ALPHA Education - U of T Chapter

On August 15 2022 Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed on the 77th anniversary of Japan's World War Two surrender that Japan will “never again repeat the horrors of war.” Yet, just two days ago, on August 13, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the new industry minister of PM Kishida’s cabinet, visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine for war dead in Tokyo. The Yasukuni Shrine was built by Japan’s Emperor Meiji in 1869 to consecrate and enshrine the soldiers who died in the country’s civil wars, and now Yasukuni also enshrines almost 2.5 million Japanese war dead from later conflicts and conquests, such as the first and second Sino-Japanese wars as well as the Russo-Japanese war. Among the 2.5 million deceased soldiers, 14 were convicted as war criminals by The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE). As such, Nishimura’s visit was seen by China and South Korea as a symbolic move to pay respect to Japan’s former military aggression. According to Reuters, the South Korean foreign ministry said in a public statement that the country expresses “deep disappointment and regret” at Nishimura’s visits, and the Yasukuni Shrine “glorifies Japan's past war of aggression and enshrines war criminals.” Along the same line, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a briefing that Nishimura’s visits “once again reflect Japan's wrong attitude towards historical issues” and that the Yasukuni Shrine is a “spiritual tool and symbol of the Japanese militarism's war of aggression.” Nonetheless, the Shire remains to be a place of sacredness for Japanese nationalists. According to Reuters, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that “it is natural for any country to pay respect to those who gave their lives for their country” and “Japan will continue to strengthen its relations with its neighbours, including China and South Korea.” However, other Japanese have said that the Shrine continues to glorify the country’s imperialist and colonial pasts for which it has yet to atone.

Sources: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/wjdt_674879/fyrbt_674889/202208/t20220815_10743513.shtml
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-ruling-party-official-visits-yasukuni-war-dead-shrine-ww2-anniversary-2022-08-15/
http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2022/0815/c1002-32503010.html

Japan PM vows no more war; ministers visit shrine to war dead Prime Minster Fumio Kishida vowed on the anniversary of Japan's World War Two surrender on Monday that his country would never again wage war, as members of his cabinet visited a shrine that honours war dead, angering South Korea and China.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1186914

ALPHA highlights the often-forgotten atrocities committed in Asia during WWII, especially those committed by Japan. In particular, UofT ALPHA has highlighted the Japanese Comfort Women system and the Filipina victims. However, we recognize that in war tragedy, heinous and righteous acts are committed on all sides. To move forward, we must reconcile the past and foster peace.

The commemoration of the Battle of Surigao Strait in the Philippines last month exemplifies this. October 25th marked the 78th anniversary of the battle that took place in 1944. The battle holds the distinction of being the last naval battle in which air power did not play a part and the last U.S. Navy's last battle-line engagement. The Battle of Surigao Strait along with three other engagements is considered part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of WWII and one of if not the largest naval battles in history. The ceremony was led by Surigao Mayor, Pablo Yves Dumlao, and the Vice Defense Attaché of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines Commander, Sekine Takeharu, along with Filipino veterans. The commemoration of this battle is an expression of reconciliation and the aim of building peace, mutual trust, and friendship between Japan and the Philippines. Notably, this article was written by Alexander Lopez in the Philippine News Agency, a web-based newswire service of the Philippine government.

Surigao remembers Japanese soldiers who perished in WW2 SURIGAO CITY – The city government here and the government of Japan paid respects to the Japanese soldiers who lost their lives during the Battle of Surigao Strait in a ceremony here on Monday.The candle lighting and wreath-laying ceremony at the Japanese Cremation Site inside the Surigao...

This past Remembrance Day, Toronto local Jeanette Lee published an article for the Globe and Mail to commemorate her family members who had served in the military. Her Great Uncle, Sergeant Raymond Lowe served Canada during the Second World War. Sergeant Lowe was a member of Force 136, a unit of Chinese Canadians who were assigned to conduct covert missions in Japanese controlled territory.

