Self-inflicted pain: Japanese cinema on the Pacific War

Abstract

With a sample of post-war Japanese films, this article explores the cinematic treatment of violence, trauma and memory experienced by Japan during the Pacific War. Avoiding the cardboard villains of Hollywood and Asian cinema, Japanese film-makers have sought to legitimize Japanese people as victims of not just the mechanized violence of the twentieth century, but that of Japanese imperialism and the retributive justice of the victors in suppressing the lived memories of this period. A notable consistency of the films discussed here is a more self-reflexive internationalization of the enemy. Rather than American bombers, the source of violence lies in the culture and policies of Japanese militarism personified in both the recklessly ruthless military planners and the brutish military police. As this article argues, the study of the reconstruction of the Pacific War in Japanese cinema serves as a critical platform in providing a more holistic frame in understanding the politics of war, violence, trauma and memory arising from the Pacific War.