Week 5

[morgan...@gmail.com]

• Post responses to at least 2 discussion questions
• Optional - respond to at least 1 person

Discussion topics

1. Would you use this section to compare American POWs to Japanese POWs and/or Japanese-American Internment?  If so what would that look like?
2. Page 167 has something that your students might miss but that Japanese readers likely would not, there's a picture of a man holding a bowl of gruel with the chopsticks sticking up like incense sticks for the dead.  This would have been a huge no-no because it is considered very bad luck.  Think of it like taunting death to come and try to get you.  Why do you think the author put this in?
3. In this section the little brother's clothing changes, explain this.
4. There's a scene involving a cop here, given the current climate, would you focus on this scene, what would that look like?  I realize this question has the potential to lead to some passionate discussions, so as always I ask that you be temperate and respectful if you reply to this.
5. Anything else from this section that you would like to highlight/use in your classroom
6. Any questions

[Donna Kokojan]

1.  Yes, I would use this section to compare prisoners of war for both countries.  I bet many of my students do not realize that POWs from Camp Atterbury were used as workers in some canning plants.  My dad always talked about the prisoner held at the Jeffersonville Quartermaster. He remembers go down and watching the prisoners after school.  Many of my students probably do not know that the Quartermaster was the oldest military establishment in Indiana.  The soldiers sent to the Quartermaster came from Fort Knox in 1945.  Prisoners also were brought to Charlestown, IN to work on construction sites.  I think it will  be interesting to discuss how my students thought the POWs were treated in comparison to Japanese POWs.  POWs in Indiana were treated fairly.  The Japanese treated their POWs differently and many of them die.  Fear causes people to change they way they would normally act and cause them to start to react to situations.  The Japanese-American Internment camps were a direct result of these fears.  I will  have my students talk about and explore why and how native born Japanese Americans were treated in these camps.  Then I will ask them to reflect on the way the POWs were treated in Charlestown and Jeffersonville.  Some of my students come from refugee camps.  I also will ask my students to talk about the differences and similarities between internment camps and refugee camps.

2.I did not see the picture of the bowl with chopsticks as being incense.  When I read this portion I thought it was a reflection of the fact that there was more food available on that specific day and the chopsticks were shone that way because there was finally enough rice to make them stand up straight.  Japanese people are very superstitious.  I know that the number 4 in Japanese means death, so I wonder  if that is one reason the author showed exactly 4 chopsticks on that page.  This questions allowed me to learn about hotokebashi.   I think my students would like to learn that this can be done only when the bowl is laid on the altar at a funeral. Maybe the author included this because he wanted to show how much Americans don’t know or understand the traditions of Japan.  

[bac...@pps.k12.mi.us]

1. I think a natural connection exists between the discussing American POWS and the Japanese-American internment camps. While my students compare/contrast Nazi concentration camps and the internment camps, I think a richer discussion would occur using the American POWS. 

A common point of discussion is "But what did the Japanese-Americans do to be put in camps?" which is then followed by "What did the Jewish people do?" Students will run with the idea of American POWS actually serving in the war.

2. The use of the cultural taboo of sticking chopsticks up has got to be foreshadowing for the massive amount of death coming with the bomb. Both in large numbers and in Gen's family loss.

[mgbl...@gmail.com]

QUESTION 2:

        In my view, the standing position of the chopsticks in the bowl of gruel bears a symbolic significance in the context of the pre-atomic reality of Hiroshima, and helps to foreshadow what is to happen. Of course, unless we were introduced to the superstitions in Japanese culture, that scene would have skipped my attention and would have meant nothing important. Given the author being from Japan, it makes more sense to connect such a scene with the writer's intention to show the bad luck that is going to fall upon the citizens of the city. 

        Similarly, the appearance of such an incident in the public dining hall represents a strong indirect statement about the tragedy that civilians would experience in the near future. "Public" translates into something that is common and large in numbers, as is the common people of Hiroshima who suffered starvation and poverty, illnesses, and losses during WWII, but ironically got to eat at the public dining hall before they would lose their lives. Therefore, the superstitious belief about the befalling of bad luck on Hiroshima is foreshadowed by the use of the chopsticks in an upright position in a bowl of gruel, and using such a foreshadowing makes the irony even deeper. 

