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Perceptions of Japanese Society regarding Colonial Rule and Problems

  In the modern ear, the Japanese government does not acknowledge the illegality of Japan's invasion and colonial rule of Korea. Furthermore, they deny legal responsibility and refuse to provide compensation for issues such as the Japanese military ‘comfort women’ and forced labor. Additionally, they have not taken any measures to prevent recurrence of such actions. I believe that the first step towards resolving these issues is for the Japanese government to conduct a thorough investigation of the past offenses, take legal responsibility, acknowledge, apologize, provide compensation, punish those responsible, and implement measures to prevent a recurrence.

  It cannot be overlooked that the conservative shift in Japanese education has accelerated over the past 30 years, and state control over education has been strengthened. The influence of right-wing history textbooks has been expanding since the history textbook written by ‘A group creating new history textbooks’ was approved. Furthermore, the Japanese government has increased its political intervention in history textbooks, and since 2021, they have bluntly intervened in textbook affairs, including forcing textbook companies to change the terminology related to the Japanese military ‘comfort women’ and forced labor issues.

  After the Korean Supreme Court’s ruling on the forced labor issue in 2018, the Japanese government intensified its attacks on Korea, claiming ‘violating international law’. In line with this, the Japanese media engaged in 'bashing Korea', significantly influencing the perception of Japanese citizens. Consequently, anti-Korean sentiments have risen, and in 2020, bilateral exchanges between Korea and Japan were significantly restricted.

  Currently, most Japanese citizens are now being influenced, to a greater or lesser extent, by the ‘bashing Korea’ propaganda. There are those who believe in a blatant theory of historical denial, and even those who somewhat acknowledge the past offense of colonial rule have adopted discourses such as ‘Korea, rehashing what has already been resolved’, ‘Korea, anti-Japan’. Anyone who criticizes the history of Japan’s offense is often decried as ‘anti-Japan’ or ‘left-wing’. In the midst of this, bilateral exchanges between Korea and Japan have resumed in earnest since last year, and there is a growing voice advocating for ‘improving’ Korea-Japan relations. However, what has truly been resolved?

University Students' Activities to Establish a Proper Historical Perception

  In 2021, students belonging to my small research group published a book titled 『The frustration of ‘Korea-Japan’ and Me as a University Student』 under the publishing house ‘Big Moon bookstore’. As these students learned about the history of colonial rule based on the research findings in history studies, they realized that the Japanese side was not earnestly facing its responsibility. However, this perception differs significantly from the prevailing ‘common sense’ in Japanese society. The background for this lies in the fact that research findings in history are rarely shared in Japanese society, and the influence of the theory of historical denial is significant. In many cases, historical issues between Korea and Japan are often considered taboo, and it is difficult to even broach the subject with friends or family.

  In an attempt to address this unhealthy situation, the students in the research group came up with the idea of creating a book that urges the Japanese civil society to confront the responsibility of colonial rule. Unfortunately, in the current Japanese society, there are very few individuals willing to listen to such calls for facing the responsibility of colonial rule. In response to this state, the students decided to create a book using ‘moyamoya’ as the keyword, leveraging the immense popularity of K-pop and Korean culture in Japan. ‘moyamoya’ refers to “a state of feeling frustration or reluctance”. It is said that many Japanese fans feel ‘moyamoya’ when Korean celebrities mention colonial rule issues.

  They wonder, “There are Japanese fans, so why are they scolding Japanese people with their words and actions? Do they hate Japanese people? It would be nice if they considered the feelings of their fans," expressing their ‘moyamoya’ sentiments. This line of questioning itself demonstrates how little knowledge Japanese people have about the history of colonial rule. However, this is the reality in Japan. Moreover, there were also a number of students who had been called ‘anti-Japan’ when trying to learn about the history of colonial rule, as they became interested in Korean culture. Therefore, the students created a book that starts with their genuine questions and experiences, and then explains the history of colonial rule.

