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The People Respond to Pearl Harbor (Arcives)
  • Translated Responses from Japanese: on the pink background (1~5)
  • English Responses: on the blue background (1~5)
Response 5: June 2, 2001 7:00 PM
Name = JBC
gender = Male
Age = 58
Profession = retired teacher
Nationality = American
Country = USA
  1. Japanese attacking the United States.
  2. As a student in American History class (age 12)
  3. It divided the relationships between the two countries. Now, hopefully, it is behind us.
Response 4: June 2, 2001 2:36 PM
Name = Laurence
Age = 56
Profession = Producer
Nationality = American
Country = United States
  1. Japan and World War II
  2. When I was very young.
  3. The significance of Pearl Harbor was the beginning of World War II, and to Americans, it is either a "sneak attack" as was the story in the 50's, or, if one reads objective history books, it was a preemptive attack by Japan to protect its access to natural resources, particularly oil. Now, for many Americans, the significance of Pearl Harbor has diminished substantially because of the economic ties between the two countries and the global integration of economies and finance.
Response 3: May 24, 2001 9:45 PM
Name = L.C.
Gender = Female
  2. It must have been in high school history class since I remember learning about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I'm sure Pearl Harbor would have been taught as well, but the dropping of the A-bomb must have made a much bigger impression on me, since that's what I remember learning.
  3. To Americans, it's always spoken of as the one act of war ever committed against the United States by a foreign nation. Since Americans tend to think of our country as impregnable, I think it signifies that war could happen here, too.
Response 2: May 24, 2001 9:24 PM
Name = LG
Gender = Male
Age = 58
Profession = Accountant
Nationality = USA
Country = USA
  1. Ancient History
  2. In the 1940's. Sneak attack
  3. The start of the second world war
Kaito 5: May 23, 2001 2:40 PM
Name = Moshi Moshi
Gender = Female
Profession = Company employee
Nationality = Japanese
Country = Japan
  1. Friction between America and Japan
  2. I probably first heard about Pearl Harbor during a junior high school history class. I didn't realize the difference in nuance between the Pearl Harbor attack and the concept "Pearl Harbor" until I actually had contact with American society.
  3. There is a large difference depending on the individual. Those people who were actually involved with the war hold deep feelings, while younger generations may know Pearl Harbor only as a movie plot. “The meaning” of this historical matter to the average person is more of a relative interpretation for each individual and each issue.
Kaito 4: April 30, 2001 1:13 PM
Name = Woo-san
Gender = Female
Age = 30
Profession = Housewife
  1. The attack on Pearl Harbor; the start of the WW II
  2. I don't remember precisely when I first heard about Pearl Harbor, but I learned about it in school.
  3. Along with the dropping of the atomic bomb, Pearl Harbor was the beginning of Japan's defeat. Americans retain an unforgettable memory of the war in which many victims were sacrificed.
Kaito 3: April 28, 2001 11:33 AM
Name = ky
Gender = Female
Age = 33
Profession = Company employee
Nationality = Japanese
  1. The attack on Pearl Harbor
  2. Probably, in a class in school
  3. Pearl Harbor was an event that should not be forgotten by both America and Japan. It is the starting point for national sentiment that is the undercurrent of each country's stance and role in the international community.
Kaito 2: April 27, 2001 11:54 PM
Name = Anonymous
Gender = Female
Age = 31
Profession = PR
Nationality = Japanese
  1. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor made by the Japanese forces that is thought to have initiated the start of World War II.
  2. I first heard of Pearl Harbor when I was in elementary school, on a television documentary that I watched with my parents.
  3. To Americans, Pearl Harbor is a barbaric act that violated the rules of war, which justifies America, and provides America with patriotism. To Japanese, Pearl Harbor is considered to be one event in their history, and the source of hard feelings between Americans and Japanese. In general, Japanese do not strongly consider Pearl Harbor to be a national disgrace and do not feel guilty about it. Americans have fixated too much on their belief that Pearl Harbor is synonymous with the "sneaky Japanese." This probably comes from Americans' patriotism, and this patriotism is largely influenced by the government and mass media, not necessarily individual sentiment. Pearl Harbor likely means something special to those Japanese who are old enough to have experienced World War II. However, in general, I believe that we have been forced to think the American way. Both Americans and Japanese have ended up swallowing the tales that are depicted in Hollywood movies and dramas (not just the stories themselves, but also the contempt towards Japanese people).
Kaito 1: April 27, 2001 5:42 PM
Name = K
Gender = Female
Age= 31
Profession = Company employee
Nationality = Japan
Country = USA
  1. The Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor.
  2. When John Lennon died in 1980, having heard somebody said "Same day as the Pearl Harbor" (both are December 8th in Japan). Since I was still in the elementary school at that time, I couldn't understand what it meant and asked my parents about it.
  3. This is a difficult question. When I was living in the South, I heard of this incident; One Japanese student I knew had always parked his car right in front of his apartment. But one day, his car was towed away without any proper reason. There was a note that showed where he could pick up his car, so he just went to that location. There was a white man working at that place, and as soon as he notice that Japanese guy approaching, he yelled, "Remember Pearl Harbor!" ---That was complete harassment.

    Pearl Harbor was the only territory in the US's history where it was attacked directly, even after they experienced so many different wars. I can imagine how the U.S. had such a negative image toward Japan, especially since the Japanese was who they had been looking down on and that it was a surprise attack. However, the extraordinary part of the U.S. is the fact that there are much more people who think about an incident that happened like mentioned above, still exists nowadays. It would be totally useless to discuss with those people that the Pearl Harbor attack was not really a sudden attack.

    For Japanese people, the Pearl Harbor attack was the incident they just got entrapped (maybe). But, I feel the people who was entrapped more completely were the Americans themselves, who got bad feelings against Japan and agreed to bring themselves in the war, turning out just as the U.S. government wanted.

    To sum it up, I think the Pearl Harbor was the incident that both nations were set up by the egoistic and hypocritical part of the U.S., which we can still see exactly same way today.
Response 1: April 26, 2001 3:42 PM
Name = Becky Bunsic
Gender = Female
Age = 42 years old
Nationality = United States
  1. My mother was in junior high during the Second World War. When I hear the words Pearl Harbor, I immediately associate them with all of the hardships that became a part of her life as well as millions of other people because of the war. She had four brothers in that war and one of them died before he could even be shipped overseas. She has told me that my grandparents were never the same after that.
  2. I first heard the words "Pearl Harbor" when I was a child. My mother was telling me about her wartime experiences and she explained to me what happened at Pearl Harbor. She was and still is very bitter about what happened during the war years. She blames the Japanese people as a whole for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I have to be open minded when I discuss this with her because I don't agree but I try to understand why she feels the way she does.
  3. I think that Pearl Harbor signifies the very epitome of what war means. It's the whole "you drop a bomb on us so we will drop an even worse bomb on you" frame of mind that makes these situations escalate out of control. I think that the bombing of Pearl Harbor was an atrocity just as much as I think that the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki were. Would we have had one without the other? Genocide in the name of God, country, Emperor, etc. is still genocide.
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