UNST 254 Group Presentation

1. Technology, Power & Protest
by Lauren Phillips & Rachel Higgins

2. Topic Overview
Technology, Power, and Protest are three major themes in Hayao Miyazaki’s film The Wind Rises. One of the main issues addressed in the film
are the effects of technological advancements which raise questions about ethics and responsibilities. In a time and place where war is not a
direct problem that we face in our daily lives, the technologies that we come in contact with everyday simplify and improve many aspects of our
lives. However, technology is like a double edge sword; while it helps a few, many others are experiencing its destruction. In war torn countries
past and present, the destructive quality of these technologies are especially evident. The role that technology has had in the greatest wars of
history has been monumental. Therefore, It is just as important to look at the people who have designed and engineered these technologies as
we have done to those who have controlled and designated targets for these weapons.
A second issue that was addressed in this film was the topic of power, specifically the legitimacy and transparency of the state and authority. A
few questions that the film produces is: How much control does a person actually have in their lives? What effect does an individuals actions
have on the grand scheme of life? Does freedom as we define it actually exist?
Finally, the third theme that will be discussed is Protest. As a whole, Miyazaki’s film The Wind Rises can be seen as a criticism of Japan and its
role in WWII. In general humans have always seperated and banded together with certain people based on their race, creeds and culture,
gender or national origin. There are those who feel Miyazaki is turning his back on his country and people due to his stance against war and
Japan’s slide into fascism during its Imperial era. Through out history there have been numerous examples of how nationalism can be a
dangerous and powerful tool for governments who wish to manipulate its citizens. Nationalism has been a strong force in many countries and
Japan is no exception. Japanese identity is centered in their nation as a whole, with a culture focused on honor above all else. Their sense of
obligation to defend their nation and its actions is very strong. However, in the midst of all the nationalistic pride there is always the opposition or
the groups of people critical of the authority. There has been views and interpretations from both ends of the spectrum on Miyazaki’s
presentation of this historical figure and time period.

3. Film Introduction
The Wind Rises is a historical Japanese anime film written and
directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The film is based on Miyazaki’s
manga “The Wind Rises” which is loosely based on the 1937 short
story “The Wind Has Risen” by Tatsuo Hori. The film’s Original
title is Kaze Tachinu and it is a fictionalized biography of Jiro
Horikoshi, the designer of the Mitsubishi A5M and the later A6M
Zero fighter aircrafts both used in World War II by the Empire of
Japan.The story chronicles much of his life and includes many key
historical events such as the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the
Great Depression, and the tuberculosis epidemic. Although Japan
in its years leading up to WWII is a prominent and recurring
presence throughout the film, Miyazaki’s true focus was the
development of Jiro Horikoshi’s life. His story started from a
young boy dreaming of flying airplanes, continuing to his years
studying aeronautical engineering, to exploring the hardships he
later faces during his career, culminating in the ill-fated romance
with his lovely Nahoko. Miyazaki told Japan’s Cut Magazine in
2011 that this quote by Horikoshi: “All I wanted to do was to
make something beautiful,” was an inspiration for his creation of
The Wind Rises. Despite the controversies that have followed this
film this quote defines what Miyasaki hoped to project with the
story of the brilliant figure in Japanese history, Jiro Horikoshi.

4. Technology

5. Beautiful Dreams “... airplanes are not tools for war. They are not for making money.
Airplanes are beautiful dreams. Engineers turn dreams into reality.”
Later in the film, there is a contrasting scene to this clip when an older
Jiro meets Carponi again in another dream. Carponi tells Jiro that,
“airplanes are beautiful cursed dreams waiting for the sky to swallow
them up”. But Carponi also asks Jiro “which would you choose, a world
with pyramids or a world without?”
Looking closely, Carponi is really asking if living in a world with
beautiful things despite being built on sacrifice and suffering would be
preferable, or if he would rather chose to live in a world where peoples’
dreams remain untainted by the outside world and therefore unrealized.
At the time of the war designing bombers and fighter planes were the
only jobs where Jiro could realistically and successfully fulfill his dream.
Considering this clip and contrasting quote Jiro Horikoshi's career
presents a moral paradox that is central to The Wind Rises: In order to
pursue his dream of creating beautiful flying machines, he must create
warplanes that will kill. His Zero Fighter will be remembered for Pearl
Harbor, the Pacific War, and the Kamikaze divers. But in the film and in
real life Jiro makes it clear that all he ”wanted to do was to make
something beautiful.”

