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ID 117484
Author
Milne, Daniel Kyoto University
Moreton, David Tokushima University
Keywords
Ryōzen Kannon
Ishikawa Hirosuke
Kyoto
war memorials
war dead
Asia-Pacific War
Cold War
Yasukuni Shrine
Content Type
Journal Article
Description
This paper traces the history of Ryōzen Kannon, a little-known religious site in Kyoto, Japan, to consider war memorials as sites of transwar continuity and change, and as ideological tools to present certain visions of past and present wars. While Ryōzen Kannon is promoted today as little more than a typical Japanese temple, it has a remarkable history beginning in the 1950s with its establishment by the business entrepreneur Ishikawa Hirosuke. Opened in 1955, it was pitched as a Buddhist alternative to commemorating the patriotic sacrifices of the war dead. Shortly thereafter, a separate monument to Allied prisoners of war that professed world peace and reconciliation was added to the site. While accompanied by historically valuable records of these former prisoners, however, this monument was largely a homage to the Cold War-era Japan-US alliance, and it obfuscated memories of violence in East Asia from the site. Since the 1960s, Ryōzen Kannon has struggled to keep up with the times. Particularly after the death of its founder and the end of the Cold War, the site has become increasingly anachronistic. Now, it occupies an ambiguous space between remembering and forgetting.
Journal Title
The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
ISSN
15574660
Volume
20
Issue
11
Start Page
5709
Published Date
2022-06-01
EDB ID
URL ( Publisher's Version )
FullText File
language
eng
TextVersion
Publisher
departments
Liberal Arts and Sciences