Sugihara Chiune: Final Presentation Before Graduation At Harbin Institute

-

Sugihara Chiune was a Japanese diplomat who rescued thousands of Jewish refugees during WWII.

Sugihara Chiune was a Japanese diplomat who defied norms and bureaucratic constraints to save thousands of lives during one of history's darkest periods.

Fig. Sugihara Chiune

This is a schematic picture. The interested reader can visit the following site  for real image:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/japans-schindler-a-genuine-hero-tangled-in-a-web-of-myth/

The following description is from [1] which demonstrates the ability of Sugihara at the Harbin Institute at the time of graduation on March 4, 1933. This reference also contains the evaluation of Nei Saburo’s presentation who I describe in another one of my blogposts. Nei was acting consul-general in Vladivostok when the Sugihara survivors arrived. He defied his own government which was reluctant to accept so many refugees and let the Jewish refugees to land Japan.

In a nutshell, Nei’s speech 5 minutes is good. His carrier seems promising. Sugihara’s speech is 15 minutes. He did not memorize the speech. Excellent presentation. His carrier seems promising.

++++++++++++

Russian Language Recitations

Study Abroad Student Nei, March 4, 10:45AM to 10:50AM

Five-minute oral presentation

Topic: Japan-Russia trade issues

Evaluation

Revised by a Russian, good attitude, smoothly spoken, fluent, good

memorization ability, visibly memorized.

Pronunciation needs improvement, and he has been told to pay

attention to it.

His future is promising.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Study Abroad Student Sugihara, 11:04AM to 11:22AM

Eighteen-minute oral presentation Topic Touched upon the Development of Asia, Turkey, Persia, Japanese-Russian meetings, the need for Russian language studies, etc. Only this exchange student had a summary sheet .

Evaluation Was in the form of a speech, and the tone was that of a speech. Attitude was excellent, accent very good, pronunciation good. Very capable. Does not seem to have been memorized. His future is promising.

Japanese Foreign Ministry Archive, Gaimusho Ryugakusei kankei

zakken Vol.1

Taisho 11–14 (1922–25), 6,1,7,6–3–1

++++++++++++++++

[1] Altman, I., et. al., “Sugihara Chiune and the Soviet Union: New Documents, New Perspectives”, Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University, 2022

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Japan: A Late Bloomer

-
Image
The purpose of this blog post is to show that Japan was a late bloomer in terms of an index which will be explained later. From a Western viewpoint, “Japan didn’t exist” until the 16th century CE when the first encounter with the West occurred. I will discuss the views of two individuals on Japan: Francisco Xavier and Alessandro Valignano. Both were missionaries. Although their mission was far from successful, there are several reasons why I focus on them: a. They were highly educated elites of European at the time, capable of describing things as they were. b. Their observations are well documented. Despite their primary goal being missionary work, their records are invaluable for studying 16th-century Japan, even for nonspecialists like myself. c. Some of their views are shared. d. Both visited other Asian countries before visiting Japan, allowing them to place Japan in a relative perspective. e. Their observations align with at least one quantitative data, which will be explained la
Read more

Movie Review: “Visas and Virtue” (1997), A 26-minute Short Film Directed By Chris Tashima.

-
Image
    Fig.    A scene from “Visas and Virtue ( courtesy Ceder Grove Productions ) “Visas and Virtue” is a short movie motivated by a true story of Sugihara Chiune, a Japanese diplomat who risked his and his family's life to save thousands of Jewish refugees in WWII by issuing transit visas to Japan from his consulate in Lithuania, in August 1940. The act, however, was a defiance against Japanese government because of Japan’s relationship with Germany. In the morning of August 18,1940, Sugihara observed hundreds of people surrounding his Kaunas consulate. They looked exhausted. They were the Jewish people from Poland as well as from Lithuania who were facing an existential threat by the Nazis.  The following scene vividly captures the anguish of Sugihara and his wife. +++++++++++ Yuki ( Sugihara’s wife): Chiune, you promised that everyone would get a visa. Sugihara: If I lose my career- Don’t you care what happens to us? Yuki, I am issuing illegal visas. We w
Read more

Movie Review: "Lil Tokyo Reporter (2012)" A Short Film Directed By Jeffrey Gee Chin.

-
Image
Fig. A scene from “Lil Tokyo Reporter”. “ I was read the story of a small samurai ....." ( Courtesy of Leap Man Productions )   time: 1935 place: Los Angeles, California Fujii:     “ I was read the story of a small samurai who traveled to a far off island to defeat demons and ogres. 　 I came to America with that same dream . ”   Fujii exposes the criminal activities of the Japanese club on the front page of his paper.    Fujii   shot ( Courtesy of Leap Man Productions )   Fujii survives   After a police raid, the club was shut down. Fujii continued to defend the Japanese of Los Angeles his whole life.   I never knew Fujii before I stumbled on this movie. Directed by Jeffrey Gee Chin, the 30-minute short film “ Lil Tokyo Reporter ” delves into the life of Fujii (1882–1954). Born in Iwakuni, Japan, Fujii embarked on a transformative journey when he moved to America at the age of 20. He was incarcerated by the US government, but this  setback
Read more