Japan's Complicated Role in Asia

Japan has often been viewed through numerous lenses in the West, which are both reductive and yet consistent. Whether it's a sweaty weeb anime obsession or the colonial construct of the Japanese as a model minority, we in the West feel like Japan, though still exotic, is a place that we "get."

In our Western historical narrative, Japan fills both the roles of aggressor and victim. The American love of mythologizing itself has placed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour as an indelible mark on their history as global heroes and heroines. The subsequent bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki likewise cemented Japan in the role of international victim, or at least from the western point of view, it seems to cancel out their previous wrongs, allowing us (society) to enable Japan to an emotional/social fresh start from which to build a new narrative on.

Due to the high amount of radicalized fear whipped up during this period, over 22,000 Japanese Canadians were sent to internment camps, often permanently losing property, businesses and livelihoods, being imprisoned simply for being Japanese or of Japanese descent. After the war began, forcing these unfortunate people to choose between relocation or self deportation. The idea of a natural-born citizen being deported to a country that they had never been to seems like a 2025 idea vis-à-vis wtf USA, but we had already tried this decades earlier. Public outcry was halted then, and it is likely one of the few mechanisms to prevent it from happening again.

Growing up in the 1980s, Japan had a stranglehold on what was considered the coolest brands. We all had Sony Walkmans, played Nintendo, and many of our parents drove Japanese cars. Japan was able to leverage its soft power to promote the mostly true narrative of a country that seemed to be living in the future, and we were all captivated by it.

Fast forward to 2018, when I visited Singapore (the birthplace of my father), and I was eager to absorb as much of the culture as I could in ten short days. As my parents and I spent time in as many galleries and museums as time would permit, what began as a common thread slowly became a muddy picture and then a very clear perspective on behalf of the Singaporean people.

I learned about the Japanese regional Occupation from 1942 to 1945. This was Japan now framed as a colonial power, administrator of harsh Occupation and the architect of massacres. The more I learned about the brutal record of Japanese wartime acts, the more and more at odds it seemed with the polite person, ramen purveying architects of Kawaii that I had previously very confidently understood.

This helped me better understand the pacifist nature of the country that emerged from the war, and that it was "because of" and not "despite" its wartime actions. While this history is ever-present in Singapore's history, it is also evident at The Former Ford Factory, Reflections at Bukit Chandu, and The Civilian War Memorial. It's strangely absent in Japan, however. I am not sure if this erasure is a product of national shame or, more likely, an effort to balance and acknowledge these actions with domestic sensitivities. Internally, Japan must be undergoing the same multi-layered and complex post-war self-reflection that many other countries have, often decades after the fact.

This potential well of generational trauma, however, has not stopped ASEAN countries (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (also known as Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, from being among the largest populations of yearly visitors to Japan. Partaking in all of the fantastic cuisine, beautiful nature, storied historical buildings and culture.

Contradictions versus public perceptions, and, no doubt, a calculated use of its soft power in shaping its international reputation. The more Canada (and others) come to grips with our colonial histories, the more intellectual vocabulary we gain, which helps us better understand what colonialism looked like in other nations and for different peoples as well.

So, I started with one version of Japan that I grew up with in Canada. I then experienced another while visiting Singapore, and then yet another while visiting Japan.

Is it a copout to say that history is "complex"? That is a true statement, but perhaps it feels more honest to say that historical experiences and the comparative nature of points of view often clash when they meet. I love Japan, its places, people, food, and fashion. In my opinion, the points where these narratives hold the most friction and are the most complex are probably where we are most likely to gain the most honest view of a country's history, both its brutal and beautiful aspects.