Japan’s Evolution Through Near Extinction
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| Japan’s Evolution Through Near Extinction Andrew Harrison - ENG 105, MWF Dr. Steve Beatty
~Setsuko Thurlow In a flash, 120,000 corporeal humans are destroyed. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remind us of the terrible power humans can unleash, and the horrors of nuclear destruction. So if we as Americans are distressed about this event, imagine what the Japanese think. The bombings are still very present in the minds of Japanese, and one does not have to look very far to see evidence of this. Everyday Japanese remind themselves of the past through popular culture. Japanese animation (usually referred to as anime), manga comics and feature films all heavily rely on nuclear war or apocalyptic weaponry as either the main story or a huge plot device. Such a cataclysmic, culturally altering event is difficult to forget. The memory of the nuclear destruction at the end of WWII is ingrained in Japan’s collective unconscious, as reflected in everyday pieces of Japanese popular culture, especially anime films and manga. Japanese are “still suffering from the sociological and physiological after-effects” of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Kawasaki 20). The direct victims and survivors of the bombings, called hibakusha, are not the only casualties of this event. Beyond these people, their friends and relatives all share a collective sorrow that accumulates into a great national sigh. Not a single person, young or old, male or female, is unaffected by the events of 1945. This cultural phenomenon will naturally manifest itself through media as witnessed through countless anime movies such as Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Grave of the Fireflies, all of which deal directly with surviving after a nuclear blast. Also, it is important to note that the famous movie series Godzilla (still produced to this day) deals with a monster that is created due to nuclear radiation who then proceeds to wreak havoc on Japan. Akira could easily be viewed by Americans as just another popular anime, but instead it is a look at an alternate universe where post-apocalyptic Japan fails to recover from its wounds, and lies bleeding and in ruin while the rest of the world turns. The movie shows the lives of several teenage punks as they are tossed into a world of genetic experimentation, military abuse, and the misuse of weapons of mass destruction. It is important to note the popularity of this film and the sheer number of similar movies, all dealing with nuclear destruction or other terrible weapons of apocalypse. The movie portrays one very ambitious general whom people would think would not hesitate to open fire, yet he constantly reflects on the gravity of his decisions and how important it is to keep things in balance so that it is never necessary to go so far as to use catastrophic weapons. Other countries may have also been bombed into submission, or attacked so sufficiently they were defeated in one battle, but no country was defeated in the blink of an eye or knocked to the ground with no chance to fight save Japan. With no way to defend themselves from these attacks, no honorable battlefield to engage upon, they country trembled in fear and anger. The Japanese never really hated America, but they did truly hate the war. After the glamour and propaganda of the Shogunate (Japanese military rule) reborn wore off, the common Japanese person found themselves in a war they did not understand, fighting an enemy they did not know and suffering for no apparent reason. Pictures of Tokyo can easily be mistaken for pictures of Nagasaki or Hiroshima, so brutal was the American bombing campaign. It is important to remember that the Japanese are a proud people with an amazing past full of glory and honor. After the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima the people
In Peter Tasker’s work “The Japanese: A Major Exploration of Modern Japan”, a Japanese man named Hitoshi Ashida states that “we Japanese have made the gravest mistake in our history,” stating out loud the nation’s internal suffering (274). The events weight heavy on the minds of the many, and every year to this day in Hiroshima the survivors gather to reflect on the past, continues Tasker. At 8:15 sharp, the siren sounds through the whole city and for an entire minute life stops while people hang their heads in silent, respectful prayer (Tasker 274). The city stands silent, much like it did in those moments following the deafening roar of destruction. The remembrance of WWII is truly a cultural obsession. The Japanese will not allow themselves to forget what happened, but instead surround themselves by it and define themselves through it. Now they are purveyors of peace, believe that others can learn from Japan’s mistake and avoid another nuclear holocaust. So this obsession shows, though not many people from other countries notice it. Grave of the Fireflies is a powerful, emotionally moving piece that has the main character Seita and his four-year-old sister desperately trying to survive in post-war Japan. It is a piece so moving and eloquent that people who do not even speak a word of Japanese have finished watching it in tears. This is the raw expression of feeling shown in everyday modern Japan, and it carries a heavy punch. Even if the movie does not even spend much time on the bombings themselves, it’s the survival afterwards and the raw portrayal of war that is so captivating and impressive. It’s the core idea that matters, and the fact that the idea remains to this day. Constantly a reminder, movies and series such as this one are only now being understood by other nations. In this movie war is never glorified or toned down, but plays a backseat role to the survival aspect that brings with it the feelings that matter. A different perspective is gleaned from the ambitious Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE), an anime series so radical and deep, one has to watch it several times to truly understand the entire story. The world of NGE is set in the near future, but after a cataclysmic event results in the destruction of the polar ice-caps and the flooding of much of the world. The plot involves a strange series of creatures called “Angels” attacking Earth, resulting in people living in underground armored cities. To combat the Angels, the organization known as NERV utilizes gigantic robotic fighting units referred to as Evangelions. In majority of the series is devoted to self-discovery and the reality of human existence, but also present is the constant theme of destructive weapons, since about the only thing slowing an Angel down--aside from an Evangelion--is a nuclear blast. This results in nuclear weapons being tossed around quite frequently, supplemented by the fact that Angels will self-destruct upon defeat in the hope of destroying an Evangelion in the process. The amount of destruction unleashed is frightening, and demonstrates how horrid