In this thesis, I aim to answer the question “how did Japanese teachers themselves view the state of postwar education during the American Occupation?”. In chapter 1, a brief overview will be given...Show moreIn this thesis, I aim to answer the question “how did Japanese teachers themselves view the state of postwar education during the American Occupation?”. In chapter 1, a brief overview will be given of the state of education and the educational reforms during the American Occupation. In chapter 2, the scholarly debate on the issues surrounding Japanese education in the Occupation period (1945-1952) will be described and analysed, as well as the scholarly debate on the views of the Japanese people on defeat and war responsibility in the direct postwar period. In chapter 3, three examples of the realities faced by teachers in Japan during the American Occupation are explored on the basis of two published diaries and one published memoir:“ How did teachers deal with defeat? Days of anguish and fumbling around - Two-year education diary (Kyōshi wa haisen dō mukaeta no ka: Kunō to mosaku no hibi― 2-Nenkan no kyōiku nisshi)” by Nagai Kenji and “War and love: a female teacher’s war and postwar diary (Ikusa to ai to: Josei kyōshi no senchū sengo nikki)” by Kobayashi Hana and Reminiscences of an Elementary School Principal (Aru shōgakkō-chō no kaisō) by Kanazawa Kaichi. The experiences of these teachers will be analysed in the broader context of the postwar education in order to get a better understanding of the “bottom-up” processes they participated in. I argue that viewing postwar education from a “bottom-up” perspective brings to light new insights on the educational reforms and their implementation, and the on experiences of teachers as under the American OccupationShow less
Compared to other recent governments, the Second Abe Administration has been seen as a government with a larger interest in nationalism and patriotic history. According to various scholars, this...Show moreCompared to other recent governments, the Second Abe Administration has been seen as a government with a larger interest in nationalism and patriotic history. According to various scholars, this nationalism is represented in Prime Minister Abe’s war commemoration statements, as in his 2013 visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. What is often overlooked in such discourse, is the fact that the current administration has now lasted for eight years and counting, and that no further visits to the shrine were actually made by Abe, despite his long-standing support for Yasukuni. It could be argued that rather than his actual visit, his restraint on further visits is more conspicuous. This study aims to determine the rationale behind Abe’s Yasukuni policy. Building on existing scholars’ work, it asks: How can the Yasukuni policy of Shinzo Abe be understood beyond the existing personal preference explanations? In this context, personal preference is defined as the affinity that prime ministers have with nationalistic interpretations of Japanese history, and how these are leading in determining their Yasukuni policies. Based on an analysis of previous prime ministers’ war commemoration statements (Murayama, Koizumi) and Abe’s personal profile, it could be argued that the Abe administration represents a shift towards nationalism. In relation to the Japanese publics approval of prime ministerial visits, surveys were held by Japan’s main news organizations which showed a slight increase in Yasukuni support over the last 15 years. While this change is generally attributed to the deterioration of Japan’s relations with neighboring countries over time, results of government surveys showed a drastic deterioration of the public’s perception of foreign relations. What these disproportionate results indicate, is that feelings of social distance between the Japanese people and their neighboring countries do not necessarily increase their support for prime ministerial Yasukuni visits. More convincing majority votes were found on surveys that asked whether the public approved on Abe’s restraint on Yasukuni visits, and whether the public found that Japan’s relations with its neighboring countries should be improved. On this basis, this research argues that restraint on the Yasukuni issue satisfies the majority of the public and is thus beneficial from a perspective of political survival. Further research is needed to adequately assess how the state of international relations will influence prime ministerial visits in the future.Show less
The thesis makes an important point in emphasizing- against much of the conventional scholarly literature on the subject- that the Russo-Japanese War is usefully seen in a broader context of...Show moreThe thesis makes an important point in emphasizing- against much of the conventional scholarly literature on the subject- that the Russo-Japanese War is usefully seen in a broader context of competing imperial powers. The conclusion brings together the various players and the war's implications for each fairly effectively.Show less
This thesis focuses on the role of the Indonesian propagandist Sutomo (or Bung Tomo) during the Indonesian revolution in Surabaya, 1945, questioning the Dutch and Indonesian different perspectives...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the role of the Indonesian propagandist Sutomo (or Bung Tomo) during the Indonesian revolution in Surabaya, 1945, questioning the Dutch and Indonesian different perspectives and memory. Nowadays in Indonesia Sutomo is remembered as a hero, yet in the Dutch historiography he is often portrayed as a war criminal, responsible for inciting the masses to kill Dutch, Eurasians and other minorities. One Dutch testimony in particular holds him accountable for the brutal massacre in the Simpang Club. This case-study analyses the different views on Indonesian anti-colonial violence during the so-called "Bersiap-period" and how Bung Tomo became the personification of these brutalities for the Dutch memory in particular. How does the latter relate to the Indonesian positive memory of him? As such, the topic of this thesis also relates to the growing academic attention to the Bersiap, in which terminology (should we call it a genocide) and the possible trigger (why did it happen) are the main topics of discussion. The first section provides a brief historical outline from the pre-war colonial situation to the Japanese occupation and finally the capitulation on August 15th, 1945. To give a clear understanding of the variety of social and political factors that led to the violent outburst of the Bersiap. The second section traces the basic history of Sutomo and his place in Surabaya and the first two months of the revolution in September and October 1945. This includes an analysis of the horrible events inside the Simpang Club. The third section pays attention to the period after he established his organization BPRI, when he became internationally known as radio-maker, actively countering Dutch propaganda. This section aims to explore the possibility of a Dutch slander campaign against him and the subsequent impact of that on the later historiography and memory. The conclusion returns to the main question on how to make sense of the conflicting memories of Bung Tomo. The conclusion also touches upon the larger question regarding the responsibility for the Bersiap and whether the term genocide is appropriate in this case.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to find out to what extend the influences of North Korea and China have been a cause for the 2015 Comfort Women Agreement between Japan and South Korea, and why.
