Reiterated Commemoration: Hiroshima as National Trauma

Saito, Hiro

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9558.2006.00295.x

Cited by 79 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Following the surrender of Japan, the American Occupation Authority censored and controlled the dissemination of knowledge about the A-bombs and their effects between 1945 and 1949. 7 Identification as a hibakusha Á an explosion survivor Á conferred shame within Japanese society (Braw 1997;Saito 2006). 'Hibakusha and their children were (and still are) victims of severe discrimination due to lack of knowledge about the consequences of radiation sickness, which people believed to be hereditary or even contagious.'…”

Section: Unspeakable Experiences and Memoriesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Representing and interpreting traumatic history: a study of visitor comment books at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Chen

2012

Museum Management and Curatorship

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Representing and interpreting traumatic history plays a central role in promoting world peace. While significant research has examined the 1990s controversy over the proposed Enola Gay exhibition in the United States, no research has yet explored visitor reactions to the traumatic history interpreted by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (HPMM). Questions regarding the messages communicated by the museum, emotive conflicts experienced by visitors, and the meanings that visitors glean from museum exhibits are worth further exploration in order to enhance the value of the HPMM to world peace promotion and to healing the wounds of war and prejudice. The exhibition narrative starts with the pre-1945 history of Hiroshima before exploring the bombing and its aftermath. Photographs and objects belonging to the victims graphically illustrate the effects of the atomic bomb (A-bomb) blast. The exhibition's core message is anti-nuclear and supportive of world peace. Entries in HPMM visitor comment books reflect upon war's cruelty and express wishes for its permanent end. For survivors, a visit to the museum evokes sad memories of an unforgettable day and its aftermath. Children's comments show that some featured photographs are excessively vivid and terrifying for younger visitors. Overseas visitors provided a wide range of responses, including guilt, reflections upon the war, and criticisms of their own or other governments. This study provides insights into the interpretive complex by discussing the content of visitor comment books and then reflects upon museum progress toward its stated aim Á promotion of international harmony.

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Section: Unspeakable Experiences and Memoriesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Representing and interpreting traumatic history: a study of visitor comment books at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Chen

2012

Museum Management and Curatorship

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“…Surrender it did, but only after another atomic bomb was dropped onto Nagasaki. The Americans moved into Japan as sole occupying force and suppressed most information about the effects of the two bombs, censoring every possible account of it in newspapers and literature (Coulmas 2005;Saito 2006). Following Saito's argument, the memory of Hiroshima faded in Japan.…”

Section: The Hiroshima Bombing and Postwar Japanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory and myth: the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima in German and Japanese TV drama

Kirsch¹

2012

Contemporary Japan

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Japan is often blamed for not coming to terms with its own wartime past and for focusing solely on its role as a victim of the war. Germany, however, is often seen as the model that Japan has to emulate, having penitently accepted responsibility. Thus, in order to work out how these popular myths are being perpetuated, the media prove to be a good source of information, since they help to uphold memory and myth at the same time. In this paper, it will be examined how the "memory" of the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima is being upheld in Japan and Germany Ϫ and what kinds of "myths" are being created in the process. In focusing on two TV dramas, it shall be worked out to what extent Japan and Germany are represented as "victims" and to what extent, if at all, the issue of war responsibility features in these dramas.

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“…In fact, the commemoration of the atomic bombings reinforced the 'victim consciousness' in Japan (Orr, 2001;Saito, 2006). This victim consciousness allowed many Japanese citizens to dwell on nationalist commemoration of their own war dead by disregarding foreign victims of Japan's past aggression.…”

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confidence: 96%

The A-bomb victims’ plea for cosmopolitan commemoration

Saito

2015

Thesis Eleven

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This paper critically revisits the A-bomb victims' plea for cosmopolitan commemoration that takes humanity, rather than nationality, as a primary frame of reference. To this end, I first elaborate the nature of cosmopolitan commemoration espoused by A-bomb victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in comparison with another form of cosmopolitan commemoration pertaining to the Holocaust victims. I then analyze limitations in these cosmopolitan commemorations and explore how they can be transcended. In light of my critical analysis, I argue that genuinely cosmopolitan commemoration, a prerequisite for reconciliation and world peace, will appear on the horizon if the commemorations of the two events are synthesized with the help of 'historians' debate' that continuously subjects the logic of nationalism to critical reflections. This synthesis has the potential to help people envision cosmopolitan politics -cosmopolitics -where they can engage in peaceful but agonistic struggles, not as enemies but as fellow humans, in collectively governing their lives in today's war-torn world.

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Reiterated Commemoration: Hiroshima as National Trauma

Cited by 79 publications

References 50 publications

Representing and interpreting traumatic history: a study of visitor comment books at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Representing and interpreting traumatic history: a study of visitor comment books at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Memory and myth: the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima in German and Japanese TV drama

The A-bomb victims’ plea for cosmopolitan commemoration

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