6. Japan in WWII
The Atomic Bomb
One of the greatest scientific achievements is the discovery
and use of nuclear power.
In the same way in which those behind the fighter airplanes
and bombers used in WWII were aeronautical engineers,
scientist and engineers were behind the development and
creation of the first atomic bomb.
Link: "War Makes Everyone Crazy": Hiroshima Survivor
Reflects on 69th Anniversary of U.S. Atomic Bombing
In the link above we hear the testimony from a survivor of
the Hiroshima bombing in 1945. It is interesting to note
what the man says about the U.S. as someone who was
directly affected by the dropping of the bomb.
At some point many have wondered if such an event could
have been avoided. At the very least it is important to ask
what these actions have taught us about our relationships
with other human beings, with technology, and our sense of
duty.

7. Power

8. Power Relations: Japan
Japan’s systematic intimidation and manipulation that was so exhaustively cultivated by the small country’s leadership in the
past is well known. In the midst of Jiro’s fighter plane design project, his boss Kurokawa rushes him out of his office and into
hiding because a visit from the thought crimes unit of the secret police had inquired about him. With no explanations others were
also singled out and the only answer given is “who knows?” Jiros Section Chief Hattori tells him: “I’ll do what I can with the
government higher-ups, and the company will do everything to protect you—as long as you’re useful.”
The power structure in Japan is different in many respects from that of the West yet at the highest level, in government and
politics, Japan has proven to be no different from other regimes and governments. Japan’s goals during WWII were to gain more
economic stability as they came out of their own economic depression. Their government was focused around the military
because at one point the entire country was involved in fighting the war whether it be through soldiers, materials, or services.
Japan’s government sought to take over more territory to allow them more resources to lessen their dependence from trading
with other countries, and ultimately to gain independence from the powerful countries around them. To get the citizens to have
faith in the government’s decisions and not question them, they used tactics to gain control over the people’s thoughts such as
through schools and textbooks, as well as controlling the opinions spread by media outlets.
At this time in Japan, power was essential to the success of their mission for the war. Japan needed to have power over their
citizens, and they had to have enough power with their allies to be seen as a major player and addition to the “team”. These
power relations between Japan and Germany began with signing of a treaty to agree to the countries coming together, but after
only a few years Japan underwent a major governmental control shift from Tokugawa Shogunate and The Empire of Japan was
established. This lead to power struggles within Japan between the new and old governments, which ultimately affected its
relations with Germany.

9. The Danger of Power
Is the question of who is the villain and victim that simple?
War results in the dehumanization of the enemy. The widespread image of the Japanese as sub-human constituted an emotional
context which provided another justification for decisions resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands.The participation in crimes
and atrocities is not exclusive
to a select few. When the
“good guys” react with more or
with the same crimes and
atrocities how do they differ
from their enemy? With all the
violence and destruction from
war aside there is civilization
made up innocent people such
as the children in this images,
Our idea of who the “bad guy”
changes and the lines start to
blur. When Americans are
being sent to internment
camps by their own country
does that provide us with trust
in the powers that govern us?

10. -Protest-

11. Japanesene
ss
"Who will be the target of all these bombers? Against whom will you wage war?”
“Everyone. Maybe China, maybe America.” - The Wind Rises
Do the people even know why they were at war?
Link: Nationalism clouds WWII memories in Asia
Nationalism and anti-japanese sentiment exists and affects the people of Japan and the rest of the world.
● This film raised criticism from both sides of Japanese government because some saw it as Hayao Miyazaki’s way
of idolizing the men who built the planes that took so many lives in the war, which they believed should have been
something scorned rather than shown in the way it was. There is also disagreement with this film because it did not
address the forced labor that built some of these planes, but rather showed the kind and intelligent people who
designed them. More so, there are a large number of people who interpreted this as a film exposing the corruption
brought by war.
● Anime is a type of media that clearly has a deep and important role in reflecting peoples conflict with the events of
history, and the possibilities of the future. This is clearly reflected in The Wind Rises because of the criticism this
film received, as well as the support and awards it received.
Link: Radio Interview on Japanese Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki & His Final
Film The Wind Rises

