2017 Volume 2017 Issue 187 Pages 187_97-187_113
This article examines how Japan and the Philippines dealt with the historical memories of war in their reparations problem by focusing on humanitarian consideration for symbolic cash reparations. After the Pacific War, which made the Philippines a main battlefield, Japan paid the largest amount of reparations to the Philippines than other victim countries. While Japan wanted to restrict reparations to be economically acceptable, the people of the Philippines felt that they have suffered so much pain that material compensation would never be enough. How to deal with their memories of war experiences became the essential problem for the two nations to reach reparations agreements.
Regarding how Japan and the Philippines compromised the amount of reparations and reached the agreements, I emphasize the importance of their agreement on symbolic compensation for victims’ losses based on the negotiators’ consideration of humanitarian norms. Since the human cognitive framework is more sensitive to the losses than to the gains, victims tend to feel that compensation for losses is small, while perpetrators tend to feel that victims undervalue gains from compensation. These tendencies require negotiators to make some manipulations. In the case of reparations negotiations between Japan and the Philippines, Japan was unable to accept the amount of reparations which surpassed Japan’s ability for payment. While the Philippines at first strongly demanded compensation for the past losses, they sought to acquire the benefits of future development soon in the process of negotiations. It was Japan’s consideration for cash reparations to war widows and orphans that provided a normative basis for the Philippines to compromise with Japan. Cash reparations to the war widows and orphans, who were the significant symbol of the war victims, became the main issue of the negotiations. In the result, Japan substantially accepted cash reparations, while it nominally sidestepped them. Expecting that the psychological effect of humanitarian consideration might mitigate anti-Japanese feelings in the Philippines, Japan established a loophole system which applied the part of export gains to reparations. Introducing the system should have promoted the conclusion of reparation agreements and the establishment of diplomatic relationship between Japan and the Philippines.
An analysis of reparations negotiations between Japan and the Philippines supports that it is important for perpetrators to acknowledge the responsibility of past wrongdoings and accept the victims’ historical memories of damages and agonies. Therefore, the analysis suggests that, while reparations are not problems that can be solved just by material compensation for damages, reparations can promote conflict resolution if the handling of historical memories gains high reputation for being appropriate compensation for the past.
