Racism in World War 2 Japan

The concept of race had an enormous impact on the conduct of World War II. According to John Dower, in War without Mercy, racial stereotypes, ideas of racial superiority and inferiority permeated both the Axis and Allied powers. The war in the Pacific theater was influence by these ideas from well before the first shot was ever fired or first bomb dropped, and continued well beyond VJ Day. The racial tension, uncertainty and hatred could be heard in the words of the most junior private to the most senior general and even the President of the United States. "To scores of millions of participants, the war wasÐ'...a race war. It exposed raw prejudices and was fueled by racial pride arrogance, and rage on many sides."(Dower, 4)

The U.S. serviceman had deep seeded fears and hatred of his Japanese counterpart, much more so than his German. These fears and hatred were fueled by Allied propaganda that dehumanized his Japanese enemy. Through movies, music and literature the idea that Japanese were not quite human was constantly portrayed. The Japanese were perceived as treacherous and low down because of their attack at Pearl Harbor. Popular war songs of the day included "You're a Sap, Mister Jap" and "We're Gonna Have to Slap the Dirty Little Jap". A movie by Frank Capra, Know You're Enemy-Japan, shown to all servicemen, attempted to show the Japanese as, "fantastic and fanaticÐ'...fired by relentless national ambitionÐ'...trained from birth to fight and die for his countryÐ'...and also given to Ð''mad dog' orgies of brutality."(Dower, 20) Such images were ingrained in the minds of American soldiers before they ever set eyes on a member of the Imperial Army.

Never does one see an image of the good Japanese, like the non-Nazi, good German. The Japanese were referred to as, "animals, reptiles, or insects(monkeys, baboons, gorillas, dogs, mice and rats, vipers and rattlesnakes, cockroaches, vermin or more indirectly, the Ð''Japanese herd' and the like."(Dower, 82) In addition to these depictions, the Japanese were also likened to primitives, madmen, children and the Yellow Menace. Such dehumanization of one's enemy makes combat against them easier. You are no longer attempting to kill a fellow human being, now you are hunting a dirty, yellow monkey. "The attachment of stupid, bestial, even pestilential subhuman caricatures on the enemyÐ'...blocked seeing the foe as rational or even human, and facilitated mass killing."(Dower, 89)

The Japanese also had deep seeded fears of the Americans and British. Traditionally a closed culture, the Japanese were distrustful of the West. Western imperialism and colonialism, as well as materialism had left its mark on the Japanese culture. For the Japanese though their racism was more inwardly focused, unlike the Americans who directed their racial slurs toward the Japanese. The Japanese viewed themselves as the master race, morally and virtually superior to all others, direct descendants of the sun goddess, they even viewed themselves higher than other Asians. An article in Japanese monthly claimed that the Japanese were, "the most superior race in the world" and "no one else could equal the bright and strong moral superiority of the Japanese."(Dower, 211)

The Japanese though were not innocent of denigrating their enemy; they just did not take it to the same lengths as the Americans and British. The most common characterization of the western allies was of a demon or a devil. The Japanese used imagery of Americans as corrupt, filthy, inhumane and filled with hatred in juxtaposition