This book provides a fresh approach to understanding the origins and possible future direction of the Northeast Asia history wars. Leading scholars in history, literary studies, and education present the complex issue in a historical context by assessing its political and cultural dimensions, particularly with regards to relations between Japan and Korea. Their essays also touch on the significance of civil society efforts to advance peaceful reconciliation and the social and political forces that have worked to frustrate such efforts since 1945. At its core, this volume explores the political significance in the gap between Korean and Japanese civil society versus governmental efforts to resolve issues lingering from the Pacific War in Asia; the significance of cultural as well as political efforts to understanding historical and contemporary relations among Northeast Asian neighboring states; and specific factorssuch as textbook reform, revised school curricula, and civil society education efforts that are working to ameliorate the heretofore deadlocked history wars.

Marks the first edited collection approaching Japanese-Korean relations from a historical perspective Provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the history wars by bringing together experts in literature, history, government, law, and media studies Appeals to policymakers and activists due to inclusion of the voices of NGO experts in civil society organizations in the project

Autorentext
Michael Lewis is Professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. He is a historian of modern Japan and its influence on modern East Asian societies and politics. He has written major studies of mass protests in Japan and popular movements for and against the prewar Japanese empire.

Inhalt
Preface: Retrospect and Prospect in Northeast Asia's History Wars .- 1. Introduction: History Wars in Postwar East Asia, 1945-2014 .- 2. Remembering Colonial Korea in Postwar Japan .- 3. The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Postcolonial Japan: State, Shrine, and Honor for Ethnic Veterans, the Fallen, and their Bereaved .- 4. The East Asian History Elective in Korean High Schools: An Attempt at Reflective Education in Transnational Space .- 5. Japanese Textbooks in the Asian History Wars: The Waning Importance of Weapons of Mass Instruction .- 6. The Controversy over the Ancient Korean State of Gaya: A Fresh Look at Korea-Japan History War .- 7. Young Poets under the Shadow of War: Yun Dong-ju and Tachihara Michiz .- 8. Oda Makoto and Literary Reconciliation: The Rise of Civil Societies in Japan and Korea in the Wake of the Asia-Pacific War .- 9. Comfort Women Bashing and Japan's Social Formation of Hegemonic Masculinity