12. This film has a very subtle approach to its protest of
the war. When considering Hayao Miyazaki’s previous
work, he makes it a point to show his disapproval of
war and violence, but this film was not as blatant in
showing his protest. When the term “protest” is brought
up, it usually comes with the assumption of active and
obvious disapproval of an event, which in this case is
the war. But this film has no outright protest of the
fighting, but instead chooses to show the people
behind the war. This film shows Jiro, who is living out
his dreams from his childhood, and his story of falling
in love and losing his wife as a protest to the ugly and
brutal truth of the war. Using this man’s story
humanizes the war, and shows that the questions of
who is right or wrong, and good or bad are not simple
black and white answers, but rather are unanswerable
because both sides have real people who live real lives
with dreams to fulfill, and loved ones to be lost, and the
war is only a small aspect to such a large part of the
lives happening all around.
Popular Culture & Protest

13. Discussion
Questions
Film Q’s:
1. How does animation and it’s common themes reveal to us the nature of people
and events in the real world? (The Wind Rises is basically a biography but
fictionalized still containing many qualities of anime such as fantasy.)
2. As opposed to some of Miyazaki’s other films that we have watched in this class
(Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, & Nausicaa Valley of the Wind) why do you
think this film’s theme and style is so different?
3. Does this film have a purpose other than for pure entertainment, such as to plant
more pacifist ideologies in the minds of our young generation? Is this reflected in
other films from this class?
Topic Q’s:
1. Does the condition and state of the world accurately represent our hopes and
desires?
2. How does technology, power and protest influence each other as can be observed
in the past and present?
3. In what ways does the definition of moral responsibility change between different
cultures, that is if it does at all?

14. Bibliography
"Germany–Japan relations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 13 Jul 2014. Web.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany%E2%80%93Japan_relations>.
"Hiroshima Nuclear (atomic) Bomb - USA attack on Japan (1945) - YouTube." 25 Mar 2011. Web. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwkyPvlWPM0>.
Ishibashi, Mari. "JSTOR: The Review of Politics, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Autumn, 2001), pp. 831-834." JSTOR. Jstor, 2001. Web. 2 Aug 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1408869?uid=3739856&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104465697507>.
"Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki moves from beautiful fantasy to World War II in his new animated film | Public Radio International." Public Radio
International | It's your world. Jump in.. 16 Mar 2014. Web. <http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-16/japanese-filmmaker-hayao-miyazaki-moves-
beautiful-fantasy-world-war-ii-his-new>.
"Japan's Quest for Power and World War II in Asia | Asia for Educators | Columbia University." Asia for Educators | Columbia University. Columbia University,
Web. 6 Aug 2014. <http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1900_power.htm>.
The Wind Rises. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli, 2013. DVD.
"The Wind Rises Quotes by Hayao Miyazaki." Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia. Web. 2 Aug 2014.
<http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/40357429-the-wind-rises>.
"The Wind Rises (2013) - Quotes - IMDb." IMDb - Movies, TV and Celebrities. Web. 2 Aug 2014.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2013293/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu>.
"The Wind Rises - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 5 Aug 2014. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_Rises>.
""War Makes Everyone Crazy": Hiroshima Survivor Reflects on 69th Anniversary of U.S. Atomic Bombing." 6 Aug 2014. Web.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEd2xgmKlGU>.

15. Contributions
Lauren Phillips
Slides: Power Relations: Japan, Japaneseness, Popular Culture & Protest, Bibliography, Discussion
Questions
Editing & Corrections
Research
Overall theme & topic input and Contribution
Rachel Higgins
Slides: Topic Overview, Film Introduction, Beautiful Dreams, Japan in WWII, The Danger of Power,
Discussion Questions
Adding the videos, article & recording in Presentation
Design and Organization of Presentation
Research and overall contribution