Abstract

The historiography of childhood, youth, and education in modern Japan bears the imprint of one particular generation of Japanese scholars for whom teaching and writing about these topics is not merely a professional vocation, but also a personal calling and even a political act. Their work is informed by memories of the Asia-Pacific War (1931-1945) and the Allied Occupation (1945-1952). Drawing upon the academic and autobiographical writings of historian Nakano Akira, this essay examines the relationship between personal memory, autobiography, and historical scholarship, and how the shadow of war has influenced the historiography of education and childhood produced in Japan since its defeat in 1945.

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