The Amazing Race > The Amazing Race Discussion
TAR20 Leg 11: Best showcasing of Japan ever?
kenchan:
There are two references I'd like to share.
* A Japanese book titled 「おじいちゃん、戦争のこと教えて」 (http://amzn.to/jNaHiA) or "Grandpa, Tell Me About the War" (that's my translation of the Japanese title), in which Asahi Breweries Board Member Takanori Nakajo (who was a Japanese Army cadet in training at the time of surrender but never went to battle) receives a letter from his granddaughter asking for help with her history project on WWII, while attending the Masters School in New York. He then painstakingly AND rather objectively recalls the events before, during, and after the war, from several view points, and answers his granddaughters 16 or so questions. The result is what he published. This book filled in a lot of blanks for me and completely changed my view of the war. I wish this book would get translated to other languages.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_bomb_debate -- I think this Wikipedia article not only sheds light on various angles regarding the use of the a-bomb in Japan, it also makes us think about more recent military events. Were they necessary?
I think this is a good time for a... :ghug:
kenchan:
And folks, please feel free to bring up other parts of this leg too!
* How long did it take from Cochin to Hiroshima? What route did they take? Did they fly via Incheon? (I ask because getting from India to Japan isn't as simple as it seems. There used to be a Delhi--Narita flight on JAL, but no more)
* That 700 series Shinkansen "Nozomi" - how cool was that?
* Why in the world did Phil and crew decide to hide in the bushes near the Osaka-jo castle?
* Who were those rocker greeters?
SuperTux:
--- Quote from: choroneko on May 10, 2012, 01:11:16 AM ---
--- Quote from: kenchan on May 09, 2012, 10:46:08 PM ---
--- Quote from: SuperTux on May 09, 2012, 09:09:19 AM ---
--- Quote from: starrynight on May 09, 2012, 01:42:03 AM ---I'm sure hardly anyone hates Japanese people now, time moves on and people move on, new generations come along as well. Japan has moved on as well.
--- End quote ---
This is NOT true in East Asia. Browse fora and you'll see Chinese people, Korean people and Japanese people hate each other online. :lol: Sometimes it looks funny to see them attacking each other.
I appreciate this thread because it helps ventilate the WWII issue and people from different nations can exchange ideas, which would narrow the gap between our opinions. Here I'm gonna say what Chinese people, as far as I know, think of Japan in terms of WWII history. :)
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the reply, SuperTux.
The atrocities committed by the Japanese military in the earlier half of the 20th century no doubt gave rise to the animosity felt by Chinese and Koreans even to this day. I have heard that text books in South Korea even in recent years discussed the Japanese occupation (1910-) and the events up to the end of WWII in a rather strong tone (against Japan), which are most likely perpetuating those views. Needless to say, this is not a proud era in Japanese history.
This is why it's so important we take time to talk about it and to reflect upon historical events ( even Phil retweeted my tweet about this thread! :) ).
If we take the lessons from history and spend time understanding why things happened from both angles, as bcp19 suggested, we can all become better citizens of the world -- and hopefully prevent WW3.
* Why did those events happen?
* Why did they *have* to happen?
* And perhaps most importantly, imagine if we were in the political hot seat at the time. What would we have done differently? Or similarly?
* While we are at it... What would the world look like today if WWII didn't happen? And can we use any part of that imagination to prevent future conflict at such a massive scale?
--- End quote ---
I always thought, what could've been a better alternative for the atomic bombings?
If it wasn't for those bombings, Japan will never surrender, the war could last longer and could cost more lives.
--- End quote ---
Ditto! :tup:
starrynight:
--- Quote from: kenchan on May 08, 2012, 12:10:32 PM ---I, for one, am just fascinated how the word "STORY" is part of the word "hiSTORY". It teaches us who we are. Just like this show does.
--- End quote ---
Or deceives us, as stories can be fiction of course. Dangerous to just see history simply as instruction. Many people take what they read in a textbook as fact and gain false knowledge often.
--- Quote from: SuperTux on May 09, 2012, 09:09:19 AM ---
--- Quote from: starrynight on May 09, 2012, 01:42:03 AM ---I'm sure hardly anyone hates Japanese people now, time moves on and people move on, new generations come along as well. Japan has moved on as well.
--- End quote ---
This is NOT true in East Asia. Browse fora and you'll see Chinese people, Korean people and Japanese people hate each other online. :lol: Sometimes it looks funny to see them attacking each other.
--- End quote ---
I'm sure it is less true among some people in the Far East, though I was mainly thinking about the places where The Amazing Race (American version) is shown.
redskevin88:
90,000 - 166,000 people died in the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
100,000 people died in the bombings of Tokyo during WWII
Japan killed 30 million Asians during World War II.
Which is the bigger tragedy?
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