Japan, the United States and Yasukuni Nationalism: War, Historical Memory and the Future of the Asia Pacific

Abstract

The Yasukuni shrine is a rich focal point for myth-making, by the shrine's supporters as well as its critics. In the following essay, Mark Selden examines the reciprocal action of war memory and nationalism at Yasukuni, placing the distinctive features of the shrine as a religious focal point for national identity in the context of broader trends in twentieth- and twenty-first-century nationalisms. As he notes, the “alchemy” by which the horrors of war are transformed into memories of a glorious past represents a central feature, not only of the Yasukuni shrine, but of war memorials the world over. Indeed, his consideration of war memorials and ossuaries constructed in Okinawa - under the auspices of Okinawan villages, the Japanese government and the U.S. military occupation - suggests something of the complex dynamics at work in the enshrinement of memory and the shaping of national identity.