Return to: Outline Chronology of Japanese Cultural History
This page:  Shocks, Booms, and Busts in the Post-Postwar
 
  ---Government Stonewalls Attempts to Acknowledge War Crimes -----------
---Emperor's role and responsibility for war crimes-------------------------------------
     1972.09 Hirohito begins tour of Europe (7 nations): criticized for ignoring Asia
---Japan's overall role in China--------------------------------------------------------
     1971.07 Kissinger visits Peking: arranges for Nixon visit
     1971.10 US (w/ J. support) blocks PRC from joining U.N.
     1972.02 Nixon visits Peking; declares Taiwan belongs to PRC; J govﾕt not notified in advance
     1972.06 PM Sato Eisaku (pro-Taiwan) resigns after Nixon visit
          Claims credit for ﾔending warﾕ with return of Okinawa
     1972.09 Zhou-Tanaka Communique: Acknowledges Japanese responsibility for war damage
          PRC, wary of Japanese militarism, continues to drag out peace negotiations
     1978 J-Ch Treaty of Peace and Friendship: Gives legal status to Zhou-Tanaka Communique.
     1982.08 Film The Great Japanese Empire: Takes positive view of wartime Japanese role in China
     1982.09.01 Kishi Nobusuke announces plan to build monument to the founding of Manchukuo
     ?1982.?20-09.07 Protests build in China (Govt and students) against Japan militarist revival
     ?1982.09.03 Ministry of Education withdraws plans for textbook revisions: Chinese protests stop
     1988.04.07 ? J gov't admits Unit 731 experiments on biological warfare in 1930's
     1987 Kookaryoo dormitory incident: ???Chinese exchange students rebel...
     1985.09.18-1985.10.10 Student protests in China against Japanese militarism
     1995.07? Murayama declares Japanese ﾒcontritionﾓ for war (the closest to an apology in 50 years).
     1995.08 WW2 50th anniversary: flood of ﾒWhat if We Had Won the War?ﾓ novels, comics, movies,...
---Nanking Massacre-----------------------------------------------------------------
     1967 Hora Tomio publishes study of incident
     1971-75 debates over veracity of ﾔ100-man killing contestﾕ
          Honda Katsuichi (Asahi); Yamamoto Shichihei (pseud. Isaiah Ben-Dasan); Suzuki Akira (journalist)
     1986.07 Educ. Minister Fujio fired after declaring massacre was to ﾒbreak down enemy resistanceﾓ
---Comfort Women (ianfu): Should J. govt be held responsible?---------------------------
---Abuse of Prisoners of War in prison camps, Bataan March, etc.  -----------------------
---Human Experiments of the 731 Battalion---------------------------------------------
---Manila Massacre------------------------------------------------------------------
---Textbook Controversy: Should textbooks depict Japanese wartime aggression?----------
     = c.f. Ienaga Saburoo
     1982 Min. of Ed. approves textbook revision: denies Japan had been fascist aggressor in Ch.
     1982.06 Union official protesting textbook revisions is shot (by right-winger)
     1982.06 Teacher's union meeting to protest textbook revisions is disrupted (by right-wing)
     1982.09.03 Ministry of Education withdraws plans for textbook revisions: Chinese protests stop
     1986.06 Forum on Defense of Japanese Citizens: history text purged of Japanese war atrocities
---Yasukuni Shrine Controversy: Should Prime Minister offer respects to war criminals?---
     = Enshrines WW2 soldiers, including Class-A war criminals: should they be also honored?
     = PM visits are seen by some as a violation of separation of church and state.
     = Related problems of who is included in the shrine, and who decides inclusion.
     1967-1985 LDP tries five times to pass bill to declare shrine a national protectorate (kokka goji)
     1982.08.15 PM Suzuki unofficially visits shrine
     1985.08.15 PM Nakasone officially visits shrine after discussion group declares visit constitutional
     1986.08 Nakasone's planned visit to shrine is cancelled after China, Korea protests
     1986-present: Inner-circle politicians continue to maneuver to get shrine recognized.
