Asian American Connections

1986 Space Shuttle disaster:

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle disaster occurred. Several crew members died when the Space Challenger Shuttle broke apart 73 seconds into flight. These crew members included Christa McAuliffe, Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. One of the crew members, Ellison Onizuka was the first Asian American to reach space.

(Information found from: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/onizuka.html)

He was also an Air Force colonel, aerospace flight test engineer, pilot, and served as Mission Specialist on mission STS-51L. In 1978, he was selected as astronaut by NASA.

(Information found from: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/03/shuttle.challenger.widow/index.html)

Paul Shin:

Paul Shin is the first Korean American to be elected to the Washington State Legislature. He is also a member of the Washington State Senate, Democratic Party. He was born in Korea and orphaned at the age of four, living on the streets of Seoul begging for food. Then in 1950 when the Korean War broke out, he became a houseboy to a group of U.S. Army officers. One of the officers named Ray Paull, adopted Shin and then they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. There he completed his G.E.D, despite knowing little English and never having been educated in Korea. In addition, he later earned a bachelors degree in Political Science, an MPIA , and an MA and PhD.

(Information from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paull_Shin)

On January 13, 2014, Paul, announced he is leaving the Legislature. “Shin, 78, had already announced he was not seeking another term. The senator moved up his departure, in Shin’s words, because “age, memory problems and a recent diagnosis of Alzheimer’s make it impossible for me to represent my constituents in a manner they deserve.”

(Quote taken from: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2014/01/07/state-sen-paull-shin-resigns-from-legislature/)

“How I Met Your Mother” TV show:

“How I Met Your… uh oh! CBS’ hit series How I Met Your Mother angered the Asian community this week after the sitcom re-casted three of its white actors in yellowface and had them dress in stereotypically Asian garb, in a controversial episode that aired Monday, Jan. 13.”

(Quote taken from: “http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/how-i-met-your-mother-creators-apologize-for-racist-asian-episode-2014161)

The episode was titled “Slapsgiving 3: Slapointment in Slapmarra”. The episode starts out with one of the main characters, Marshall Erikson, sitting in a bar explaining how he was in Shanghai, China, a year in order to learn how to accurately deliver a slap to the other main character Stinson. To make matters even worse, three “masters” that included cast members, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders, and Josh Radner, then taught the character Marshal Erikson the “art of the epic slap.” The thing is, this TV show is hugely successful. Now what does that say about American culture and what we view as ok/normal?

What is the Asian American connection to World War Two stragglers: Even though Japan surrendered on September 1, 1945, World War Two did not truly end for many Japanese until years later. As a reminder, during World War Two the Japanese Empire was more than 20 million square miles long, including land and sea. In isolated areas soldiers continued fighting unaware that the war had ended, with others reusing to believe in Japan’s defeat. They either fought in groups or conducted guerilla warfare. The name for these men was “Japanese Holdouts, or Stragglers”.

(Information found from: http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/)

Hiroo Onoda, the last Japanese imperial soldier died on January 16, 2014, at the age of 91. He hid in the Philippines jungle for twenty-nine years after World War Two had ended. Onoda was an intelligence officer who came out of hiding in March 1974, on his 52nd birthday. Only when his former commander flew to the Philippines to reverse his 1945 orders to stay behind and spy on American troops did Hiroo surrender.

(Information found from: http://news.msn.com/obits/japans-last-wwii-straggler-soldier-91-dies?ocid=ansnews11)

86 Challenger Disaster

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28th, 1986. The flight itself lasted 73 seconds before the shuttle disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean killing the entire crew. The main cause of the disaster is due to a faulty O-ring which occurred immediately after liftoff.

So in what way does this disaster correlate with Asian Americans? Many only know of the disaster itself but may not know of Ellison Onizuka, a mission specialist in the crew that lost their lives in the destruction of the Challenger space shuttle. Onizuka was born in Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaii and was of Buddhist faith. He was a lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. air force serving as both a test Pilot and flight test engineer and was selected for the astronaut training program in 1978. In January, 1985 as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery, he became the first Asian American to reach space. The Discovery which Onizuka took part in orbitated the earth 48 times before landing. It is amazingly inspirational that only a few decades prior to his reaching space, Japanese American were seen as the enemy by Americans and had to endure years in internment camps during World War II. With his entering space lieutenant Colonel Onizuka made a large step towards equality for Asian Americans, and gave proof that if you work hard and are dedicated you can possibly grow up to become and astronaut which is the dream of so many children, regardless of your race, religion, or color. Sadly the life of this pioneering Asian American was cut short due to the Challenger disaster. He was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously following the incident.

