ABSTRACT
Public memory is never static. Stories are retold; museum displays and commemorative ceremonies change in the light of changing social and political circumstances. In examining Japanese public displays of war history through the prism of gender, this chapter explores the ways in which Japanese war memories are being reframed. On the one hand, it highlights the dynamism of memory, but on the other it suggests how new voices and perceptions of the past may continue to be contained within existing nationalist frameworks. The focus on gender also helps us to perceive commonalities in the public framing of memory in East Asian countries: as comparative comments on the War Memorial of Korea in the final part of this chapter indicate, images of masculinity and the patriarchal family continue to play key roles in the shaping of war memories in many parts of the region.