---When will the war really end?-----------------------------------------------------------
     1972.01 Yokoi Shoichi (refused to acknowledge end of war) surrenders in Philippines
          Announces to Emperor: ﾒI am ashamed to come back alive.ﾓ
     1972 US cedes Okinawa to Japan: Sato Eisaku declares this to be the true end of the war
     1972.10 Kozuka Kinshichi, Onoda Hiroo (refused to acknowledge end of war) found in Ph.
          Battle with Philippine police: Kozuka dies, Onoda retreats to jungle
         1974.03 Onoda surrenders on orders from wartime commander
---c.f. German landmarks of acknowledgement, reparations------------------------------
---c.f. U.S. foot-dragging on war responsibility issues-----------------------------------
     1977.1.19 Gerald Ford grants presidential pardon to Iva Taguri (who may have been Tokyo Rose)
     = Prison ('internment') camps at Manzanar, etc.: 1988? Reparations granted
     = Hiroshima bombing: necessary or not?
    1995ﾅ Exhibit of WW2, Hiroshima bombing
  1959-1972 Literature in age of accelerating economy
1960.12?(11?) Fukazawa Shichiroo, Fuuryuu mutan: Japanese emperor is murdered
    = Imperial household, right-wing criticism of Chuuoo Kooron-sha for publishing story
    1961.02 Editor of Chuuoo Kooron house bombed
    1961.02 Chuuoo Kooron and newspapers issue apology
    1961.03 Japan Pen Club issues statement opposing right-wing terrorism
1960.01 Mishima Yukio, Yuukoku (Patriotism): 1936.2.26 incident army officer commits ritual suicide
1960.01 Oe Kenzaburo, Seventeen: lonely youth finds identity with right-wing activists
1962 Abe Kobo (d.1993), Woman in the Dunes: Man is trapped in a sand pit by villagers
???? Abe Kobo, The Face of Another:
1964.08 Oe Kenzaburo, A Personal Matter: Father of disabled child tries to escape predicament
1966 Endo Shusaku, Silence:
1966 Ibuse Masuji (d.1992?), Black Rain: Victims of Hiroshima bomb deal with radiation poisoning
1968 Kawabata receives Nobel Prize, writes Myself of Japan the Beautiful:
1970.11 Mishima Yukio finishes tetralogy; commits 'ritual' suicide at J. Self-Defense Headquarters
1972 Kawabata Yasunari commits 'private' suicide
1960-1970 Cinema of the post-war generation
Teshigahara, Hani Susumu, Oshima Nagisa,
1960 otouto
1962 kyuupola no aru machi
1962 sanma no aji
1962 Kiru (To Kill)
1964 Akai satsui
1965 kiga kaikyou
1965 akahige
1965 daibouken
1966 erogotoshitachi
1968 kousikei (Death by Hanging)
1967 Ai no sanka
  ---Post-Korean War Politics, North-South Relations----------------------------
     = note regional factionalism in SK politics.
1970s Korea: escalating suppression of labor movement, esp. women.
1972 Park declares 'Reformed Constitution': presidency will henceforth be for life.
1972.7.4 Joint (N-S) Proclamation of Three Principles of Korean National Reunification
1973.8.8 Kim Dae-Jung (an opposition politician) is abducted from (?Kobe/Tokyo) to Korea.
1973 Kim Chong-Pil meets Tanaka: Kim incident is glossed over. (first K-J agreement)
1974 attempted assassination of Park: ?Mon Sei-kwang incident. (2nd K-J agreement issued)
1977.8 Park re-employs I Choo-en (former KCIA director).
1979.10 SK President Park assassinated by cabinet members.
?? Chun Do-hwan takes presidency.
1980.05 Kwang-ju uprising violently put down.
~1981 Kim Dae Jung sentenced to death, then reprieved.
1983.10 Explosion in Rangoon kills 4 S.K. cabinet ministers.
???Roh Tae-u takes presidency; sends Chun Do-hwan to a mountain temple.
