Cultural Enhancement.
Cultural Enhancement Reading Assignment
In the Diversity and Globalization readings I found the climate of Japan and Taiwan to be interesting. Japan is about the size of California and is really stretched out north to south and the climate is basically split into those two major climate differences and an additional two different climate vulnerabilities. First, the North section of Japan receives snow since the air from China crosses the Sea of Japan and turns into snow once hitting the air of cold northern Japan whereas the South end of Japan is subtropical and as a warmer climate without snow. The west side of Japan receives more snow than the east because of the winds from the Asian mainlands over the Sea of Japan, and the east/Pacific side of Japan is more vulnerable to typhoons. Taiwan on the other hand is more shaped like Maryland, so a lot smaller than Japan. The Taiwan Strait is about 200 feet on the west side, but to the east the ocean is many thousands of feet found 10 to 20 miles offshore. The central and eastern regions are mountainous, whereas the western region is more of an alluvial plain. Taiwan has a mild winter climate and is sometimes prone to typhoons near autumn season. Taiwan also contains forests more in the eastern upland areas.
The lowlands of Japan, Korea, and China are among the most intensely used portions of Earth. Most of the Japanese people are located in the same lowlands that support the country’s agriculture. The three largest metropolitan areas; Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya are near the centers of the largest plains. The settlements are mainly restricted to roughly 15 percent of its land area, which means that the country’s effective population density is one of the highest in the world. The northern coast of Kyushu is perhaps the most intensively used part of the world for human habitation, industry, and agriculture. Japan’s urban-agricultural dilemma is concerning the issue that due to space limitations all Japanese cities are characterized by dense settlement patterns. Most American observers have argued that Japan should expand their cities and suburbs into nearby rural areas, but this expansion would come to the expense of farmland. Most Japanese citizens believe that it is important to remain self-sufficient, at least in rice, as a country which I have great respect for because they are trying to save their croplands instead of running over them with many cities.
Before reading this section of the position of women in China and Japan I had the idea that China did not treat their women very well because of things that I had heard in the past about their male dominance. This reading made a good point by stating that women have historically had a relatively low position in Chinese society, as is true in most other civilizations. This is true because the position of women has been a work in progress all over the world, not just China. The tradition of foot binding is an expression showing the difference in the lives of men versus women, the girls’ feet were deformed by breaking and binding them in order to produce a “dainty” or smaller, feminine appearance. This was just eliminated in the 20th century! Areas of southern China would also marry girls when they were toddlers to leave their families, they would not be consummated for many years. Women of Hakka were not often subjected to foot binding and carried a high social position. Although East Asia has made progress in equalizing the relations between sexes, there are still few women who have achieved positions of power in either business or government, in Japan as well. When reading about the position of women in Japan’s society I found a similarity to how the U.S. views women because it stated that women who are married with children are expected to devote their time to their family while the executives often work or socialize, leaving little time devoted to family life. There has been a drop in marriage rate, meaning that many Japanese women are delaying marriage or not pursuing it at all which, again, sounds like the trend with the women within the U.S. In 2005 Japan saw more deaths than births because the fertility rates have decreased. There is a concern for the shrinking population because there will be more retirees than workers.
Japan looked up to China and Korea in the beginning for intellectual and political models, until the 7th century when Japan emerged as a strong, unified state. Since Japan is an insulated island offshore it was not prone to the threat of the Chinese Empire. In 1600, Japan was reunited with the rest of Asia, but attempted to isolate itself from the rest of the world shortly afterward. Until the 1850s the Japan trading routines were very specific and limited to mostly China, Russia, and some Dutch. 1853 the U.S. demanded access in Tokyo, Japan successfully accomplished most of its reform efforts. The Japanese government won against China in the profit of Taiwan in 1895 and won Russia as the two vied for power in Manchuria and Korea in 1905. This made them a huge influence to northern China, and occupied Korea in 1910. Geopolitics involved the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II, because East Asia became a rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Japan then had to rebuild its colonial empire and is now a revived military alliance. The beginning of the Japanese ‘economic miracle’ was in the 1950s, when they began to export manufactured goods such as automobiles, cameras, electronics, machine tools, and computer equipment, which are to be considered ‘sophisticated materials’. Japan’s economy went through a rough drag from the 1990s into the new millennium because it became too expensive to produce labor-intensive goods at home and relocated factories to Southeast Asia and China. Although this problem and other problems occurred in 2008-2009, Japan remains a core country of the global economic system. Japan is a world leader in high-tech fields and one of the largest creditor nations, even with their own debt issues, owning a large percentage of U.S. government bonds.
