Individual Memory and National History

歴史を書くのは誰か : 個人の記憶と国家の歴史

Individual Memory and National History

Creators Izao Tomio

The purpose of this paper is to explain some problems of the historical narrative (especially the National History) and the memories. In recent years, "Historical Textbook questions" arose between Japan and Asian countries. "Japanese society for history textbook reform (Atarashii rekishi kyoukasho o tsukuru kai)" established in 1996, insist that Japanese historical textbooks for junior high school students are very self-tortured. They criticized current historical textbooks, and made "The New History Textbook" (published by Fusosha, Tokyo, 2001). Their goal is to restore the "National History". "The New History Textbook" is criticized by many peoples. They say "The New History Textbook" affirms Japan's Invasion in Asia, and praises Japanese Imperialism. And they say "The New History Textbook" is distorted the facts of the history. But "Japanese society for history textbook reform" don't accept their critics. They say that it is only the problem of between the different historical views. Today, there are many "Memories". These memories are written (or spoken) by many peoples. These memories explain many facts when official documents were missed. Sometimes, there is the gap between the "History" (especially the National History) and "Memories". So, Who can write the complete "History"?

[ISSN]1342-7148