Sergeant Lowe trained for a mission called Operation Oblivion. This mission required its operatives to train locals in Japanese controlled territory to disrupt the Japanese military’s supply chain. Should they be discovered by Japanese forces, they were to consume cyanide pills to avoid interrogation - a task that Lee and his colleagues accepted as part of the mission. Sergeant Lowe was willing to die in service of his country.

As I read Sergeant Lowe’s story, I am reminded of an unfortunate incident that occurred around Remembrance Day three years ago. In response to a decline in poppy sales, longtime host of Hockey Night in Canada Don Cherry took aim at Canadian immigrants: “You people… that come here… you love our way of life… at least you could buy a poppy… these people paid for your way of life.” In his rant, Cherry implied that Canadian immigrants did fully appreciate the sacrifices made by Canadians in wars throughout history.

Cherry’s comments were not only harmful to Canadian immigrants, but all non-White Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, over three quarters of immigrants are non-White. Racism does not distinguish between the country of origin of non-White individuals. As an illustration of this assertion, I encourage you to think of the attacks that have occurred on Asian Canadians in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, regardless of their country of origin.

Cherry’s comments dominated Canadian headlines for weeks. In this period of time, the divisive nature of his comments revealed itself. While they were met with scorn by many, and ultimately led to his appropriate dismissal from Sports Centre, they were also met with supportive comments by many. The fact that his comments were divisive is indicative of the fact that his comments were not merely reflective of the prejudices of one man, but that they reflected the bigotry of many Canadians. There is an inaccurate perception that non-White Canadians have sacrificed less than White Canadians while striving to protect this country.

As I read about Sergeant Lowe’s bravery, Cherry’s comments only become more insulting. It is simply untrue that non-White Canadians have not sacrificed in the name of this country and it is certainly untrue that non-White Canadians are not appreciative of these sacrifices. It is important to tell stories like that of Sergeant Lowe’s in order to fight these harmful, inaccurate perceptions that Canadians of colour did not fight and die for this country. I commend Jeanette Lee for sharing her story and I encourage other Canadians of colour to do so as well.

Ethan Cheng, Alpha Education UofT Chapter

My uncle was a Canadian Chinese soldier, his story is colourful, uncomfortable and historic Chinese Canadians like my great Uncle saw military service as an opportunity to serve with their courage and skills. They wanted to prove the loyalty and commitment of Chinese Canadians to Canada, and fight for the right to be considered first-class citizens

On August 21, 2019, the organizing committee of Aichi Triennale removed two controversial artworks from a public art exhibition in Nagoya due to threats, harsh verbal abuse, and protests from the Japanese public. The two artworks are the statue that represents the comfort women during WWII and an image of Emperor Hirohito being incinerated with a blowtorch. Many have viewed these two artworks as politically charged claims against Japan and its people as opposed to artwork to contemplate and reflect on. For example, the Mayor of Nagoya, Takashi Kawamura, remarked, “[this exhibition] is like trampling on the hearts of the Japanese people.” He noted that many Japanese would agree with his statement. Kawamura further argued that funding this kind of exhibition using taxpayers’ money is no different than accepting Korean activists’ claim that Japan has “forcibly recruited hundreds of thousands” girls and women into forced s*x slavery. Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, on the other hand, commented that this exhibition is “anti-Japan propaganda” and said that any exhibition that profanes the Emperor should be prohibited.

