Mediating Otome in the Discourse of War Memory: Complexity of Memory-Making Through Postwar Japanese War Films

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates how war films centered on shōjo in postwar Japan have contributed to the articulation of collective war memory, the hyper-feminizing process in which complexities of war experiences are blacked out, while prompting national amnesia about Japan’s aggression. It investigates two (anti) war films produced in 1966 and 1985 respectively, both of which starred Sayuri Yoshinaga, the epitome of purity and chastity. Focusing on the character of A-bomb maiden, the chapter reveals that the concept of affect is the key to understand the way in which feminized war narrative has led to hyper-gendered collective memory in postwar Japan.