In class on Wednesday (10/2) we discussed East Asia following the Second World War. This time period was heavily focused on rebuilding the area as they moved from Empires to Nations. Professor Bonk highlighted three sections: Reparation and Remaining, Redrawing Boundaries, and Rewriting History. The division of land was the main topic in class and in our reading by Alexia Dudden. Empires were focused on expansion and the centering of one major city, but with the transformation into nations we see a change to common identity as the most important aspect. This change was the reason land disputes were so apparent. In 1952 in the San Fransisco Treaty we see the disagreements and the loss of some territories on Japans end, this is just one example of the controversies between new nations on who gets what land.

What I found most interesting about this time period is the rewriting of history. Often these nations aim to erase their offenses and paint themselves as the victim. This can be seen with the Japanese peace parks that aim to show a sanitized version of the war, erasing their own faults from the narrative. I find it fascinating that through erasure and propaganda a nation and its government has the ability to rewrite history and often times get away with it.