Discussions of a recent interest

A while back, I talked about becoming interested in the politics behind the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I wanted both sides, wanted to know how the thought process went for America when we decided to attack Japan; and then why Japan decided to attack Pearl Harbor (among committing other atrocities, like the Rape of Nanking). Most important, how these atrocities affected everyone, even to this day. For example, after Pearl Harbor, America imprisoned many Japanese-American citizens in internment camps.

Just from the few books I read so far, I have concluded that both countries were in the wrong. Also, that nuclear warfare is one of humankind's shining moments of how we are capable of creation and destruction.

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My sister is a WWII history buff, but specializes mostly in the European Theater (i.e., D-Day, Blitzkrieg, etc.). Naturally, some of this interest would rub off on me. Instead, my focus went to the Pacific Theater, especially after hearing about the movie Philosophy of a Knife (I beg you, do not watch the trailer if you are bothered by graphic scenes of torture. This makes Saw look like Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird) which is about Unit 731 and what went on there.

Unit 731 was a laboratory for biological warfare testing set up in Manchuria (or Manchukuo, as it was renamed while the Japanese had taken over all of China). It later became a catch-all name for a series of laboratories set up all throughout China. The scientists saw the Chinese as test subjects, trying out all sorts of disease-spreading techniques (like passing out bacteria-laced chocolate to kids). Oftentimes, the scientists captured unsuspecting citizens and exposed them to viruses, often performing vivisections while the patients were still alive and alert. And as A Plague Upon Humanity (the book on the left) discussed in length, the United States (the same people who would later perform a devastating experiment of their own: nuclear warfare) would later buy all the research Japan had collected throughout the years. In turn, the U.S. protected the Japanese scientists and higher officials behind Unit 731 from Chinese prosecution.

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Obviously, Japan has done its own share of horrible things. No country is unique in that regard. Many did not sympathize with the Japanese upon hearing the news that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed. It was almost seen as justification, revenge for not only Unit 731, but the Rape of Nanking and Pearl Harbor. But, as we learned: bombs were built for the guilty, but also attacked the innocent.

Was it the right thing to do? To those who were unsure turned to texts like Hiroshima by John Hersey (book on top row, far right) and learned the human side to the catastrophe. Whoever didn't die instantly suffered from radiation sickness, which meant they were rotting from the inside. 

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There is so much media saturation on Hiroshima. So, what about Nagasaki? Funny enough (not in the "lololol" way), there isn't too much. American reporter George Weller was on the beat in Japan during this time, having written so much about the forgotten one in this tale of two cities in his book First Into Nagasaki (book to the left of Hiroshima). All of his censored (by the U.S. media) stories gathered by his son were about the destruction and the oddity that it was all ignored, almost forgotten due to the frenzy of Hiroshima's attack. I first heard about the book from here, talking more about how Weller wasn't the only one told to hush up.

Hersey's book was one of the few things that Americans could get a hold on to learn about the other side of the war-ending decision. In fact, Greg Mitchell (who co-wrote the bottom left book: Hiroshima In America) has written a few articles about the suppression of media regarding the bombings. I could write out tiny summaries, but they are best read in full. Click the titles to read them:

[All from The Nation's website]
"When Truman Announced the Attack on Hiroshima 65 Years Ago: The Beginning of a 'Cover-up'" (written with Robert Jay Lifton)

"WHITE HOUSE COVER-UP: How Truman Edited Hollywood's First Movie About the Atomic Bomb"


"SPECIAL REPORT: Atomic Film Coverup - Key Footage from Hiroshima Buried for Decades"

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Sadly, even the HBO miniseries The Pacific (the companion piece to the critically-acclaimed Band of Brothers) didn't talk about it all that much either. To this day, us Americans have a hard time bringing it up. If the lack of media attention tells us anything... we still like to pretend it never happened. Much like how Japan has yet to apologize for their crimes against the Chinese.

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Of course, who can forget what started the whole thing off? It was radioactive substances, discovered and researched by chemist Marie Curie and her husband Pierre. But, how could such an intelligent duo figure that their discoveries and research would lead to such destruction?

Along comes The Manhattan Project, a group of scientists and politicians that had one goal in mind: build a nuclear bomb before the Nazis do. That's right: the bomb wasn't because of Japan, it was Germany. Note with irony that this determinism of "me first, me first" would also lead to the Space Race and the Cold War. Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima (book on top row to the right), which I had reviewed earlier this year, goes into suspense-novel mode to tell the story of how the Manhattan Project tested the bomb on a July morning in New Mexico and the inevitable journey from the deserts to the streets of Hiroshima.

If you are interested in more, here is a small list of books on the subject you can check out.

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There are a few movies that I'll list for your viewing interest:

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (a beautiful HBO documentary about the bombings, told by those who lived through them)

The Horror of Unit 731 (a History Channel documentary detailing all about the laboratories and the frightening experiments)

Hiroshima (a dramatized documentary that originally aired on the BBC)

Barefoot Gen (based on the manga, the true story of the author's journey of survival after the Hiroshima bombing)

Countdown to Zero (a documentary detailing the modern troubles of nuclear power)

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What do all these books, articles, and movies have in common? They are all narratives; stories of cause and effect. These are not new stories, the clichés are familiar to us and the messages becoming almost platitudes. But we need to be reminded. Reminded that we are capable of such great power to annihilate humankind. How our beliefs drive us to do things we cannot even share with future generations, our way of acting out the old saying: "history will repeat itself". There are so many problems with the world that, all of us 6+ billion, must work out on. We must admit to great sins in order to heal old, reopening wounds. Also we should end the search for great destruction and instead search for wondrous creation. We must do this before someone wants to present another example, at the cost of humanity.

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That is why I always urge everyone to study the history surrounding the decision to use the bomb and how the full story was covered up for decades. There is certainly, in the minds of the media and the American public, no taboo on using nuclear weapons, and it all started, but did not end, with Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is what nuclear abolitionists—or even those who (like Obama) simply want a partial easing of our first-use policy—are up against.

-Greg Mitchell from his article on The Nation.com 

"US Sends Envoy to Hiroshima For First Time: But 'First-Use' Policy Today Remains"