This incident is not unique in Japan. Nobuyuki Oura, the artist for the image of the Emperor, has faced similar challenges. In 1986 Oura exhibited a series of prints of collage images of Hirohito, titled “Holding Perspective,” at the Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, and faced severe criticism from local politicians and right-wing activists. The museum eventually sold all of his art and burned its last 470 copies of the exhibition catalogue. Tokyo University of the Arts professor Yosh*taka Mori noted that Oura has never “intended to criticize the emperor” and remarked, “If you look at the context, those artworks in the exhibition would be seen in totally different ways. But some people labelled them as ‘anti-Japan’ and rushed to judgment. You can find plenty of such opinions on the internet.” The artists of the comfort woman statue, titled “Monument of Peace,” Kim Seo-kyung and Kim Eun-sung, said they created this artwork not only to criticize Japan but also to challenge Korea’s patriarchal society. For example, the statue symbolizes those girls and women who were enslaved by the Japanese Army could not return home and were not accepted by the community to which they belong after the war.
Professor of constitutional studies at Kyoto University, Masahiro Sogabe, responded to these reactions by arguing that “Under freedom of expression, being 'unpleasant' or 'anti-Japan' must not be the reason to regulate any artwork,” and that the government should respect the freedom of speech and that there should be no interference by politicians. Kozo Nagata, professor of media studies at Musashi University, also believed that people disagree and can disagree on the interpretation of artwork and may see an artwork as politically-charged, “but no (substantial) discussion will start unless you actually see the work.”

Questions to consider:
Do you think it is right that the committee took down the two artworks? If so, why?
What are the moral limits of freedom of speech when it comes to people's traumatic experiences? Should freedom of speech, in this case, be relative or universal?
Why do you think the Japanese local politicians and right-wing activists are sensitive to and still care to protest against artworks that remind the public of the atrocities of the war?

Controversial art exhibit's closure leaves Japan pondering limits of freedom of expression Ever since a section of a public art exhibition in Nagoya was closed after coming under a barrage of complaints and threats, Japan has been in a state of i

The internationally popular Japanese series My Hero Academia or “Boku no Hīrō Akademia” had its anime’s sixth season premiere earlier this month. You may ask: What does this have to do with atrocities in Asia in WWII?

In 2020 and 2021, we made posts discussing the controversy over the names of characters, one of whom is a primary antagonist of this season. In particular, the character Kyudai Garaki, originally named Maruta Shiga is the centre of contention. This name was believed by many to be a reference to the Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731 human experimentation test subjects. It didn’t help that Kyudai Garaki is a doctor whose criminal exploits centre around human experimentation. Public outrage, including outcry on social media, censorship of the show, and the cancelling of a game based on the series. The series creator, Kohei Horikoshi, apologized and stated the name’s connection was merely a coincidence.

Media has never been something that keeps away from the unsavoury. One can look at the recent show about Jeffrey Dahmer. The question is, when is something too inappropriate or insensitive? Other media have used N***s or the likeness of Hi**er to represent their characters, is the backlash My Hero Academia received due to the positionality of the series being from Japan? In this case, we think it is far more complex. Official apologies from the Japanese government over the atrocities committed in Unit 731 have not been given, and they were not even acknowledged until 1988.

2022-2023 ALPHA Education Webinar Series. The theme for this 3-part webinar series is contested histories and their impact.

Join us for the first webinar in this series, a 90-minute roundtable discussion on: Museums as Collective History

Discussants will examine the role of museums as learning spaces, collective history, and peace education, focussing on the history of WWII in Asia.

Featured speakers are Kazuyo Yamane and Satoko Oka Norimatsu with Flora Chong as moderator.

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/2e7ku6bd

Are you into films about female writers? Literature and history? or 20th-century China? If so, you cannot miss this one! “The Golden Era” or 黄金年代, a 2014 film beautifully directed by Ann Hui (许鞍华) that portrays the poignant life of Xiao Hong (萧红), a destitute yet extraordinary female novelist.

Xiao Hong is one of the most important writers in 20th-century China. Even though she was born and raised in a wealthy landlord family in Hulan (呼兰), Xiao Hong’s childhood was miserable. Her mother died when she was nine. She was not free and suffered from her tyrannical and ruthless father. In 1929, her father arranged a marriage with a man, but she refused after knowing he consumes o***m, fleeing to Beiping (today’s Beijing). After many incidents in which Xiao Hong kept finding herself bound by her father’s wishes, she ran away from her family. In her exile life in October 1931, Xiao Hong found herself destitute and stranded in Harbin. This is where her literature life began. She began asking for help in a local newspaper. She then met the person that changed her life, Xiao Jun, who was sent to help her by the newspaper office. Xiao Hong’s journey began from here. The two Xiaos would then flee from Harbin because of Japanese occupation and later drift here and there in China because of the war. In their journey, the audience would meet a variety of great writers in China, such as Lu Xun (鲁迅) and Ding Ling (丁玲).

