June 5, 2007
Project Report Summary
Dr. Yoshida’s study surveys the way countries construct historical memory surrounding war through museums, and how these representations foster nationalism and victimization. The various museums reflect the social and political context of their time, and aid in understanding the processes necessary for reconciliation. There are two primary types of museums involved in the study: those focused on war and those focused on peace. War museums tend to glorify war and the nation, whereas peace museums exhibit suffering. By discussing various museums in the East Asian countries and how they place different values on human lives based on nationality, Yoshida argues that historical reconciliation in the region requires people to overthrow nationalist and ethnocentric ideologies, and embrace the concept of international human rights.
The nationalism displayed in the various war museums hinders reconciliation among different ethnicities in the region. The Yűshűkan War Museum in Japan attempts to sanitize portrayals of particular exhibitions, and leaves no room for alternative explanations. For example, a locomotive display fails to mention that slave laborers constructed the train. Images included in the museum convey the notion that through colonialism, Japan liberated Asia. On the other hand, the Military Museum of China emphasizes the unity of the Chinese people and their victory against Japanese aggression. It also includes exhibits representing wars against Western power and the bravery of Chinese soldiers. Yet, as Yoshida explained, the suffering of the soldiers themselves in fighting war remains invisible. The Independence Hall Museum of South Korea was built in 1987 as a response to Japanese newspapers attempting to whitewash a history of colonialism and aggression. Most artifacts relate to Japanese colonialism, and the depictions paint a picture of the good Koreans versus the evil Japanese.
A consistent thread runs through war museums such as these, and that is their ability to cultivate nationalism. Often, however, museums of peace achieve the same goal through portraying the victimization of “us.” The Peace Memorial Hall displays the suffering of repatriates from China, and Shokei Hall, constructed in 2006, exhibits the suffering of wounded soldiers who were without pensions and remained as social outcasts. Both are examples of Japanese museums whose focus on suffering is nation-oriented. The Memorial Museum of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japan underscores the nation’s wartime sufferings, but also forgiveness of Japan for the sake of international peace. The Taipei 228 Memorial Museum of Taiwan is not dedicated to South Pacific War, but, instead casts the colonial period in a positive light, and additionally argues that modernization occurred in Taiwan before it occurred in the Chinese mainland. Although it is important to show suffering and discuss its occurrence to promote reconciliation, it is also critical to create an expanded view to acknowledge the sufferings of other people worldwide.
Yoshida concludes that there are many different narratives of the South Pacific War. Japan’s colonialism and aggression is, in particular, more complicated than its war museums acknowledge, in that they continue to romanticize a monolithic notion of “us.” A consensus among East Asian societies has not yet been reached in understanding the region’s turbulent past, and public education will continue to play an important role in combating ethnocentric and nation-centered narratives concerning imperial Japan.
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