Historical Consciousness

As victims of Japanese past aggression in Asia, including those of Japan’s military sexual slavery, began to demand an apology and compensation from Japan, the debate on historical consciousness arose in the Japanese public discourse. It was spurred by historical revisionists who reacted to such demands and refused to admit that Japan had an aggressive past. While criticizing revisionist arguments, progressives made a renewed effort to take responsibility for Japan’s past. Among them are activists of the comfort women movement, who see themselves as citizens of the perpetrator state. The narrative of Ōmori Noriko, a lawyer, sheds light on complicated relationships between Chinese survivors and Japanese lawyers while that of Nakamura Fujie, a grassroots historian, delves into Japan’s responsibility for colonial and postcolonial Taiwan.