Here you can find a number of secondary literature relevant to war memory in both Japan and Singapore. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather a guide to a few examples of scholarship the viewer might find useful in investigating this theme. The 'General' section includes a non-comprehensive selection of works that may be useful to the student/scholar of memory studies, as well as links to journal article search engines. The 'Malaysia and Singapore' section includes a list of works that students/scholars focusing on the topic as it is treated in Singapore and Malaysia may find relevant.
Bodies of Memory by
Japan and the United States became close political allies so quickly after the end of World War II, that it seemed as though the two countries had easily forgotten the war they had fought. Here Yoshikuni Igarashi offers a provocative look at how Japanese postwar society struggled to understand its war loss and the resulting national trauma, even as forces within the society sought to suppress these memories. Igarashi argues that Japan's nationhood survived the war's destruction in part through a popular culture that expressed memories of loss and devastation more readily than political discourse ever could. He shows how the desire to represent the past motivated Japan's cultural productions in the first twenty-five years of the postwar period. Japanese war experiences were often described through narrative devices that downplayed the war's disruptive effects on Japan's history. Rather than treat these narratives as obstacles to historical inquiry, Igarashi reads them along with counter-narratives that attempted to register the original impact of the war. He traces the tensions between remembering and forgetting by focusing on the body as the central site for Japan's production of the past. This approach leads to fascinating discussions of such diverse topics as the use of the atomic bomb, hygiene policies under the U.S. occupation, the monstrous body of Godzilla, the first Western professional wrestling matches in Japan, the transformation of Tokyo and the athletic body for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and the writer Yukio Mishima's dramatic suicide, while providing a fresh critical perspective on the war legacy of Japan.
Confronting Memories of World War II by
The legacy of the Second World War has been, like the war itself, an international phenomenon. In both Europe and Asia, common questions of criminality, guilt, and collaboration have intersected with history and politics on the local level to shape the way that wartime experience has been memorialized, reinterpreted, and used. By directly comparing European and Asian legacies, "Confronting Memories of World War II, " provides unique insight into the way that World War II continues to influence contemporary attitudes and politics on a global scale. The collection brings together experts from a variety of disciplines and perspectives to explore the often overlooked commonalities between European and Asian handling of memories and reflections about guilt. These commonalities suggest new understandings of the war's legacy and the continuing impact of historical trauma.
Embracing Defeat by
Drawing on a vast range of Japanese sources and illustrated with dozens of astonishing documentary photographs, Embracing Defeat is the fullest and most important history of the more than six years of American occupation, which affected every level of Japanese society, often in ways neither side could anticipate. Dower, whom Stephen E. Ambrose has called "America's foremost historian of the Second World War in the Pacific," gives us the rich and turbulent interplay between West and East, the victor and the vanquished, in a way never before attempted, from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes and fears of men and women in every walk of life. Already regarded as the benchmark in its field, Embracing Defeat is a work of colossal scholarship and history of the very first order. John W. Dower is the Elting E. Morison Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for War Without Mercy.
Flowers That Kill by
Flowers are beautiful. People often communicate their love, sorrow, and other feelings to each other by offering flowers, like roses. Flowers can also be symbols of collective identity, as cherry blossoms are for the Japanese. But, are they also deceptive? Do people become aware when their meaning changes, perhaps as flowers are deployed by the state and dictators? Did people recognize that the roses they offered to Stalin and Hitler became a propaganda tool? Or were they like the Japanese, who, including the soldiers, did not realize when the state told them to fall like cherry blossoms, it meant their deaths? Flowers That Kill proposes an entirely new theoretical understanding of the role of quotidian symbols and their political significance to understand how they lead people, if indirectly, to wars, violence, and even self-exclusion and self-destruction precisely because symbolic communication is full of ambiguity and opacity. Using a broad comparative approach, Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney illustrates how the aesthetic and multiple meanings of symbols, and at times symbols without images become possible sources for creating opacity which prevents people from recognizing the shifting meaning of the symbols.
Japan's Contested War Memories by
Japan's Contested War Memories is an important and significant book that explores the struggles within contemporary Japanese society to come to terms with Second World War history. Focusing particularly on 1972 onwards, the period starts with the normalization of relations with China and the return of Okinawa to Japan in 1972, and ends with the sixtieth anniversary commemorations. Analyzing the variety of ways in which the Japanese people narrate, contest and interpret the past, the book is also a major critique of the way the subject has been treated in much of the English-language. Philip Seaton concludes that war history in Japan today is more divisive and widely argued over than in any of the other major Second World War combatant nations. Providing a sharp contrast to the many orthodox statements about Japanese 'ignorance', amnesia' and 'denial' about the war, this is an engaging and illuminating study that will appeal to scholars and students of Japanese history, politics, cultural studies, society and memory theory.
