TAKEKAWA Shunichi    Department   Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University  College of Asia Pacific Studies    Position   Professor
Language	English
Publication Date	2013/02
Type	Research paper (Academic/Professional Journal)
Peer Review	Peer reviewed
Title	Fusing Nationalisms in Postwar Japan: The Battleship Yamato and Popular Culture
Contribution Type	Single Work
Journal	electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies
Volume, Issue, Page	12(3)
Details	The battleship Yamato of the Imperial Navy has influenced many artists in Japanese popular culture. In Yamato-featured stories, critics tend to find shadows of right-leaning, conservative nationalism. However, this article stresses that Space Battleship Yamato, a TV anime series aired in 1974 and 1975, and Silent Service, a manga series published from 1988 to 1996, also suggest anti-conservative ideas such as pacifism, anti-militarism, internationalism, and world federalism, discussing the impact of an earlier literary work, Requiem for Battleship Yamato, written by its former officer in the early 1950s. This article, in conclusion, argues that the Yamato in popular culture tends to play the role of a vehicle fusing contradictory nationalist messages since the historical facts of the Yamato, such as being at the time the largest battleship in world history, and the deaths of over 3,000 seamen on its last mission, and the earlier literary work inspire artists in popular culture to do so. Note: http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ejcjs/vol12/iss3/takekawa.html