QUESTION 3: 

          To be honest, I was not so much surprised with Shinji's change of clothes, but what surprised me, instead, was the type of clothing the little boy was wearing. It puzzled me because, in my view, Shinji is not a baby but a 3-5 years old child, which suggests that his clothes would be more like the ones he is more commonly seen in the story wearing, such as  shorts and a t-shirt(with a hat), since the season is most possibly fall, or the end of summer. That is, the weather is warm and, wearing shorts, or less clothing, would be understood. But an exposed behind had to be connected to something else that is reminiscent of old Japan.  

          My query led me to search a Japanese martial arts sport called "Sumo," because the exposed back reminded me of the sumo wrestlers I have seen in movies, or during sport competitions in the Olympic Games.  After reading about the Sumo sport,   the change of clothes suggests to me that Shinji is representing the strength of his family and the traditions it stands for that help keep old Japan alive, while such strength also points to the future and how Shinji's family would serve to keep memories alive and rebuild a better, and more enlightened, Japan, despite the ensuing doom that is to fall upon the city.  In fact, the change of clothing happened just when Gen and Shinji are on the roof of their family's house, and they are painting the letter "P" on the top, so as the air raids would skip their house and avoid bombing it. In my view. Sumo wrestlers show strength in their wrestling, in the same way little Shinji shows strength with his own love for his family, and country(indirectly), and his faith in the future(being such a young boy makes his hope stronger).  In the midst of chaos, Shinji keeps his faith strong.

          Memories are, finally,  kept alive and hope is enshrined  through the creation of the manga series by Keiji Nakazawa, the author of Barefoot Gen series. Reading the manga series helps make the future generation of citizens in Japan and other parts of the world more aware of the effects of the atomic bomb on society and humans, and the knowledge serves the larger cause for global peace and reduction of nuclear weapons, internationally. 

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Donna

The POWs is a great way to bring in outside stuff to compare/contrast and have discussions.  It is getting a bit old now for students to be familiar with, but there was a pretty mild movie about American POW treatment by Japanese people called Unbroken.  It would be easy enough to find video clips that are school appropriate.  There is also a great documentary on youtube by Ken Burns called The War (episode one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBpnSjdb7k), starting around 1:08:00 it talks about the Baatan Death March and then moves onto POW camps.  I've used some of this to talk about POW treatment.  We also focus heavily on Bushido and the small number of Japanese soldiers who surrendered (although after I have them read some of With the Old Breed I make it pretty clear that the number who surrendered and the number who were POWs were not the same).  

I think I've already mentioned this, but there are a couple of good graphic novels about Japanese-Americans in there internment camps.  One is called Gaijin American Prisoner of War, it looks a lot like a children's picture book because of the beautiful full color large drawings, but its content is far deeper.  Another graphic novel is Take What you can Carry.  It requires a bit more focus of the students as the story has two stories going at once, but also good.  Take What you can Carry also includes some about the lasting effects of the relocation camps.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Bachpe

I like the connection of Nazi camps, American relocation camps and POWs.  Giving things a global perspective can be very eye-opening for students.  If you are interested I mentioned some resources in an above post and I'll include them below.  I have used in regards to POWs before.

1. Take What you can Carry (Graphic novel about relocation camps)
   
2. Gaijin: American Prisoner of War (Graphic novel about relocation camps)
   
3. Ken Burns' The War episode 1 from about 1:09:00 (American POWs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBpnSjdb7k) 
   
4. With the Old Breed (a war memoir that I included parts of on this site, I use it to show the hatred and talk about how the number of Japanese who surrendered might have been a bit higher than the number taken prisoner).
   
5. We also talk about Bushido and talk about Hiroo Onoda.
   

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Mgblake

I think that is a very interesting reading of the clothing change.  I do like the connection to Sumo and that is something I think many students would enjoy.  I believe the Kanji on his outfit stands for money/gold/wealth, does this add or change anything in your reading of the outfit?  

