Abstract

This paper examines how memory of the past and transnationalism influences the relations and tensions between Japan and South Korea today. Controversies over debates such as Yasukuni Shrine and its enshrinement of 14 class A war criminals. Debates over and within the Comfort Women movement along with its transnational reach and past. As well as film as a form of memory of Japan and South Korea’s shared pasts, how those pasts can conflict, and their transnational spread and reach of said memory on an international scale. This IS argues that Japan and South Korea’s contemporary relationship is best understood using the framework of transnationalism and memory, with the memory of the nation often incorrectly being conflated with the memory of the people when the latter shows far more difference and nuance. In turn, the importance of transnationalism relating to Japan and South Korea cannot be understated. In which despite the focus on South Korea and Japan, none of these historical issues exist purely in a vacuum, with debates over Yasukuni Shrine, Comfort Women, and film all having reach beyond the national borders of South Korea and Japan.

Advisor

Ng, Margaret

Department

History

Disciplines

Asian History | History | Political History

Publication Date

2023

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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