In “Nurturing Warriors” UCSB Current Highlights Prof. Sabine Frühstück’s “Playing War”

Japan’s history of war, from the late 19thcentury to the present, shifts dramatically at the conclusion of World War II. After a series of intense conflicts, beginning with the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95, Japan embraced peace and anti-militarism.

Despite the bifurcation of eras, says a UC Santa Barbara scholar, one aspect of Japanese culture remains unchanged: the use of children to validate war and sentimentalize peace: In “Playing War: Children and the Paradoxes of Modern Militarism in Japan” (University of California Press, 2017) Sabine Frühstück, a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, explores the nexus of children and war in the country.

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