One question for you to consider (and maybe you already have) is how you would point out the taboo with the chopsticks to the kids?  Would you use a plant by prepping out one student in advance, would you front load the info before the reading of the book or the section, would you read that section in class and bring it up yourself, would you have a fact sheet with the kids as they read at home, would you do an activity/lesson after the reading of that page about the use of chopsticks and see if any students bring it up...

[mgbl...@gmail.com]

Donna--

This superstition about 4 speaks about cultural differences but also human nature, in the sense of wanting to explain the unknown with such simplistic reasoning. Ironically, number 4 stands for a lucky number in the traditions of Native Americans, four standing for the four orientations in the world, the north, the south, the east, and west. Each direction represented a manner of prayer in the tribal way, and the northern prayer  signified challenge, the southern more peace and innocence, or connecting to the earth. The eastern prayer, where the sun rises, symbolized enlightenment, whereas the western prayer suggested the unknown and dreams that are yet to materialize, thus held in hiding. Knowing about such superstitions might be a good way to avoid culture shock. 

[epi...@apps.homewood.k12.al.us]

Week Five Question 22. Liz Pipkin response           

Page 167 has something that your students might miss but that Japanese readers likely would not, there's a picture of a man holding a bowl of gruel with the chopsticks sticking up like incense sticks for the dead.  This would have been a huge no-no because it is considered very bad luck.  Think of it like taunting death to come and try to get you.  Why do you think the author put this in? 

In proper chopstick etiquette this would have been viewed in Japanese culture as a way a bowl of rice is offered to the spirit of a dead person, at their deathbed or in front of their photograph on the household Buddhist altar.  This symbolism would be a good way to discuss culture and cultural diversity themes could be introduced to the students: “…analyze and explain how groups, societies and cultures address human needs and concerns… predict how experiences may be interpreted by people from diverse cultural perspectives and frames of references …to comprehend multiple perspectives …analyze the ways that a people’s cultural ideas and actions influence its members…” 

I believe Nakazawa used this technique as a method of foretelling the gruesome event of the atomic bomb. Nakazawa used this visual literary device of foreshadowing to set the stage for this narrative  to unfold while giving the reader a hint of something that is going to happen without revealing the story.  

[epi...@apps.homewood.k12.al.us]

Week Five  Question 1.  Liz Pipkin response

Would you use this section to compare American POWs to Japanese POWs and/or Japanese-American Internment?  If so what would that look like?

“In 1942, at the conclusion of the campaign in North Africa, the logistical strain of securing such a large number of prisoners in the area prompted the U.S. military to move the POWs to the United States. The Army Corps of Engineers rapidly established camps in nearly every U.S. state to house them.” This is a great way since all states had POW camps to get students to realize their own state's legacy in this area.

Alabama had the largest POW camp with 6,000 prisoners of war in Aliceville.   “Camp Aliceville has become widely regarded as a model of humane treatment of POWs. The American military stocked abundant provisions for the dietary and recreational needs of the prisoners. Life within the camps was so comfortable that some Alabama residents resented what they perceived as the POWs' pampering while they endured rationing.” This local history would allow me to help students find out about local places that were used as sites to house German and Italian soldiers till the end of the war.  Using primary documents, photographs of the period and even oral histories of people who might have been employed at this facilities would be great projects for my students to then compare to how US troops captured by the Japanese.  Using compare and contrast organizational graphs would help students focus in on the history of these events

[epi...@apps.homewood.k12.al.us]

Comment by Liz Pipkin to the number four commentsàAt the beginning of the summer I viewed an exhibit at the Birmingham Art Museum called “Third Space.” In the exhibit it had a piece of art that discussed the number four.  The title called Black Diamond is also referred to the African Kongo cosmogram – described as a cross or diamond.  The cosmogram connects 4 cardinal directions (NSEW), the 4 moments of the sun (rising, midday, setting, midnight), & the 4 phases of life (birth, life, death, afterlife).  I found this an interesting connection to the power four is given by different cultures and as used in Barefoot Gen. 

