I have now been back in the United States for more than two months and have had some time to process my trip and understand what it meant to me both personally and academically. When in Japan, I was able to travel to six cities (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nara, Miyajima, and Yokohama) and explore many places. Throughout the trip, I stayed at various hostels throughout the country and met people from both Japan and all over the world. I visited temples, museums, memorials, and various other places. My time spent in Japan allowed me to gain an understanding of my question and so much more. I learned more about a culture from across the world!
I decided to apply for this particular Magellan project after going on a trip during intersession to Vietnam. It was there that we learned about the Vietnam War from the perspective of the Vietnamese and it was truly eye opening. This inspired me to take my own trip to Japan and do a similar project and thanks to the Magellan Project, I was able to accomplish this goal.
After arriving in Japan, it took some time to get used to Japanese culture. I for sure experienced culture shock. Their society is very regimented and disciplined. Compared to the United States, they are much more subscribed to the rules set by their society. Japanese society seemed to be much more collective than focused on the individual. The people there go out of their way to help you even if they do not speak English very well. The people are extremely accommodating, patient, and willing to help but also much more reserved. I learned early that they spoke a lot less English than what was told to me by people who had visited before. However, after being there a while, I got used to it and it was fairly easy to get around.
This did impede my project to an extent as I could not ask many people questions about my topic because most people did not speak a whole lot of English. In Vietnam, we had a tour guide that could translate and unfortunately, I could not afford that in Japan. This meant that I had to rely more on my interpretations of the museums and memorials describing World War II and even some of those had little English. When I visited these paces on my trip, I spent a lot of time studying the narrative that was displayed at each place to get an understanding of how the Japanese people remember the war. Compared to the United States, the Japanese people viewed World War II more as a learning experience. They had suffered huge losses both militarily and as a nation. Whether it be due to their loss in the war was unclear, but it would make sense as they are a very honorable people. The museums and memorials focus were on the horrors of war and pushed the idea of peace and abolishment of nuclear weapons. There didn’t even seem to be any hostility towards the United States and instead they strive for peace. In the United States we glorify World War II in such a manner that makes war look like a good time. We do that through movies, video games, and books that are still being produced today. I did not see much of this in Japan and at the memorials and museums they focused on the loss and horrors of war and nuclear warfare. They honored their soldiers, but also remembered the tragedy. I am not saying that we don’t do this in the United States as well, but it seemed more prevalent in Japan. The lack of English in Japan and some of these museums made it harder to research my topic but also allowed me to think more about the question and develop my observations.
Something that surprised me about Japan was the differences of some of the people from city to city. Like we have in the United States with stereotypes about states, they had this with different cities. While in other cities, people would tell me how mean people were in Tokyo, warning me that not all Japanese people are like them. While in Hiroshima, they told me about how Osaka is way more laid back than other places in Japan. It was interesting how different the people in each one of the cities differed in their ways of life and thoughts about others because Japan is much smaller than the United States.
My trip to Japan allowed me to learn so much even though I was only there for three weeks. I developed as a person both personally and academically. I have always had a love for history and this project allowed me to indulge in that love in a very unique way. It helped me to be a better researcher, amateur historian, and person. By seeing the differing way in which Japan remembers World War II I have seen first had the differing perspectives that people and countries can have on certain events. We tend to think that everyone thinks the same way that we do but there are so many different perspectives. Both sides did regretful things during the war, but we must move past them. This project has developed me personally and I now know I will be fine as my life progresses. I am extremely grateful to the Magellan Project and Washington and Jefferson College for this opportunity that they gave me and hope that it continues after I leave the college so many more students can experience something like this.
