Japan Journal of Media, Journalism and Communication Studies
Online ISSN : 2758-3368
Print ISSN : 2758-1047
Analysis of the construction process and dynamics of national war memorials: A Media History of "Save The MIKASA"
Tsukahara Marika
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2023 Volume 102 Pages 123-142

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Abstract

    The purpose of this study is to reveal the construction process and dynamics of national war memorials through a media-historical analysis of the "Save The MIKASA". The battleship Mikasa was the flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War. "Save The MIKASA" was a preservation movement that took place between 1922 and 1926 and advocated the preservation of the Battleship Mikasa as a memorial ship. However, at the same time, anti-militarism and pacifism were on the rise in Japanese society in the wake of the Washington Conference on Disarmament. Why was it necessary to commemorate the history of one’s own country’s wars in such a time?

    In this study focusing on the (1) Who started the Preservation Movement and with what intention? (2) How did the "Save The MIKASA" Develop into a National Movement? (3) How were the "Save The Mikasa" and the "Memorial ship Mikasa" given any significance? Furthermore, from these analyses, the social and historical meaning of the "Memorial Ship Mikasa" will be discussed. In this paper, I would like to take a media historical approach to the discussion based on article such as "JapanTimes&Mail" and "Tokyo Asahi Shinbun" published from 1922 to 1926.

    In conclusion, it was clear that "Save The MIKASA" is a movement that was established by the dynamics of the conflict between the ruling class and the ruled class, and the conflict between radical thought and reactionary thought in social thought. In the 1920s, when memories of the Russo-Japanese War were fading, the Mikasa Preservation Movement revived a spiritualism that emphasized the history and traditions of one’s own country and heightened patriotism through the recalling of memories of the Russo-Japanese War. However, it had to be done with a logic that was consistent with the pacifist ideology of the time.

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© 2023 Japan Association for Media, Journalism and Communication Studies
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