Nov 13,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Scenario of Japan’s Fault II

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’h statement on the seventieth anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Asia-Pacific War evoked mixed reactions from commentators. Some media reports were critical of its vagueness and of the historical narrative it presented. Others found hope in the fact that that Abe repeatedly referred to the need to “engrave in our hearts […]

Tessa Morris-Suzuki

Historical denialism , JSHTC , National identity , Strategic information diplomacy

Sep 18,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Scenario of Japan’s Fault

As the fiftieth anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Asia-Pacific War approached in the summer of 1995, the Japanese Diet debated a resolution, which, it was hoped, would lay the ghosts of the past to rest. The aim was to present a national statement of memory and remorse, broadly supported across the political spectrum and […]

Tessa Morris-Suzuki

Abe Statement , History problem , National identity , Regionalism