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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
In 2008 and 2009, a series of historical issues once again defined the public space of Japanese-South Korean and Japanese-Chinese relations: the revisionist essay of General Tamogami Toshio; Prime Minister Aso Taro's acknowledgement of the use of slave labor in his family's wartime mine; new flare-ups in the longstanding territorial disputes over the Senkaku/Diaoyu and Takeshima/Dokdo islets; ministerial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine; and Japanese government approval of another amnesiac history textbook whitewashing Japan's World War II aggression.
1 This essay is based on a lecture on German-Polish relations given February 25, 2008 at the German Historical Institute in Warsaw, with sponsorship from the Center for International Relations and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Warsaw. The ideas presented are drawn from the author's book From Enmity to Amity, forthcoming. Copyright: Lily Gardner Feldman 2010.
2 On territorial disputes, see: Reinhard Drifte, “Territorial Conflicts in the East China Sea – From Missed Opportunities to Negotiation Stalemate,” The Asia-Pacific Journal. On Aso mining see: Michael Bazyler, “Japan Should Follow the International Trend and Face Its History of World War II Forced Labor,” The Asia-Pacific Journal. On textbook issues, see: Yoshiko Nozaki and Mark Selden, “Japanese Textbook Controversies, Nationalism and Historical Memory: Intra- and Inter-national Conflicts,” The Asia-Pacific Journal.
3 On the Yomiuri project, see: “Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Who is Responsible? The Yomiuri Project and the Enduring Legacy of the Asia-Pacific War,” The Asia-Pacific Journal.
4 Sven Saaler, Politics, Memory and Public Opinion. The History Textbook Controversy and Japanese Society (Tokyo: Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien, 2005), 168. Phillip A. Seaton reaches a similar conclusion in Japan's Contested Memories: The ‘Memory Rifts’ in Historical Consciousness of World War II (London and New York: Routledge, 2007).
5 See, for example, Masaru Tamamoto, “After the Tsunami, How Can Japan Lead,” Far East Economic Review, Jan/Feb 2005; James C. Hsiung, “Periscoping the Future: Will China and Japan Ever Be Like France and Germany?” in James C. Hsiung, ed., China and Japan at Odds. Deciphering the Perpetual Conflict (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007); Linbo Jin, “Historical Disputes in Sino-Japanese Relations,” paper presented to the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., 9 June 2009; Youngshik Bong, “Domestic Politics of Dokdo,” paper presented to the conference “Dokdo, Takeshima, Liancourt Rocks: History, Territory, and Sovereignty in Northeast Asia,” School of Advanced International Studies/Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., 26 June 2009.
6 One of the earliest comparative examinations is Ernestine Schlant and J. Thomas Rimer, Legacies and Ambiguities: Postwar Fiction and Culture in West Germany and Japan (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991). More recent publications include Takashi Inoguchi and Lyn Jackson, Memories of War: The Second World War and Japanese Historical Memory in Comparative Perspective (Tokyo: The United Nations University Press, 1998); Akiko Hashimoto, “Japanese and German Projects of Moral Recovery: Toward a New Understanding of War Memories in Defeated Nations,” Occasional Papers in Japanese Studies, March 1999, Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University; Charles S. Maier, “Foreword” in Joshua A. Fogel, ed., The Nanjing Massacre in History and Historiography (Berkeley: University of California, 2000); Sebastian Conrad, “Entangled Memories: Versions of the Past in Germany and Japan, 1945-2001,” in Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 38 (1), 2003; Gi-Wook Shin, Soon-Won Park, and Daqing Yang, “Introduction”; and Andrew Horvat, “A Strong State, Weak Civil Society, and Cold War Geopolitics: Why Japan Lags Behind Europe in Confronting a Negative Past,” in Gi-Wook Shin, Soon-Won Park, and Daqing Yang, eds., Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia. The Korean Experience (London and New York: Routledge, 2007); Thomas U. Berger, “A Model Penitent? German Historical Memory and Foreign Policy in Comparative Perspective,” paper presented to the 47th ISA Convention, San Diego, California, 23 March 2006; Thomas U. Berger, “Dealing with Difficult Pasts: Japan's ‘History Problem’ from a Theoretical and Comparative Perspective,” in Kazuhiko Togo and Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, eds., East Asia's Haunted Present: Historical Memories and the Resurgence of Nationalism (Westport, Conn: Praeger Security International, 2008); Julian Dierkes, Postwar History Education in Japan and the Germanys. Guilty Lessons (London and New York: Routledge, 2010); Soon-Won Park, “History that Opens to the Future: the First Common History of Northeast Asia”; and Daniel Chirot, “Europe's Troubled World War II Memories: Are They That Different?” in Gi-Wook Shin and Daniel Sneider, eds., Divided Memories: History Textbooks and the Wars in Asia (London and New York: Routledge, 2010 forthcoming).
