We began playing around with the thought of a Japanese man in America knowing about the attack on Pearl Harbor and trying to warn everyone. We had too many problems trying to figure out how to start it, then we thought of the bombing of Hiroshima. As this idea began brewing between our discussion, we saw a potential script. We thought it would be interesting playing around with the idea of a Japanese man living in America, working for the military, knowing about the bombing of Hiroshima and have this conflict of which country he would be loyal to. Would he be loyal to America, his new home, or Japan, his homeland?
We saw correlation with our script to the "After the Deluge" reading through both showing life as normal at the beginning. People in both times are going about their business, but word comes to them that something big might be happening. Some are more skeptical than others, but soon it becomes evident that this normal life they have been living is going to be drastically changed.
We found an article that would help propel his choice, “After Internment: Seattle’s Debate Over Japanese Americans' Right to Return Home” by Jennifer Speidel. In this she mentioned some of the hatred for the Japanese in America after the internment camps in which is when our story would take place. There were so many people who despised these people, would treat them very poorly. Adding this aspect to our script with the one soldier attacking Tadashi, only heightened his reason to help his home country of Japan, but by so doing betraying his new home.
Differing from most films about this time which show the perspective of the Americans’ side of the war, our story is from the perspective of the Japanese. It is similar to Letters from Iwo Jima which is the standpoint of the Japanese during the war. Showing both of these sides is crucial to humanize these horrid acts these countries inflicted upon each other. It gives this sense that there was heartache for all, but especially for those citizens who didn’t want to take part in their country’s fight. Our script shows the struggle for those Japanese citizens living in America who felt the impact of both the Pearl Harbor attack and the Japan bombings.
When delivering such horrific news as the Hiroshima bombing, there isn’t need for any flourished or prophetic language to deliver it. We just needed the facts. “This Day in History” on the History Channel website provided the needed information for August 6, 1945. It gave us the name of the bomb, which was crucial for our dialogue in providing at first skeptic remarks and then to a clear statement of destruction. The simple delivery of them meant for a greater impact on our main character.
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