[epi...@apps.homewood.k12.al.us]

Comment by Liz PipkinàAt the beginning of the summer I viewed an exhibit at the Birmingham Art Museum called “Third Space.” In the exhibit it had a piece of art that discussed the number four.  The title called Black Diamond is also referred to the African Kongo cosmogram – described as a cross or diamond.  The cosmogram connects 4 cardinal directions (NSEW), the 4 moments of the sun (rising, midday, setting, midnight), & the 4 phases of life (birth, life, death, afterlife).  I found this an interesting connection to the power four is given by different cultures and in Barefoot Gen. 

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Liz

I think that is an awesome connection to POWs that you mentioned.  I have to admit I did not know about all the states having POW camps, but a quick search pulled up all sorts of fun information about MN's POWs.  Thank you for sharing that information.  

[nahow...@gmail.com]

Topic 1: I think the comparison/contrast to the POWs treatment and those in the internment camps would be a very interesting discussion. While in the US, our Japanese prisoners were treated fairly, the Japanese treated the American POWs as slave labor; working them until many of them died. Comparing this to the reasons why Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps, and even comparing and contrasting this to the Jews in Nazi Germany would open some very interesting discussions. There would need to also be some examination in culture clash as to why the American POWs were treated so poorly—in Japanese culture, it was considered dishonorable and cowardly to be taken prisoner, so the soldiers treated the Americans like those not worthy of honor.

Topic 2: I think the chopsticks in the gruel (for those that understood the custom) are a great bit of foreshadowing. As doing so with the chopsticks, it is foreshadowing the coming bombing of the city, in which more than likely this man was among the victims. For the Japanese audience, they would have gotten the clue, but to a Western reader now knowing the symbolism, it is a really well done way of foreshadowing what is to come. I do a mini-unit on foreshadowing with my students, so this would be a great visual that would require a little bit of explanation in Japanese beliefs.

[Elizabeth Arias]

2.  I think that the author may have put in the chopsticks in the bowl of gruel as a method of foreshadowing the tremendous amount of dead that would soon be in that same spot.  Because the image is reminiscent of incense for the dead, it is interesting that it is a Japanese man who does not notice the harbinger of bad luck.  He is so much more interested in food than in traditional imagery, so it is also perhaps a way for the author to subtly portray the lessening of the hold that tradition had on the people the longer the war raged, making them almost blind to the death and destruction.

4.  There is an interesting scene with a police officer that I believe I would have my students discuss.  While there is little discussion in my area of police brutality and abuse of power, it has been known to occur, especially targeting our immigrant population, who generally keep it quiet.   I would have the students discuss the depiction of the officer and ask them to discuss in small groups why the author chose to put this scene in the book and how it adds to the story (or not).  I would then ask them to discuss whether this depiction is similar to their own experience of police or not, and have them separate to write a paragraph on how the perception of police affects our experience of a place and time and what significance the family's experience with the police might have on their future interactions with them.

[epi...@apps.homewood.k12.al.us]

Liz Pipkin response to POW question

http://ss.sites.mtu.edu/mhugl/2016/10/15/ft-mccoy-pows-as-camp-and-local-labor-force-and-citizens-impressions/

This is interesting insight into Japanese POWs in the United States. The cultural divides in the camp was interesting from the aspect of what branch of the military made a difference in the divides among Japanese POWs.

[crenn...@gmail.com]

2. It's interesting that Nakazawa includes a subtle sign of bad luck. In this section, there are a few acts that add a dark dramatic irony to the story. The children note the houses painted with P's and learn that American prisoners of war have been painting barracks with P's to prevent American bombers from attacking them. Later in the section, the children paint a P on the roof of their own house. I don't know whether it is even true that POWs used P's to alert bombers to their presence, but it's clear that a P would mean nothing for an atomic bomb.

            The chopsticks in the gruel might be another example of this. If incense-like chopsticks might bring bad luck, the reader is the only one to notice.

 

4. It might be interesting to give students a chance to think about the police officer who steals/confiscates the sweet potatoes from the Nakaoka family. That said, students can be quick to make superficial connections. I might discuss whether Nakazawa wants us to believe that the cop is doing something legitimate by confiscating the food. We know that that Nakaokas haven't bought the food illegally. Does the cop really believe they have done something illegal or is he making an excuse? 

