The Historical Recognition of Japanese Neo-Nationalism*
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International Journal of Korean History (Vol.17 No.2, Aug.2012) 109 The Historical Recognition of Japanese Neo-Nationalism* Yi Gyu Soo (Yi Kyusu)** Introduction While surfing Japanese Internet sites, I found the website, Kyokasho ga Osienai Rekisi, Nihon Kindai shi no Shinjitsu [Advancement of Unbiased View of History], operated by Jiyushugi Sikan Kenkyūkai [Association for the Advancement of Liberal View of History; hereafter ALVH].1 Since ALVH was associated in January 1995, when Japanese society faced a crisis of finance and social consciousness, it has insisted on a nation-centric historical view. ALVH’s core members are the well-known “Neo-Nationalist Intellectuals,” including Hujioka Nobukatsu, Nishio Kanji, Kobayashi Yoshinori, and Nishibe Susumu. The purpose to form ALVH was to create historical studies and history lessons according to a “healthy neo-nationalism” against “a de-nationalist” view of history, rejecting Japan’s established history.2 ALVH’s ideology continues to spread in diverse media as well as in magazines and books. Kobayashi uses an emotional appeal to young people who do not have the war memory through animations of War Theory, Study of Taiwan, and Okinawa Theory. He depicts the war as ** This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2010-413-A00003). ** Research Professor, Asian Cultural Studies Research Institute, Gachon University 110 The Historical Recognition of Japanese Neo-Nationalism initiated by Japan as a heroic act to protect parents and relatives, not as an invasion. In addition to these animations, lively video movies capture the younger generation’s attention.3 The movement of neo-nationalism was extended to textbooks. ALVH criticizes already published textbooks for portraying only the dark past of Japan by excessively emphasizing Japanese imperialistic invasion, colonial rule, and war crimes in modern-contemporary history. A co- association of ALVH, Atarasii Rekishi Kyokasho wo Tsukuru Kai [Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform; hereafter HTR], 4 glorifies the war through its edition of Atarashi Rekishi Kyokasho [New history textbook] for middle schools and Atarasii Goumin Kyokasho [New Ethic Textbook” for high schools. HTR is busily engaged in creating heroes who devoted their lives to the country. In the field of education, the Hinomaru has been raised and Kimigayo has been sung for a long time. HTR’s ultimate goal is to strengthen Japanese “patriotism” education for the country through the revision of “Japan’s Fundamental Education Law.” There is a more critical problem: Japan’s denial of war invasion and colonial rule has been extended to people in various social strata. This trend is linked to the unsolved war responsibility and post-war compensation. Meanwhile, Japan is rather busily engaged in making “a normal country that can bring on war” through whitewashing facts. The history distortion by manipulating public sentiment is more serious than we think, and at the heart of the distortion are the above associations’ websites.5 In the following sections, I will examine the actual situation of distorted historical consciousness which has been spread in Japanese society and analyze how this has been encouraged through the neo-nationalism related websites. Especially, I will concentrate on the various opinions given on the website that are reflected in the HTR textbook. Also, I will to review all conditions of Japanese society, and take into account the empowered people who have allowed this to happen. Yi Gyu Soo 111 A Justification of Colonial Control On its website, HTR declares: “Postwar history education lost sight of the culture and tradition which must be accepted by Japanese people and took pride from them. Especially in the modern history, Japanese people were treated as criminals of fate who have to apologize continuously. Because this self-inflicted tendency has been intensified after the Cold War, the current history textbooks described the enemy countries’ propaganda as fact. There is no country that executes such history education in the world.”6 HTR criticizes that existing textbooks are self- inflicted textbooks; hence HTR creates a slogan to popularize the “new textbook.” Thus, the purpose of HTR is fundamentally the same as the purpose of ALVH. HTR says that Japan cannot bear criticism from other East Asian countries; therefore HTR emphasizes the importance of this new textbook edition. HTR does not recognize Japan’s invasion and ruling of other nations on its website. HTR also criticizes that textbooks emphasizing colonial rule consider history as a result based on a “dualism of good and evil” and ultimately treat Japanese people as “the criminal.”7 HTR emphasizes that the narration which describes those who were involved in colonization and invasion as criminals is wrong. HTR has a strong premise that the history textbook should describe the bright