Several things I found very interesting are how emotions are used as a political tool, the power hierarchies in trans-pacific and East Asia and the way Prof. Leheny defines power. In the tragedy of Ehime Maru, the emotions of the victims’ families, the related government officials, political scientists are constantly being exposed to the general public. The information general republic received are somehow modified to arouse or appease certain emotions. The emotions erupted at a certain point that triggered by sensational tragedies actually sent a message about accumulated dissatisfaction Japanese have with the Japan-U.S. alliance. It was the power of emotions that forced the U.S. to make a concession to respect Japan’s tradition to send the body of victims back to Japan; it was also the power of emotion that prevent the families of victims to continue to express their griefs in public after the U.S. government paid the compensation and officially apologized.
Behind the rising and falling emotions are the powers, which defined by Prof. Lehney in a way that power is a persuasion: one with power can persuade others to do something they otherwise wouldn’t do. Knowing this will help us to understand the power hierarchy in the world, especially in the context of Japan-U.S. and the Vietnam-Japan relations. For example, the story of conjoint twin Beto and Doku chan, to whom Japan offered the financial and medical assistance, epitomized the similar dilemma Vietnam and Japan shared in an unequal power relation. To a certain extent, the role of Vietnam plays in the Vietnam-Japan relation is the role Japan plays in the Japan-U.S. relation.
Lastly, emotions can be cultivated. At the beginning of the lecture, the Prof mentioned how a sense of unity is cultivated when everyone staring at the Tokyo tower in the film. Every “good man” can be a hero as long as he works together with other “good men” and contributes to the economic prosperity of the country. The hard-working, loyal and dedicated male worker is selected to be a moral example, and by permeating this image to the general public through the pop culture, the identity is formed.
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