Kando Conservatism – “Moving” war narratives in Japanese online fan videos

Abstract

Stories of kamikaze pilots thinking about their loved ones while flying their last mission, or of wrecked toys and their missing owners in Hiroshima, elicit an emotional response. This essay analyses and provides examples of war-themed fan-produced videos, defining their conservatism in relation to Japanese war history, and showing how it relates to the kandō experience of fan viewing practices.