Response #4 Post War Blues
I saw a meme the other day that said “Isn’t it crazy how the good guys always win wars” accompanied with a picture of a fish or something. The meme provided a simple commentary on the portrayal of historical battles as always good versus evil and the inaccuracy from such a reduction. World war two is perhaps the epitome of a war perceived as the heroes (the allies) versus the villains (the axis). However, an often overlooked aspect of this war blurs the line between good and evil, that aspect is racism. Each side held the belief that they were superior to their foes. The United States perceived the Japanese as inhuman monsters who mercilessly killed soldiers and employed “brutality [as] part of their fighting equipment”(Dower 188) shown through contemporary mid century cartoons. On the other hand, Japan saw Americans as over indulgent and materialistic money worshippers as seen in contemporary images as well. The war in the Pacific was extremely brutal with both sides fighting with a mindset of no mercy/no surrender until Japan surrendered.
Given the resentment held by each side during wartime, it comes as a surprise that the US and Japan quickly became strong allies following the end of the war. We can rationalize this development by considering Japan’s position in Asia in the time period surrounding world war two. In the late 1930’s to early ‘40’s, Asia was growing tired of western imperialism and the fervor for getting foreign interference out was at a peak. Once war broke out in Europe and the Japanese joined forces with Germany, Asian leaders began voicing support of Japan and “placed the war in an East-versus-West, Oriental-versus-Occidental, and ultimately blood-verus-blood context”(Dower 6). Japan was seen as the leaders of this Asian alliance. However, this admiration turned to hatred as the oppressive rule of the Japanese throughout the war became too much to bear. At the end of the war, Japan was a defeated country left with few allies. For this reason, I believe the Japanese government would jump at the opportunity to become and ally of the United States.
On the civilian side, widespread acceptance of the alliance between the US and Japan probably took a bit longer to take hold. The movie No Regrets for Our Youth was heralded as the first postwar movie to denounce the Japanese imperial actions of the past as well as the decision for Japan to enter world war two. This movie came out two years after the war had ended signaling that public sentiment towards the US was slowly changing from wartime hatred to a more neutral disposition.
