36 pages • 1 hour read
John W. DowerWar Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Pearl Harbor
Not only was this the battle that brought the United States into the Second World War, but it also became the American rallying cry. Americans often used the attack on Pearl Harbor as "proof" of Japanese "treachery." The events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, especially the debates on what could the US have done to prevent the attack, is beyond the scope of the book. However, Dower does address many of the racial sentiments that the US held toward the Japanese, indicating how racism itself contributed to the US's lack of preparation. In essence, the US government and military leaders did not view the Japanese as much of a threat. From that perspective, not only would the Japanese not dare attack the US, but they were also incapable of doing so simply because the Japanese were incompetent and unable to master the methods, tactics, and weapons of modern warfare.
Yellow Peril & Fu Manchu
Yellow Peril was the fear that the combined populations of China, Japan, and the rest of Asia would threaten Western supremacy and effectively destroy European colonialism. The Western world feared Asiatic forces eradicating European culture—such as art, science, philosophy, etc.—as the Europeans did not view the Chinese and Japanese as possessive of anything truly cultural. Thus, if the "yellow horde" were to overrun Western civilization, then the world itself would be plunged into another dark age.
The character in a series of novels, Fu Manchu, became the personification of the Yellow Peril. Fu Manchu, as a doctor and genius, was able to master Western technology and innovations. He used mysterious powers and “obscure and dreadful things” (158) of the Orient, combined with the ability to mobilize and command other Asians, to wreak havoc on his adversaries.
Momotaro¬, The “Peach Boy”
In the eponymous folktale, young Momotaro teamed up with a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant to defeat a group of demons living on a far-away island. Later, the folktale was turned into several Japanese animated films during the war, most notably Momotaro and the Eagles of the Ocean, and Momotaro—Divine Troops of the Ocean. The tale of Momotaro was so popular among the Japanese population that the Japanese government used it as internal propaganda to motivate the population for war. The Ministry of Education included the boy Momotaro in much of its basic textbook for elementary-aged school children. The tale was used to exemplify the ideals which the Japanese held as being virtues, namely youth, strength, vitality, positive attitude, possessing an unwavering determination, and divinely descended.
Colonialism
Colonialism is understood as the European economic and political system beginning in the 16th century with the first Spanish colonies in the Americas and lasting all the way up until the mid-20th century. It was a form of economic expansion of European powers into other lands outside of Europe where they established full colonies for European immigration (e.g., the English colonies in North American and Australia). Europeans dominated the political and economic system of a certain land (e.g., British India, French Indochina, the American Philippines) through establishing trade colonies, thereby fully dominating the indigenous peoples.
“An Investigation of Global Policy with the Yamato Race as Nucleus”
This was an 8-volume work that spelled out not only the imperial goals of the Japanese Empire, but also the racial classification of other nations and the meaning of the phrase “proper place.” The report clarifies the role of other nations in the Co-Prosperity Sphere as being there to provide Japan with its material needs:
While Japan would provide capital and technical know-how for the development of light industry (generally for local consumption) throughout the Co-Prosperity Sphere, most countries would remain in their familiar roles as producers of raw materials and semifinished goods (289).
Not only was the hierarchy and "proper place" of the other Asian nations established in the work, but hatred itself formed some of the policy. For example, the peoples of Formosa and the Koreans were viewed as possessing the lowest status of the natural hierarchy in racial terms, and thus they were solely fit for heavy, physical labor. Moreover, the Japanese so detested the Koreans that it was stated, "Special care had to be taken to prevent them [the Koreans and Formosans] from becoming 'parasites' with the empire" (289).
