Memory as the Continuation of Politics by Other Means. Yoshida Shigeru’s Japan’s Decisive Century

Bibliographic Data

ID21545554
AuthorsNoemi Lanna (Università degli studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” Italia, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume80
Issue1-2
Pages160-176
Publication date2020-06-19
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnali Sezione Orientale (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0393-3180 • E-ISSN: 2468-5631
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/24685631-12340097
OpenAlexW3022829897
LanguageEN
References cited8

This article analyses the role that diplomat and political leader Yoshida Shigeru (1878–1967) played in shaping postwar Japan’s politics of commemoration, with a focus on the book Japan’s Decisive Century (1967). It identifies, first, the distinctive elements characterising the historical narrative of modern Japan proposed in the book. It then explores Yoshida’s arguments in the light of the political and cultural climate of the 1960s. In particular, it investigates the influence of modernization theory and it considers the analogies and differences between the narratives of war, postwar and modernity presented in Japan’s Decisive Century and the historical interpretations underpinning the government-sponsored initiatives for commemorating the Meiji Centennial (1968). Ultimately, this article seeks to shed light on the implications of Yoshida’s proposed representation of history on the process of identity building in postwar Japan

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Centennial · Economic history · Literature · Meiji period · Modernity · Modernization theory · Narrative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · History · Law · Philosophy

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