7 On the German-Polish comparison, see Yinan He, The Search for Reconciliation. Sino-Japanese and German-Polish Relations Since World War II (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). On the Franco-German comparison, see Jennifer Lind, Sorry States. Apologies in International Politics (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2008). As suggested above, this work does not capture the complexity and ambiguity that have characterized the German case. A further comparative work that looks beyond memory and apology by considering the role of political leadership and NGOs is Yangmo Ku, “International Reconciliation in the Postwar Era, 1945-2005: A Comparative Study of Japan-ROK and Franco-German Relations,” Asian Perspective, vol. 32, no. 3, 2008.
8 Thomas U. Berger, Different Beds, Same Nightmare: The Politics of History in Germany and Japan, AICGS Policy Report no. 39 (Washington, D.C.: The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, 2009).
9 For the dual meaning, see: Artur Hajnicz, Polens Wende und Deutschlands Vereinigung. Die Öffnung zur Normalität (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 1995), pp. 142-61.
10 See Marek Prawda's statement when Ambassador to Sweden at the Stockholm International Forum Truth, Justice and Reconciliation, April 23-24, 2002 here (accessed December 15, 2002); the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung interview with Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, March 29, 2007 here (accessed April 17, 2007); Dieter Bingen, “Die deutsch-polnischen Beziehungen und die polnische Innenpolitik. Bilanz 15 Jahre nach der Unterzeichnung des Partnerschaftsvertrags,” June 28, 2006, Hamburg University, Ringvorlesung “Osteuropa heute” here (accessed January 23, 2007).
11 Willy Brandt, People and Politics: The Years 1960-1975 (Boston: Little, Brown and Company: 1978), p. 181.
12 For the text of the exchange between Adenauer and de Gaulle on the 1963 Franco-German friendship treaty, using the rose metaphor, see: André Passeron, De Gaulle Parle 1962-1966 (Paris: Fayard, 1966), p. 341.
13 According to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement among the US, France, the UK and the Soviet Union, formal recognition of the border would have to await a settlement between the four powers and a united Germany.
14 Reinhard Müller, “Rückgabe von Beutekunst. Die letzten deutschen Kriegsgefangenen,” Frankfurter Allgemeine FAZ.NET, July 26, 2007 here. Konrad Schuller, “Streit um ‘Beutekunst’. Goethe in Krakau,” Frankfurter Allgemeine FAZ.NET, July 27, 2007 here (accessed January 8, 2008).
15 The term is Dieter Bingen's. See “Die deutsch-polnischen Beziehungen nach 1945,” Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, 5-6/2005, January 31, 2005.
16 Thomas Roser, “Deutsch-polnische Beziehungen; Schwieriger Gast, Frankfurter Rundschau, October 30, 2006; Spiegel Online, “Merkel wünscht sich Freundschaft zu Polen, “Spiegel Online, October 28, 2006.
17 See, for example, Jacques Schuster, “Polens Präsident verabschiedet sich mit Gesprächsangeboten aus Berlin,” Die Welt, March 10, 2006; Sybille Korte, “Erste positive Signale nach Monaten der Abkühlung,” Agence France Presse, October 27, 2006; Associated Press, “Merkel für bessere Zusammenarbeit mit Polen in der EU,” Associated Press, October 28, 2006; Associated Press, “Steinmeier wirbt für Verbesserung von deutsch-polnischem Verhältnis,” Associated Press, October 26, 2006.
