The Amazing Race > The Amazing Race Discussion
TAR20 Leg 11: Best showcasing of Japan ever?
topaz:
--- Quote from: choroneko on May 07, 2012, 02:24:11 PM ---It wasn't really that great to me. Though, I was touched they paid respects and took a moment in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
I'd be more impressed if they just stayed in Hiroshima or did a Kyoto leg. I'm just bored of Osaka & Tokyo.
--- End quote ---
about that being paid respect to the victims of the atom bomb, I say we've never know if those 4 remaining teams had really touched their emotions to the event that ended the World War 2, literally and felt sorry for it or it was just a plain publicity to the show. Because unlike on the All-Star edition, if you'd watched the Poland leg there, they'd visited the Auschwitz concentration camp and paid respect to the victims of the Holocaust during that war led by Nazi Germany, the 6 remaining teams really paid respect there and I remember that Charla and Mirna had commented on the Armenian genocide during World War 1 as they believed it was very similar to the crimes that had committed by the Nazis against the Jews, Gypsies, gays, etc. But on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it's a different story because some Americans doesn't want to admit that kind of crime they'd committed and they have reasons why it should had drop the bomb to that 2 cities as a result to the payback of the Pearl Harbor attack and being an alliance to the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the war. And to prove that, here some links that I'd found some controversial topics on IMDB regarding this episode:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285335/board/thread/198692314
...and the other one topic there that entitled, The murderer won was recently deleted by the IMDB admin because of too much political talk about visiting the Hiroshima peace memorial and some they'd dismayed about the winning of Rachel and Dave while apologizing the bombing of that city as they are military couples who went to Iraq and Afghanistan before in order to kill the terrorists there after 9/11 as for the sake of "security" and "freedom" in America.
starrynight:
--- Quote from: Best Loser on May 07, 2012, 02:33:39 PM ---
It's completely different reading about it in a textbook and being at that site participating in a memorial service.
--- End quote ---
Yeh but I'm sure for some viewers at least hearing some short platitudes in the middle of a race isn't really going to be that informative.
kenchan:
Topaz,
thanks for sharing that link.
I would like to believe that the participants of this forum are fairly well educated fans of the Amazing Race who enjoy worldly views, and firmly understand that there are "two sides to every story". It is my hope that we can continue to partake in this discussion so we can all reflect, share and learn in a fair and factual manner, without any personal attacks.
--- Quote from: topaz on May 08, 2012, 03:05:11 AM ---But on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it's a different story because some Americans doesn't want to admit that kind of crime they'd committed and they have reasons why it should had drop the bomb to that 2 cities as a result to the payback of the Pearl Harbor attack and being an alliance to the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the war.
...
--- End quote ---
I'd be interested in finding our more about Army Dave's view on Hiroshima. Not as a challenge, but I am curious to find out what really went through his mind as he saw the Atomic Dome, as an American, and as a human being.
Like most of you in this forum, I too was born in a generation that "never knew about THE war (WWII)", as opposed to my parents' generation (they were directly affected by it). Some of you who are parents may be watching TAR with your children too. So WWII was just something you learn in history books.
Yet, we have seen different kids of wars since then, some even broadcast live on CNN, some going on right now. You may have your own more personal experiences that you have lived through. A lot of us are (unfortunately) familiar with the idea.
So from that standpoint, we are more or less in the same boat.
Given that, I think it's important that we reflect on this topic that was presented to us.
I first learned about WWII when I was attending elementary school in Japan. The history curriculum in Japan at the time didn't present WWII with severe amounts of animosity, but what is interesting is that not a whole lot is taught about Japan immediately after WWII. This is perhaps due to the mostly apologetic tone that the Japanese government had during the post-war era, coupled with the influences of the GHQ. It was not a very proud era for the Japanese to say the least.
Then I learned about WWII at an American high school. I think most people on this forum know the story from this angle.
About 15 years ago, I visited the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos, NM (http://www.lanl.gov/museum/index.shtml), and I was able to view the exhibits in a somewhat neutral stance. I have to admit it was bone chilling to read the copies of American newspapers from August 7, 1945, however, I was able to walk through the museum to understand a certain historical perspective without getting overly emotional for the rest of the exhibit. I could only imagine that my parents or late grandparents would be thinking if they were to go visit this museum.
Despite the somewhat brief appearance of the Atomic Dome during our beloved American TV show compared to the Auschwitz tribute many seasons ago, and setting aside any speculation as to why the Atomic Dome visit didn't include a lengthy a tribute like the one at Auschwitz, I still truly appreciate Phil and the TAR producers in bringing attention to the matter in order to stir conversation about humanity. There are very few historical events that have the same level of impact to humanity in such a short amount of time as what happened on August 6, 1945. Yes, that was 67 years ago. It's "history" by all means. I hope we all agree this is the type of history that must not be repeated. And those lessons need to be passed down the generations.
Sidenote: The City of Hiroshima had previously proposed to tear it down as the structure is not sound (think earthquakes like 3.11 and all of the Japanese building codes), and you have to admit, it is a rather (purposely) depressing looking structure (in contrast to the modern buildings around it), but its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site still holds, and as recently as 5 months before the race visited Hiroshima, the city had completed some reinforcement work. With respect to the lives lost at the moment of impact, it's a very small price to pay to preserve this memory.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8E%9F%E7%88%86%E3%83%89%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0
SuperTux:
This episode is good, but actually I don't deem that highly of it in terms of revealing real Japan. This episode only leaves me with the impression that Japanese enjoy playing games a lot.
--- Quote from: choroneko on May 07, 2012, 02:24:11 PM ---It wasn't really that great to me. Though, I was touched they paid respects and took a moment in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
I'd be more impressed if they just stayed in Hiroshima or did a Kyoto leg. I'm just bored of Osaka & Tokyo.
--- End quote ---
I was really moved when watching the review of Hiroshima Atom Bomb in this episode, though I'm Chinese. :lol: It was a tragedy. Peace is more important than anything else; we don't wanna see something that bad happen again.
--- Quote from: starrynight on May 07, 2012, 02:07:35 PM ---I didn't want more preaching at Hiroshima, it always feels at those points that racers are reading from a script.
--- End quote ---
:lol3:
kenchan:
--- Quote from: SuperTux on May 08, 2012, 08:46:18 AM ---This episode is good, but actually I don't deem that highly of it in terms of revealing real Japan. This episode only leaves me with the impression that Japanese enjoy playing games a lot.
--- End quote ---
I think the Japanese invented the self-humiliating TV game show genre with "Za Gaman". --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za_Gaman
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