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Japan's History Textbooks Debate: National Identity in Narratives of Victimhood and Victimization

Japan's History Textbooks Debate: National Identity in Narratives of Victimhood and Victimization This article examines the narratives of wartime victimhood and victimization in Japan's junior high school history textbooks in the early 1980s and in contemporary times from the perspective of national identity. Unlike most existing scholarship, this article argues that the narrative regarding the wartime suffering of the Japanese people can be seen as inducing a critical perspective on imperial wars and their disastrous impact on ordinary people. It also argues that contemporary narratives contest the notion of a monolithic Japanese identity and challenge Japan's monopoly over writing its own national history. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Asian Survey University of California Press

Japan's History Textbooks Debate: National Identity in Narratives of Victimhood and Victimization

Bukh, Alexander
Asian Survey , Volume 47 (5) – Sep 1, 2007
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Publisher
University of California Press
Copyright
Copyright © by the University of California Press
Subject
Articles
ISSN
0004-4687
eISSN
1533-838X
DOI
10.1525/as.2007.47.5.683
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article examines the narratives of wartime victimhood and victimization in Japan's junior high school history textbooks in the early 1980s and in contemporary times from the perspective of national identity. Unlike most existing scholarship, this article argues that the narrative regarding the wartime suffering of the Japanese people can be seen as inducing a critical perspective on imperial wars and their disastrous impact on ordinary people. It also argues that contemporary narratives contest the notion of a monolithic Japanese identity and challenge Japan's monopoly over writing its own national history.

Journal

Asian Survey – University of California Press

Published: Sep 1, 2007

Keywords: Japan textbooks national identity historical memory victimhood

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