Amid the ongoing controversy over Affirmative Action in the admissions policies of elite colleges in the US, the term “model minority,” and its implicit racial link with the Asian American...Show moreAmid the ongoing controversy over Affirmative Action in the admissions policies of elite colleges in the US, the term “model minority,” and its implicit racial link with the Asian American community, has once again resurfaced in American national discourse. As such there is an increasing need to understand the Model Minority Myth in a wider, historical perspective. Drawing on Claire-Jean Kim’s racial triangulation theory, this thesis examines how Japanese American newspapers in California during the 1930s engaged in discursive self-essentialization, and dissociation from other non-white minorities as a means of survival in American society, and by doing so inadvertently contributed to the further perpetuation of a white-dominated racial hierarchy in the United States and a further solidification of the reputation of Asian Americans as an alleged Model Minority. It then critically analyzes the work of two contemporary Asian American authors known for their embrace of the Model Minority Identity, Amy Chua and Yukong Zhao, and demonstrates how the tactics they deploy in their works reiterate discursive strategies used by their Japanese American predecessors during the Depression Era. Rather than viewing model minority discourse as a strictly American phenomenon or a product of white American agency, this thesis argues for a wider, transnational lens with which we view patterns of discrimination across borders and time, taking into account conflict and compliance, action and reaction. In this way the thesis aims to contribute to an improved understanding of systems of discrimination and oppression and, more importantly, how to dismantle them.Show less
Röling was de Nederlandse afgevaardigde aan het Tribunaal van Tokio. Hij is opmerkelijk omdat hij als enige rechter in zijn afwijkend vonnis (hierna: dissent) per beklaagde uiteenzette wat hij een...Show moreRöling was de Nederlandse afgevaardigde aan het Tribunaal van Tokio. Hij is opmerkelijk omdat hij als enige rechter in zijn afwijkend vonnis (hierna: dissent) per beklaagde uiteenzette wat hij een gepaste strafmaat vond, en omdat hij zeer kritisch was over punten waar de andere rechters niet over na (wilden) denken. Hoewel Röling dankzij de hernieuwde aandacht voor het tribunaal ook weer in de belangstelling staat is er nog niet onderzocht hoe en waarom juist Röling tot zijn dissent kwam. In dit onderzoek wordt uiteengezet wat de hoofdfactoren uit het sociaal milieu en persoonlijke leven van Bert Röling waren die ervoor gezorgd hebben dat hij een dissent besloot te publiceren, en hoe die factoren zijn dissent hebben beïnvloed. Deze factoren zijn een neiging tot het niet respecteren van de gevestigde orde; en het feit dat hij door zijn nieuwsgierigheid, zorgvuldigheid en ruimdenkendheid over stereotypes heen kon stappen. Hierdoor kwam hij ook in contact met Japanners die zijn dissent verder beïnvloedden.Show less
Propaganda exists in many shapes and sizes: pamphlets, stories in newspapers and magazines, film, leaflets or speeches on the radio. Around the world, this type of psychological warfare has been...Show morePropaganda exists in many shapes and sizes: pamphlets, stories in newspapers and magazines, film, leaflets or speeches on the radio. Around the world, this type of psychological warfare has been used to convince the enemy that their cause is lost and the home front that they are on the winning side.The same was the case in Southeast Asia during the Asia-Pacific War, where Japan propagated a Great East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. For this thesis I will examine Japanese propaganda in Indonesia and - more specifically - if this propaganda has developed or contributed to Indonesian national consciousness.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to investigate and examine Shinzo Abe’s proposed redefinition of Japanese nationalism from minzokushugi to kokuminshugi, and to place this redefinition within Japan’s...