News & Blues

Paull Shin

I didn’t know who Paull Shin was before searching him up, but I’m glad I know who he is now because he seems like a very brave man. It takes a lot of courage and confidence to come out in the open and talk about his disease, and it takes real gusto to know when to quit. Reading about his accomplishments (like fighting to remove the word “oriental” from state texts and using “Asian” instead) shows that he is not just a beacon for Korean Americans, but for all Asian American communities in general.

Challenger

I grew up hearing all about the Challenger Disaster, but since it happened two years before I was born, my only experience was through pictures and school. However I didn’t really know anything about Ellison Onizuka (or the rest of the crew for that matter), who just happens to be the first Asian American in space. Like Paull Shin, Ellison was definitely a role-model for Asian Americans and it’s pretty sad what happened that day. After looking him up a bit, it seems as though he was very beloved indeed – there’s all kinds of places named after him, from street names in Little Tokyo to museums and centers for astronomy.

World War II Stragglers

Japan declared him the “Paragon of the Japanese Soldier”, a man so loyal that he sacrificed 29 years of his life participating in a war that didn’t exist anymore. This man is Hiroo Onoda and what a crazy story he has, and now all these years later in 2014 he departs this life for good. Onoda’s story really feels like a testament to the strict obedience and discipline found in Japan at the time, and it seems ripe for someone to turn it into a film or something. His story reminded me of The Cats of Mirikitani, mainly because Mirikitani was lost in limbo after World War II just like Onoda was. They both disappeared into jungles for years, the difference being that Mirikitani’s jungle was that of concrete and tall buildings.

How I Met Your Mother

I still can’t believe that after all these years, nobody realizes that when you do blanket stereotypes on television or film, you’re going to piss a lot of people off. I don’t understand why the writers/producers of How I Met Your Mother could really think that an episode like this would be met with…what…applause? I understand why they wanted to do a Kung Fu homage – it’s a great genre that a lot of people enjoy – but there could have been a much better way to go about it. That being said, How I Met Your Mother isn’t a bad show or anything and I think this should be chalked up to a stupid brainfart.

– Connection btw News and our program

-Paull Shin

Paull Shin retired from his position. He was 78 years old and he was a member of the Washington State Senate. He was born in Korea, and orphaned when he was four years old. During the Korean War, one of the U.S. Armies adopted him and took him home. He became a Korean American. He was also a college professor for 31 years, teaching East Asian studies at a variety of schools including the University of Washington, and Western Washington University.

-World War Ⅱ stragglers

Hiroo Onoda died on January 16^th 2014. He was 91 years old, and was a Japanese Army soldier who fought in World War II at the Philippines. In 1945 when the war ended, he decided to stay there and to keep his mission because he didn’t believe the order of going back to Japan. He kept his position for 29 years and finally he returned after taking the order from his boss; however, he couldn’t get used to the modernization in Japan, so he moved to Bedazzle where his brother lived. After he was impressed about the Japanese problem, which was offenses by young people, he also held lecture meetings and camps took advantage of his background.

-HIMYM

“How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM)” got a beating as making fun of Asian Americans. The title of the episode was “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment In Slapmarra.” In the episode, there were some actors as Asian people, but all of them were not real Asian people. Also, they wore odd makeup to look like Asians. HIMYM apologized on Twitter, but the slap against the episode is still available online. Once you saw the pictures, you can understand how different they are competing with real Asians.

In addition, I know another news like this. Katy Perry who is a singer was also given the sever drubbing by medias for her costume.

Impressions with Better Luck Tomorrow

Stu·pe·fac·tion

[stoo-puh-fak-shuhn, styoo-]

Noun

1. The state of being stupefied; stupor.

2. Overwhelming amazement.

This describes the feeling that ran after the movie concluded. I will explain.

Before watching the movie Better Luck Tomorrow, I read over the plot on Wikipedia to get a general idea of what occurs in the movie. If there’s one thing that I can admit, it’s that seeing the movie is more in-depth than just reading the events. Aside from that, I thought the movie was very entertaining. Each character in the movie had a different lifestyle. Ben was a hard-working student, Virgil was the loose cannon, Daric was the brains and manipulator, Han acted as the transporter and extreme renegade, and finally Jesus was the supplier and kind of like a Zoidberg. It depicts modern Asian Americans who use their skills and talents to take advantage of the system around them to bring themselves fortune and power. Eventually it starts overpowering their lives and causes them to do harmful things, such as drugs. Seeing that this is not the way to live anymore, they “break their cycle” with only Virgil and Han still in the business. Steve inquires them for one more job, but it only ends with Ben and the gang murdering Steve when the plan falls apart. The movie concludes with Ben not telling Steve’s girlfriend that they killed Steve, only announcing that “there’s no turning back” after all the actions they did.

