ABSTRACT
This book has sought to identify the type of roles that the selected progressive civil society groups (the JWRC, CTJN21, VAWW NET, WAM and POWRNJ) played in the contestation of war memory in Japan between 1990 and 2012, and how they mattered (if at all) to this process. This has been achieved by analysing the structure, narratives and aims of these groups; the scope of their activities; how they related to the wider public and power-wielders in society; and how they engaged in activism across borders. In other words, the book looks at the ways in which they advocated their views and sought to attain their aims. On the basis of these findings, the conclusion will, first, identify what roles the groups played in the contestation of war memory, and second, discuss how they mattered.
