Unit 6: War in China and the Pacific

Schedule of Assignments

Unless otherwise noted, items listed under each day should be completed before the class it is assigned.

Thu 10/27 “Issues of History” Workshop

  • See assignment for Wed 10/26 (U5 assessment). No other homework in preparation for Thursday’s class.

Fri 10/28 Nanjing Massacre

  • Read Menton, et al, The Rise of Modern Japan, 132-35. Concentrate first on the historical account and then on the primary source selection “Chinese Survivors Tell Their Stories.”
  • Read Adam Minter, “Nanjing Massacre Becomes a Political Football,” Bloomberg, 8 Mar 2012.
  • Find your own news story related to the Nanjing massacre. Your source should be from a source you consider a credible news outlet and be published either in English or another language that you are comfortable translating in front of your classmates.
    • How do I find news sources? One way I like to search is to use news.google.com and search according to relevant keywords in quotation marks (in this case, either “nanjing massacre,” “nanking massacre,” “rape of nanking,” etc.). Note how your choice of keywords impacts the quantity, quality, and perspective of the results you find.

Mon 10/31 Pearl Harbor​

  • See assignment for Wed 10/26 (U5 assessment). No other homework in preparation for Monday’s class.​

Wed 11/2 Japan at War: Oral Histories

  • This activity examines how World War II impacted Japanese at home and in battle. To prepare for class, you have been divided into two teams, each with its own readings:
  • Before class, you should read the passages above and briefly respond in writing to the following questions. Even though you will be working as a team, you should complete this activity on your own. (6 points).
    • Questions for Team A (“Serving the Nation in Battle”):
      • How would you sum up each of the servicemen’s stories? Respond to this question by creating a title for each story.
      • Identify at least one example in the servicemen’s accounts that reflect the education described by Saburō Ienaga in chapter 1 (“Misconceptions about China and Korea”) of The Pacific War, 3-12. (See unit 2).
      • Compare the descriptions of the samurai discussed in “Transformation of the Samurai Class” to that of the samurai and/or the kamikaze pilots as found in the servicemen’s accounts. How are they similar? How are they different?
      • After reading the soldiers’ accounts and the introductory essay, how might you explain the 1937 Nanjing massacre?
    • Questions for Team B (“At the Home Front”):
      • How would you sum up each of the civilians’ stories? Respond to this question by creating a title for each story.
      • Identify at least one example in the civilians’ accounts that reflect the education described by Saburō Ienaga in chapter 1 (“Misconceptions about China and Korea”) of The Pacific War, 3-12. (See unit 2).
      • What were some of the most significant ways in which civilians contributed to the Japanese war effort?

Thu 11/3 Atomic Bombs and Surrender

  • Watch the final portion of The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire (minutes 59:42-126:50), embedded below. The link below should start automatically at 59:42.
  • As you watch, write down brief notes to address the following prompts (simple bullet points are sufficient):
    • Identify two of the most important long-term causes of Japan's failure in war.
    • Identify two of the most significant events leading to Japan's surrender.
  • Consider getting a head start on Friday's homework.

Fri 11/4 Aftermath

  • Read selection from John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999) (PDF). The selection is a total of 18.5 pages.
  • As you read, consider:
    • How would you characterize the role of the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers (SCAP), the U.S.-led occupation force? How was it acting similarly or differently than Commodore Perry's first incursion into Japan in 1853-54? What about Japan's own occupation of Korea and parts of China?
    • What can you learn from this account of the immediate postwar period that might have shaped Japan's official attitude and popular memory of its imperial and wartime past?