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to investigate and examine Shinzo Abe’s proposed redefinition of Japanese nationalism from minzokushugi to kokuminshugi, and to place this redefinition within Japan’s larger historical inclusion/exclusion discourse through the redefining of Japan’s ‘Japaneseness’. The first part of this thesis explains the theoretical framework in which this thesis investigates its research aim. This framework is composed of Foucault’s governmentality, Benedict Anderson’s ‘Imagined Communities’, the IR theory of Constructivism and Takeo David Hymans’ theory of the ‘Politics of Memory’. The purpose of this theoretical framework is to breakdown the distorted and contested memories that are used to shift the boundaries of Japan’s ‘Japaneseness’. This framework is furthered by examining the various theories of the Homogenous Nation theory, Mixed Nation theory, and National Polity theory and how they were used within Japan to (re)define the concept of Japaneseness. In the second part, this thesis examines how this constantly shifting concept of Japaneseness was used to assimilate different minzoku into the Japanese empire. This is initially done by examining how the Ainu and Okinawans were made a part of the Japanese consciousness and how this was achieved through the use of distorted memories. The breaking down of Japan’s distorted narratives is further progressed by examining Japan’s contemporary form of ‘memory politics’ through examining Shinzo Abe’s proposed redefinition of Japan’s nationalism. This thesis argues that while Shinzo Abe’s redefinition towards kokuminshugi can be seen as an attempt to move ‘towards a beautiful country’, it should instead be seen as Abe’s attempt to escape the colonial and post-war narratives that still plague Japanese nationalism today. In conclusion, this thesis argues that Shinzo Abe’s proposed redefinition of Japanese nationalism is not a new phenomenon but instead apart of a larger historical trend within Japan. This trend consists of the boundaries of Japan’s Japaneseness being (re)shifted in order to accommodate Japan’s political aims and agendas of the time. Consequently, the constant redefinition of Japan’s Japaneseness creates the situation where the existences of these minorities (Ainu, Okinawans, Zainichi Koreans, etc.) become distorted in the imagined history of the Japanese nation-state and are blurred into a singular ethnography.Show less
In deze scriptie wordt de 28 december 2015 akkoord omtrent troostmeisjes tussen Japan en Zuid-Korea geanalyseerd aan de hand van Japanse krantenartikelen.
By comparing historical narratives that coincided in WW II, I intend to examine how the national identities of the Netherlands and South Korea contrasted with one another and illustrate how the...Show moreBy comparing historical narratives that coincided in WW II, I intend to examine how the national identities of the Netherlands and South Korea contrasted with one another and illustrate how the former Comfort Women have been represented within their own social constructs thereafter. A crucial reason for partaking in a historical comparison, between the Netherlands and South Korea, is to combine a lesser documented case with a case which has received substantially more coverage in academia and the media. By examining historical events, I propose to shift the perspective from gaining formal recognition and compensation from the Japanese government, which is often the point of view in the media and an often discussed topic by academics, to instead: How were the former Comfort Women treated and represented by their own society after WW II? It is important to examine the Comfort Women Issue from a different perspective because the perspective of the society of which the former Comfort Women are a part of, holds as much significance in historical terms of accountability as the issue of the Japanese government’s reticence to offer satisfactory recompense.Show less
Since December 2012, with the political comeback of Prime Minister Abe Shinzō, Japan has been shifting its domestic policy in a more conservative direction, while at the same time opting for an...Show moreSince December 2012, with the political comeback of Prime Minister Abe Shinzō, Japan has been shifting its domestic policy in a more conservative direction, while at the same time opting for an assertive foreign policy involving a more resolute and proactive defense stance. Notwithstanding the political victories reported by the Abe government on both fronts, internal opposition to the new bills has been strong and widespread, involving not only the opposition parties, but also the LDP’s coalition partner Kōmeitō and public opinion. A wide range of protests and political activities have been held in Tokyo and in other major cities throughout the country against the government’s policies; among them, those organized by the group known as SEALDs have generated the greatest interest in the media and in the public. Because SEALDs’ relevance in the wider context of civil society in Japan has not been fully investigated yet, this thesis seeks to analyze SEALDs from a comparative perspective, with a view to clarifying the social and cultural roots of the group, and its originality in the context of contemporary Japanese social movements. Such a study would shed light on the political implications of the activities of SEALDs and on their potentiality to affect policymaking and public participation in civil society in contemporary Japan.Show less
