Inherited Memory: a Comparison of How World War II
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Inherited Memory A Qualitative Study of How World War II Influences the Japanese Postwar Generation Submitted in fulfillment of the final project requirement for the Diploma of Process Work from the Process Work Center of Portland Graduate School by Ayako Fujisaki, M.A. November, 2003 TABLE OF CONTENTS AKNOW LEDGEMENTS ……………..…………………………………………………………….. i ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………………… iii I INTRO DUCTIO N………………………………..………………………………………………1 Research Purpose ………………………………………………......…………………… 5 Method ……………………………………………………………..……………………… 8 Introduction to Process W ork …………………………………………………………... 9 W orldwork ………………………………………………………...………………….. 10 Deep Dem ocracy……………………………………………...…………………… 11 Fields ………………………………………………………………………………….. 12 Role/Tim espirits ……………………………………………………………………… 12 G hosts ………………………………………………………………………...………. 13 Hot Spots …………………………………………………………………………….. 14 Overview of This Thesis ………………………………………………………………… 14 II METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………………………………………. 19 Methodology ……………………………………………………...…………………….. 19 Focus G roups ………………………………………………………………………... 21 Evaluation of This Study ……………………………………………………………. 24 Placem ent of Literature Review …………………………………………………. 26 Current Study …………………………………………………………………………….. 27 Participants ………………………………………………………………………….. 27 Q uestions …………………………………………………………………………….. 29 Analysis ………………………………………………………………………….……. 30 Ethical Considerations ……………………………………………………..………. 31 Issue of Translation ……………………………………………………………..…… 33 Sum m ary ……………………………………………………………………………..…… 34 III SUBJECTIVITY OF THE RESEACHER ………………………………………………….…… 35 Me, My Dream , the W ar and Process W ork ……………………………….………. 36 Mem ories …………………………………………………………………….………. 36 Process W ork and My High Dream ………………………………………..…….. 41 Next Step ……………………………………………………………….……………. 44 The East Asian Open Forum ………………………………………..…………………. 46 Sum m ary of the East Asian Forum ……………………………..………………… 47 My Bias …………………………………………………………..……………………. 50 Innerwork on the Polarities ……………………………………..……………………… 53 My Innerwork ………………………………………………….…………………….. 54 Learning from the Innerwork ………………………………..……………………. 58 Reflection on Myself ………………………………………..……………………… 60 Sum m ary …………………………………………………………..……………………... 61 IV FINDINGS ………………………………………………….……………………………….. 63 1) W artim e Stories …………………………………….………………………………… 63 Hardship and Struggles …………………….……….…………………………….. 64 Shortage of Food and O ther G oods ….…………………………………. 64 Loss of Fam ily Mem bers …………………………………………………….. 65 Tokko (Special Higher Police); Restriction of Speech …………………. 66 Experience of Being Attacked ……………………………………………. 67 Luck and Miracles …………………..……………………………………………... 68 Luxurious Life ………………………………………………………………………… 69 Death of the O ther Side ………………………………………………………….. 70 W ar in the Present …………………………………………………………………. 71 2) Perception of the Stories …………..………………………………………………. 72 Sense of Taboo …………………………………………………………………….. 72 Desire to Know the W ar Generation’s Feeling and Thoughts ……………... 74 No Reality ……………………………………………………………………….……. 75 3) Responsibility of the Postwar Generation ………………………………………. 76 W e are not responsible ……………………………………………………………. 77 W e are responsible …………………………………………………………………. 77 2) W ar in the Relationship to People of Other Nationality ………………………. 78 Hatred from Others …………………………………………………………………. 78 Mutual Understanding …………………………………………………………….. 79 G uilt …………………………………………………………………………………… 80 Sum m ary …………………………….……………………………………………………. 82 V DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………………………… 85 Collective Mem ory of W orld W ar II for Japan …………………………………….. 85 Collective Mem ory …………………………………………………………………. 88 Influence of Collective Mem ory on Individual Mem ory …………………….. 90 Sense of Taboo ………………………………………………………………………….. 92 Unspoken Agreem ent ………….………………………………………………….. 93 Hotspots ………………………………………………………………………………. 95 G hosts …………..………………………………………………………………………… 97 The Killer ……………………………………………………………………………. 100 The Authority ……………………………………………………………………… 102 The Sufferer …………..…………………………………………………………… 104 The Dead ………………………………………………………………………….. 106 W ar as National Traum a ……………………………………………………………… 106 Avoidance of Responsibility …………………………………………………….. 108 Avoidance of Pain …………...…………………………………………………… 115 Issue of Rank ……………………………………………………………………….. 118 Issue of G uilt ……….……………………………………………………………….. 121 Conclusions …………..,………………………………………………………………... 123 Recom m endation for the Postwar Generation …………………………………. 124 Postwar Generation as Co-Creator of the Collective Mem ory ………….. 126 W eaving Ghosts into the Collective Mem ory ……………………………….. 128 Sum m ary ………………………………………………………………………………… 129 VI CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………..…………. 131 Review of My Study …………………………………………………………………... 131 Mem ory of W orld W ar II for the Japanese postwar generation …………. 