1985.9 First mutual group visitation of families separated by North-South war.
1987.11 Korean Airline Bombing incident
1988.9 SK Olympics begin
1990.9 first high-level North-South talks (meet 8 times until 92.9);
1990.9 SK opens relations with Russia
1991.9 United Nations recognizes simultaneous membership of S.K. and N.K.
1991.12 N-S pledges signed for peace, non-aggression, nuclear reduction
1992.8 SK opens relations with China
1993.2 SK Kim Yong-Sam elected President: proposes N-S Summit.
1994.3 NK withdraws suddenly from Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
1994.6 Jimmy Carter, Kim Yong-Sam, and Kim Il-Song converge on Summit Proposal
1994.7 Death of Kim Il-Song puts end to N-S talks.
~1995---Chun and Roh sentenced to death for Kwang-ju violence, then pardoned 1997.12.22.
1997.2 N.K. Labor Secretary Wang Chang (?) defects to South, describes failing Northern economy
1997.09~ Korean stock market collapses; IMF requires painful restructuring in return for bailout.
1998.02.19 KCIA documents surface, giving details of Kim Dae-Jung abduction.
1998.02.25 Kim Dae Jung takes elected office as president.
1998.08 NK shoots Tepodon test missile
1999.10 (in US) Records publicized of 1950.7..28? US massacre of Koreans at No Gun Ri bridge
2000.01 NK establishes relations with Italy; 2000.5 N.K. est's diplomatic rel's with Australia
2000.06 Kim Dae-Jung visits NK for 3 days; national celebrations of major thaw in N-S relations
-----Kim Il-Song-----------------------------
     1972.12 NK Prime Minister Kim Il-Sung elected Premier
     1994.7 Kim Il-Song (82) dies;
-----Kim Chong-Il (son of Kim Il-Song)----------
     1991.12 Becomes Secretary, Supreme Military Commander
     1993.4 elected chair of National Defense Committee
     1997.10 appointed General Secretary of NK Labor Party.
     2000.06 initiates, with Kim Dae-Jung, major thaw in N-S relations
2001.?? G.W.Bush declares pursuit of National Missile Defense, end of ABM treaties
    = all progress in N-S relations is put on hold

1973-1983 Oil Shock Shakes U.S. Confidence -----------------------
1973 Arab-Israeli War prompts oil shock.
Wars involving Lebanon, Ethiopia-Somalia, Kurds, Algeria-Morocco, Iran-Iraq, ...
1973 Nixon Oil Shock triggers sharp inflation: spurs acute awareness of Japanﾕs vulnerability.
?? Nixon visits China without consulting Japan: interpreted as a sign of distrust.
?? Tanaka visits Peking and Taiwan soon after Nixon: China ceases to be divisive issue in J politics.
1974 Prime Minister Sato Eisaku awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1974 Japan Communist Party (led by Nosaka Sanzo) already stressing environmentalism, day care,...
1976 (China) deaths of Chou En-lai, Mao Tse-tong (1980 trial of Gang of Four)
1978 Japan-China Treaty of Amity
1978 Lockheed scandal breaks (centered on PM Tanaka Kakuei)
1979 Russia invades Afghanistan; 1980 US and Japan boycott Moscow Olympics
1979.10.22 Shah Pahlevi of Iran enters US; 11.4 Hostages taken at US Embassy in Iran
1980.11 Reagan elected over Carter; engineers release of hostages on inauguration day
 

---Immigration and citizenship laws-------------------------------------
1990 Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act
    = People of Japanese descent and spouses may reside in Japan without legal restrictions
    = In order to accept Vietnamese boat people, Japan changes law; result=Koreans allowed...
    = ? Foreigners no longer required to carry fingerprinted IDs.
    = ? Children of J-mother/non-J father granted rights of citizenship.
---Literature of Social Disruption----------------------------------------
1965 Takahashi Kazumi, Jash枸on (novel): foresees violent millenarianism in religious sects.
1977 Yamada Taiichi, Kishibe no Album (TV drama): foresees problems of family breakdown.
---Violence from the Right-----------------------------------------------
1970.10 Mishima Yukio leads ﾔuprisingﾕ; fails; commits suicide;
---Violence from the Left---------------------------------------------------
1972.02 Mt. Asama: students fight with police; kill 14 of their own followers;
1972-1974 Students clash with police over 300 times (Wakabayashi, 2000)
1972.05 Japanese Red Army leads suicide raid at Tel Aviv (Lod) Airport
---Juvenile Violence---------------------------------------------------
1985~Increasing reports of bullying, murder; increasing divorce rate...
