Quote:
Mark Murray wrote:
Hi Allen,
I found an interesting bit of info from the link you provided later.
http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=425
I wonder if Ueshiba had already made the decision to turn aside from the war before it started going badly for Japan? It will be interesting to read the next installment that takes us up to the war years.
Mark
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Hello Mark,
O Sensei's suspected Class G war criminal status really depends on seeing the list of those affected by SCAPIN 550 (which, apparently, is not in the US National Archives). So seeing what records are available in Japan will be the next course to take.
The next (ninth) installment considers, among other things, the 1924 trip to Mongolia, Omoto's right wing associations, Ueshiba's association with the Sakurakai, and the second suppression.
The tenth installment deals with the Iwama issue. In various places places, Stan Pranin attributes Ueshiba's retirement to Iwama to the increasingly difficult effects of the war, including the bombing of Tokyo. This cannot be right. The only bombing of Tokyo in 1942 were the Doolittle raids, which had nothing like the serious effects depicted in the movie
Pearl Harbor. There was no effective bombing of Tokyo until Feb 1945, after the US had captured airfields close enough to Japan allow the B-29 to fly there--and back.
So, the 1940 and 1942 'vision' statements become very important. There is a very long 'vision' statement in the as yet untranslated parts of
Takemusu Aiki. Of course, I will translate this material and discuss it.
Best wishes,
PAG