뉴스레터

On June 30, 2014, the Northeast Asia/Dokdo Education & Training Center hosted an expert workshop on 'Museums and History Education in East Asia.' By building many peace museums, Japan is spreading the misconception that Japan is a victim of war, although it was, in fact, a perpetrator. In dealing with conflict with Japan over historical issues, China is also using the museum as a base for patriotic education, expanding the contents and scale of the exhibition. Against this backdrop, the NAHF attempted to analyze this trend of China's and Japan's strengthening of museum history education, and find ways to cope with it.

First, Professor Kim In-deok at Cheongam College, who spoke on 'The Exhibition at the Museum of the Japanese Government-General of Korea,' noted that the Museum of the Japanese Government-General of Korea was a symbolic space representing Japan's rule over Korea, and pointed out the still unsatisfactory efforts of the Korean museums to overcome colonality. NAHF Research Fellow Nam Sang-Gu gave a presentation on 'Japan's History Education and the Yasukuni Shrine's Historical Perception,' where he analyzed what the Abe administration's educational policy focused on patriotism and the Yasukuni Shrine's historical perception had in common, and noted that the Yasukuni Shrine's museum (Yushukan), also a venue of history education for the general public, presented all the wars of aggression by Japan, from the Sino-Japanese War to the Russo-Japanese War, the Manchuria Incident, and the Pacific War, as wars of self-defense fought to protect the independence of Japan. Dongguk University Senior Research Fellow Seo Min-kyo gave a presentation on 'Japan's Memories of War and History Education,' pointing out the situation in Japan where 'the peace acknowledging war' is mixed with 'the peace denying war' and there are conflicting aspects of exhibitions in the peace museums.

In the presentation about the museum in China, it was addressed as a base for patriotic education. Sungkyunkwan University Research Professor Kim Ji-hoon, speaking on 'China's Patriotic Education and Path to Revival,' noted that in China the phrase 'path to revival' reflects the perception of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that views the modern and contemporary history of China as a history of the revival of the Chinese people, and pointed out that the 'Path to Revival' exhibition at the national museum of China is led directly by the CPC's Publicity Department and represents their intention to strengthen patriotic education.

Urgent Need for Learning History through Experience for Peace

Yonsei University Professor Shin Kyu-hwan, speaking on 'The Unit 731 Museum and the Construction of a Base for China's Patriotic Education,' noted China's anti-Japanese history education and nationalistic education based on the memories of the Unit 731's germ warfare, and suggested that it (the Unit 731 museum) should develop into a venue of anti-war education and private exchange in East Asia. I gave a presentation on 'The Nanjing Massacre Museum and China's Patriotic Education,' explaining that this museum, opened in 1985 to fight against Japan's distortion of history and denial of the Nanjing Massacre, had been reopened twice after expansion, becoming a world-class national symbolic museum, and, having been designated by the government as a youth education base and a model base for national patriotic education, was open to the public free of charge, attracting over six million visitors annually, including foreigners.

The presentations above examined how China and Japan were using the museum in strengthening and promoting their education of historical logic. In the general discussion, it was suggested that 'programs for learning history through experience' should be developed and operated to explain and exhibit the right perception of history to the domestic and global audience for cooperation toward peace in East Asia beyond historical conflict, and that related museums and exhibition halls should also be built.