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    History and Memory AS1

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    Ned Tinne

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    History and Memory AS1

    Uploaded by

    Ned Tinne
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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as odt, pdf, or txt
    19 views4 pages

    History and Memory AS1

    Uploaded by

    Ned Tinne

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as odt, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Course name and code: History and Memory in East Asian Cultures, 155903015 A22/23

    Tutor: Dr Griseldis Kirsch

    AS1: 10/02/2023

    Word count: 1,028

    Option 2: Write a response to one of the assigned films or plays Identify a specific scene/sequence
    or a significant symbol/motif and critically evaluate it in the context of the entire
    film/play/performance and in relation to its broader cultural and historical significance.

    Response paper: Yamato, 2005 director. Junya Satō

    The film Yamato (2005) was one of the most successful films in Japanese cinematic history. It broke

    the box-office record at the time of 5.11 billion Yen and won ten categories at the 2007 Japanese

    Academy Awards. The film was released in 2005, amidst a proliferation of Japanese media seeking

    to memorialise modern history in the context of Japan as a victim. The conservative and nationalist

    fervour in the public media was reflected in politics with Shinzo Abe's prime ministerial election in

    2006. The film caters for a broad range of interpretation but I believe, given the historical and social

    contexts of it's release and public reception, that as a cultural event and document, the overall effect

    of the film on Japanese memory of modern history is deeply conservative. I shall demonstrate how

    the film expresses the symbolic motif of the unified, and exceptionally Japanese, fighting spirit. I

    read the film as entreating the modern generation to both valorise their brave ancestors and inspire

    them to continue this legacy into the future.

    The film explicitly seeks to justify its function as educating modern viewers about the events of the

    time period it covers. The whole point of present day Makiko's narrative arc is to resolve her guilt

    over the fact that she "never tried to get a sense of his (her father's) life." Makiko thus represents the

    modern generation's ignorance about the wartime generation's plight. She laments that she "must

    have been an ungrateful child," reinforcing the emotional guilt that modern Japanese, who enjoy

    such high levels of modern material luxury, must watch the film and instil gratitude for their
    ancestors who sacrificed their lives for the nation. The film seeks to establish its authority as a

    reliable narrator by using a conventional form with "explanatory titles common to Japanese

    television documentaries and historical dramas" (Gerow 2016: 203/4). Therefore, very early on in

    the film, the parameters are set for the expected orientation that the audience ought to take in

    viewing this film.

    The valorisation of Japanese unity is perhaps the central motif pervading the entire film. We see that

    this propaganda has been instilled as the innocent and vital fifteen year old Kamio says that the

    newspapers report that "the yanks are too individualistic to fight for long." This is one of the few

    direct references to the USA and cultural values, drawing a crudely cliche juxtaposition between the

    collective Japanese fighting for the Kokutai versus the individualistic Americans. In one sense this

    functions as an implicit criticism of the ideological propaganda of the time that pushed so many

    innocent young men into war on idealised false pretences. Nevertheless, Japanese exceptionalism,

    based on strength in unity, is continuously affirmed throughout the film.

    The symbolic motif of the Japanese forces as unified against individualistic Americans is visually

    expressed as the battles occur with the Yamato as one great battleship, with many individual

    soldiers all working together, versus many individual American fighter planes flying separately. The

    fact that the functioning of the ship is dependent upon the cohesive efforts of many individuals is

    repeatedly emphasised throughout the film with drills taking place to practice the quick preparation

    of the guns, group martial arts training sessions and even the kitchens giving a big joint effort to

    feed all the soldiers in time before the final battle. The efficient and cohesive functioning of the

    Yamato serves as a metaphorical microcosm for the efficient and cohesive functioning of the

    Japanese nation and people as a whole.

    The film presents characters spanning across the chain of command. We have young and innocent
    greenhorns; brave and autonomous mid-level officers; stoic, bushido professing senior officers; and

    cowardly, faceless Commanders and Chiefs who do not even join the forces aboard for the final

    battle. The whole spectrum of interpretations is thus accommodated for. The director, Junya Sato,

    apparently favours the interpretation that "these were young and innocent people sent to their

    deaths, and that it is clear those who bore the responsibility for that were the political leaders"

    (quoted in McCurry 2005). Although this argument is certainly expressed in the film, I personally

    found the portrayal of the soldiers' bravery and fighting spirit the more impactful lasting impression.

    The figure of Petty Officer First Class Moriwaki is central to this messaging. Sitting halfway along

    the chain of command, he and the other mid-level officers embody the Japanese fighting spirit.

    Moriwaki is a strong and confident figure who commands respect from the juniors. With his good

    looks and confident demeanour I even found myself, as a young man, attracted to his masculine and

    authoritative personality and could imagine being his junior and wanting to impress him with my

    commitment to the war effort. Moriwaki also represents the compromise between absolute and

    blind commitment to war and death with a reasonable extent of self-dignity and the sanctity of life.

    He implores the juniors to jump ship and swim away if it becomes clear, as it inevitably will, that

    the ship will be sunk. He says, "if no one is willing to survive then our dying is in vain." I read this

    once more as directly placing the onus on the modern generation to venerate their ancestors and

    continue the national legacy.

    To conclude, the film placates a wide range of interpretations that viewers might be inclined to take

    on the hugely significant and contentious issue of memorialising national identity. Certainly the

    young soldiers are presented as innocent victims and the war is thus implicitly criticised. However,

    the stylistic display of masculine camaraderie and the valorisation of the fighting spirit is

    undeniable. From my positionality, I view the film as propaganda for the current young generation

    to reinvigorate their national pride and trust in the nation rather than criticise the state apparatus as a

    mechanism of subjugating innocent citizens. War responsibility is barely addressed and the
    documentary style presentation heavily favours portrayals of America as the aggressor. The social

    implications of this film, as a zeitgeist of the so-called 2005 memory boom, is encapsulated by the

    producer Kadokawa's desire for "people to start thinking again about how to live with self-

    awareness and pride as Japanese" (quoted in McCurry 2005).

    Bibliography

    Gerow, Aaron. 2016. “War and Nationalism in Recent Japanese Cinema: Yamato Kamikaze, Trauma

    and Forgetting the Postwar." In: Michael Berry, Chiho Sawada (ed.): Divided Lenses: Screen

    Memories of War in East Asia, pp. 196-219. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

    McCurry. Justin. 2005 "Guardian Battleship epic reignites anger over Japan's wartime excesses."

    Guardian. 16th December.

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