Summary research on the Japanese war memorial from a contemporary and world history point of view

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24242026
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: Chukyo University
• Principal Investigator: HIYAMA YUKIO 中京大学, 法学部, 教授 (40148242)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SAKURAI Ryoju 麗澤大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (90211268) ; SAALER Sven 上智大学, 国際教養学部, 准教授 (70401205) ; MATSUDA Kyoko 南山大学, 人文学部, 教授 (20283707) ; MATUEKANE Kimimasa 宇都宮大学, 国際学部, 教授 (50334074) ; MOTOYASU Hiroshi 金沢星稜大学, 経済学部, 教授 (80711374) ; HIGASHIYAMA Kyoko 中京大学, 社会科学研究所, 研究員 (80570077)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-10-31 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 戦歿者慰霊 / 戦争記念碑 / 国家記念碑 / 靖国神社 / 戦歿者墓地 / 軍人墓地 / 戦争の記憶 / 「もの」資料

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research focuses on the peculiarity of the Japanese war memorial by examining its most representative material sources -i.e. war commemorative monuments. As a result of this research, it emerged that Japanese war memorial is the product of a regional identity and of a nationalism of the ancient feudal times created by a democracy based on the sovereign rights theory of the democratic rights movement. Japanese war memorial dates back to the Satsuma rebellion, where the commemoration of right-hand men who lost their lives in this civil war shows a bottom-up patriotism. This movement developed to a national level during the first Sino-Japanese and it gradually formed the Japanese style of the war memorial. Finally, it shows that this type of war memorial created by a bottom-up patriotic movement is a typical pattern worldwide.

Free Research Field

歴史学