Page Six

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Sunday, November 11, 1956

warati~rm-te is n pions
The Japanese Stereotype That Gave Way to a More Realistic View

By RICHARD HALLORAN
Daily Staff writer
DECEMBER 7, 1941, is a day
sharply etched in the minds of
many Americans. On that quiet
Sunday morning, radios blared the
astonishing news that Pearl Har-
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bor was under attack by Japanese Up to December 6. 1941, the av- revery American concurred in this associate with the Japanese proved
aircraft. The first reaction was one erage American had not thought notion. highly inaccurate. Indeed, to the
of unbelieving bewilderment, fol- much about the people who in- In appearance, the mention of lonely soldier far from home and
loeed by the slosw realizhon thait h ed a group of istsnds lying a Japanese would conjure up a weary after many months of ex-
vision of the leering face, the hausting combat, the charm of the
this meant the United States was off the coast of Asia, far across the sharply slanted eyes, the protrud- Japanese woman was most appeal-
suddenly engaged in a full scale Pacific. News of the war in China in" buck teeth, the round specta- ing, and the leer often turned to
war. was in the daily papers, and the tles. Most Americans came to the internationally understood
negotiations in Washington seem- think of Japanese as talking only! smile.
ed part of the international gob in a series of hissing sounds, not
bledygook of the times. unlike that of the proverbialI( '-
Who the Japanese were was snake-in-the-grass. The Japanese
particularly obscure in the minds never walked upright but was con- THROUGH THE occupation of
of the younger generation. Know- stantly slinking about, with furtive t945 to 19t2 and the tation-
ledge and concern for Japan was glances at all who passed near him. ing of the United Nations Defense
merged with a number of other In the movies, Japanese were in- forces, of which American troops
far away places in the back of a variably depicted surreptitiously were by far the most numerous,
tattered grammer school geco gliding through the jungle, or Americans came to see the island
graphy book, and included a few lurking for the unwary in a back people in a new manner, one of
pictures of smiling Japanese boys alley. respect at least and sometimes
and girls and some inane remarks Perhaps ingrained most solidly with genuine feelings of good will.
about the quaintness of the land' in the American mind was the con- But at home, there was little
in which they lived. cept of Japanese treachery and thought for the recent enemy.
Beyond this America knew little cruelty. From the attack on Pearl Prom the end of the war to the
and cared less about Japan and Harbor, through the Bataan death "police action" in Korea, the
the Japanese. march, and on to various other American people were too preoc-
incidents in the war, the idea was' cupied with "getting back to nor-
- -eering Vl8 '01 quickly built up that the Japanese mal" to wonder what was going on
was, by nature, a vicious and in at the other side of the world. And
THIS WAS all changed rapidly trustworthy being with little better 'the rosy dispatches emanating
EN/SHfafter the bombing of Pearl th an bestial habits. from General MacArthur's head-
Harbor and the entrance of the Many contributions to this idea quarters reassured America that
United States into the Second were made by stories and events Japan was no longer a menace to
1AV EL KIT World War, the war the Japanese'related by those who had had con- freedom, democracy, and Mom's
call the Pacific War. Americans tact with the Japanese prior to the apple pie, and therefore not of im-
awere swamped, by all the means of outbreak of hostilities. They wrote mediate concern.
TH mass communication, with articles, or spoke of these contacts, re- It was not until the beginning
motion pictures, stories, radio calling how what had happened of the Korean incident that
d YARDLEY plays, lectures, books, pamphlets, or had been observed had not Americans made any significant
comic books, and any other media seemed significant at the time, change in their concept of Japan
at all adapted to spreading the but "thinking back on it, why, I and the Japanese. Then the flood
4ETICS word, describing the people who can see now that the little Jap f troops passing to and from
were our enemies in this mortal' was tricking me" Korea, with a few side excursions
conflict. euphemistically labelled "rest and
Almost overnight, there grew up rehabilitataion" thrown in, made
in the American mind a concept S ne Plot . . . contact with Japan. This was a
Wbe at of what a Japanese looked like, JAPANESE family life came in new generation of Americans in
how he thought and acted, what for a terrific beating in the the main. Although the American
his motivations were, how he con- mass media. Americans came to Army in Korea had a large share