18 Der Bundespräsident, “Tischrede von Bundespräsident Horst Köhler beim Abendessen zu Ehren des polnischen Präsidenten Lech Kaczynski und Frau Maria Kaczynski im Schloss Bellevue,” March 8, 2006 here (accessed May 19, 2006); Agence France Presse, “Kaczynski: Gute Beziehungen wichtig für Polen und Deutschland,” Agence France Presse, March 8, 2006; General-Anzeiger (Bonn), “Kein Grund zur Sorge,” General-Anzeiger (Bonn), October 30, 2006.
19 Bundesregierung, “Nie wieder Politik zu Lasten unserer Nachbarn,” December 2, 2005, here (accessed December 12, 2005); Bundeskanzlerin, “Looking ahead to the Future in German-Polish Relations,” December 2, 2005 here (accessed January 17, 2006); Süddeutsche Zeitung, “Polen will Zwist mit Deutschland beilegen,” Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 9, 2006; Holger Schmale, “Der Charme des kleinen Mannes,” Berliner Zeitung, March 31, 2006; Michael Fischer, “Neuer Ton in den deutsch-polnischen Beziehungen,” Associated Press, October 30, 2006; Die Bundeskanzlerin, “Rede von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel an der Universität Warschau,” March 16, 2007 here (accessed March 20, 2007); Associated Press, “Merkel: Wir wollen freundschaftliches Verhältnis zu Polen,” Associated Press, October 28, 2006.
20 On the relationship between initial divergence on the one hand and ultimate jointness and influence on the other, see: Douglas Webber, ed., The Franco-German Relationship in the European Union (London and New York: Routledge, 1999), particularly “Conclusions.”
21 Interview with Janusz Reiter, former Polish ambassador to Germany, Der Spiegel, no. 2, January 7, 2008.
22 This is the title of a book by one of the important societal architects of German-Israeli reconciliation, Erich Lüth
23 Quoted in The Korea Herald, September 25, 2009.
24 China Daily, “Japan Admits War ‘Act of Aggression,‘” China Daily, February 2, 2010.
25 The Japan Times, “Foreign Minister in Seoul,” The Japan Times, February 14, 2010.
26 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, “China Blasts Japan Court Ruling on Compensation for Wartime Sex Slaves,” BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, March 5, 2010; China Daily, “China Goads Japan for Quick Action on Sex Slaves,” China Daily, March 6, 2010; Jung Sung-ki, “Tokyo urged to Compensate for ‘Comfort Women,” Korea Times, March 15, 2010; Korea Times, “Individual War Victims,” Korea Times, March 15, 2010.
27 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, “South Korea Raps Japan's New Education Handbook on Disputed Islands,” BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, December 25, 2009.
28 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, “Japan Seeks ‘New Beginning’ with South Korea in 2010 – Envoy,” BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, January 28, 2010; Martin Fackler, “With Japan, U.S. May Be Losing Diplomatic Ground to China,” The New York Times, January 24, 2010
29 BBC Worldwide Monitoring, “Japan PM Interviewed on ‘Enriching’ Japan-China Ties,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, October 9, 2009.
30 Quoted in David McNeill, “New Japanese Prime Minister Aims to Spread a Little love Among Asian Rivals,” The Irish Times, October 23, 2009.
31 Na Jeong-ju, “”Lee, Hatoyama Vow Constructive Ties, “Korea Times, September 24, 2009; BBC Worldwide Monitoring, “China-Japan Ties Get Good Statr in Japan's New Government – Official, “BBC Worldwide Monitoring, October 9, 2009.
32 The Korea Herald, “Korea, China, Japan,” The Korea Herald, October 14, 2009.
33 Quoted in Mariko Kato, “‘Comfort Women’ Bill Gets New Life,” The Japan Times, October 29, 2009.
34 Oh Young-jin, “Ex-‘Comfort Women’ To Hold 900th Protest,” Korea Times, January 10, 2010.
35 For an overview of US-Japan relations with the new Hatoyama government, see: Congressional Research Service, “Japan-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress,” CRS Report for Congress, 7-5700, November 25, 2009. See also: Mark Beeson, “East Asian Regionalism and the End of the Asia-Pacific: After American Hegemony,” The Asia-Pacific Journal; and Mark Beeson, “The United States and East Asia: The Decline of Long-Distance Leadership,” The Asia-Pacific Journal.
36 G. John Ikenberry and Charles A. Kupchan article, “A New Japan, a New Asia,” The New York Times, January 22, 2010.
37 Brandt, People and Politics, p. 129.
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