part of history and that Japan is always “good and right.” HTR’s stance is evident in the speech of Sugimoto Mikio, who mainly takes charge of the question and answer section of the website as the secretary of ALVH. He insists that Japan was never criminal in the relations to its colonies as follows. Do you think it is really miserable that a country was ruled by Japan? North Korea, which had 3 million deaths caused by hunger in the 1990s, was suppressed by the same nation. Then, are North Koreans happy? The Korean War occurred because of the same nation, Kim Il-Sung’s [Kim Ilsŏng] ambition. A total of 4 million people of 112 The Historical Recognition of Japanese Neo-Nationalism South and North Korea were killed in the Korean War. Do you think he can be forgiven because he is of the same nation? In the small island, Cheju, there were 50,000-80,000 deaths in Palch’isan (partisan) struggle. Do you think Korean people will like it more than Japan’s rule because the struggle occurred by the same nation? Thinking that the colony is the weak party and controlling country is the exploiter is the same as the thought of communism on capital and labor. Insisting that communism was wrong has been already proved.8 Sugimoto exposes his ignorance of historical fact here. He thinks that the problem of the North Korean people who were starved to death was caused by South Korea. But, he cannot present any evidence. He describes North Korea as ruled by South Korea. Furthermore, he dismisses the criticism on colonial rule as the ideology of communism. Since government authorities described the resisting force against Japan as the ideology of communism in the past colonial rule system, Japan now treats those who criticize Japan’s historical distortion as communists. He recognizes that Japan’s colonial rule is “the most excellent compared to the Western countries’ colonial rule, and should never be apologized for.”9 In this viewpoint, the HTR textbook does not detail the facts about Japan’s colonial rule of Korea. Because “it must never be apologized for,” it was a natural result. On the contrary, Japan’s colonial rule of Korea was the necessary choice to protect Japan from the threats of Russia. The HTR textbook hides the fact that Japan crushed Korea’s resistance and colonized Korea.10 The HTR textbook conveys the intruders’ viewpoint in explaining Japan’s colonial rule of Korea. With respect to the colonization process, the HTR textbook states, “Japan established the office of resident-general and strengthened control” and “Japan suppressed Korea’s resisting force and carried out the absorption of Korea.” Also, it justifies Japan’s colonial rule of Korea, mentioning that England, the USA, and Russia did not make any objection to Japan’s colonial rule of Korea. Furthermore, Japan Yi Gyu Soo 113 colonized Korea to protect Japan from the threats of Russia. According to the HTR textbook, the purpose of absorbing Korea by Japan was to prevent Japan from the threats of Russia. To achieve this purpose, Japan needed to annex the Korean people. The Korean people’s gun muzzle should not be toward Japan. Japan desperately strived to absorb Korean people into Japan. Unfortunately, such effort is not recognized. It continues to suggest that Japan’s colonization efforts should be assessed through a comparison with the post-war period. Due to Japan’s rule, the industrial revolution occurred and the industry’s base was built. Through the improvement of irrigation facilities and agricultural technology, the yield by area was largely increased. Sudden development during the Park Chung Hee [Pak Chŏnghŭi] period was made based on the era of Japanese rule. Also, Korea was developed because the trade with Japan started by the conclusion of the basic treaty between Korea and Japan. There was the new problem of discrimination between the Japanese people and Korean people. But, the discrimination of social level was abolished and the servants were liberated. Through the spread of education, people could have the chance to develop.11 These arguments expose the logic of justifying Japan’s colonial rule. The illegality of Japan’s governance is not discussed. In relation to the illegality of Japan’s rule of Korea, it attempts to “legalize” Japan’s rule of Korea through arguing that pro-Japanese organizations (such as Iljinhoe) requested absorption. Emphasizing that Japan’s rule of Korea is different from Western countries’ colonies. HTR describes that Japan’s rule of Korea contributed to the improvement of Korea’s standard of living and resulted in modernization. It constituted the original form of “modernization of the colony.” In this connection, it stresses that Japan’s colonial rule must not be criticized; rather, Korea must appreciate Japan’s colonial rule. Such distortions are absorbed into the edition of the HTR textbook. The 114 The Historical Recognition of Japanese Neo-Nationalism description of Japan’s rule of Korea is mentioned in the section titled “Japan in the World Powers.