Japan's Military Masters by
Effective socialization of new student affairs professionals is essential--both for the individual success of these practitioners, and for the work of a college or university that promotes student learning. It enables new professionals to manage the important personal and professional transitions they experience throughout their careers, engage in continuous professional development, and achieve high levels of productivity. It also counteracts the high attrition rate among new hires, with all the attendant costs to the institution in terms of resources spent on recruiting, hiring, training, supervising, and developing staff talent. The socialization process for new professionals includes formal and informal elements that influence both success and quality of work life. This process is far more complex than a single orientation program organized by a unit or division. Rather, it is a comprehensive process where both the new professional and organization learn about and from each other in ways that influence working relationships and individual and organizational outcomes. Part I of this book defines the concept, explains its value, and offers a model of socialization. Part II examines the institutional context in which the socialization of new professionals occurs, and describes how different institutional types influence the socialization process. It considers the changing characteristics of college students, and how these impact the work of student affairs. In addressing the extra-institutional and professional contexts, Part III considers the role that graduate education plays in preparing new professionals for work in student affairs, and offers guidance to faculty and practitioners involved in graduate education about what they can do to introduce graduate students to professional life. It addresses the importance of professional orientation activities, the roles of supervision and mentorship, as well as the impact of peers and institutions on the socialization process. It concludes with a discussion of the role and importance of professional associations. This book is intended for graduate program faculty, for senior student affairs officers concerned about developing and retaining the new staff, and for administrators and leaders in student affairs shaping the future of the profession. For new professionals themselves it offers insights on the path to professionalization.
Nation and Nationalism in Japan by
Nationalism was one of the most important forces in 20th century Japan. This work brings together scholars to consider Japanese nationalism in a variety of its aspects.
Ordinary Men by
The shocking account of how a unit of average middle-aged Germans became the cold-blooded murderers of tens of thousands of Jews.
The Politics of War Memory in Japan by
Since the 1990s, questions of Japanese wartime conduct, apologies for aggression, and compensation to former victims of the country s imperial policies, have been brought to the fore of national and regional politics. The state is undoubtedly the most important actor in the process of memory production and along with conservative legislators and the grass-root revisionist movement there has been a consistent trend towards denying or undermining the existing acknowledgments of responsibility for Japan s wartime past. However, to fully comprehend war memory in Japan, due attention must be paid to competing discourses that demand an alternative view, and only then can the complexity of Japanese war memory and attitudes towards the legacies of the Asia-Pacific war be understood. " The Politics of War Memory in Japan" examines the involvement of five civil society actors in the struggle over remembering and addressing the wartime past in Japan today. In studying progressive war memory activists, it quickly becomes clear that the apologia by conservative politicians cannot be treated as representative of the opinion of the majority of the Japanese public. Indeed, this book seeks to remedy the disparity between studies devoted to the official level of addressing the history issue and the grass-root historical revisionist movement on the one side, and progressive activism on the other. Furthermore, it contributes to scholarly debates on the state of civil society in Japan, challenging the characterisation of Japanese civil society as a depoliticised space by demonstrating a more contentious side of civil society activism. Drawing important new empirical research, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Japanese civil society, Japanese politics, Japanese history and memory in Japan."
Remembering War by
This is a masterful volume on remembrance and war in the twentieth century. Jay Winter locates the fascination with the subject of memory within a long-term trajectory that focuses on the Great War. Images, languages, and practices that appeared during and after the two world wars focused on the need to acknowledge the victims of war and shaped the ways in which future conflicts were imagined and remembered. At the core of the "memory boom” is an array of collective meditations on war and the victims of war, Winter says. The book begins by tracing the origins of contemporary interest in memory, then describes practices of remembrance that have linked history and memory, particularly in the first half of the twentieth century. The author also considers "theaters of memory”--film, television, museums, and war crimes trials in which the past is seen through public representations of memories. The book concludes with reflections on the significance of these practices for the cultural history of the twentieth century as a whole.
