2019 №1 (62) Article 1

Miсhiko Ikuta

UDC 9(571.62):947.083.4

KHABAROVSK AFTER THE SOVIET-JAPANESE WAR VIEWED THROUGH THE EYES OF A JAPANESE FEMALE INTERNEE 

The article analyzes the memoirs of Sudo Keiko, a Japanese military nurse of the Kwantung Army, who was taken as a interned nurse to the town of Khabarovsk. The article treats Kudo Keikoʼs memoires “The Soviet Union (Siberia) through the Eyes of a Woman” as a historical source of information concerning daily routine and national mentality. In her memoirs, Kudo Kieko describes how interned nurses who were sympathetic to the Soviet Regime were treated by the camp authorities. The sympathetic interned nurses were to assist in treating the wounded, teach the Japanese language. They were allowed to go outside the camp and, thus, had an opportunity to compare the Russian and Japanese cultures. The article underlines the peculiarities of a Japanese womanʼs perception of everyday Russian reality: social roles, clothing, food.

The article provides a comparative analysis of how male and female Japanese interned nurses perceived the Soviet Union. The article maintains that due to a particular social position of a woman in Japan, the author of the memoirs noticed Russian womenʼs significant contribution to victory in World War II, noticed certain features of Soviet society which were not typical of Japan. The author underlines that memoirs written by men often neglected the role of women in the Soviet Union.

prisoners of war; memoirs; mentality; Russian culture; Japanese culture; gender-based differences in perception

REFERENCES

  1. Sudo Keiko. USSR (Siberia) through the eyes of a woman. My zhili v SSSR [We lived in the Soviet Union]. Tokyo, 1948, 206–216. (In Japan).
  2. Sudo Keiko. Memories of Khabarovsk. Kak zhivut v SSSR [How to live in the USSR]. Tokyo, 1949, 115–152. (In Japan).
  3. Front repatriantov. Soyuz podderzhki repatriantov iz Rossii [Front of immigrants. Union of support of repatriates from Russia]. Tokyo, 1949, 250 р. (In Japan).
  4. Hatakeyama Kenjiro. Two years spent in Lagotdelenie No. 20 Vospominanii voennoplennyh IX. [The Memory of interned nurses IX]. Tokyo, (In Japan).
  5. Yamaguchi Yuji. New experience. My zhili v SSSR [We lived in the Soviet Union]. Tokyo, 1948, рр. 24–36. (In Japan).
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