황국사관과 전후 역사문제(1945-1979)

The Effects of KokokuShikan(皇国史観) on Historical Issues between Korea and Japan since the Second World War (1945-1979) : In Search of their Origin

This article aims to analyze KokokuShikan(皇国史観) in light of the Japanese historical consciousness which underlay in historical issues between Korea and Japan from 1945 to 1979. Historical consciousness is the view of self and its community formed through past events, which conditions the perception of others as well. Modern Japanese historical consciousness is, in part, based upon KokokuShikan, which had been constituted through their numerous wars against others since the Meiji Restoration. This warlike and self-centered historical consciousness has been one of the biggest obstacles to historical reconciliation between Korea and Japan. In the following, I shall point out four aspects of Japanese modern historical perception of Korea. First, Japanese anti-Korean books, morbidly condemning the Joseon Dynasty, portrayed modern Korea as a “bad” country in the same manner. This historical perception had been forged under the archtype of historical consciousness in KokokuShikan. Second, the modern Japanese historical discourse, “the logic of venturing the overseas”, was conceived in order to persuade Emperor Komei to shift the national policy from isolation to opening the country. Third, KokokuShikan consists of the ‘Tenjomukyu no Shinchoku(the oracle that is as eternal as heaven and earth)’ and the ‘Hakkoichiu(eight corners of the world under one roof), which justified the foreign invasions of Imperial Japan in the 1930s. In addition to imperialist aggression, it justified their domination of other peoples, the affirmation and praise of war, and their avoidance of war responsibility. Lastly, KokokuShikan had left its influence to Kanichiro Gubota(Japan s representative)’s “eulogy of colonial rule”(1953), which was uttered in the negotiation process for normalization of diplomatic relation with Korea, and to Takeshi Sakurada s absurd remarks about colonial rule(1979). This is largely due to the fact that KokokuShikan still remained unliquidated during the post-war Japan’s democratization process.