Rewriting Japanese History by
The controversy over official state-approved history textbooks in Japan, which omit or play down many episodes of Japan's occupation of neighbouring countries during the Asia-Pacific War (1931-1945), and which have been challenged by critics who favour more critical, peace and justice perspectives, goes to the heart of Japan's sense of itself as a nation. The degree to which Japan is willing to confront its past is not just about history, but also about how Japan defines itself at present, and going forward. This book examines the history textbook controversy in Japan. It sets the controversy in the context of debates about memory, and education, and in relation to evolving politics both within Japan, and in Japan's relations with its neighbours and former colonies and countries it invaded. It discusses in particular the struggles of Ienaga Saburo, who has made crucial contributions, including through three epic lawsuits, in challenging the official government position. Winner of the American Educational Research Association 2009 Outstanding Book Award in the Curriculum Studies category.
Routledge Handbook of Memory and Reconciliation in East Asia by
Decades after the end of the World War II East Asia continues to struggle with lingering animosities and unresolved historical grievances in domestic, bilateral and regional memory landscapes. China, Japan and the Korea share a history of inter- and intra-violence, self-other identity construction and diametrically opposed interpretations of the past. Routledge Handbook of Memory and Reconciliation in East Asiaoffers a complete overview of the challenges of national memory and ideological rivalry for reconciliation in the East Asian region. Chapters provide authoritative analyses of contentious issues such as comfort women, the Nanjing massacre, history textbook controversies, shared heritage sites, colonial rule, territorial disputes and restitution. By interweaving memory, human rights and reconciliation the contributors actively explore real prospects of redressing past wrongs and achieving peaceful coexistence at personal as well as governmental levels. Bringing together an international team of experts, this book is an essential read for students and scholars of East Asian studies, anthropology, gender studies, history, international relations, law, political science, and sociology, and for those interested in memory and reconciliation issues.
Southeast Asia in Modern Japanese Thought : The Development and Transformation of "Nanshin Ron" by 
War Memory and Social Politics in Japan, 1945-2005 by
This text unravels the political dynamics in that governed the place of war memory in public life. Far from reconciling with the victims of imperialism, conservative administrations have left the memory of the war to representatives of citizen movements, all of whom used war memory to further their own interests.
Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering by
Remembering and reconstructing the past inevitably involves forgetting--and nowhere more so than in the complex relationship between the United States and Japan since the end of World War II. In this provocative and probing series of essays, John W. Dower--one of our leading historians of postwar Japan and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Embracing Defeat--explores the uses and abuses to which this history has been subjected and, with deliberation and insight, affirms the urgent need for scholars to ask the questions that are not being asked. Taking as a starting point the work of E.H. Norman, the unjustly neglected historian of prewar Japan, Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering sets out both to challenge historiographical orthodoxy and reveal the configurations of power inherent in scholarly and popular discourse in Japan and America. Dower’s fascination with capturing popular experience leads to sources as far ranging as textiles adorned with wartime propaganda and the satirical cartoon panels that decorate traditional karuta playing cards. Dower, who is rightly known as one of the most perceptive critics of American foreign policy, also offers a blistering critique of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the misuse of postwar Japan as an example of success. Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering is a profound look at American and Japanese perceptions--past and present--of key moments in their shared history. An incisive investigation of the problems of public history and its role in a modern democracy, these essays are essential reading for anyone interested in postwar U.S.-Japan relations, as well as the broader discipline of history.
Diaspora at War by
Much of what has been written on Singapore's wartime past is set against the Japanese invasion and occupation of the island. In "Diaspora at War: The Chinese of Singapore between Empire and Nation 1937 - 1945," Ernest Koh maps a war history that is far wider in geographical and temporal scope. From the skies over Western Europe and the Mediterranean to the Burma Road, from the Atlantic Ocean to the cities of China, individuals and small groups of Chinese from the British colony worked, fought, and flew in a variety of fighting and labour units. Drawing from oral history accounts and archival sources, Koh recovers a rich and insightful historical reality that has long been submerged under the weight of a teleological national narrative.
Did Singapore Have to Fall? by
This volume provides a summary of up-to-date knowledge on the Fall of Singapore, including the critical tensions between Churchill and local commanders. A focus on the role of Churchill, and on his understanding of the guns and Singapore's fortifications, makes the Fortress central to understanding why and how Singapore fell as it did. The book includes a range of quotations that give the flavour of the time and the essence of the debates and allows the reader to get a clear overview of the base, the plans, the campaign, the guns and the remaining heritage.
