ABSTRACT
There are few countries in the world whose foreign relations are as much burdened by the past as Japan’s. Yet there are also few countries in the world whose relationship to the past is as enshrouded in myth or as poorly understood as Japan’s. Despite the conventional wisdom, far from suffering from amnesia, Japan has been obsessed with the past – including its role as a perpetrator of atrocity - and debated it for decades. At the root of many of these misconceptions is a fundamentally misguided and naïve understandings of the way in which the politics of history works. How people choose to interpret facts and put them together to create historical narratives reflects not only their own subjective experiences, but also their economic, political and security interests. Japan has at numerous times been able to find an equilibrium over historical issues that has allowed a degree of fitful cooperation between Japan and its neighbors. Over time, however, it has been increasingly difficult to maintain a stable balance, and disputes over history have come to bleed over into issues – most notably territorial disputes. While the region’s leaders continue to try to contain the resulting tensions, the balances that they find are becoming increasingly precarious.