2000 teenage murders become almost a weekly news event
---Religious Violence---------------------------------------------------
1994.6 Aum Shinri-kyoo: Sarin nerve gas kills 7 in Matsumoto; 94.12 police suspect Aum religious group.
     1999 Aum leader Asahara and others get death sentences for various murders.
     1995 Aum leaders Asahara et al indicted for numerous grizzly murders of sect opponents.
---Changing Population Patterns----------------------------------------------
     = note precipitous drop in birth rate, population bulge of elderly people, severe economic consequences
198? Nakasone initiates plan to accept 100,000 foreign students to Japan
1991~ At height of bubble, large numbers from Asia, Mideast, Africa work in dangerous jobs
1999.05 Of 56,000 foreign students, 90% are from Asia, 50% from China
1999 Gov't? estimates 600,000 foreigners must be accepted per year to maintain population
2000 Birth rate at 1.20(?) and still declining
---Where has the Activism Gone?--------------------------------------------
1982.1 Japanese writers issue anti-nuclear proclamation
---Scandals, etc.--------------------------------------------------------------
1996 Health Minister apologizes for knowingly distributing HIV-tainted blood
1996 Niigata: public referendum stops nuclear power plant project
1999? Tokushima City: public referendum forces halt to dam project
2000 Sumo wrestling: charges of throwing matches
 
  Cinema
1971 gishiki
1972 shinobugawa
1972 gunki hatameku moto ni: Investigation of wartime killing of Japanese soldier.
??? Sandakan hachi-ban kan: Investigation of a wartime comfort woman's story.
1982 saraba itoshiki daichi
1983 Morita Yoshimitsu, Family Game: a home tutor helps a boy find himself
...Ishikawa Kon, Harp of Burma: remake of Ishikawa's earlier classic.
1984 Itami Juzo, Ososhiki: family confronts tradition at a funeral
Itami (?1997 suicide) Tanpopo, Taxing Woman series...
1991 shiko funjatta
1991 Kurotsuchi Mitsuo, Traffic Jam (film): Family stuck in traffic during New Yearﾕs break.
...Sayonara, Nippon: Ryuukyuu island declares independence from mainland.
...Shall We Dance? (w/ Yakusho Kooji): Bureaucrat blossoms at dancing school.
   Beat Takeshi, Hanabi: gangster mode...
???otoko wa turai yo series, from 60s?, actor dies c.1998.
1973-1983 Literature and theory in an age of secure living
???? Yoshiyuki Junnosuke (d.1994), The Dark Room:
1972 Maruya Saiichi, A Singular Rebellion:
1976 Oe Kenzaburo, Pinchrunner Memorandum:
1977 Nakagami Kenji, Kareginada:
1979? Karatani Kojin, Nihon kindai bungaku no kigen:
1980? Nantonaku Crystal: name-brand adulation of the consumers life; romance is secondary
1981 Inoue Hisashi, The People of Kirikiri: An overlooked northern village cecedes from Japan
1983 Kamei Hideo, Kansei no henkaku:
1987 Murakami Haruki, Norwegian Wood: Young man falls in love with women who commit suicide
1988 Yoshimoto Banana, Kitchen:
???? Murakami Haruki, A Wild Sheep Chase:
1992.08.12 Nakagami Kenji dies (Kii peninsula outcast laborer stories: Faulknerian epic)
1994 Tsutsui Yasutaka criticized for discriminatory language, declares he will no longer write
1994 Oe Kenzaburo awarded Nobel Literature Prize
199? Inoue Yashushi dies (straight-laced historical fiction)
1997? Shiba Ryotaro dies (straight-laced historical fiction)
  Strong Japan, Weak World: Economic Problems signal end of Cold War
1980s U.S. recession, Japanese auto industry success, incurs U.S. panic, Japan-bashing
1980s Reagan, Thatcher lead era of government downsizing (in theory), military expansion (in reality)
...Gradual weakening of Soviet bloc, Poland, Romania...