Hiroshima Cultural Enhancement
1. After the war, Father Kleinsorge continued to immerse himself in Japanese culture and eventually became a Japanese citizen, taking a Japanese name. Why do you think some people leave their own cultures and societies behind and adopt a foreign culture of their own?
I can definitely relate to Father Kleinsorge because I feel as though I have adopted a new culture myself. Growing up in Utah being the 'subculture' I haven't always felt like this is not the culture for me, but after taking my Spanish course here at Salt Lake Community my views changed completely and I fell in love with the Spanish culture. My great-grandparents were from Spain and Mexico and I loved the way they viewed life and the food they always made. Now that I am older I have made many close friends from all over the world, many from South America, and I have become a part of their culture. I believe sometimes many people may not feel included in their own cultures but they travel to different places and meet new people that they fall in love with and just really get the culture. I know that traveling has changed my aunt's views on her own life and how she treats others. I think different cultures also have a way of capturing people and wrapping them up in it because most people in different areas are so welcoming it makes them feel included and loved. This is the exact reason why I wanted to sign up to go to this study abroad program to Japan to have the ability to be submerged into a new culture that I have never experienced or known really well.
2. The book states that after the bombing of Hiroshima, many Japanese and American scientists descended upon the city with all manner of equipment to study the effects of the bomb. The book portrays these men and women as fairly heartless, far more interested in radiation counts than disfigured survivors. Do you think this is an accurate portrayal of military scientists?
I do personally believe that the military scientists are more interested in the disaster of the location or materials instead of the people. If I were Hatsuyo Nakamura or Miss Toshiko Sasaki I would feel this way as well because the Americans had just dropped a bomb on their city, then they come in to observe what the affects of this manmade disaster, but really only observing the radiation counts instead of the dead or the severely injured citizens of Japan. Many of the people involved in the military services are trained to not become emotionally attached to people and to focus on their mission and purpose. Therefore, when those military scientists were sent out to view the aftermath of the bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I am sure that they were told to only focus on the effects on the city and the nature instead of the people so that they would not get any emotional attachment to anyone that way they may continue with their job and their mission. I feel as though the military still does this today and that's why many people in the military are not really encouraged to have a family of their own so they will be able to stay focused on their duties and not have to worry about their families being without them. This, especially with the people of different countries they are attacking, they need to have no connection with these people so they are able to drop a bomb in an area with many human beings living there where they call their home. I think it would be very hard to be involved in the military because of this issue, I feel that I care too much for other people and I would not be able to drop a bomb on another country, even if others think this is the 'right' thing to do for our own country. I don't believe fighting with one another to see who can make a bigger dent in the other's world is the way to handle tough situations.
3. After the war, many young Japanese women who suffered from keloid scars traveled to the United States to receive cosmetic surgery - with varying degrees of success. Victims disfigured by other attacks on other cities with conventional weapons did not receive this type of special consideration. Why do you think public concern over some types of injuries is so great?
Some types of injuries are considered to be more impactful than others. The keloid scars may spread further out than where the wound was actually developed meaning these scars have the capability to spread all throughout one’s body. I believe this special treatment for these scars were also given because of the strength of the atomic bomb compared to the conventional weapons used in the other cities is so much greater. They needed to help repair these scars to these people who were suffering from pain and a scar that could eventually spread all over their body and be very painful.
4. What is radiation sickness? Describe some of the symptoms identified in the book.
Radiation sickness is due to excessive exposure to ionized radiation, such as an atomic bomb. This produces chemical effects on human tissue. Depending on the dosage exposed to there are symptoms such as anorexia, nausea and vomiting, mild leukopenia, thrombocytopenia with hemorrhage, anemia, central nervous system damage, and death. The book describes the symptoms the characters suffer a few weeks after the explosion. Father Kleinsorge was barely able to finish his walk through the city to deposit money in Hiroshima because he became weak. Mrs. Nakamura’s hair begins to fall out and both she and her daughter became ill, while Mr. Tanimoto was weak and feverish which lead him to become bedridden. Miss Sasaki was taken care of by Dr. Sasaki and he noticed small hemorrhages all over her bare skin, which had been becoming a common symptom of his patients which turned out to be a result of her low white-blood cell count, another radiation sickness symptom.
