History Lessons

My social studies courses in high school only mentioned Japanese history briefly to discuss WWII. The internment camps in America and the effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima are the only lessons I learned in school about Japan. College history classes obviously go into greater depth, but I never had the opportunity to take a course on Japan. Therefore, one of the most interesting things about living in Japan, is acquiring new history both from students, friends, other English teacher, and researching topics on my own.

Recently my father sent me a link about Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat who single-handedly saved the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees during WWII by giving them unauthorized visas, even though the Japanese government did not want so many refugees. Descended from Samurai warriors, Sugihara defied convention by marrying a Russian woman, divorcing her, and remarrying. His most defiant act however was to disobey the Japanese government in order to save thousands from the Nazis. For this he lost his career and had difficultly making ends meet in the difficult years after the war. In the late 1960's however, he was found by a man he had saved, and finally given the recognition he deserved. His story was featured on PBS and in the movie Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness.