현대 일본의 역사인식문제 - <우주전함 야마토>와 <바람이 분다>에 나타난 전쟁관 -

Abstract

Among the issues of contemporary Japan’s perception of history, the perception that the cause of Japan’s entry into World War II was the Asian Liberation War for the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, different from that of Germany and Italy, is explored in the animation works Space Battleship Yamato and The Wind Rises. Space Battleship Yamato depicts the former Japanese military battleship Yamato, led by Japanese nationals, saving the earth against Camillus, which invaded the earth. This work clearly illustrates the recognition that Japan’s reason for entering World War II was to protect Asia from imperialism, unlike Germany and Italy, which dreamed of expanding imperialism and militarism at the time. The Wind Rises, released in 2013, also continues to reflect this perception. The first scenes of Germany and Italy in The Wind Rises have war-inspired images of warplanes and bombs. In other words, Japan makes airplanes for dreams, but Germany and Italy make them for war. Thus, we believe that the war that Japan started was for the “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere,” which was Japan’s dream at the time, and that this clarifies a different position from that of Germany and Italy, which started wars of aggression. The reason for the serious discrepancy in perception of past history between Korea and Japan can be attributed to the fundamental difference in perception of the wars that Japan waged in the past.