This special issue of The New England Journal of Public Policy(Volume 36, Issue 2, 2024, Japan: War and Cultural Trauma) addresses key components of the unprocessed cultural trauma Japan continues to experience that has precluded it from coming to terms with its past, both as perpetrator and victim of three wars in which Japan was deeply involved: the Asia-Pacific, the Pacific, and World War II.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejpp/vol36/iss2/
The quotation from the Editor Padraig O’Malley:
“The symposia represent a significant step in Japan’s efforts to confront its wartime past, though challenges and resistance to full engagement with the trauma remain.
The series of five symposia, which catalyzed six subsequent symposia and numerous workshops and seminars, represents far more than academic discourse?it demonstrates a strategic, nationwide approach to collective healing from shared trauma. With participation now extending to nearly a thousand researchers, community leaders, and media representatives, this initiative offers a replicable model for other societies struggling to process and recover from war- induced collective trauma. The scope and success of this sustained effort underscores that healing collective trauma is not merely advisable but essential for preventing future cycles of violence and mass atrocities.
The publication of these summaries in the New England Journal of Public Policy transcends their inherent and universal significance?they provide a crucial template for addressing collective trauma as an essential precursor to peace negotiations in intractable conflicts. Too often, peace talks commence while parties remain in the grip of unprocessed trauma, severely hampering their capacity for the flexible thinking and mutual compromise that successful conflict resolution demands.”
Padraig O’Malley, Editor, 2024.