Besides Xiao Hong’s tale, director Ann Hui took a unique approach when shooting the film. The film incorporated fictional narration, the technic of making characters in the movie directly speak to the audience. Specifically, a faux-documentary was adopted where the film features Xiao Hong’s friends narrating their subjective perspectives of Xiao Hong. Another fascinating element in this film is the narration by Xiao Hong herself through the use of her literary works. With these two approaches, the audience would enjoy an excursion of Xiao Hong’s life and an immersive experience of the many different emotions of the 20th-century China intellectual circle.

“The Golden Era” made its world premiere on September 6, 2014, at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. It was shown out of competition and selected as the festival’s closing film. Director Ann Hui’s previous full-length directorial feature, A Simple Life, also premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2011, where it competed for the Golden Lion. Shortly after its world premiere, The Golden Era made its North American premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, placed under the Master’s category and distributed by China Lion Film Distribution Inc. The film continued to appear in other festivals, including the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival, while making its first public release in China on October 1, 2014.

Movie Trailer:
https://youtu.be/LLEI0aMOc7s
https://youtu.be/zFAV25lP1ns

South Korea has recently protested over the approval of textbooks in Japan that they say distorts history. South Korea stated that the textbooks changed "forced mobilization" to "mobilization" or "conscription" regarding the forced labour and s*xual slavery of Korean people during World War II. The textbooks also claimed that Dokdo, a series of islets lying between Japan and Korea, as an "inherent part" of Japanese territory. The portrayal of World War II in Japanese textbooks is an especially controversial topic in Japan and Asia because textbooks must be approved by the Japanese education ministry, which has the power to pressure publishers to change or delete parts of the textbook to meet the government stance on some issues, which is what happened here. This, along with the continued failure by Japanese governments to apologize for war crimes during World War II, is a continued sticking point in relations between Japan and many other Asian countries, including China and Korea.

https://nextshark.com/south-korea-files-complaint-against-japan-history-textbooks/?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-nextshark&utm_content=later-25720568&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio

South Korea says new history textbooks in Japan ‘distorts facts’ about World War II s*x slavery South Korea has filed a complaint against Japan for history textbooks that “distort historical facts” about s*xual slavery and forced labor.

Thank you to all our talented Art Contest 2022 contestants! It was incredibly touching to see the creative perspectives brought to life through various artistic media, and we appreciate all your submissions! They were in equal parts well-crafted and thought provoking.

We would like to highlight the work of our first place winner this year, Pengyu! He eloquently captured the very human emotions, both positive and negative, at the heart of many who found themselves suddenly having to fight for their lives, their families, and their countries in a tragic war. His poem (in both Chinese and English) is posted here:

[Description]
Originally written in Chinese, the speaker of this poem describes a talk from an unexpected stranger. This talk happened at the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War, featuring a revolutionary with sorrowful yet hopeful talk that arouses a sense of hope. This sense of hope was at the heart of that time, even before the outbreak of the war itself. It was also this sense of hope—and of course many other human emotions—that had contributed to China’s eventual victory in this brutal war. By writing on this specific theme with a specific setting (during the early years of the war), I wish to bring the reader back to an era of turbulence and showcase that there were not merely sorrows that stemmed from the looming threat of the Japanese invaders but also a sense of youthful energy that lived in many people at that time, especially people who are from “there,” the capital of the Chinese Communists in Yan’an.

UofT ALPHA Education is hosting a screening of the film “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language)

❗️ Thursday, March 24 at 5:15pm
❗️ Robarts, Theatre Room 3025

Released in 2006 and directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima tells “the story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it” (The Golden Globe Awards).

