The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan [Hardcover]

Ian Buruma (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1994

The author of Playing the Game explores the diverse ways in which Germany and Japan have dealt with the legacy of World War II, explaining how which East and West Germany have come to terms with the Holocaust, and the impact of the atomic bomb on Japan.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This thought-provoking inquiry has a powerful theme: people must be held accountable for the society in which they live. To learn why the collective German memory of WW II is so different from the Japanese, Buruma ( Playing the Game ) traveled extensively in Europe and Asia, visiting war museums, viewing films about the war and interviewing citizens from all walks of life. He discovered that most Japanese soldiers believed slaughtering "inferior races" such as the Chinese and Koreans not only accorded with the emperor's will but demonstrated loyalty. The Christian mayor of Nagasaki made the stunning observation to the author that because his compatriots worship nature only, the question of individual responsibility rarely arises in Japan. As for the Germans, it is Buruma's perception that they need to unburden their wartime guilt and receive forgiveness, whereas the Japanese prefer to remain silent and are puzzled by German preoccupation with the war. If the former Axis partners have anything in common, according to Buruma, it is the fear of their own resurgent militarism.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Buruma, a native of Holland, established his credentials on the subject of Japan in Behind the Mask (1983). In this work, he examines how Japan and Germany have handled their collective memories of World War II. While Gordon Craig (The Germans, LJ 2/1/82) examined the ethnopsychology of the Germans with more scholarship, Buruma provides a timely comparative study of the Axis partners. Given the current fear of a reunified Germany full of skinheads in the streets, Buruma may surprise some with his conclusion that Germany is coming to grips with the past while Japan tries to ignore it. As a journalist, Buruma is prone to journalism's sins: sweeping generalizations and the absence of footnotes. Still, this insightful look at two major nations in the new world order will make a valuable addition to any library. Highly recommended.
--Randall L. Schroeder, Augustana Coll. Lib., Rock Island, Ill.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T); First Edition edition (May 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374285950
• ISBN-13: 978-0374285951
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #813,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dealing with the Past, August 9, 2001

By 

bibliomane01 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan (Hardcover)

Ian Buruma takes a look at the various ways in which the people of Germany and Japan have dealt with the legacy of the atrocities committed by their countries during World War II. His book was especially timely in the case of Germany because he began writing it shortly after the unification of the Federal Republic and the GDR, when discussion of Germany's past was widespread both at home and abroad. Buruma is also well qualified to comment on Japan because he lived there for many years and speaks the language.

To summarise, the "The Wages of Guilt" finds that the German people, at least in the western part, have been more ready to come to terms with their war legacy than the Japanese. There are Nazi sympathizers and Holacaust deniers aplenty in Germany, but they seem to be confined to the fringes. In Japan, however, rightist elements remain powerful and the official line is to portray the war as an economically driven power struggle in which any excesses committed by the armed forces occurred in the heat of battle, thus denying any similarity to the behaviour of the Nazis. Moreover, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are viewed as atrocities on par with any act committed by the Axis powers; racism and a perverted scientific curiosity are among the motives attributed to America in its decisions to drop the bombs. Buruma explores the efforts to re-examine the war through the prism of German and Japanese reactions to Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Nanking, the war crimes trials, etc. and the result is a troubling and thought provoking meditation on the power of history and the psychology of escape. Check this one out, it's worth a look.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent analysis and perspective on an unresolved issue, September 3, 2007

By 

historybuff (Virginia ,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan (Paperback)

As much as many people would like to wash away the past, it comes back to haunt us. Germany, through its efforts to confront its past has made peace with its neighbors, while Japan trying to avoid any blame has tried to wash it away with denials and subterfuge, leaving bitterness and confrontation. It is also unfortunate that the West treats both with different attitudes, nazi camp guards are hunted down relentlessly while Japanese members of unit 731 who committed atrocities much worse than those nazi guards get away scot-free. We should examine why this warped sense of justice is allowed to flourish in our politically correct times. Why is the suffering of Asian people dismissed so readily? The dropping of the A-bomb on Japan should not cancel out all of Japan's responsibility for the blood shed by its minions in all of Asia. This book begins to open some of those puzzles which have remained beyond comprehension. Unfortunately even in our open society there are dark areas which free-tninking folks are afraid to tread. Read Tocqueville and his "t˙ranny of the majority" thesis and you will begin to comprehend.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incisive and Beautifully Written, April 10, 2005

By 

R. Brown "JapanVisitor.com" (Kyoto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan (Hardcover)

Author of God's Dust, Buruma, a native of Holland, examines in this work how Japan and Germany have dealt with and manipulated their collective memories of World War II. In spite of the Dutch experience during the War, Buruma concludes that Germany has faced the past honestly and directly; Japan, on the other hand, continues to try to ignore or rewrite it. In school in the common language of modern Germany, young people are well attuned to and aware of the issues of the past. Young Japanese are either ignorant or indifferent to what their grandparents took part in. Buruma examines the issues of chauvinism, the history of nationalism, contemporary pacifism, and how Auschwitz and Hiroshima have been remembered and memorialized. Drawing on his childhood in Holland and the ten years he spent in Japan, Buruma is well positioned to comment on modern Germany and Japan. Highly recommended.