Japan’s history of war, from the late 19thcentury to the present, shifts dramatically at the conclusion of World War II. After a series of intense conflicts, beginning with the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95, Japan embraced peace and anti-militarism.
Despite the bifurcation of eras, says a UC Santa Barbara scholar, one aspect of Japanese culture remains unchanged: the use of children to validate war and sentimentalize peace: In “Playing War: Children and the Paradoxes of Modern Militarism in Japan” (University of California Press, 2017) Sabine Frühstück, a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, explores the nexus of children and war in the country.
