Perspectives on Social Memory in Japan

This collection of essays represents the first interdisciplinary study in English to consider social memory in Japan across a wide range of issues and phenomena. Unlike previous studies which have focused on isolated issues, especially Second World War events, this volume examines in depth a variety of memorialization subjects, including music and poetry, artefacts and tools, oral testimonies and written documents, stones and performances, rivers and earthquakes, ritual and ceremonies as well as art and artists. In addition to valuable insights into the social and cultural life of the Japanese, its contextualized analysis and rich narrative provide a basis for the comparative study of collective memory-making. The chapters are thematically grouped as ‘Remembering the Dead’, ‘Art of Memory’ and ‘Nature Remembered’.