Collective (historical) memory and national identity in contemporary Japan: Contested war narrative and myth making in „Japan’s Longest Day“
2021
Abstract
The chapter analyzes the different images of the two controversial historical figures involved in the tragic endgame of the war in Japan, as portrayed in two film adaptations (1967 and 2015) of the Kazutoshi Hando's book "Japan's Longest Day". The different approaches to the historical facts reflect the changing content of war narrative and explore the process of the recreation of the national identity through the myth making in the contemporary Japanese society.