Overall, the movie was highly entertaining. There was plenty of tense moments like Virgil pulling a gun on everyone he associates with, but the mix of humorous moments made it more enjoyable. It seemed like Virgil was mostly the comedic relief for much of the film, but also the most vulnerable mentally as he breaks down after tense moments in the movie. I was amazed that Ben did not confess to his involvement to Steve’s “disappearance”. Usually we would expect a “good guy” like him to confess, but amazingly he played the clueless game so well and just decided to live with it. The aftermath of that film was left to the audience’s imagination, leaving to some of my friends voicing realistic to hilarious conclusions that involve Ben confessing to Steve’s girlfriend about his involvement.

One connection I’ve noticed between 47 Ronin, The Beautiful Country, and Better Luck Tomorrow is that the protagonist is always accompanied by a person of wisdom or greater knowledge. Kai has Oishi to guide and support him, Binh has Ling who helps him survive, and Ben has Daric who helps lead him through his schemes. One connection between 47 Ronin and The Beautiful Country is that both protagonists are mixed-race. Finally all the protagonists faced criticism based on their race. Kai and Binh for being mixed-race Asians while Ben was targeted by white jocks because he was an intelligent Asian American student.

HIMYM

How I Met Your Mother has created a new costume: Asian! Episode “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra,” Marshall, who is played by Jason Segel, learns a new slap, “the slap of a million exploding suns,” from martial arts masters. These martial arts masters were all portrayed by the all white cast, Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor, and Colbie Smulders. These white characters were dressed in silk robes, had Asian accents framed with wind chimes and flute music. The show also did not fail to present the Fu Manchu mustache and “chink fonts.”

The HIMYM executives had apologized over twitter; however, the episode still runs online. What brings the race card into play is the fact that there are no real Asian actors to play the Asian parts. Instead the all white cast plays them and is seen as making a mockery of Asian cultures. Unforutnately, one of the reasons that this happened is because Asians are underrepresented in Hollywood in the first place. Sadly, the industry shoots itself in the foot by not employing people of color. Instead of hiring an actual martial arts master or hiring an Asian for the Asian parts,television has histroically employed white artists to write and portray the non-white parts.

Thought he main reason for this show is purely entertainment, it has failed to take into consideration the harmful images and segways that it has created. Though it is stereotypical to portray Asians as kung fu masters, it is seemed as offensive to have a non-Asian play an Asian part and make fun with it. Thus, “Asian” is not a costume has come to rise. If there must be a stereotype to be made, might as well go with the complete stereotype instead of dressing someone who does not understand the culture up to portray and mock it.

WWII Straggler

Hiroo Onoda

29 years after the end of World War II, Hiroo Onoda comes out from hiding in the jungle in the Philippines and surrender has died at the age of 91. On Thursday, January

16, 2014 in Tokyo, Japan Onoda passed away. On Friday, Yoshihide Suga, Chief government spokesman, expressed his condolences and praised Onoda for his strong will to live and indomitable spirit. He stated, “After World War II, Mr. Onoda lived int he jungle for many years and when he retured to Japan, I felt that finally, the war was finished. That’s how I felt.”

Onoda was an intelligence officer who came out of hiding on Lubang island in the Philippines in March 1974, on his 52nd birthday. His surrender was when his former commander flew there to reverse his 1945 orders to stay behind and spy on the American troops. After emerging from the jungle with another WWII hold out, Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi, in 1972 and returning hom they were welcomed as incredible heroes. They were in hiding for so long because Japanese were taught that complete loyalty to the country is the most respectable thing and that death was better than surrendering. Even when his own family members had called to him over loudspeakers and flights had urged him to surrender, Onoda refused.

Onoda had surrendered to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos with his 30 year old imperial military uniform, cap and sword, in very good condition.

After his welcoming ceremony had died down he ended up buying land in Brazil and later was head of children’s nature school in northern Japan. From his experience Onoda stated, “I don’t consider those 30 years a waste of time…Without that experience, I wouldn’t have my life today.” However, he understood his limited time, “I do everything twice as fast so I can make up for the 30 years. I wish someone could eat and sleep for me so I can work 24 hours a day.”