1989.5 (China) Suppression of demonstrations at Tien An Men for economic and political reforms
1989.11 (Ger) Fall of Berlin Wall as (USSR) Gorbachev dismantles Soviet rule
Cabinet Shuffling ends with reign of Nakasone
Ohira, Suzuki, Takeshita, Nakasone,
1986? Hata Tsutomu, "Japanese intenstines are too long to digest foreign rice."
1987? Nakasone, "American education and social progress is slowed down by racial diversity."
Bubble and Bust in Japan
1987-90 Boom in land, stock prices / establishment of sales taxes / influx of foreign workers
1989 Death of Showa era Emperor Hirohito; beginning of Heisei Era under Emperor Akihito
    1993?? Prince Naruhito marries Masako: but no children
     Land prices soar in Japan...
     Japanese companies have surfeit of cash: purchase expensive properties, etc., overseas.
    Bubble bursts in early 1990s: loans that assumed continued increase in property values become defunct
        2000 Sogoo Dept Store bankrupt: debate over whether public funding should assume their debt.
End of Cold War allows Occupied Nations to resume old Battles
   Fighting rages through Africa: Congo, Somalia, etc.
   Soviet Bloc countries resume old hatreds: From Yugoslavia to Dagestan
   India and Pakistan turn to nuclear threats
   Indonesia: fall of Suharto; massacre in East Timor;
   Signs of peace in East Asia: Hong Kong, Macao returned to China; N and S Korea rapproachment
Early 1990s: Cracks in the New (Post-Cold War) World Order
1991 US executes a kinder, gentler genocide against Iraqi armies in the Gulf War
1991-94 Japan's investment bubble bursts: mini-recession
1992-95 Wars break out along Russiaﾕs inner eastern border
1994.6.29 Socialist leader Murayama chosen PM to lead LDP cabinet
1994.1 Kobe Earthquake kills over 5,000.
Prime Ministers and Cabinets play musical chairs after Nakasone: Neo-Nationalists at fore
    = note ongoing reorganization of parties, alliances
    = note also Kaifu; Hata Tsutomu; Uno: first non-LDP Murayama Socialist Party leader;
1988.12 PM Miyazawa Kiichi resigns after false testimony in Diet hearing over Recruit Cosmo payments.
1988.12 Justice Minister Hasegawa resigns after falsely denying payments from Recruit.
1989.01 Econ. Planning Agency Chief Harada resigns over political payments from Recruit.
1989.06 PM Takeshita Noboru resigns for accepting 200-mill yen over 3 yrs from Recruit.
1989.08 Kanboo chookan Yamashita resigns over relations with woman.
1993.12 Defense Agency Chief Nakanishi resigns after saying:
        = "Later generations shouldn't have to clutch onto a constitution made half a century ago."
1994.04 PM Hosokawa resigns after being investigate over payments from Sagawa Kyuubin Group.
1994.05 Justice Minister Nagano Shigeto resigns after saying "Nanking Massacre never occurred."
1994.08 Envir. Agcy Chief Sakurai resigns after saying "Japan never intended a war of invasion."
1995.10 Justice Min. Tazawa resigns after Diet investigation over payments from religious groups.
1995.10.11 Mgmt & Coord Agcy Chief Eto Takami says "Japanese occupation brought good things to Korea."
     1995.11.13 Eto resigns after S. Korean govt pressure.
1997.?? PM Hashimoto Ryuutaroo appoints felon Satoo Takayuki to Chief of Mgmt & Coord Agcy
    1997.09 Sato resigns after criticism that he had been convicted in Lockheed Scandal
    ???? Hashimoto Ryutaro cabinet falls
1998.?? Obuchi Keizoo Cabinet: when Obuchi is elected, news media call him "cold pizza"
1999.03 Justice Min. Nakamura Seizaburo resigns after statements about constitution
    = he had also privately kept documents relating to U.S. actor entering Japan (???)
1999.10.20 Nishimura Shingo (Def. Agency) declares N-forces are good; Men are rapists but for laws.
1999 Ozawa Ichiro allies with Komeito
2000.03 Finance Recovery Cmte Chair Ochi resigns after ?? interfering in investigation.
2000.05.?? Obuchi dies in office (overworked?)