【Trigger Warning】
This video contains disturbing images and contents about biological warfare conducted by Japanese in the Second World War. Please prepare yourself emotionally before watching the video. If you believe that you will find the video to be traumatizing, please step away from the video.
https://youtu.be/TOhjYHFrlVE

Unit 731 – Manshu Detachment 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937 – 1945). Using the test subjects, the scientists injected different germs to see how they would react to one another in the human body, in an attempt to create new diseases. Referring to their victims as Maturas, or “wooden logs,” Japanese scientists would perform different types of procedures, such as vivisection, on live victims. Rats infected with the bubonic plague were released onto victims, with the intention of infecting the subjects so that they could be studied. Unit 731 was a place of torture that was, in the minds of many Unit 731 workers, a necessity in order to win the war. Scientists in Unit 731 also experimented on their test subjects through pregnancy and r**e. Male prisoners infected with syphilis would be told to r**e female prisoners as well as male prisoners in order to see how syphilis spreads in the body. Women were involuntarily impregnated and then experiments were done on them to see how it affected the mother as well as the fetus. Sometimes the mother would be vivisected in order to see how the fetus was developing.
Once it was clear that the Japanese were going to lose the war, unit workers destroyed much of the evidence of the experiments.
Unit 731 was based in the Pingfang district of Harbin, the largest city in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (now Northeast China), and had active branch offices throughout China and Southeast Asia.

Resource:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/unit-731

https://unit731.org/

Rotten Leg Disease (Glanders) in humans: Japanese Biological Weapon CLICK TO WATCH FULL DOCUMENTARY ONLINE: https://docsonline.tv/lessons-of-the-blood/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_content=rotten-leg-disease-...

A Blessing Under the Guise of a Curse

In December 2020, J. Mark Ramseyer, a Harvard Law Professor, published an academic article “Contracting for S*x in the Pacific War” in the peer-reviewed journal "International Review of Law and Economics" making the argument that Korean women, who were in the “comfort women system” during the 1930s-1940s, were not forced, coerced, and deceived; rather those women entered into the system voluntarily under contracts. Further, Ramseyer claims that it was an episode in which Korean women “chose prostitution” and entered a “multi-year indenture” contract and that the account of comfort women who were forced/deceived into the system is “pure fiction.”

His essay sparked both favour (from Japanese conservative-nationalists) and criticism (from Koreans as well as others, such as U.S. members of Congress). Upon receiving global attention, Ramswyer’s controversial paper received support and criticism. Mary Elizabeth Berry, a professor in Japanese history, wrote that Ramseyer’s “research is formidable, exacting, and carefully marshaled” and said that his analysis reflected “a mainstream position among reputable scholars in Japan.” David Weinstein, a professor of Japanese economics at Columbia, also shared a similar attitude, saying that “it is important for academic journals to sometimes publish controversial, fact-based pieces and let readers decide for themselves which arguments are persuasive.” These comments are not unwarranted, for they all reflect the defence of the academic freedom to make unpopular opinions.

However, other scholars who probed deeper into Ramseyer’s controversial article found that his argument is backed by dubious citations as well as a questionable use of sources. Tessa Morris-Suzuki, an emeritus professor at the Australian National University who is a senior scholar in modern Japanese history, pointed out that “bizarrely, he transposed his earlier research from one place and historical period to another, so that a study which was originally about systems that existed in Japan in the 1920s and early 1930s was now presented as a statement about the late 1930s to 1940s wartime ‘comfort station’ system, despite the fact that this system operated in a different time, in different places and in drastically different circumstances.” Amy Stanley, a history professor on Japan’s prostitution and women’s social history at Northwestern University, also noted that Ramseyer has neglected Japan’s use of physical violence and threats to make women into the system, and this omission would contradicts his account that Korean women were voluntarily entering into the contract.

And upon noting other scholars’ criticism at Ramseyer’s evidence and argumentation, Mary Elizabeth Berry said, “[The evidence/critiques from other scholars] are very powerful. Mark needs to respond to them thoroughly. And to admit error, as appropriate.” Similarly, David Weinstein said, “If the editors decide that their refereeing process failed to catch serious errors in the representation of the underlying facts, then retraction would be appropriate.”