[mdz...@gmail.com]

Question 1. I would certainly include a discussion of Japanese internment. Last year, I taught Yoshiko Uchida’s Journey Home. The students were quite moved by the book, especially when it was accompanied by some ‘home movies’ taken by some of the Japanese prisoners. Although we do not see very much of the American prisoners, save for their work in the camp and their ‘stoning’ by some Japanese passers-by, I believe it is important to show the students the father’s more tempered comments that ‘[t]hose Americans have families just like we do. War just makes people hate each other, kill each other ...’ This more reasoned remark, is, of course followed by the children comparing the Americans’ red faces to demons (oni or even tengu). It is from that childlike sense of otherness, and, perhaps, superiority over their foes that lead them to the next frames …

Question 2. In this frame, where the man stands up his chopsticks in the bowl of gruel, represents, perhaps, a certain Japanese fatalism that presents itself with alarming regularity. Of course, as was pointed out, the image of the sun does serve as a reminder of what is to come, but I think that little ‘signs’, such as this one also serve as more human reminders of the same. In this case the ‘victory of the gruel’ is a short-lived and pathetic one – one commented on only by the children and rejected out of hand by the mother and father, who are, in turn, pragmatic and dismissive. It shows to the reader just what might now be perceived as a small ‘victory’ of sorts for the ordinary Japanese citizens. This might well be contrasted with the rationing that occurred in the United States and the ubiquitous ‘Dig for Victory’ in the United Kingdom. In this case, however, the symbolism is only divisive and the foreshadowing all-too prescient. 

[nike.n...@gmail.com]

Question 2: I thought about this section for quite a long time. A friend of mine mentioned this to me as well when I was at the university. The only thing I'm able to come up with is that all these people are the dead--symbolically. They are the dead. I guess one could also say that it's sort of a foreshadow of what they are going to become once the bombs drop. At the moment they are all engrossed with the fact that the gruel they have is not watery. It's thick which translates to curbing hunger for a longer period of time. They are too distracted by this to realize that they are the walking dead.

Question 3: I noticed the change in clothing for Shinji on page 178 when they were painting "P" on the roof of their house. I actually thought he was naked except for the little apron thing he had on. The only thing I was able to attribute that too was the possibility of lice. I'm not sure how often they all bathe or washed the clothes they wore. Maybe he had to wash what he had on before so as to get rid of the lice or whatever was on it.

[semba...@gmail.com]

Laura Semba

Question 2:

It would be interesting to see if any of my students would pick up on that detail, since I teach them about chopstick manners in class.  It's a detail that shows the people just don't care anymore about superstition because the chopsticks standing up mean there's more food in the bowl to hold them.  Their hunger has made superstition become secondary to survival.  

Question 4:

This would be a good discussion starter about corruption and abuse of power.  This kind of behavior is universal and it would be important to have the students think about how corruption and abuse of power are detrimental, not only individuals, but to a country as a whole.  Students may even have had their own experience with this type of injustice.

[Geoffrey Smith]

1. In this section, I probably will not bring up comparisons (American POWs to Japanese POWs, or Japanese-American internment).  Instead, I will be curious to see if my students bring up such comparisons on their own.  Students who are continuing in my class from the Middle School will have had significant exposure to lessons on Japanese-American internment through the eighth-grade humanities curriculum.  New students, admittedly, may or may not have had a similar experience.  I might, however, invite a discussion on the father’s comment, “Those American have families just like we do” (page 167, box 4).  I think that this perspective, whether real, imagined, or idealized, is one of the many intriguing aspects of this memoir.  How reliable is the memory or the purposeful, recreated memory?

 

2. The significance of the picture of the man holding a bowl of gruel with the chopsticks sticking up like incense sticks for the dead is, indeed, something that American readers (students and I alike) might easily miss (page 167, box 8).  It might simply represent an impetuous or rebellious act of youth, except that Gen later uses (interprets, misinterprets?) this incident as a positive omen, “That’s better than usual!” (page 168, box 2).  Does the author use this incident, then, to represent Gen’s sense of separation from Japanese traditions and customs?

