Japan’s shifting memory of the second world war is raising fears of renewed militarism

By Lewis Eves, Lecturer in Government and International Relations, University of Essex

Eighty years have passed since Japan’s surrender ended the second world war. But the way Japan thinks about its wartime history is changing at pace. This is coinciding with a political shift that risks renewed Japanese militarism, an outcome that would complicate politics across east Asia.

Japan’s traditional narrative of the war originated in the post-war occupation, a period in which the US oversaw the demilitarisation of Japanese society. These efforts included the establishment and adoption of Japan’s…

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