Lee Yong-soo, a victim of the comfort women system, addressed Ramseyer’s article at an event organized by Harvard Law School’s Asian-American student group and sees that his article “maybe actually a blessing in disguise” because had there not been this article there would not have been much sudden interest in the issue of comfort women.

This short piece draws much substance from a NewYorker article, “Seeking the True Story of the Comfort Women” by Jeannie Suk Gersen, a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

With Ramseyer’s article, Professor Tessa Morris-Suzuki has produced a study-aid that teaches us how to have academic integrity while not infringing academic freedom (http://chwe.net/irle/morris_suzuki_studyaid.pdf).

Since 1997, the Ontario College of Teachers has published the “Professionally Speaking” magazine quarterly. It features articles and other resources that focus on current issues and trends in Ontario education. The March 2021 edition of Professionally Speaking featured the award-winning strategy game “Through the Darkest of Times” by Handy Games. Through the Darkest of Times is a historical resistance strategy game, where you are the leader of a small resistance group in 1933’s Berlin, of ordinary people, from Jews to Catholics and Communists to Patriots who simply can’t stand aside. Professionally Speaking, article writer, Stefan Dubowski writes that Through the Darkest of Times is “a good companion to Grade 11 World History Since 1900: Global and Regional Interactions.”

There are other historically accurate World War 2 based games like “Attentat 1942,” a unique narrative video game built on personal memories, interactive comics, and authentic footage. Attentat 1942 was designed by academics and teachers and even comes with a curriculum guide and discount for schools.

One of ALPHA Education’s primary tools for the promotion of truth, peace, and reconciliation of World War 2 atrocities in Asia is through education in public schools. What is your opinion on the usage of games to teach history curriculum? Should ALPHA Education use games to support its teaching? Would you have liked to learn about World War 2 through these games?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PATk-zo1RGM&ab_channel=HandyGames

Through The Darkest Of Times // Official Cinematic Trailer The years between January 1933 and May 1945 were the darkest period in history for the people of Germany, of Europe maybe for all of mankind. With the rise o...

80 years ago, the Empire of Japan would invade and occupy Singapore, then a colony of Britain. The fall of Singapore, a major embarrassment for Britain and often seen as a turning point in Australia's relationship with Britain, would see numerous atrocities committed in the aftermath, including the Sook Ching massacres and and the death of thousands of POWs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDAv5BGHCTM

How Britain lost 'Fortress Singapore' On the 15th of February 1942, Lt General Arthur Percival signed the largest surrender in British history at Singapore. The city was supposed to be a fortress...

UofT ALPHA Education is saddened to learn of the “hell money” incident. On Feb. 1, for Lunar New Year, UofT’s Graduate House gave out red envelopes containing money meant for the dead (“hell money”). Giving this type of money to living people is disrespectful and offensive in the context of a holiday meant to signal a new year of good luck and prosperity. As a club, we stand with Asian students who are hurt by what happened, and we condemn any acts of racism.

UofT ALPHA is a club that seeks to raise awareness on Asian issues. As such, we support the demands made by UTSU to the Grad House regarding the “hell money” incident:
1. Provide a formal apology and explanation.
2. Consult with the appropriate student groups for future cultural events and clarify what steps will be taken to ensure a situation like this doesn’t happen again.
3. Provide on-going training to staff around diversity and inclusion as well culturally appropriate support to students affected by the incident.

UofT ALPHA also has an additional recommendation to add. We ask that the university launches a formal investigation into the incident in order to determine if the act was an intentional act of hate or any other details related to what caused the incident.

We stand with our Asian students during this time, as these last two years have been especially hard. The following is a link to a petition that demands action from U of T: https://www.change.org/p/university-of-toronto-governing-council-stop-on-campus-anti-asian-racism-calling-for-an-investigation-of-hell-bank-money-34f3cda1-026e-4994-8fe3-8711496892d1?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_32269506_en-CA%3A3&recruiter=1251618048&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

Sign the Petition Stop on-campus Anti-Asian racism: Calling for an Investigation of “hell bank money”