[aethe...@kapaun.org]

#4 I agree with many about the chopsticks as a taunt. So many of the people are already dead--some starving, some preparing to be suicide pilots, some people killing themselves lest they be taken by the enemies. The subtle inclusion of the chopsticks in a funeral stance really fits the attitude towards the end of the war. I would not have noticed that unless it had been point ed out to me. One thing that strikes me throughout this book is the positive look at the USA and the negative Japanese outlook. I get more of a sense of resentment of the Japanese government than of the American government in this book.  Does it change in the rest of the series?

#5 The little brother and Gen have been posing as beggars and to fit the act, they must wear limited clothing.  It is a sacrifice for the two to bring themselves to the level of a beggar (maybe easier as kids to do this since it is more of a game to them rather than a shameful act), but the money they earn helps the family buy fish and food. The brother continues to wear it before and after so it is almost like a foreshadow and then a reminder of what the brothers have been doing for the family. If one goes with that interpretation, then it opens up the idea of sacrifice for one's own family as a discussion piece.  What have you done to support your family? What would you do?

#6 Is that a character on the apron that the little brother wears? If it is, what does it stand for?

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Nahoward

If you do a comparison with different POWs and camps, there are a number of interesting things you can pull up to go with it.  One book I'd recommend looking at (if you aren't already familiar with) is Behind the Lines: Powerful and Revealing American and Foreign War Letters--and One Man's Search to Find Them by Andrew Carroll  (Editor).  This book focuses on letters, and later emails, sent to soldiers including POWs.  The part that I think would be very interesting here would be to also show how civilian Americans viewed POW camps.  There's a humorous section of short experts that would work well in classrooms.  One that stands out to me right now is a wife who sent her husband a coupon for some shoes or something that she wanted to get for their kids, but the store in their town was sold out.  She hoped her husband (a POW in Germany) could go into town and buy them and ship them back home.  

I think it might also be in the same book, but German POW camps are recorded as treating POWs much nicer than Jewish civilians in German occupied lands.  This included Jewish POWs from America or other Allied countries.  It's not talked about too much, but there were some Jewish POWs who were supposedly treated equal to other POWs by the Nazi, which would make for an interesting discussion with students especially if you were talking about why the Japanese looked down on American POWs who didn't follow the Bushido code and fight to the death.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Elizabeth

I like your reading of the chopsticks as a lessening of traditional values.  This is something that we can see many authors bring up during the occupation years.  So it could very well be part of the reason that Nakazawa includes this and has not just one, but two men involved in the taboo.  

Bringing up the occupation does also open the door to other discussions of abuse of power.  The censorship of the media is just one example of this during the US occupation.  I can't speak too much about the abuse of police/power over crimes at this era, but I can bring up a modern Japanese comparison.  There is a rather large military base in Okinawa.  In 2009-2010 I was teaching overseas and there was talk about a land lease deal and possibly moving the base.  Where I was teaching was one of the backup options if the US had to move the base.  Many people were opposed to this because of all the crime and thus the illegal actions that happened around the base (particularly those involving US soldiers) were brought up regularly.  Apparently there is a long history of crimes being committed at the Okinawa military base and not as long of a history of justice.  If we use that to think about what things might have been like in Japan during the occupation, I think we can read a lot into this scene with the police officer.  

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Crennertmay

The P on the roofs might have been noticeable by scout planes, but definitely not by fire bombers and likely not by regular bombers.  The bombers would have maps with their targets on them and these maps might include areas to leave alone.  But if the bombers didn't have this already indicated on a map then I find it unlikely that they would see the P.  First of all there's the distance which would make it difficult to see one letter even on a clear day.  But the main reason would be that the person responsible for spotting a target would be looking for a specific collection of buildings and not exploring.  Kind of like a twisted version of Where's Waldo.  When you look for something specific you tend to ignore or not register a lot of what else is there.  There's also the fact that hitting a bullseye with a dozen bombs in a flying fortress would be unlikely.  Although I suppose it is possible that any plane strafing would see the P.

