Ch. 3: 'Addressing the past'

Synopsis

This chapter highlights how some issues that need to be kept distinct - particularly memories vs. responsibility and public remembering vs. government policy - are often fudged in discussion of how Japan 'addresses the past'. The chapter demonstrates the extent of international complicity in Japanese struggles with war history and responsibility issues, and critiques the various international comparisons that have been made in the context of Japanese war memories, particularly with German memories and responsibility.

General Resources

The Japanese government's various websites contain numerous official documents in English. This list of frequently asked questions answers many of the key questions regarding the government’s stance. For more detailed statements visit the following sites: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (see especially the link to 'Historical Issues'), Ministry of Education, and the Prime Minister's Official Site.

One of the most controversial aspects of official commemoration concerns worship by officials at Yasukuni Shrine (for unofficial groups, including some active on the Yasukuni issue, see chapter 9). A general site with links to remaining government agencies is japan-guide.com.

On the thorny issue of the content of Japanese textbooks, translations of government-screened books approved for use in Japanese schools are here.

Updates

The Yasukuni issue has taken many twists and turns since JCWM was published. See online news services (such as The Japan Times) for the latest. Also, see John Breen's Yasukuni, the War Dead and the Struggle for Japan's Past (to which I contributed a chapter).

The change of government in 2009, when the DPJ ousted the LDP, was a watershed moment in many ways but not in others. I discuss how much really changed on the war issue in the first year of the DPJ government in a chapter for a forthcoming book edited by Professor Caroline Rose at Leeds University. This manuscript is "forthcoming".