??-?? Mori Yoshiroo First Cabinet
     2000.05 Ishihara Shintaro warns of danger from "daisan-koku" (prewar shibboleth for trouble-causing Koreans)
     2000.05 Mori Yoshiro (P.M.) "Japan is a land of the gods, centered on the Emperor."
     2000.06 Mori uses prewar word "kokutai" (Emperor-centered body politic)
     2000.06 Mori: "Americans buy guns to keep out the criminals when there is a blackout."
     2000.06 prior to election, Mori 'speech errors' incur 19% approval: worst popularity in postwar era.
2000.06-?? Mori Yoshiroo Second Cabinet reappointed after election victory
2000.07 ex-Housing Minister Nakao investigated on bribery charges.
2000.07 Finance Recovery Cmte Chair Kuze resigns over funding from Mitsubishi Trust Bank.
Late 1990s: Changes in the Old Order?:
     = for ossified gov't and corporate bureaucracy; failure to restructure; decreased public support of LDP;
     = continued emphasis on manufacturing: cell phones; flat-screens; electric cars;
1998.4 financial deregulation: foreigners allowed to buy companies;
     = G.E. buys large companies; Ripplewood Holdings buys Long-Term Credit Bank;
     = Renault buys Nissan; Merrill Lynch gets Yamaichi;
     = Sakura Bank and Sumitomo Bank merger: keiretsu loyalties no longer sacred.
Malpractice suits filed: 1990=352; 1999=638.
2000 Rise in performance-based pay; benefits payed before retirement;
Boom in Communications Technology
Computers (pasokon)
    1982ﾅ Desktop computers, word processors replace typewriters in US, then Japan.
    1988ﾅ email gradually increases
    1995ﾅ internet traffic gradually increases
Mobile phones (keitai denwa)
    1995 Motorola distributes mobile phones after Kobe earthquake: opens door to industry
    1998? NTT broken up, privatized
    1999 Gen-X spends money on multi-function cell phones, causing coffee houses to flounder
Satellite systems:
    1997-2000 Iridium satellite system: great expectations, ends in failure
    1999 Global Positioning System enables car-navigation system
Bust Literature
    = Yuu Miri, Yoshimoto Banana, Murakami Haruki,
1995 Kooda Ma'in, Intangible Game: hackers in New York discover Japanese bank fraud
1998 Kooda Ma'in, Kizu (Scar): Saleswoman destroys bank to avenge lover's suicide
2001 Kooda Ma'in, Nihon kokusai (Japan Government Bonds):
    = traders engineer market crash, to force goverment economic reforms ---Transportation at your doorstep (one-way and two-way) -----------------------
     1870s trains, rickshaws, 1900s bicycles, trams, automobiles
     enables vigorous trade/movement of clothing (fashion), food, people, etc.
---Energy and Resources at your doorstep------------------------------
     Public water/sewage systems
     Electricity, lighting, neon lights, nuclear energy, dam projects, solar energy
     Gas, gasoline, kerosene,
---Public media at your doorstep: technology to let you hear others (one-way)---------
     Active publishing industry in cities from 18th century (contingent on literacy)
     Newspapers gain wide circulation starting in 1870s; paper industry;
     Radio broadcasts start 1924; reach 10 million subscribers by 1952.
     TV broadcasts start 1952: reach 10 million subscribers by 1961.
     Recordings, radio, stereo, Televisions
---Technologies of cleanliness (?) ----------------------------------
     Sewage, Waste disposal, dioxin, disinfectants,
     1980s major advances in recycling availability, regulations,
---Technology to improve homemaking ------------------------------
     Electric and gas ranges, Refrigerators, sewing machines, Electric Rice Cookers
     public housing design, vacuum cleaners, air conditioning, lighting,
---Technologies of production-------------------------------------
     chemical technologies: foods, genetic manipulation,
---Communications technology to let other people hear you (two-way) ----------------
     Telephones, cell phones, email, internet, satellites, navigation systems,
---Globalization and free trade -----------------------------------------
     Production shifts to less-developed areas
---Consequences of technology: First world profits, while Earth dies --------
     Global warming, changing weather patterns,
     pollution of air, water, noise, dioxin, birth rate changes,
     acid rain, coral reef destruction, overfishing, deforestation,
     biodiversity degraded by environmental destruction, bio-transplantation,