Japan's History Textbooks Debate: National Identity in Narratives of Victimhood and Victimization

Abstract

This article examines the narratives of wartime victimhood and victimization in Japan's junior high school history textbooks in the early 1980s and in contemporary times from the perspective of national identity. Unlike most existing scholarship, this article argues that the narrative regarding the wartime suffering of the Japanese people can be seen as inducing a critical perspective on imperial wars and their disastrous impact on ordinary people. It also argues that contemporary narratives contest the notion of a monolithic Japanese identity and challenge Japan's monopoly over writing its own national history.