Japanese Media Situation and the Path to Overcome It

  Unfortunately, the opinions expressed by these students are in the minority when it comes to Japanese whole society. While some interviews with these students were featured on websites such as the 『Asahi Shimbun』’s book review site, ‘Good Book, Good Day’, and ‘Model Press’, which covers entertainment information, including K-pop, most major media outlets did not cover their story. Even though the fact that their book sold 11,000 copies could have been a significant topic, this issue was finally considered taboo. Prominent Japanese media outlets, regardless of their political leanings, take the stance that historical issues between Korea and Japan were ‘resolved’ under the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement.

  Those who seek to avoid historical issues and pursue political compromise between Korea and Japan even attacked the book. On January 15, 2023, a column by Onuki Tomoko, a reporter from the political department who had lived in Korea, was published on the website ‘Politics Premium’ of the 『Mainichi Shimbun』, known for its progressive stance among prominent media outlets. The column was titled 「Should we face the history of offense to enjoy Korean culture?」, and has since been removed. The column criticized the content of the students’ book and symposium, emphasizing the importance of promoting Korea-Japan exchanges without getting stuck in the past history.

  While Onuki’s claims are highly problematic, the bigger problem is that he did not contact our research group and did not conduct interviews during the process of writing the article. This is unacceptable behavior for a journalist. Readers of 『The frustration of ‘Korea-Japan’ and Me as a University Student』 raised their voices online,

saying, “There is something wrong with this article”. In response, our research group officially complained to the 『Mainichi Shimbun』, and they acknowledged that its coverage was insufficient and took measures to have the head of political department come to Hitotsubashi University to apologize to the students and remove the column.

  The fact that the column was deleted through raising concerns is a significant achievement, particularly as it was realized through the efforts of the readers. However, the media situation in Japan is very serious. Merely advocating the need to face the responsibility of colonial rule could be a target of attack by prominent media outlets. Therefore, for a proper historical understanding, Japanese civil society needs to expand the space for learning about the history of colonial rule.

Japanese readers' reactions

  This book was a concept that had not existed before, and the fact that it was promoted using social media became a topic of conversation. It is currently in its sixth printing and has recorded sales of 11,000 copies. It deserves to be called a remarkable achievement, as a book that directly addresses the issue of colonial rule responsibility has never reached such unprecedented success before. It’s also noteworthy that this book became a huge sensation on social media, especially among K-pop fans. Although the book was initially designed with K-pop fans in mind, many of them responded with comments like “We’ve been waiting for a book like this”. May people, including K-pop fans, have been feeling ‘moyamoya’ about the Korea-Japan relations, and they needed a book that could provide a clue on how to approach this issue. Readers responded to the book by writing blog posts about their own thoughts on the ‘moyamoya’ in Korea-Japan relations and how they would confront it. These posts triggered a chain reaction of responses. Several times, I heard stories from readers saying, “I read the book after seeing a post from one of senior K-pop fans”.

  Moreover, some K-pop fans are increasingly talking about social and human rights issues and raising concerns through Twitter’s function ‘Space(which allows users to have voice conversations with each other)’. There were indeed occasions when the authors of the book shared their thoughts with these individuals in front of hundreds of listeners. Furthermore, several reading club meetings were organized around this book’s topic, including online. In this way, this book has created new connections among citizens through online platforms and contributed to creating a space for discussing historical issues together. Of this success, the role of BTS fandom ARMY cannot be overlooked. It is well known that BTS actively raises its voice on human rights issues, and their fans in Japan have also been influenced by this. It can be seen that the publication of this book occurred at a time when interest in human rights issues was growing among ARMYs through BTS, resulting in a chemical reaction. As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to even broach the subject of colonial rule in Japanese society. This book can be considered a contribution to addressing such a situation.

  The five authors of this book have already become graduate students and working professionals. They are planning to publish a sequel titled 『ひろがる「日韓」のモヤモヤとわたしたち』 in 2023. These authors are forming a consensus that it is necessary to continue their activities, no matter how small, and they are preparing to take new steps forward.