Print

Japanese should rightfully feel proud. He argues that although the divergence between the two extreme schools was wide, there were continuing efforts to find a synthesis between them. Togo then examines five specific historical memory issues: comfort women, the Nanjing Massacre, forced labor, POWs, and Unit 731. All these issues still provoke anger from the victims in other countries. Although Togo strongly believes that there is a general feeling of remorse and apology for prewar atrocities, the Japanese people have been unable to reconcile this feeling with their other need to feel pride in Japan’s accomplishments since the Meiji Restoration. This disconnect makes it impossible for the Japanese to produce a synthesis. Togo argues, however, that in almost all issues there are hopeful signs toward a synthesis, although the degree of such hopeful signs varies in each case. With regard to the five issues that address more general aspects of war and its memory—textbooks, apology, responsibility for the war, the Yasukuni Shrine, and the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE)—the textbook and apology issues seem to have made certain progress toward synthesis. What Togo pro- posed on war responsibility and the Yasukuni issue has not gained political support inside Japan. Opinions are starkly divided on the IMTFE issue. Togo concludes that there is a need to make further serious efforts on these issues to seek a synthesis on conflicting views. Thus, Togo, like Berger, is guardedly optimistic, but more from a normative position than an analytical position. PART II: SPECIFIC ISSUES: TEXTBOOKS, YASUKUNI, AND COMFORT WOMEN Part II of this book is devoted to the discussion of specific contentious issues. Ana- lyzing history textbooks is a useful measure of how history is remembered, and why history is remembered in a certain manner in that country. An attempt to reach an understanding of how history is remembered in other countries may lead eventually to a better understanding of how reconciliation could be achieved. We have already mentioned above that the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University has embarked on a worthwhile project in that direction. In Chapter 4, Hiroshi Mitani, historian at the University of Tokyo, first gives an over- view of the textbook controversy in Japan, outlines international collaborative efforts to write joint regional textbooks, and introduces four specific books published in Japanese in collaboration with East Asian scholars. His examples show that gradually but steadily East Asian scholars are beginning to share historical facts. In the end, we may not be able to reach a consensus about how to interpret these events, since, as we borrow Berger’s approach, each country has different experiences, political needs, and cultural traditions. Nevertheless, the process of gaining a better understanding of the reasons behind these differences is a valuable step. In particular, the joint pub- lication in Japanese and Chinese of Contentious Issues in Sino-Japanese Relations is a fascinating example little known to English-speaking readers. Mitani also calls for the eventual formation of a regional history that transcends national history. INTRODUCTION 7