NEWS
2023.06.22
【Report】The 55th AJI Frontier Seminar was held! Dr. Ryo TSUNODA: “Denounced Former Japanese Army Officers’ Evaluations of Their Postwar Experiences”
On Tuesday, June 13, the 55th AJI Frontier Seminar was held online. This time, Dr. Ryo Tsunoda, a senior researcher at the Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization of Ritsumeikan University, presented an intriguing study entitled “Denounced Former Japanese Army Officers’ Evaluations of Their Postwar Experiences: A Study of the Army Officers’ Association.” Dr. Tsunoda’s area of expertise lies in the sociological examination of the shift in generations within the Senyukai, an organization of former army officers, in post-World War II Japan. Additionally, he studies the involvement of retired Self-Defense Force officers in this association.
During the presentation, Dr. Tsunoda discussed the historical evolution of war responsibility and its significance within an organization. He used the example of the Kaikosha (偕行社), which was established in 1952 by ex-army officers in imperial Japan. The discussion started off with a thought-provoking statement about the inner conflict between pride and guilt regarding the Pacific War, as shared by a former army officer who was an original member of the Kaikosha. The internal struggle experienced by ex-servicemen after the war led to deep and prolonged introspection. Dr. Tsunoda emphasized that in the 1950s and 60s, the former military men who made up the Kaikosha maintained a reflective awareness of the war in the midst of the post-war upsurge of democracy and civil movements, while the organization maintained self-imposed limits on its ability to openly reaffirm the Japanese war due to the abovementioned constraints. The restrictive effects within the organization continued to exist even in the 1980s. In the 1990s, however, the organization’s approach to the war underwent a significant shift. Through historical revisionism, they began to lean towards reaffirming the war. Dr. Tsunoda’s presentation provided a thorough analysis explaining the reason behind the shift in terms of passing on memories based on the delicate balance between the strong reflection of ex-servicemen and their sense of the significance of the war and their pride.
During the Q & A session, a stimulating discussion took place on several topics. These included the generational differences among members of the organization, the evolving historical landscape in which the organization functions, the role of civil society, the organization's relationship with other groups of ex-military personnel, and ways to document the changing perspectives of former military members on war through their personal experiences.
Dr. Tsunoda delivering his presentation
Please visit the following link for previous AJI Frontier Seminars:
https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/aji/young_researcher/seminar/archive/