Yasukuni Exposes the Uncomfortable Truth about Japan

By Heo Si-joon, Tribune Reporter

 We are always faced with the issue of the Yasukuni Shrine worship every August 15th. Japanese people think that it is natural to visit the Yasukuni Shrine to express their sorrow for the victims of World War II. However, many Asian countries such as Korea, China and Taiwan, which were damaged by the war, criticize visiting the shrine and consider it as Japanese justification for the war. Li Ying, a Chinese director who lives in Japan wondered why the positions of Japan and Asian countries are in conflict with each other over the Yasukuni Shrine, and thought that Yasukuni itself was the key to solving this problem. Therefore, he made a documentary, Yasukuni.

 

 The 123-minute film looks at the history of the Yasukuni Shrine, various political incidents, and examines the August 15th ceremonies over the last 10 years. It also includes an interview with 90-year-old sword-smith Naoharu Kariya. Yasukuni caused a big sensation before and after its release. It won the best-documentary award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and was invited to be screened at the 2007 Pusan International Film Festival, the 2008 World Cinema Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. However, it could not be screened easily in Japan because an ultra-rightist organization tried to block its release. Nevertheless, it has been watched by 13 thousand Japanese people.

 Yasukuni started screening in Korean theaters on August 6th, 2009. Why has this movie gotten so much praise? Why did the Japanese rightists try to stop its release? I wanted to know the answers to these questions and went to see the movie.

 The story is simple, but its meaning profound. While watching it, I was shocked by Japan’s wartime atrocities on other countries’ people. I was angered by the Japanese people’s impolite attitudes to other countries’ survivors. For example, an episode that impressed me strongly was about former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro, who visited Yasukuni Shrine with his guards during his term of office. I remembered what Naoharu Kariya said in his interview, “The prime minister had the right to worship at the Yasukuni Shrine because he is Japanese.” However, Koizumi should have kept in mind that governmental officials’ visiting the shrine have generated criticism from Asian countries. As he was not an ordinary person but Japan’s prime minister, his visit could upset Korea, China and Taiwan. Unlike Germany, Japan has not truly reflected on the wrongdoings it committed during the war. Japan’s attitude needs to change. The Japanese must find a way to end the long lasting tensions with other countries.

 The director of Yasukuni awakened our minds by delving into the sensitive issue of the Yasukuni Shrine which has never been the subject of a film. In an interview, he said, “There is no one who likes to carry pain in his heart. I want to create a dialogue to address the issues of war and militarism.” Until now, we have just criticized Japan for its wartime atrocities, but Japanese people have insisted that they were also victims of the atomic bomb. Through this documentary, I hope Japan and Asian countries can learn to understand each other, so they can finally make their reconciliations.



The Reader: Moral Conscience More than Love

By Koo Seul, Junior, Dept. of English Language and Literature

 Germany 1958. As a young teenager, Michael Berg was fascinated by an older woman that helped him home one night when he became ill. . Once he recovers, he tracks her down to thank her. The two are drawn to each other and are soon in a secret relationship. Hanna loves to be read to, and with each new book their passion deepens and Michael’s love for her grows. Then, one day she disappears without a word, leaving Michael confused and heartbroken. As time goes by, he begins to accept her disappearance but he still misses her. Eight years later, as a young law student observing Nazi war crime trial, he sees her again, this time as a defendant in the courtroom. Accidentally, at court where she has a dark past; she was a Nazi during The Holocaust and is accused of being the commander who wrote the orders to kill Jewish children. Though she claims to be illiterate the judge gives her a pen and a sheet of paper to compare her handwriting with the handwriting in the documents. Michael cannot do anything but watch from a distance. A long time goes by, but still he cannot put her out of his mind, and the more he tries to forget her, the more his feverish love eats into his heart. In the end, he divorces his wife, comes back home and starts reading books to her again. Although he reads books to her again, he cannot understand why he does so, and why he can forgive her. But the irresistible yearning for her makes him read to her continuously.

 


 At first, I thought pride made her act the way she did and could not understand her behavior. But, after a few months, while writing this review of, The Reader, I found another reason that explained her actions. She could not help but admit it was not her pride but the opinion of others. At that time, watching and managing Jewish women and children had been her job and she had done her duty. However, her assertion could not be accepted by anyone except herself. She knew no one would understand her and finally she admitted it. She was a painful first love to him and hurt him with her dark past. Her presence tortured him. He tried to forget her but he could not. Then why could he not forgive her in the end?

 The tragic relationship between Hanna and Michael represents the conflicts of the post-war generation in Germany. Hanna had been a Nazi, and as such, a scapegoat for those that suffered during the war. Michael questioned himself repeatedly, how could he have fallen in love with someone that had been so cruel to his parents’ generation? I think he struggled to explain and reshape the relationship between them. Though he himself was innocent of any crime, had their relationship been disclosed he might have been looked down upon for his love. He knew well the anguish of his parents’ generation but as a child of the post-war generation he felt guilty for loving her. He tried to escape, but though he travelled far he could not erase his feelings for her. Unable to find a solution, he ultimately lost his love when Hanna’s life came to an end.

[286 Review]

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