grave of the fireflies and japanese movies

grave of fireflies
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

There is a new movie out about the raid at Cabanatuan, where US rangers liberated American prisoners of war from the Japanese in the phillipines during wwII. Yet another movie from the point of view of Americans, depicting the Japanese as cruel monsters. The entire history of Japan's empire in the early 20 th century is told from an American perspective (much of their war was aimed at colonial european powers, incl England, Dutch etc). I realize, of course, that Japan was guilty of many acts of war crimes, including the genocide at Nanking, China, rapes in China and Korea, and of course the attack on Pearl Harbor. Very little is mentioned, at least in the US, about our behavior toward the Japanese. It is although the attack on Pearl Harbor allowed us to be ruthless and inhumane toward the japanese. Its more than that however: interviews with WWII vets from the pacific war talk about atrocities against the japanese (war trophies, saving body parts as soverniers etc). Stuff that would never happen against German soldiers. There was a racism involved in the war against Japan - the japanese were seen as inscrutable (lacking feelings and emotions), sinister (cruel, tricky) and sub human (at least not as human as Americans). our racism included acts of cruelty towards asian people in our own country - concentration camps (without the ovens, I know) on the west coast for Amer citizens of Japanese ancestry (they were born in the US). Little is mentioned of the firebombing of Japan by Gen LeMay. Curtis LeMay wanted to destroy japan's ability to wage war through air power - he was an early advocate of air power. And, yeah, he showed that air power can destroy nations (as with our recent strikes against yugoslavia - for decades they feared the USSR and wanted closer ties with the US - and in the end we bomb them!) LeMay is a pathological killer: of course, he was a general in the army air corps, so his pathology was consistent with his position. In another life time, he would be a murderer, or a criminal, but in this lifetime he found his place in the army air corp. The fire bombing of Dresden, Germany, and of japan is generally seen as a war crime of greater proportion than the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. of course, what is a "war crime?" Its a political definition: LeMay was never charged with war crimes, because his side won! Had japan won, most certainly LeMay would have been tried by the Japanese. Anyway, this movie, Grave of the Fireflies, tells about the fire bombing of Japan through the point of view (POV) of a young boy and his younger sister. Its an incredible movie - you need to watch the beginning again after the end, so you realize that there is a "happy ending." To this day, the fire bombing of Japan is still discussed in terms of the lives that it saved! Yes! do an internet search, and you will find many documents (written by academicians) all saying that the firebombing and the atom bomb actually saved lives by ending the war earlier. I think that is bullshit. Anyway, if you see Grave of the fireflies, also see the original Godzilla - incredible movie, especially the part where school girls lead the Japanese nation in a song of peace. Absolutely moving and beautiful. The war was the greatest disaster ever experienced by the japanese people - Godzilla and Grave of the Fireflies are two movies that show how the japanese have tried to emotionally deal with the horror of war, the aftermath of war. God help us all.