to attempt to bring accountability to those who enslaved thousands of women through the JapaneseMilitary's Sexual Slavery scheme, during World War II.
Abstract This paper explores and discusses the impediments to the implementation of the 2000 Tokyo Tribunal. It investigates how the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal came to be and what it hoped to accomplish. To gain a full appreciation of the background to the issue that gave rise to the December 2000 Tribunal, this paper reviews the Japanese Imperialist Army practice, justification and affects of the system of sexual slavery. Following the historical review, it looks at how the Japanese and other government's attitudes towards the comfort women program has hampered justice for victims. Finally, an overview of the follow-up meeting in The Hague in 2001 highlights what the efforts of these survivors and others have accomplished.
Introduction
Statement of Problem
Comfort Women, a Background
Legal Issues
Impediments to Justice
Events Leading to the Tokyo Tribunal
December 2000 Tokyo Tribunal on Sexual Slavery
Conclusion
Bibliography
From the Paper "The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal did not happen overnight. Rather it was a product of years of effort by individuals and organizations in nine countries throughout Asia and the West. Until the early 1990's the Japanese government refused to even acknowledge the fact of the enslavement of women into their comfort women scheme during the war. This hearing did not become a reality overnight. It took years of effort and scholarship for the Tribunal to become reality.
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, known as the Tokyo war crimes trials, neglected to punish a single Japanese leader for the slavery, subsequent abuse, and destruction of women's lives who were forced into becoming sexual slaves for the Japanese government. (Soh 2001) Documents kept at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. revealed U.S. military intelligence units had gathered important information on the comfort women program. (Soh) Some writers feel that the Tokyo tribunal's absence of addressing this human rights violation reflects a pervasive racism of Western nations toward non-white people but also that fact that no American women were victimized. (Soh) (Llewellyn 2001) Rough estimates by scholars believe that the number of comfort women ranged between 50,000 and 200,000 and that most were believed to be Korean."
Abstract This paper examines the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II by comparing this action with the freedom experienced by German-Americans during the same period. The author questions the inherent racism of Americans that enabled such an occurrence to be legally sanctioned, while German-Americans lived their lives freely, although Hitler and Germany were also enemies of America during World War II. The paper then presents a detailed background of the Japanese immigrant experience in America, contrasting this with the American ideal of freedom and the reality of racism. The experiences of African and Native-Americans are also considered. The paper then describes the actual Japanese internment, which was unprecedented event in American history. The paper further states how the Internment still has an effect on the psyche of the Japanese-American population today. The author concludes that the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War was one of the great tragedies of American history.
Outline:
Introduction
Background: The Japanese Experience in America
Prejudice Unleashed: The Internment Experience
Conclusion
From the Paper " Naturally, the situation was worse the further removed from the Anglo-Saxon ideal a group might chance to be. After the Civil War, the newly reunited nation demanded a huge supply of cheap labor to build its rapidly expanding railroad network. In the West, this labor was provided, to a large extent, by settlers from Japan and China. Labor Contractors, generally Japanese or Chinese themselves actively recruited these workers and brought them to America. They helped to lay the foundations of America's industrial prosperity. White American racial attitudes combined with a nationwide railroad strike in 1877 to create the necessary conditions for a crackdown on Asian immigration. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was soon followed by other, stricter acts, in 1892, 1902, and 1904. And as White America saw little, if any difference, between Japanese and any other Asians, the anti-Chinese immigration laws were followed by a Japanese Exclusion Act in 1907. By 1924, the United States had imposed an almost total ban on all immigration from East Asia, ..."
Tags:Japanese-Americans, internment, World, War, II, immigrant, experiences
Abstract This paper focuses on two chapters from Brett De Bary's translation of 'Origins of Modern Japanese Literature' by Karatani Kojin. This paper introduces a distinctively Japanese regard for landscape in relation to literature, and discusses what Kojin referred to as the 'discovery of Interiority'. The paper reviews these chapters as they are a helpful introduction to other trends in modern Japanese literature before the rise of militarism.The rise in militarism heralded the War in the Pacific that brought the destruction of the Japanese'modern' order as it is known.
From the Paper "Foreign influence of the later 19th century inspired reflection on Japanese literature hitherto shaped by Confucian/Chinese literary culture. Several reformers appeared, esp. Soseki of early 20th century to inspire a strongly Japanese expression; focus on landscape as background for human activity, and conveying of human psychology. Expression then delayed by rise of Japanese militarism in 1920s and 1930s; much of what we understand, now, did not surface strongly till after 1949. Mainly course material references."
Abstract This paper discusses how three Japanese poems reflect the values of traditional Japanese culture. The poems under consideration are: "Crafty Fox," "Yellow Earth," and "My Poetry."
From the Paper "No account of Japanese art whether visual or textual can be complete without reference to the highly traditional and highly honored value system of historic Japan. Contemporary values of Japan can be traced as far back as the..."
Abstract This paper discusses Americans playing for Japanese leagues, and Japanese playing for American leagues. Through the years there has been a great deal of cultural tension, yet, through baseball these tensions are beginning to change. The paper shows that Japanese players in the American baseball leagues are making a significant cultural impact. Americans playing in Japan are affecting the culture as well.