In Onoda’s earlier years he worked for a Japanese trading firm in Shanghai after finishing high school in 1939 and was drafted three years later. In 1944 Onoda was sent to Lubang, about 90 miles from Manila. Other Japanese troops surrendered when US troops landed in Lubang in February 1945, though hundreds went missing a for years after the war.

On Feb. 20 1974 Norio Suzuki, a young globe-trotter, came in contact with Onoda. They eventually started talking. Suzuki returned to Japan and contacted the government, which located Onoda’s superior, Maj Yoshimi Taniguchi, and flew him to Lubang to deliver his surrender order in person.

Hiroo Onoda did the most loyal, comitted, and honorable act of a soldier. He had an order and he stuck with it until the one person who gave him that order, came to tell him in person. Also, I find it funny how Onoda says that he wants someone to eat and sleep for him so he could work. After years of hiding, and crucial conditions, and survival tactics, he wants to continue to work. He gives meaning in his life and stays an active member of society.

Paull Shin

“If you have a heart for serving it, you can do it.” Paull Shin a state Legislature who had served for more than two decades has decided to step down. On January 7, 2014 Shin had revealed that he was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease. In 1992, Shin had made history as the first Korean American to be elected to the Washington State Legislature.

Paull Shin was adopted during the Korean war by an American soldier. When he was a teenager he learned to read; furthermore, he later on eraned a doctorate from the University of Washington and became an East Asian studies professor. As the first Korean American to be active in the state Legislature, he has inspired many immigrants of the younger generation to enter the political sphere. Metropolitan King County Council canidate Shari Song, Shoreline City Council member Cheryl Lee, and state Representative Cindy Ryu were all inspired by Paull Shin’s service and call themselves Shin’s “political daughters.”

As well as his role as a pioneer for Asian Americans he had also promoted and pushed for trade between Washington and Asian countries. He was a well respected man who had his personal faith still ahead of him, but never bashed opposing views such as same-sex marriage. Also, in 2002 he had succeeded in terminating the term “Oriental” from the state code and his bill became the first law in the country to identify people of Asian descent as “Asian.” The term “Spanish Americans” had elso been changed to “Hispanics” as well.

His stepping down may be a saddening moment because of the things he has accomplished for the country; however, he has created a pathway, or stepping stones of confidence for Asians to be more involved with the country and progress. I find it very interesting that he had been adopted by an American soldier during the Korean war as well as the life that he has come to live. An American soldier adopted one of the “enemies” and that child turned out to be an active member of the United States Government. That is amazing.

Also, the feats. that he had accomplished during his terms shows how there are still prejudices in modern day. He has paved a path for change for all Asian Americans and has inspired many more Asians to take charge.

Asian American Science Fiction cont.

Books Ordered From Summit:

The Future is Japanese : Stories From and About the Land of the Rising Sun

The Future is Queer

Salt Fish Girl

Articles to print and report back about this next week:

Reproduction, Reincarnation, and Human Cloning: Literary and Racial Forms in Larissa Lai’s Salt Fish Girl.

Miss Cylon: Empire and Adoption in “Battlestar Galactica.”

Oriental Cities, Postmodern Futures: “Naked Lunch,” “Blade Runner,” and “Neuromancer.”

Alien/Asian: Imagining the Racialized Future.

Stinky Bodies: Mythological Futures and the Olfactory Sense in Larissa Lai’s “Salt Fish Girl.

Premodern Orientalist Science Fictions.

Aliens: Narrating U.S. Global Identity Through Transnational Adoption and Interracial Marriage in Battlestar Galactica.

World War II Stragglers

Famous WWII straggler, Hiroo Onoda, died two days ago at the age of 91. Onoda was a Japanese lieutenant who spent 29 years hiding in the jungle of a Philippine island, refusing to believe that the war had ended. There were several attempts made to contact Japanese stragglers, including dropping leaflets announcing Japan’s surrender, and for the case of Onoda, the Japanese government dropped family pictures and letters. Onoda refused to believe any attempt at communication, claiming it was Allied “propaganda.”

After 29 years, Onoda was finally convinced by a superior officer that the war was indeed over. In all that time, Onoda had been stealing food and engaging in shootouts with local people. Upon his return to Japan he was regarded as a national hero for his refusal to surrender and for holding to Bushido values.