Extra Credit:火垂るの墓

 On October 2, my roommates and I went to watch the screening of the Grave of the Fireflies together! I was happy that we could do something together, and I was sharing a part of Japanese history and pop culture with them. 

Reflecting on my movie experience, this movie taught me more about what regular Japanese civilians experienced during World War II. Oftentimes in history classes, I only learned about the Japanese-American experience during the war or the Japanese-American experience in Hawaii, especially after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I was very intrigued to see what the war was like in Japan and how the food rationing system worked. 

I will admit that I did not cry at the end of the movie, but it left me feeling heavy and caused me to be more motivated to engage in peace studies. The saddest part to me was when Setsuko was left alone for long hours while she was suffering from malnutrition. I find that it's hard to place who the villain is in the story when everyone is under immense stress and hunger. 

The Japanese cultural elements I saw in the movie were when they were all sitting at the table together, and how proper they had to sit on their legs. Another cultural element that I saw was the type of food they would eat, like onigiri and ume. 

Overall, my experience of this movie was very eye-opening and a great teaching moment. This reminded me of another Japanese war movie that I like called "In This Corner of the World." I highly recommend that movie as it also displays similar themes.