Military cemeteries, memorials and community: war and memory in Postwar Japan

Abstract

In Postwar Japan, war memory in Japanese communities is a kaleidoscope of the individual and community's experiences. With such varied memories of its wartime experience, the manner and act itself of memorializing the war dead is not only the concern of the bereaved family, but wed to the interests of their communities and the ultimately, the State. This panel will dis- cuss various Japanese memorials to its war dead, past, present, and future. Keiichi Harada focuses on public Japanese military cemeteries (gun'yo bochi), explaining their foundation and administrative structure. He describes their transformation from a "military" to a "public" space during wartime, and their state and local administration in the postwar following the abolition of Japan's armed forces. Barry Keith discusses the ambitious wartime project to build a war memorial in each of Japan's town- ships, as promoted by The Greater Japan Association to Exalt the Loyal Spirits (Dai Nihon Chûrei Kenshô Kai). Nam Sangu investigates the construction of war memorials in Chiba prefecture and ways in which communities there remembered their war dead. All presentations discuss on memorials' history and their roles within their communities, and will touch on the future of Japanese war memorials as war-era society ages and eventually disappears.