To Write, Or Not To Write...
I have a 8-10 page paper due tomorrow for my Japan Politics class. I don't know what to write. XD I've known about it for a while, I just had that whole, "Ah, it's still [X] weeks away. I have time!" thing going on.
But I realized on Saturday that my first paper is due Tuesday, and that I have another one due the day after it or Friday.
So I'm in hyper-paper-writing mode.
I grabbed a bunch of books for my Japan Politics paper. Mostly about the Pacific War (WWII in other words) and...I'm slowly forming a plan for my paper.
I grabbed a book called, "Leaves from an Autumn of Emergencies" which is a compilation of some diaries kept by Japanese during WWII. It's a fairly new book, and I'm the first to borrow it. 8D (Big smile there, I like being the first to borrow a book, no matter how old. XD) It's shaping up to be pretty interesting.
The very first diary entries are from a pilot who was part of the Japanese Navy. At first he seemed like your average soldier, but as time went on, he ended up losing pretty much all of his friends in battle. He also lost a brother...but I can't remember if it was because the brother was also a soldier, or if he was a civilian victim. Either way, as the entries go on, he gets more and more patriotic and more determined to do all that he can to ensure Japan's victory. Even when it begins to look like Japan will lose, he's still determined to do all that he can and not let his fellow soldiers die in vain.
He goes on to train other pilots, and eventually takes on a special mission as a kamikaze pilot. He declares twice that he will "stain the decks of enemy ships" with his blood.
The day of his first and final official mission as a kamikaze pilot, he writes goodbye letters to his friends and family and apologizes to his parents for not being able to fufill his filial duties.
The crazy thing about all this is that the guy who wrote the diary was only 22 when he died. At 22 he'd already seen many of his friends die and was pretty much relishing the thought of dying for his country. It seems like he felt bad about surviving and like he should have died alongside his friends.
The entry after his is from an old man living in Kyoto during the same time with his family. He talks often about his wife, and frequently mentions his children and grandchildren. He and the pilot talk about some things in common, historical things like the resignation of the Prime Minister of the time, and the gyokusai that was committed in Saipan. (I haven't gotten very far in the old man's entries, but I'm pretty sure that he'll also mention the gyokusai at Iwojima too.) Because this man is actually living in Japan, we get a lot more detail into the sentiment surrounding the Prime Minister's resignation and the opinion of the new cabinet.
Both diarists wished for death, but whereas the pilot wanted to die gloriously in battle, the old man just wanted to escape the hunger and harsh conditions of living in Wartime Japan. The old man talks constantly about the high prices of food, and mentions several times that there are even black market prices for things already on the black market. (As in, say something is supposed to be 10 yen. The black market price of that could be 12 yen, but there's also another black market price of 15 yen.)
He talks about how living on rationed meals isn't enough, and he mentions how businesses get their workers to work overtime by bribing them with food. Every so often though, he displays the same kind of patriotism as the pilot, but also waivers between loyalty to Japan and just wanting to die.
It's really interesting stuff, and this is just the first two diaries. The problem is how to turn it into an actual paper. XD
I shall think about it for a while and see what I can come up with... I have two other books from about the same time period, it's just that they're not as interesting as this one. ^^;
But I realized on Saturday that my first paper is due Tuesday, and that I have another one due the day after it or Friday.
So I'm in hyper-paper-writing mode.
I grabbed a bunch of books for my Japan Politics paper. Mostly about the Pacific War (WWII in other words) and...I'm slowly forming a plan for my paper.
I grabbed a book called, "Leaves from an Autumn of Emergencies" which is a compilation of some diaries kept by Japanese during WWII. It's a fairly new book, and I'm the first to borrow it. 8D (Big smile there, I like being the first to borrow a book, no matter how old. XD) It's shaping up to be pretty interesting.
The very first diary entries are from a pilot who was part of the Japanese Navy. At first he seemed like your average soldier, but as time went on, he ended up losing pretty much all of his friends in battle. He also lost a brother...but I can't remember if it was because the brother was also a soldier, or if he was a civilian victim. Either way, as the entries go on, he gets more and more patriotic and more determined to do all that he can to ensure Japan's victory. Even when it begins to look like Japan will lose, he's still determined to do all that he can and not let his fellow soldiers die in vain.
He goes on to train other pilots, and eventually takes on a special mission as a kamikaze pilot. He declares twice that he will "stain the decks of enemy ships" with his blood.
The day of his first and final official mission as a kamikaze pilot, he writes goodbye letters to his friends and family and apologizes to his parents for not being able to fufill his filial duties.
The crazy thing about all this is that the guy who wrote the diary was only 22 when he died. At 22 he'd already seen many of his friends die and was pretty much relishing the thought of dying for his country. It seems like he felt bad about surviving and like he should have died alongside his friends.
The entry after his is from an old man living in Kyoto during the same time with his family. He talks often about his wife, and frequently mentions his children and grandchildren. He and the pilot talk about some things in common, historical things like the resignation of the Prime Minister of the time, and the gyokusai that was committed in Saipan. (I haven't gotten very far in the old man's entries, but I'm pretty sure that he'll also mention the gyokusai at Iwojima too.) Because this man is actually living in Japan, we get a lot more detail into the sentiment surrounding the Prime Minister's resignation and the opinion of the new cabinet.
Both diarists wished for death, but whereas the pilot wanted to die gloriously in battle, the old man just wanted to escape the hunger and harsh conditions of living in Wartime Japan. The old man talks constantly about the high prices of food, and mentions several times that there are even black market prices for things already on the black market. (As in, say something is supposed to be 10 yen. The black market price of that could be 12 yen, but there's also another black market price of 15 yen.)
He talks about how living on rationed meals isn't enough, and he mentions how businesses get their workers to work overtime by bribing them with food. Every so often though, he displays the same kind of patriotism as the pilot, but also waivers between loyalty to Japan and just wanting to die.
It's really interesting stuff, and this is just the first two diaries. The problem is how to turn it into an actual paper. XD
I shall think about it for a while and see what I can come up with... I have two other books from about the same time period, it's just that they're not as interesting as this one. ^^;