Description
Book SynopsisJapanese memories of World War II exert a powerful influence over the nation’s society and culture. Michael Lucken explores how the war manifested in literature, art, film, funerary practices, and education reform, creating an idea of Japanese identity that still resonates from soap operas to the response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Trade ReviewIn this highly readable book, Michael Lucken combines an encyclopedic overview of Japan's diverse conflicts over the memory of WWII with a razor-sharp dissection of their historical origins. At the core of this, Lucken argues, lies the fateful interplay between wartime ideologies and Japan's American-brokered entry into the postwar world. -- Franziska Seraphim, Boston College Michael Lucken's The Japanese and the War provides, in the form of a wonderfully curated collection of insightful and instructive vignettes, both a comprehensive overview and an intimate portrayal of trans-war Japanese society. The work skillfully ties together the disparate fields of visual and material culture, the experience of all-out war, and the politics of war memory. Deftly translated, the book is a pleasure to read. -- Akiko Takenaka, University of Kentucky Michael Lucken skillfully combines a cultural history of wartime Japan with an account of how narratives and memories of the conflict emerged during the occupation and beyond. For those seeking to understand the roots of Japan's "memory wars" and the "history issue" in Asia, this book is an excellent place to start. -- Philip Seaton, Hokkaido University
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments A Note on Names Introduction 1. The Nation Out to Conquer 2. A Totalitarian Dynamic, 1940-1945 3. The Meaning of the War 4. Heroes and the Dead 5. Fear and Destruction 6. Postwar Complexities 7. The American Occupation, or the Present Versus the Past 8. The Plurality of History 9. Individual Conscience and Collective Inertia 10. Memory and Religion 11. From Monument to Museum: The Difficult Path to Healing Conclusion Notes Index
