Honors tokyo 2017
A Guide to Getting Lost in Tokyo
Last year when I came to Japan to travel, I actually already paid a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. However, I don’t remember too many of the details from it, so I’m excited to go again this year and see if it’s like what I remembered. Also, what’s different from my visit last year is the new tension present due to the U. S’s 2016 presidential elections. As Parker explains in “Japan’s shift in the Nuclear Debate Explained”, Japan is becoming increasingly mistrustful of their ally in the U.S. As the issue with North Korea is approaching a stalemate (since there’s nothing much more the U.S and Japan can do if Japan doesn’t have nuclear weapons to counter North Korea), Japan will have to decide on what stance they want to take soon. I expect that as the problems that Japan faces becomes more tangible, the museum will be a location of controversial disagreements. On one hand, seeing the devastation that the museum showcases as the result of an atom bomb should be enough to convince people of the danger that nuclear weapons come with. Since the museum is a peace memorial, the destruction should speak to the importance of not having more nuclear weapons if we ever want peace. However, the other part of the museum is a memorial of all the suffering and ruin inflicted on many innocent civilians in the war. Remembering what could happen if Japan remains defenseless against North Korea and other world powers, having nuclear weapons might seem more important. With my new background knowledge about Japan’s shifting national identities, and its history of acting solely as the victim without owning up to its own victimizing acts, I look forward to hearing the narratives of all the people involved in WWII and see how people react to the history with these upcoming crises.
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