August 6, 2008

Today the topic centered on why? Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? Why not another location? This is a huge history lesson, that can be some what complicated. I will summarize the key points. If you are interested in the details and events in history leading up to December 7, stop by to chat. I have some great resources that from the workshop I would be happy to share.

To start the issue was imperial powers. The U.S. controlled the territory of Hawaii, as well as the Philipines, Guam and some other Pacific islands. Japan had invaded Manchuria in China (that is another whole history lesson) and was trying to take control of a large area of the Pacific. There primary goal was to obtain natural resources. Japan is an island with no natural resources.

After the invasion of China, we issued an embargo and economic sanctions against Japan. There were also conflicts in Japan between imperial power and military power. To explain things quickly, there were people in the military wanting to take away power from the emporer and athe Diet (government).

Diplomatic talks failed between the U.S. and Japan. The world was in a state of flux and Japan thought they would be supported by Germany. The U.S. military stationed at Pearl Harbor was a threat to Japan, as well as military we had stationed in the Philipines, Somoa, and other locations in the Pacific. Japan wanted to do damage to the U.S. forces in the Pacific so they could continue there plan to take control of land near their country.

Yujin Yaguchi, Associate Professor Tokyo University, spoke about the Japanese Perspective on Pearl Harbor. Many Japanese citizens visity the memorial sites at Pearl Harbor. He talked about how the people of Japan see the sites to be peace memorials, much as they see the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. It was interesting to listen to him talk about how the people of Japan feel about our memorials and theirs. The Japanese teachers attending the workshop also talked about peace education in their curriculums.

It was an interesting day, again causing reflection. This time the reflecting on peace and how do we teach this concept to our young people while we are a nation at war.