Post War Japan Essay

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Post-War Japan

The Depiction of Japanese Victimization in Gojira and Voice of Hibakusha

World War II left the countries involved devastated and permanently changed. This became true for Japan on August 6th 1945 when the U.S. army dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in retaliation to an earlier attack by the Japanese. Huge areas of land were destroyed and the thousands of lives were ended. Japan has carried the weight of this tragedy for decades and struggled with the idea of their victimization. This struggle plays out in the art, literature and film of post-war Japan. In the documentary Voice of Hibakusha, the victims of the bombings spoke about their experiences and how it changed their lives. The 1954 film Gojira shows Japan being once again victimized on a large scale, but this threat comes not only as a side effect of war, but from Japan's past. Both works address Japanese victimization and conclude that the role of victim is an important one that must effect change in the rest of the world.

In the film Gojira a prehistoric monster is awakened by atomic radiation and wreaks havoc across Japan. The entire country is helpless as the monster storms across the country, and every attempt to stop the beast is proved fruitless.

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At one point a giant electrified fence is placed around the coast, but the monster is not deterred. Gojira is the ultimate villain and the Japanese are helpless victims. Early in the film the Japanese seem to take the blame for the monster's existence. First, an old man says that the monster would threaten the country in the past, so the citizens would sacrifice young girls to satiate the beast's appetite. Later, a zoologist states that atomic radiation from bomb tests are the cause of the monster's awakening. The film hesitates the mention the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and when it does mention a bombing the reference is not specific. In the film the Japanese are portrayed as being victims, but they caused their own victimization.

In Voice of Hibakusha the Japanese speakers also show how they were victimized, but the victimizer is an outsider. The interviewees in this documentary discuss not only the physical effects of the bombings, but the emotional and psychological effects that they have suffered. For example, Keiko Matsuda….....

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