the world could be if nuclear weapons were unleashed on a regular basis. On a seemingly lighter note is the Godzilla movie series, still made to this day with a man in a rubber suit and still watched by nearly all Japanese. The monster Godzilla is a product of nuclear radiation who rages through Japan and destroys everything in his path. Yet often the Japanese viewers sympathize with Godzilla and see him as the hero, not as the cruel monster destroying their way of life. They find him to be misunderstood and a creature that does not understand its existence or actions, so it suffers while the rest of the world attacks. Very reminiscent of a Japan largely forced into war and a populace suffering from the actions of those above. Whereas American’s see Godzilla and laugh, Japanese see the film and associate with it emotionally. It is, after all, a product of their culture, thereby making explaining and sharing nuances very difficult. But now several examples have been given showing anime movies that rely heavily on nuclear destruction and survival as a theme, leading to a very important realization: this remembrance happens daily. These movies do not come out once in a lifetime. Manga comics are not rare. Japanese directors do not ignore the nations feelings, but rather play to them. The result is that if one looks for it, one can find examples of this focus everywhere, from Japanese newsstands to Japanese movie theatres, on a day to day basis. Even Japanese music cannot help but pick up on this theme, as seen is some of Yoko Ono’s lyrics, which express both screaming out to the world over past events--to no avail--as well as the screaming noise made by a nuclear bomb hurtling towards earth: “Scream 1. against the wind 2. against the wall 3. against the sky” Japanese modern art, too, expresses this fixation, with works featuring titles such as Girl Who Had Experienced the Atomic-Bomb Explosion While Still in Her Mother’s Womb, and Man with Keloidal Scars (Munroe 165). But the most persuasive and common form of expression, by far, is film. More moving than manga, more common than fine art, it is the uniting reflection the country can follow. Just as cinema reflects American cultural views and feelings, so does Japanese cinema. It lives, breathes and moves with the times, a perfect collective unconscious, especially for a people as philosophical as the Japanese. Rarely does a national event have this much staying power in the minds of the people. Notice how only a few years after the attacks on the World Trade Center that America has largely lost interest in not only the war on terrorism, but the violent act that started it all. Or rather, the violent act that brought terrorism home to America. But in Japan the youth remain just as knowledgeable as the elderly on events occurring fifty years ago. Scars never fully heal. So the nation as a whole lives on, while the dead scar tissue remains as a constant reminder of past events. And how does this affect other nations? It means everything we watch now has a deeper meaning than originally assumed. We are staring at a nation’s soul, and that soul is wounded as witnessed through everyday life. A proud nation, a nation with a warrior past and a rich culture, was in a fight it did not understand, and when it lost that fight so completely, it did not know what to do. So, like a child whose feelings are hurt, the nation released itself through any means available. And now that child wants to change its past, and in order to do that it will attempt to alter the future. That is why Japan as a nation now attacks the economic world with the force of ten-thousand samurai. They are driven by this obsession, determined to win and rejoicing in the fact that the present is the future’s past, allowing them to cover up their scars. Continuing on this trend of working for the future is the Japanese push for preventing future nuclear conflicts. Many documents on the effects of nuclear fallout have been published to make nations realize just how deadly the game of mutually assured destruction is. Conferences have been hosted in Japan, speeches have been given throughout the world, and papers have been published in any number of languages in the hope that the events that occurred in 1945 will never occur again. Says Peter Tasker, noted author on many aspects of Japanese history and evolution, “Hiroshima is…the spiritual capital of Japan’s peace movement, a force which has little direct political clout, but tremendous psychological influence,” a very persuasive tool, especially with its Peace Park (Tasker 275). Visiting the Peace Park is ironically unsettling, given the “paralyzed clocks, human forms burnt into the pavement, hideous wounds and tumors,” and various other displays of nuclear carnage (Tasker 275). Japan is convinced the past cannot be allowed to repeat itself, and wishes that no other nation need suffer like they did: politically, economically, culturally, physically, spiritually, psychologically. Ultimately it can be seen that this obsession is so complete, it is now the identity of Japan. The nature of the country has changed so much since the second world war that it will never be as it once was, and should now be accepted in its new form. The Japan of today is no longer the exception, but the rule. The nuclear obsession is now directly ingrained in the national psyche, never to be removed again. All this talk of nuclear destruction, fallout, cultural scars and the collective national unconscious; what does it lead to? Nothing, really. It is merely another step in the evolution of a nation throughout history. It yields a country that now is a purveyor of world peace, a demon in the business world, and a masterful artist in the realm of cinema and animation. The changed face of Japan brings to us anime movies with real heart and substance, as opposed to films out of Hollywood that merely aim to make money by appealing to the masses. The end result is anime that viewers can associate with on a very personal level; pieces that move one to tears and make one think heavily about reality, existence, and time. While viewers need not constantly think of the nuclear destruction that brought about this art, it is important to once in awhile reflect on how this reality came to be, and recognize history and the changing face of a nation. Works Cited Akira. Special Edition. Pioneer Entertainment, 2001. Grave of the Fireflies. Cmp/Us Manga Corps, 1988. Kawasaki, Shoichiro. A Call from Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tokyo: Asahi Evening News, 1978. Linner, Rachelle. City of Silence: Listening to Hiroshima. New York: Orbis Books, 1995. Munroe, Alexandra. Scream Against the Sky: Japanese Art after 1945. New York: Harry N. Abrahms, 1994. Neon Genesis Evangelion. Perfect Collection. A. D. Vision, 2002. Tasker, Peter. The Japanese: A Major Exploration of Modern Japan. New York: Truman Talley Books, 1987. Yüklə 36 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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