From the Paper "Research indicates that in 1934 Babe Ruth led a group of professional American players to tour Japan. During that visit the Japanese were so impressed by the players, and the game, that they began to form their own leagues within a few years. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese baseball was not considered seriously by professional athletes. Furthermore, there were no suggestions that Americans play for Japanese teams. Yet, as time progressed, and tensions eased between the two countries, some American players began to consider that the Japanese leagues might be where they belonged in the sport. It was also true that American managers decided to take a chance at working in the realm of Japanese baseball. And, as the world has begun to change, Japanese players have been enticed to attempt to play in the American baseball leagues."
Abstract The paper discusses Impressionism, Japanese woodblock prints and how Impressionism was affected by the Japanese. The paper explains how Impressionism began as a rebellion by four students who were tired of the conventional art strategies. The paper relates that many art critics believed the artists were crazy with their designs, but today these paintings are considered art. The paper explains that different artists and Japanese prints and artists have made Impressionism become a recognized art.
From the Paper "Impressionism Begins as a Rebellion. Four art friends rebel against contemporary art to create an artist style called Impressionism. Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Frederic Brazille were friends who had attended painting classes together. The conventional art at that time was centered on history and Greek mythology with dark colors, which many young artists thought was quite boring. These four artists went into the forest of Fortainbleau and started painting outside."
Abstract The following paper is an analysis on the 'Americanization' of Japanese culture. Four distinct areas of culture will be analyzed, and in turn, some general analysis will be presented in terms of assigning the causes for this trend. In particular, focus will be given toward understanding how this process must be understood with the 'transformation of identity' that had been taking place in this context.
Abstract The paper contends that the treatment of Japanese Canadians by the Canadian government during and after World War II was deplorable. The paper then discusses how the Canadian government acknowledged the racist character of these policies in 1988 and offered redress to the Japanese Canadian population.
From the Paper "Japanese Canadians during the Second World War were forced to contend with a decades-old torrent of racial discrimination that culminated in their internment and forced labor by the Canadian government. The treatment of Japanese Canadians during this period appears particularly cruel-even sinister-when one considers that of the Canadians evacuated from the Pacific Coast of Canada, most were Canadian-born and naturalized Canadian citizens."
Tags:japanese canadians, world war II, internment, deportation, War Measures Act
A look at the class and gender differences presented in 2 Japanese novels: "As I Cross A Bridge of Dreams" by Lady Sarashina and "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu.
1,432 words (approx. 5.7 pages), 4 sources, 2001, $ 47.95
Abstract This paper examines class differences as presented in Japanese Literature. The paper looks at "As I Cross A Bridge of Dreams" by Lady Sarashina and "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu. Several questions are raised in the paper, to examine the not only class differences but also gender differences. Are the upper-class male characters willing to risk their careers for the women they meet? What are the social codes and regulations, and what happens to these men and women who assault the social code and pursue forbidden relationships? Are the consequences enforced so the men suffer in their political careers? Are the women ultimately abandoned and destroyed? These questions are all brought up in the context of class and gender issues to illustrate that the two authors, from the same culture and heritage, use their different destinies and experiences to portray different opinions.
Abstract The most fundamental beliefs of Buddhism can be understood by what are referred to as the Four Noble Truths. This paper will identify these Four Noble Truths and show how they have influenced Japanese society, cultural attitudes, and way of life.
Abstract This paper evaluates the Japanese culture through interviewing a young woman who attends graduate school at the University of Notre Dame. Through the course of the interview, a number of personal and culturally sensitive factors, including socio-economic factors, lifestyle, family values, religious preferences, health beliefs and practices and childbearing and parenting practices are assessed in order to provide for a cultural assessment. In doing so, culturally competent nursing interventions are introduced to provide for a positive health experience.
From the Paper " In the 2000 census, 796,700 residents of the U.S. identified their "race" as Japanese (Reeves and Bennett, 2004). When the question of identifying her race was introduced, Ms. J identified herself as Japanese. She expressed a strong cultural bond to the Japanese culture even though she and her family have been living in the United States for some time now. Although Ms. J is from a relatively affluent Japanese home, and is 23 years old, she is still living with her parents, and intends to do so until she married. This is quite common in Japanese culture and not seen as evidence of immaturity, but respect, regardless of her own personal state of affluence (Friedman, Bowden, & Jones, 2003). She stated that her parents became angry at any attempts upon Ms. J to share an apartment with a friend, even though Ms. J's friends were 'nice girls,' according to the admittance of her parents."
Tags:japanese, english, united, states, parents, grandparents, elders, honor, old, age, care
Abstract This paper examines three essays on different aspects of medieval Japanese culture that use legends to subjugate women - the blood pool hell to which all women are damned by virtue of their biology, the Five Obstructions which are the five states of enlightenment which women cannot achieve after death because of the inferiority of their gender, and the use of images of women being transformed into snakes and dragons to tell stories about women's threats to men.
From the Paper "This paper considers the positive and negative effects of Buddhism for women in the medieval and early Edo periods through the introduction oft he apocryphal text known as the Blood Pool Hell Sutra. The rise of popularity of the sutra was connected to ..."
Abstract The paper discusses the forced relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The paper includes a discussion of those who favored and those who opposed the action.
From the Paper "Similar to the fear and paranoia directed at Arab-Americans after the terrorist attacks of September, fear and paranoia erupted in American society after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December. The US government took swift action after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Any immigrants arriving in America from Japan were officially classified as enemy aliens. As fear mounted that Japanese citizens of the US would undermine the US war effort, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued the Executive Order."
Tags:Japanese Americans, WWII, Pearl Harbor, terrorism, racism, prejudice, Franklin D. Roosevelt, internment camps, justice, democracy, politics, fear, paranoia
