Conférence organisée par l’Institut français de recherche sur le Japon à la Maison franco-japonaise de Tokyo. Information and inscription.

Friday, March 13th / 18:00-20:00 conference / room 601 / in English without translationSpeaker: Sven SAALER (Sophia Univ.)

The construction of narratives featuring heroes and villains is a core element of the master narratives of modern nation-states. These narratives have been disseminated to the broader public through diverse media. In modern Japan, this included biographical writings, historical accounts, history and moral education textbooks, as well as public monuments, memorials, and shrines. Among these, public statuary of historical figures played a particularly significant role, as such monuments were erected in large numbers across the country, occupying newly created public spaces. This talk presents a quantitative analysis of the heroes and villains represented in public statuary in modern Japan and examines case studies of key monuments dedicated to “national heroes”. It also traces how the historical figures employed as embodiments of the nation evolved over time, as shifting political contexts demanded new modes of representing national identity and values. The presentation draws on my book Men in Metal: A Topography of Public Bronze Statuary in Modern Japan (Brill, 2020) (now Open Access).