Prime Minister’s message that “Japan is Back” was ideally going to have been punctuated by a triumphal 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Their delay, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and dramatic downsizing have muted their appeal, but there will still be political contests over how they are to be remembered and described. This isn’t the first recent celebration to have been thwarted; Abe’s hopes for a major commemoration of the Meiji Restoration on its 150th Anniversary in 2018 were also frustrated, though largely by divergent views of Japan’s political history and the appropriateness of national festivities. In this discussion, we will consider how celebrations and commemorations are fraught with affective risks when they interact with larger national narratives.

Speakers:
• David Leheny, Professor, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University
• Ulrike Schaede, Professor and Director of the Japan Forum for Innovation and Technology, GPS UC San Diego