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La autora reflexiona sobre diferentes aspectos de la sociedad e historia de Japón a partir de la ocupación aliada de 1945-1952, desde el punto de vista de su experiencia personal. Algunos temas discutidos incluyen nacionalismo japonés a través de una anécdota en el santuario de Yasukuni, Tokio, la restauración Meiji en el Museo Yūshūkan o Museo Militar, localizado en el santuario de Yasukuni, y los bombardeos de Hiroshima y Nagasaki.

Though some attention has been given to the role that Bushido (the ethical system of the samurai) may have played in the development of nationalism in post-Meiji Japan, the martial arts themselves have largely been absolved of any complicity. I argue in this article that the martial arts did in fact play a role in the rise of Japanese nationalism and therefore share some of the blame for the events that took place leading up to and during the Second World War. The article demonstrates how the martial arts were used to popularize the precepts of Bushido and how these precepts in turn lead to the growth of expansionist nationalism. It also shows how the martial arts were used in the educational system and the military to inculcate the Bushido notions of honor and loyalty in the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author describes and analyzes the transformation of Japan, from the perspective of Asia Pacific historical configuration and the international relations theory. The transformation of Japan goes from a country subordinated to the Chinese and European empires, to a modern nation, a military and economical powerful country in the economics and geopolitics of XIX and XX century settings, particularly in the 1900-1980 period. The article describes the way in which the transformation took place, as well as the human, nature, technological and financial costs that Japan had to paid in arriving where it is now. However, these costs were not just for Japan, but for most of the countries of the Asia Pacific region. In this transition from subordinated to imperial country, from the end of the XIX century and at the beginning of the XX, to a modern country, in the second half of the XX century, Japan waged wars against its neighbor countries, like China and Russia, as well as invasions to other countries and territories, and participated in two World Wars. Finally, the article concludes that some elements such as Japan's importance in Asia Pacific region, its international policy, its imperial voracity, its new American subordination since the middle of the XX century and its new international linking strategy through economic cooperation agreements, were the prelude of a new stage in Japanese historical construction into the XXI century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]