As for the cop confiscating the food, you bring up a good point, it is possible that Nakazawa wrote the officer to believe that he was catching some illegal people.  This would justify his anger towards them if what he says about the food and troops is what he believes.  Certainly there would have been a black market.  This could lead to some interesting discussions with students.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Mdzanko

You mention the chopstick taboo as possibly showing a fatalism, there is a long history of this in many cultures.  One thing that is kind of interesting is the faces of the two grown men holding the bowl in the same taboo section.  If you compare their faces to Gen and his brother (even just a few pages later when they have the sweet potatoes) it makes for an interesting comparison.  Traditionally you don't put the chopsticks like that and traditionally you don't act like an uncontrolled child when out in public.  Someone brought up before that there's the possibility of the chopsticks playing a dual role (foreshadowing and discussing loss of traditions).  Even if you don't agree that with that reading, the grown men acting like children is of interest and easily overlooked given the taboo in the foreground.  The first image on the next page also shows that devolution from proper stoic adult to pushing and shoving kids who are shouting and acting up in line.  Just something else to consider when looking at this section.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Nike.natschke

I like that reasoning with the chopsticks - they are the dead so it makes sense for them to put the chopsticks/incense up.  Although as I mentioned in response to another's posting, it is interesting that one of the big themes is that there isn't any food (page 169 the author comes right and tells us the food had almost run out and the city was starving) and the people in line comment about the watery nature of the food, but somehow all of a sudden there's enough food to make thick gruel right before the city gets destroyed. It is possible that Nakazawa just did that to put in the foreshadowing with the chopsticks, but it is also possible that he did it for another reason.  

As for the clothing, one of the other participants was able to identify it from children's folklore that was common in the 1940s.  If you look up Kintaro you will see it.  Her post is in a separate thread from this one on our discussion board, definitely worth looking at.  

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Sembasensei

You basically bring up the old saying of power corrupts and absolute power (which people like the cop basically had in that situation) corrupts absolutely.  If you co-teach this with a Social Studies teacher it might be interesting to bring up the Stanford Prison Experiment.  I could be wrong but I think there's a documentary about it on Netflix that could provide some video clips.  

If you're not too familiar with it a bunch of students at Stanford randomly got the roles of either prisoner or guard for an experiment.  The guards would eventually develop torture methods that they would use against their fellow college students who had randomly been selected as prisoners.  The norms that people fell into were interesting and fit well with your statement about the universality of abuse of power.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Geoffrey 

I think having new students in your class without the background knowledge you provided in 8th grade could be a huge benefit.  If the students do bring it up you could have those new students sort of deconstruct the discussion afterwards and any effect/learning.  We often like to group students who lack some knowledge or ability with those who have it.  The hopes being that the lower student is elevated and the higher student also learns more now that he/she is the teacher.  This might possibly be a unique chance to see how well something like this works in your individual classroom.  

As for the chopsticks you mentioned that it might be an act of youth.  I've always read this section as the two men were adults.  We see with Gen's mother that the adults keep control over the family's ration tickets and the two men do appear to be much older than Gen.  But I suppose they could be teens.  There is something that backs up your reading though.  If you look beyond the chopstick taboo you see that the two males are breaking another norm/taboo in their behavior.  They are grinning and being silly out in public, looking more like Gen and his brother than how they should stoically behave.  Of course we see all the people in line behaving in a similar child-like ways (pushing, yelling, fighting). 

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Aetheredge

The character on its own usually represents gold or wealth, or money (depending on the context).  Which does fit simply when he is begging, but requires a deeper explanation when they are not begging.  

The clothing with the character on it combined have a different meaning.  If you google Kintaro Japanese Folklore you'll find that the exact costume comes from a Japanese children's folklore.  I wish I could take credit for knowing the answer to that, but it was someone else in our class who knew that.  If you check the threads on our discussion board you'll see that there are two for this week (this one and one someone accidently made for this week).  On that other thread she explains some about Kintaro children's story and that this particular children's story was adapted as a source of propaganda/nationalism during WW2.  I think I need to read the translated Kintaro stories before I feel comfortable interpreting that different meaning of the outfit, but it is exciting.

[glas...@shaker.org]

Donna, comparing the POW camp in Indiana is an amazing idea to get students interested not only in the book but local history.  Brining in local history to add to the discussion about our countries and the world's history.  I think it humanizes the story and brings it home.