Skip to Main Content

The Geography of Injustice: East Asia's Battle between Memory and History

Online ISBN:
9781501774027
Print ISBN:
9781501774010
Publisher:
Cornell University Press
Book

The Geography of Injustice: East Asia's Battle between Memory and History

Barak Kushner
Barak Kushner

Professor of East Asian History

University of Cambridge
Find on
Published online:
19 September 2024
Published in print:
15 March 2024
Online ISBN:
9781501774027
Print ISBN:
9781501774010
Publisher:
Cornell University Press

Abstract

This book argues that the war crimes tribunals in East Asia formed and cemented national divides that persist into the present day. In 1946, the Allies convened the Tokyo Trial to prosecute Japanese wartime atrocities and Japan's empire. At its conclusion one of the judges voiced dissent, claiming that the justice found at Tokyo was only “the sham employment of a legal process for the satisfaction of a thirst for revenge.” War crimes tribunals, the book shows, allow for the history of the defeated to be heard. In contemporary East Asia a fierce battle between memory and history has consolidated political camps across this debate. The Tokyo Trial courtroom, as well as the thousands of other war crimes tribunals opened in about fifty venues across Asia, were legal stages where prosecution and defense curated facts and evidence to craft their story about World War Two. These narratives and counter narratives form the basis of postwar memory concerning Japan's imperial aims across the region. The archival record and the interpretation of court testimony together shape a competing set of histories for public consumption. The book offers compelling evidence that, despite the passage of seven decades since the end of the war, East Asia is more divided than united by history.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close