Teaching Resources: World War II: Focus on Asia

This month marks the end of World War II. The following archives on this topic constitute only a sample of EAA published articles, but represent multiple perspectives and individuals who in these turbulent years had substantial impact on other people’s lives.

• Teaching Pearl Harbor: A New Japanese Perspective by Daniel A. Métraux (Vol. 17, No. 3, Winter 2012) In this teaching resource, the author both discusses different ways he teaches about Pearl Harbor and describes Japanese scholarship on the background to the attack that should be quite helpful for instructors.
• From the Nisshin to the Musashi: The Military Career of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku by Tal Tovy (Vol. 20, No. 2, Fall 2015) This is an excellent biographical profile of the man who planned and implemented the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• Japan, the U.S. and the Asian-Pacific War by Eric M. Bergerud (Vol. 17, No. 3, Winter 2012) An outstanding military historian of the Pacific War traces Japan’s course of action that led to World War II in Asia and provides a revealing glimpse of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

• A Tale of Two Diplomats: Ho Fengshan, Sugihara Chiune, and Jewish Efforts to Flee Nazi Europe by David B. Gordon (Vol. 20, No. 2, Fall 2015) Many Jews avoided dying in the Holocaust because of Ho Fengshan and Sugihara Chiune.

• Thank God for the Atom Bomb? by Richard Rice (Vol. 11, No. 1, Spring 2006) and Learning from Truman’s Decision: The Atomic Bomb and Japan’s Surrender by George P. Brown (Vol. 11, No. 1, Spring 2006) These two articles provide opposing viewpoints for one of the most consequential decisions in world history.

• Story of Hiroshima: Life of an Atomic Bomb Survivor by Masaya Nemoto (Vol. 20, No. 2, Fall 2015) There are many stories about Hibakusha (Japanese atomic bomb survivors), but this story epitomizes their experiences on August 6th, 1945 and long after this day.

Other Teaching Resources: World War II: Focus on Asia

General Douglas MacArthur greatly impacted not only World War II, but the Occupation of Japan and the beginning of the Cold War in Asia.

In these webinars for teachers hosted by the Five College Center for East Asian Studies, presenters from the MacArthur Memorial—a museum and research center dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the life of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and those who served with him—offer a biographical sketch of MacArthur and an extensive history of the Pacific War.

• • • The Life and Times of General Douglas MacArthur
  • Presenter: Amanda Williams, MacArthur Memorial

• General Douglas MacArthur: WWII in the Pacific
  • Presenter: James Zobel, MacArthur Memorial