Asia, so often seen from a Eurocentric perspective as exotic, other and different, is now manifestly an economic and political powerhouse. Shaped by the West, it is now playing its part in shaping the West.The third volume in the RIPAR series on "Societies in Transition" turns its focus on reconciliation to Asia-Pacific. Case studies are drawn from New Zealand, Australia, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and China, including comparative case studies from Central Asia, East Asia and Germany and the U.S.Contributions by Jude Lal Fernando, Leo D. Lefebure, Martin Leiner, Liu Liangjian, Seiko Mimaki. Ann-Sophie Schöpfel, Sentot Setyasiswanto, Christoph Sperfeldt, Deborah Stevens, Bo-Hyuk Suh, Priyambudi Sulistiyanto, Farrah Tek, Phillip Tolliday, Annette Weinke and Maung Maung Yin.

History has left many scars in the Asia-Pacific. Injuries inflicted generations ago are still fresh in the collective memories of the peoples of the region, hobbling efforts to repair relationships between old adversaries. But recently the spirit of reconciliation seems to have acquired new life. From Korea to Japan to China, longtime enemies are trading apologies and looking ahead. In this remarkably timely volume, Yoichi Funabashi, one of Japan's most influential journalists, and seven authors from throughout the Asia-Pacific shine the spotlight on the prospects for reconciliation in the region. Looking at instances of inter-ethnic as well as international strife, this book lays out the background to each case, analyzes the impact of unresolved and sometimes unacknowledged grievances, and weighs the prospects for overcoming the burden of history. Not all the cases inspire optimism, at least in the short term, for bitter memories have burrowed deep into society and are intertwined with issues of political power and ethnic identity. But in some parts of the region, palpable progress toward reconciliation is being made. In his conclusion, Funabashi identifies the key steps that governments and publics must take if they are to come to terms with the past.

Since the publication of the 2005 Human Security Report, scholars and policy-makers have debated the causes, interpretation and implications of what the report described as a global decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War. Focusing on the Asia-Pacific region, this book analyses the causes and patterns of this decline. In few regions has the apparent decline in conflict been as dramatic as in the Asia-Pacific, with annual recorded battle deaths falling in the range of 50 to 75 percent between 1994 and 2004. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, this book looks at internal conflicts based on the mobilization of ethnic and nationalist grievances, which have been the most costly in human lives over the last decade. The book identifies structures, norms, practices and techniques that have either fuelled or moderated conflicts. As such, it is an essential read for students and scholars of international relations, peace and conflict studies and Asian studies.

Decades after the end of the World War II East Asia continues to struggle with lingering animosities and unresolved historical grievances in domestic, bilateral and regional memory landscapes. China, Japan and the Korea share a history of inter- and intra-violence, self-other identity construction and diametrically opposed interpretations of the past. Routledge Handbook of Memory and Reconciliation in East Asia offers a complete overview of the challenges of national memory and ideological rivalry for reconciliation in the East Asian region. Chapters provide authoritative analyses of contentious issues such as comfort women, the Nanjing massacre, history textbook controversies, shared heritage sites, colonial rule, territorial disputes and restitution. By interweaving memory, human rights and reconciliation the contributors actively explore real prospects of redressing past wrongs and achieving peaceful coexistence at personal as well as governmental levels. Bringing together an international team of experts, this book is an essential read for students and scholars of East Asian studies, anthropology, gender studies, history, international relations, law, political science, and sociology, and for those interested in memory and reconciliation issues.

Efforts to contend with tensions inherent in multiethnic societies; case studies of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Ethnic conflict, one of the most serious and widespread problems in the world today, can undermine efforts to promote political and economic development, as well as political, economic, and social justice. It can also lead to violence and open warfare, producing horrifying levels of death and destruction. Although government policies on ethnic issues often have profound effects on a country, the subject has been neglected by most scholars and analysts. This volume analyzes different policies governments have pursued in their efforts to contend with the tensions inherent in multiethnic societies. The book focuses on Asia and the Pacific, the most populous and economically vibrant part of the world. The heart of the book is a set of case studies of government policies in sixteen countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The studies consider a wide range of political, economic, educational, linguistic, and cultural policies, and how these policies have evolved over time. Using a broad comparative perspective to assess the effectiveness of different governmental approaches, the authors offer policy recommendations that cut across individual countries and regions.

The countries of China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand are brought together for the first time in an integrated and systematic work outlining each country's cultural themes, cultural practices, and preferred conflict resolution mechanisms. The new "ADR" processes and centuries-old mediation and conciliation systems used in these countries are compared with the evolving mediation and ADR systems, including facilitation in North America and the West. This comprehensive study analyzes the cultural "themes" commonly found in these countries' religious conflicts; and presents over 30 different stories, case studies, and conflict resolution scenarios from the region. Culture, Conflict, and Mediation in the Asian Pacific looks beyond traditional regional boundaries to group Hawai'i with the nine Asian countries as an example of mediation systems and cultural influence on the most "Asian" of the U.S. states (over 2/3 of the population of Hawai'i is Asian-American).

This wide-ranging collection seeks to reassess conventional understanding of Japan’s Asia-Pacific War by defamiliarizing and expanding the rhetorical narrative. Its nine chapters, diverse in theme and method, are united in their goal to recover a measured historicity about the conflict by either introducing new areas of knowledge or reinterpreting existing ones. Collectively, they cast doubt on the war as familiar and recognizable, compelling readers to view it with fresh eyes. Following an introduction that problematizes timeworn narratives about a “unified Japan” and its “illegal war” or “race war,” early chapters on the destruction of Japan’s diplomatic records and government interest in an egalitarian health care policy before, during, and after the war oblige us to question selective histories and moral judgments about wartime Japan. The discussion then turns to artistic/cultural production and self-determination, specifically to Osaka rakugo performers who used comedy to contend with state oppression and to the role of women in creating care packages for soldiers abroad. Other chapters cast doubt on well-trod stereotypes (Japan’s lack of pragmatism in its diplomatic relations with neutral nations and its irrational and fatalistic military leadership) and examine resistance to the war by a prominent Japanese Christian intellectual. The volume concludes with two nuanced responses to race in wartime Japan, one maintaining the importance of racial categories while recognizing the “performance of Japaneseness,” the other observing that communities often reflected official government policies through nationality rather than race. Contrasting findings like these underscore the need to ask new questions and fill old gaps in our understanding of a historical event that, after more than seventy years, remains as provocative and divisive as ever. Defamiliarizing Japan’s Asia-Pacific War will find a ready audience among World War II historians as well as specialists in war and society, social history, and the growing fields of material culture and civic history.