ducted his private life, the stress believe that the Japanese was a of veterans from the Second War,
E L 'SE under which he operated his public heartless domineering lord who'the vast majority of the troops
life, anything and everything about ruled his wife and household with' had still been in grade or high
h University him became the subject of gener- asn iron hand. The woman of the school during the world conflict.
aization to the point wheenearlylyoe a se youngsoldiers had never
all America ns had a notion of{ hand sec'sant for her hushand and'beesn exposed to combat against
__________________________whial a Jsapanes was, and nealy the childrees' betsvcd as if de th-' the Japanese and conseuntly
- - ly afraid of th'e pow'er of the fall-' kiew of them only what their
er. Again, stories were recalled of fathers sue older brothers had told
pre-war days, when Japanese were them-and much of this had fad-
observed in Europe and America,' ed into dim memory if it ever
and how their ways differed from penetrated the young mind. The
Westerner's and seemed primitive impact of Japan on this young
and uncivilized. His wife waited on military force seems to account
him hand and foot, suffered the for a good portion of the chang-
cold while passisng heur shawl to insg aa'arenes~s on the part of
arm the man, he all the while Americans of their trans-Pacific
ignoring and belittling her. enemies-turned-allies.
Today, when one thinks back
on the "war movies" of the for- CautiOus .
ties, he can see how many were T HE IMPRESSION of Japan on
alike with the same plot-thoughl this writer as a member of
a different locale each time-and that young Army was one of the
the same actors. Indeed, this writ- most forceful he can remember.
er remembers one man who seems Having a father who fought long
to have played the part of a Jap- and bitter years against the Japa-
V E A WON D ERFU L A RRAY anese colonel, stiff, clever, schem- nese from 1943 to 1945 and having
AaATES AND KNIT DRESSES ing, polished, disciplined and ex- been subjected to the stereotyped
acting immediate obediencefrom pre-conceptions of the Japanese
subordinates, in every single movie' through the wartime mass media
To wear from now concerned with the war. No doubt at a very impressionable ado-
this contributed heavily to the! lescet age, being ordered to Japan
or the holiday travel ideas which America became im- produced strange misgivings, un-
until late spring bued during the war years. certainties, and immediately pre-
By the end of the war, the cipitated a reserved and cautious
stereotype of the Japanese was so state of mind toward the Japanese
firmly entrenched in American people.
thinking that ever removing it On the other hand, there were
rtes I -Dyed to match would appear to be a task nigh accounts to be heard of the charm
Junto the impossible. Yet, an al- of Japan and the graciousness of
sers, skirts and blouses. most imperceptible change be- her people, leading to a keen curi-
2,95,o taeflnnl rmTeraton ihscutoes,1isadeiie
base from gan soon after the cessation of ousity as to what would be found
5. The sweaters of cash- hostilities. The reaction of the in this controersial island empire.
Special $12.95. Fur troops in the American occupation This writer's reaction to the
$s $8.95. Ban-on $695. forces started trickling back. Prior stimulus of Japan went through
in blouses from $2.95. Above is brightly col_ to landing in defeated Japan, three vaguely defined, indistict
ete iw American soldiers had been in-. phases. The first, of course, began
red aeed sia wh structed to exercize extreme cau- the instant foot was set in the
matching trim on solid tion and be ready for combat on country and lasted for several
woolt ersey blouse i an instant's notice. Infantry troops months. The initial impression of
Complete $19.95 went ashore under the heaviest of Japan was one of an exquisitely
air cover, heavy naval gunfire was beautiful country populated by a
waiting to support them if neces- 'gay, courteous, exceedingly indust-
sary, and each soldier had his rious people. Tokyo and Yokahama
personal weapon ready. were bustling and crowded, a maze
But the expected resistance from. of torturously winding lanes, the
this supposedly treacherous enemy stores and shops bedecked with
never materialized. Within weeks banners of brilliant colors. The
Americans moved unarmed and towns in the country away from

without fear in Japanese cities and the city were especially intriguing
countryside. And as American sol- and attractive to the inquisitive
diers began to know the Japanese! and wide-eyed stranger. Always
people, they were often over-' there were the crowds but here
CAMPUS TOGS wheled with surprise at what life moved at a somewhat more
they found. The physical charac- leisurely pace and the streets were
:::i teristics which they had come to. See JAPAN, Page 10

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