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Search the PBI Film & Video Archive
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| • PBI Events, Fall 2009 • |
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| November 20 |
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Trash for Cash: Making a Killing and Making a Living on Garbage |
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| December 8 |
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Video Screenings by PBI Summer Tour Grant Winners |
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| More events and details. |
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Bridge to the Rising Sun
Produced by the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College
The Bridge to the Rising Sun: The US Navy’s
Japanese Language Program During WWII
The Pacific War began with Japan's surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor in
December 1941. In his widely acclaimed book, John Dower has argued that this
Aday of infamy enraged an American nation that was determined to wage a A War
Without Mercy against the Japanese. The war was a bloody conflict that was
filled with hatred against the evil enemy who had to be exterminated. Among
Americans of that day there could be no compassion or forgiveness towards the
Japanese. Dower's thesis is that the conflict between Japan and the United
States was basically a racial war of mutual hate.
However, if one looks deeper into the human dimensions of the Pacific War one
would quickly discover that the American response towards the Japanese was
multi-faceted. One particular case in point is the story of the men and women
graduates of the U.S. Navy's Japanese Language School which provide a striking
contrast to the theory that the war was filled primarily with hatred and
contempt for the enemy. Based upon our interviews, we find that the majority of
cases, these language officers often expressed their admiration, respect and
compassion for the Japanese - from their contacts with their instructors at
Boulder to the prisoners of war at frontlines in the Pacific to the common folk
during the Occupation.
This is a project about humanity in war. It focuses on two groups of men and
women, nearly 140 Japanese-American teachers, and more than 1000 American
students who came together at the U.S. Navy Japanese Language School at the
University of Colorado, Boulder, between 1942 and 1946. Brought together
initially to meet the Navy's pressing need for linguists trained to interact
with Japanese as enemies in war, they became bridges to friendship with Japan
after the war.
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