Guns of February by
Guns of February shows the Fall of Singapore and Japan's 1941 military campaign in Malaya through the eyes of Japanese soldiers who took part, based on interviews, memoirs, war diaries, and other Japanese-language sources. Although an enormous number of books have been published on Japan's wartime advance into Southeast Asia, few books in English make much use of Japanese sources, and they reveal little of what happened on the Japanese side. In the words of the author, the Japanese"'advance by brigade groups', 'outflank the defence', 'sustain many casualties', and remain altogether a largely faceless mass bicycling their way down to Singapore." In Guns of February some of the voices of these soldiers are finally heard, and they tell a fascinating story. A few of them were professional soldiers who served their country with commitment and dedication, but many were conscripts hoping to stay alive, curious and apprehensive about the countries they entered, and moved by the plight of the people whose cities and towns they sometimes destroyed. Many were young men, interested in girls and in the sights and sounds of Southeast Asia, but also missing their families and the familiar world of Japan. It is a picture far removed from the staple view of the remorseless and fanatic Japanese soldier totally devoted to his Emperor and determined to die for his country. In writing this account of the Japanese advance on Singapore, the author attempted to show the universal humanity of the actors concerned.
Japanese Cultural Policies in Southeast Asia During World War II by 
New Perspectives on the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore by
Information on the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore is sparse, and Japanese-language materials are particularly difficult to find because the Japanese military systematically destroyed war-related documents when the war ended. The contributors to this volume participated in a Forum that spent four years locating surviving materials relating to the Occupation of Malaya. The group had three objectives: to collect primary sources, to interview Japanese military and civilian officials who took part in the military administration and people in Malaysia and Singapore who experienced the period, and to publish the results of the studies. Based on interviews with Japanese, Malaysians and Singaporeans who lived through the war years and materials gathered from archives and libraries in Britain, Malaysia, Singapore, USA, Australia, and India, the Forum has produced a number of Japanese-language publications. This book makes available some of their research findings in English. Topics covered include the Watanabe Military Administration, Japanese research activities in Malaya, Japan's Economic Policies, Malayan Communist Party Leaders and the Anti-Japanese Resistance, the Massacre of Chinese in Singapore, Railway Transportation during the Japanese Occupation Period, The Singapore Internment Camp for Allied Civilian Women, and the Japanese Surrender. This volume is a revised version of Akashi Yoji, ed., Nippon Senryoka no Eiryo Maraya/Shingaporu (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten Publishers Co., 2001).
War and Memory in Malaysia and Singapore by
This volume consists of selected papers presented at a workshop on War and Memory in Malaysia and Singapore to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of World War II, plus two additional papers. The papers reveal the importance of oral history where documentary records are lacking. The excavation of memory covering classes, communities and localities throws up the multiplicity and complexity of memory, deeply layered and richly textured, especially because of the complex nature of society in Malaysia and Singapore. As the generation of those who fought in the war and suffered as its victims is gradually passing, the reflections on war and memory contained in this volume are timely.
War Memory and the Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore by
Singapore fell to Japanese forces on 15 February 1942. Within a matter of days, the occupying army took prisoner more than 100,000 British, Australian and Indian soldiers, and massacred thousands of Chinese civilians. A resistance movement formed in Malaya's jungle-covered mountains, but the vast majority of people could do little but resign themselves to life under Japanese rule. The Occupation of Malaya would last three and a half years, until the British returned in September 1945. How is this period remembered? And how have individuals, communities, and states shaped and reshaped collections in the post-war era as the events of the time slipped out of living memory? This volume uses observations gathered from members of various communities involved in or affected by the conflict -- Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, British and Australians to respond to these questions. Its young women who flocked to the Japanese-sponsored Indian National Army, hoping to march on Delhi. The authors also draw on other forms of memory, including the soaring pillars of Singapore's Civilian War Memorial and traditional Chinese cemeteries in Malaysia. In preparing this volume, the authors have reinserted previously marginalized or self-censored voices back into the story in a way that allows them to reflect on the nature of conflict and memory. Moreover, these voices speak of the searing transit from war and massacre through resistance and decolonization to the molding of postcolonial state and identities.
シンガポール華僑粛清―日本軍はシンガポールで何をしたのか (The Singapore Chinese Cleansing) by 
マラヤの日本軍―ネグリセンビラン州における華人虐殺 (The Japanese Army in Malaya: Massacre of Chinese at Negeri Sembilan) by 
華僑虐殺―日本軍支配下のマレー半島 (The Overseas Chinese Massacre: Malaya under the Japanese Army) by The following journal articles are part of a body of scholarship which the author has found personally useful for investigating this theme, and is not meant to be a comprehensive selection. For access to more articles, please refer to the 'Journal Articles (Databases)' tab on the left of this page.
