World War 2 was a total war that was the most destructive war in Human history. The creation of new weapons like the atomic bomb and long range bombers using fire bombs caused this destruction. Japan saw the use of these weapons against them the most, in the atomic bombs case the only time. This lead to a substantial rebuilding process across Japan had to rebuild its identity through its people and the damage caused to nature inside the cities. During this the rebuilding process was used as a political piece by both the US and the Japanese governments.
David Serlin discusses the reconstruction of persons in Hiroshima in his writing, “Reconstructing the Hiroshima Maidens.” Serlin focuses less on the actual reconstruction of the people and more on how they were politicized during this event. These were women who had scarring from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima were brought to the US for plastic surgery. They were brought to the US in a time of social unrest about the continued testing of hydrogen bombs by the military. The US wanted these women to come over to show the US cared about the survivors of the bombing and that these things can be fixed. according to Serline what ended up happening was the US public saw the girls and began to think about that happening to themselves. This is not what the military wanted, they “… believed that the love and altruism shown to the maidens could have a strategic purpose: to contain both foreign and domestic dissent about nuclear weapons.” This shows the true reason behind bringing the maidens to the US, it was political in nature and towards the US continued research of hydrogen bombs. The true nature was not to be altruistic but to seem altruistic for their own means.
There was a reaction towards the maidens in Japan that showed they thought of them as political pawns as well. Serlin writes on this belief, “Some saw the Maidens as victims of Cold War propaganda, who walked down the runway bearing visible evidence of attempts by American surgeons to hide the pressing issue of nuclear weapons testing.” This shows that both sides knew this was being used as a political piece for the continued testing of nuclear weapons. This is not how people should be treated after the devastation that a nuclear bomb causes. They should be helped because the US caused this devastation and not as a political pawn to continue testing weapons capable of such devistation.
Tokyo’s urban forest
Another instance of political based rebuilding that the public wasn’t fully supportive of was the rebuilding of urban forests in Japanese cities. The firebombing of cities and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed the landscapes of the city and the wildlife. Following the war the people of Japan wanted these urban forests to be replanted, this is what Sheauchi Cheng and Joe McBride discuss in “Restoration of the Urban Forests of Tokyo and Hiroshima Following World War II.” They determined that the government of Japan didn’t want these forests rebuilt because they wanted to westernize their cities. The people of the cities disagreed with this and attempted to plant some trees but failed in their attempts due to the rubble underground and scorched earth. this is similar to the way in which the hydrogen bomb testings were protested in the US but with a more hands on approach. In this instance of rebuilding and the handmaidens it can be seen that the people of Japan don’t agree with it. The people of Japan see this as becoming pawns of the west by turning themselves more western in the way Japan looks. The Japanese government wanted better political relations instead of allowing their people to be Japanese in a sense.
The reconstruction of a peoples identity and their cities following a devastating war is highly political. These times are heavily influenced by the victors of the war and for the justification of using devastating weapons. This is not the way it should be, the people and not political standing should be the focus of both sides after a war.
“The true nature was not to be altruistic but to seem altruistic for their own means” I believe this to be a very accurate depiction of this situation. It truly reflects the guilt that Americans felt following the dropping of these atomic bombs.