Yesterday Is Now 歴史の傷跡

We had a deeply engaging four-plus hours of discussion after the
screening of both Japanese and English versions of Yesterday is Now
("Wounds of History"歴史の傷跡), with Director Celine Rumalean.

One participant said that Japanese were so easily manipulated by government and media and do not have an ability to think critically and independently. Like the filmmaker Yutaka Tsuchiya said in the film, it was the Emperor during the war, and the Media after the war that control people's mind in Japan. Another argued that it is not the Japanese mindset; people are just made that way. People just make such mistakes.

Celine said that it was a big surprise to many in the West that after six decades, Japan is still so divided on whether they should have gone into war; whether it was a just war; who is responsible for the war. The war responsibility issue is closely tied with the national identity - "Japanese-ness." After six decades, people in Japan still go back and forth about how they process the history of war.

On the other hand, there is ignorance. Those interviewed at Showa-kan, this museum in Tokyo that displays how life was during the Showa Period (1927 - 1989) said "War should never be fought any more, but we should never forget about war and the fact that the current happiness and prosperity we enjoy are owed to that period of time." This is what we often hear Yasukuni worshippers say. Koizumi said that too. They believe that we are what we are now because of the precious sacrifices of the war heroes (gods) enshrined at this shrine.

Another hot topic of the evening was how we teach the dark history of a country. How do we teach children in Japan about its military's past wrongdoings and atrocities without making them feel bad and guilty? Celine said that it was dangerous just to show atrocities without giving a big picture. Careful framing is needed. I talked about my Japanese colleague and a long-time
history teacher in Japan Misako Iwashita and her three-step lesson model, which she presented in Vancouver in March 2008. First, she introduced facts. It is very important for the students to learn the facts of Nanjing Massacre and other horrible war crimes by the Japanese Army during the war. Second, she taught the kind of education that the children were made to go through, so that they believed in militarism and imperialism. Third, she introduced Japanese progressive thinkers and war-resisters then - like Senji Yamamoto, Takiji Kobayashi and others who objected to war, supported labourers and people's rights, so children could find their own role models in those brave people in Japan.

The reality, however, in the Japanese education is that still the majority of schools fail to teach that chapter of the history in any detail. The history curriculum starts with the pre-historic period and by the time they reach the modern history, they run out of time and get too busy with school entrance exams. Shoko, the Salon staff and an SFU student shared her experience of her Chinese friend telling her surprisedly that "Japanese people can be nice." It was the same kind of comment I, as a high school student received from a Filipino friend, back in 1983. After a quarter of a century, the situation has not changed much. Shoko at that time thought that education in China was biased, but as she learned more about the Japanese aggression in Asia during the war, she came to think differently. This kind of experience is shared by many Japanese overseas, young or old.

There is a lot of work to do ahead of us. There are many questions we asked but cannot find answers for. Celine asked us, "How does this part of the history matter to you?" How does the history of war matter to each of us? How far should it matter? How can each of us do so that there will be closures and we can move forward?

The theme of the film is new and relevant, almost a decade after it was made. Perhaps it is becoming more relevant. Celine says at the time it came out, the North American viewers, whose view on the war was still one that started with earl Harbor and ended with Hiroshima/Nagasaki, were not ready for the material that shed light on Japan's behaviours in
Asia that dated back to the early 1930's.

I think this film should be used at as many Japanese schools and communities as possible. The film, without any narration, does not tell you what to think or what's right or wrong. It makes one think, and connect with the historical, societal, yet deeply personal consciousness held by each who was interviewed.


Satoko Norimatsu