134 The Roles of the Perpetrator and the Victim …………………………………. 136 The Function of Mem ories ………………………………………………………... 141 Contribution to Process W ork ……………………………………………………….. 142 Contribution to My Awareness ……………………………………………………… 143 Lim itations of This Study …………..………………………………………………….. 145 Future Studies …………………………………………………………………………... 146 EPILOGUE ……………..………………………………………………………………………. 149 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………………… 151 APPENDICES ……………..……………………………………………………………………. 159 Appendix A …………………………………………………………………………….. 159 Appendix B ……………………………………………………………………………… 161 Appendix C ……………..………………………….…………………………………... 163 Appendix D ……………..………………………….…………………………………... 175 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I deeply appreciate the people who have supported and guided m e through this study. First, I want to thank those who participated in the study. Their willingness to share their experiences around such a controversial topic m ade this study possible. I am very thankful to Dr. Lee Spark Jones, who was m y advisor, for her incredible guidance, generous support and excellent editing work. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Arnold M indell for bringing Process W ork into the world, which gave m e hope for a world without war. I am also indebted to Dr. M ax Schupbach. His interest and understanding of Japanese culture was a true inspiration for m y work. I also want to thank Dr. Julie Diam ond, Dr. Salom e Schwarz and Dr. Jan Dworkin for their ongoing support of m y Process W ork studies. I am very appreciative of Francie Townes and Ada Rivera for their editing work and inspiring feedback. Finally, I owe special thanks to m y husband, Gary Had for his endless support, encouragem ent and excitem ent for m y work. - i - ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores m em ories of W orld W ar II that have been inherited from the war generation by the postwar generation. In East Asian affairs, tensions resulting from unresolved W orld W ar II issues rem ain, both within Japan and between Asian countries. Now that alm ost 60 years has passed since the end of W orld W ar II, the issue of m em ories of the war, as well as the issue of com pensation, has becom e crucial. The purpose of m y study is to investigate what m em bers of the Japanese postwar generation actually rem em ber about W orld W ar II, and how the war still influences them . To this end, I interviewed eight Japanese people who were born after W orld W ar II, using focus groups as m y approach to data collection. Them atic analysis was used for date analysis. The views and experiences of participants in m y study support the suggestion found in related literature (Ishida, 2000) that Japanese people have a collective m em ory of victim hood. M y study suggests that experiences that do not go along with victim hood tend to be left out of stories told by m em bers of the postwar generation, and resurface as “ghosts,” or disavowed figures (M indell, 2002). The four m ain ghosts identified were “the killer,” “the - ii - authority,” “the sufferer,” and “the dead.” M y study recom m ends that weaving these ghosts into the collective m em ory is an im portant way of changing the collective m em ory, and m ay be useful in effecting reconciliation between Japan and other Asian countries. - iii - CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Human beings experienced numerous wars in the 20th century. This century is sometimes called the century of war, and it is said that 187 million people were killed in the wars that took place during this period of time (Kawai, 1999). Although we have turned the corner into a new century, many people are still losing their lives due to war. In the last two years, while I have been working on this study, the World Trade Center in New York was destroyed by terrorists, Afghanistan was attacked and the United States declared war against Iraq, to name but a few. When I look at history, it appears to me that hatred leads to more hatred, wounds leads to more wounds and one war leads to another. We are in a vicious cycle. Where did the cycle start? I do not have the answer. However, I believe that one of the deepest wounds the world has experienced was World War II. Between 40 and 50 million people were killed around the world. People witnessed extreme brutality, such as the Nazi holocaust, the Nanjing massacre conducted by the Japanese Army, and the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. In my opinion, the world has never recovered from the shock and the wounds of World War - 1 - II. I am Japanese and grew up in Japan. In Japanese society, there are unfinished issues concerning World War II. One example, which depicts these issues, is the controversy around Japanese Prime Minister’s visits to Yasukuni-Shrine. This shrine worships the spirits of Japanese soldiers who were killed in