Jap hunts: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:47, 16 May 2010

Revision as of 20:49, 16 May 2010

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After the [[Pearl Harbor]] attacks, much anti-Japanese paraphernalia and propaganda surfaced in the United States. An example of this was the so-called "'''Jap hunting''' license", a faux-official document, button or medallion that purported to authorize "open season" on "hunting" the Japanese, despite the fact that over a quarter of a million Americans at that time were of Japanese origin. Some reminded holders that there was "no limit" on the number of "[[Jap]]s" they could "hunt or trap". These "licenses" often characterized Japanese people as sub-human. Many of the “Jap Hunting Licenses”, for example, depicted the Japanese in animalistic fashion.<ref>Boggs, Jeremy. Open Season. 06 Mar. 2004. 15 Oct. 2007. <http://clioweb.org/openseason/index.html></ref>

Edmund Russell writes that, whereas in Europe Americans perceived themselves to be struggling against "great individual monsters", such as [[Hitler]], [[Mussolini]], and [[Goebbels]], Americans often saw themselves fighting against a "nameless mass of vermin", in regards to Japan.<ref>[http://books.google.se/books?id=pDW4YNkmvZYC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=%22nameless+mass+of+vermin%22&source=web&ots=z3fNAPTwNn&sig=arJYZRC2cysKsDBkorfWR5vgZXg&hl=sv#PPA98,M1]</ref> Russell attributes this to the outrage of Americans in regards to the [[bombing of Pearl Harbor]], the [[Bataan Death March]], American politicians decrying the killing of American POWs in the hands of Imperial Japanese forces, and the perceived "inhuman tenacity" demonstrated in the refusal of Japanese forces to surrender. The British embassy in Washington noted this in a weekly report.<ref>[http://books.google.se/books?id=jTg1xacTjhEC&pg=RA1-PA231&lpg=RA1-PA231&dq=%22nameless+mass+of+vermin%22&source=web&ots=YkDKTKVU26&sig=kZscBG72t-dclH4PCM-01dytOOI&hl=sv]</ref>

To understand where the word “Jap” comes from a comparison to the “[[Nazism|Nazis]]” as it left space for the recognition of the “good German,” but scant comparable place for “good Japanese.” Magazines like ''Time'' hammered this home even further by frequently referring to “the Jap” rather than “Japs,” thereby denying the enemy even the merest semblance of pluralism.<ref>Dower, W. John. War without Mercy. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993.</ref>