History

Book Overview and Authors Main Purpose
Sabine Fruhstuck s Uneasy Warriors Gender, Memory, and Popular Culture in the Japanese Army is about Japan s political and cultural perspectives regarding war. The author discusses the heroism of the warriors in the Japan and the feminist militarists. Apart from these, the book also has a significant discussion about how the military has decided to reinvent history and erase the memory of Japan s war history, as well as manipulate Japan s popular culture.

In this book, Fruhstuck s purpose is to enlighten the readers of the various aspects of the Japanese army as well as inform the readers how Japan perceives war and presents it to its people. The author also aims to discuss the reason behind the contradiction between Japan s Article 9 and its existing armed forces.

Bibliographical Information on the Author
Sabine Fruhstuck is a researcher who specializes in social studies and history of sociology and science in modern Japan. Fruhstuck has a PhD in Japanese studies which she earned in the University of Vienna in 1996 her thesis is about the  Modern Japanese History and History and Social Study of Science  (Linhart and Fruhstruck 385).

As stated in the introduction of Fruhstuck s book, she is the only person who was able to gain insight to the life of the individuals in the military base of the Self-Defense Forces because the military is very apprehensive of allowing outsiders from having an idea of the lives of their troops (Fruhstuck 1).
Argument, Evidence and the Authors View of History

According to Fruhstuck, the military is one of the most funded departments of the government (4). It is stated that the cold war should have ended the belief that armaments are necessary however, despite the cold war, it is apparent that history has not taught people a lesson. Instead of disarmament, the world military continuously funds and expands its developments.

It is claimed that the postwar history of Japan shows that it has  a pronounced anti-militarism  compared to that of the United States in fact, Japan does not engage in warfare. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, it was seen that the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) held political and social power. However, the Self-Defense Forces of Japan eventually broke from this tradition instead, they largely focused on non-combat operations such as rescuing victims of disasters and participating in the United Nations  missions regarding peace (Fruhstuck 5).

Apart from this, there are some arguments about how Japan and its military are determined to remove certain parts of Japan s history in history books. The military states that it is necessary to eliminate Japan s wartime history from the consciousness of the public. It is apparent that Japan believes that if the country wants to push peace through, it is necessary to remove it from its history, for if war and the military are not known, peace has a bigger chance (Fruhstuck 6).

However, despite the aforementioned information about how Japan is trying to minimize the dissemination of facts regarding Japan s war and post-war activities, the militarization in Japan is slowly becoming visible (Fruhstuck 5). In analysis, it can be said that although the Japanese military is intent on erasing Japan s war history, they are not keen on actually removing the military as a supplement to their belief that peace has a chance without war.

Repercussions
It has been mentioned beforehand that Japan s Article 9 does not correlate with Japan s armed forces. This is because Article 9 states that  Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat of use of force as a means of settling international disputes  (Fruhstuck 7). Apart from this, Article 9 also states that  land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained  (Fruhstuck 7). However, contrary to Article 9, Japan has its own military which can be referred to as a war potential. Therefore, it can be said that the military is illegal. The existence of the military does not only contradict Article 9 but it also contradicts itself, for it teaches its men violence in order to avoid it. It also teaches its civilians that violence is prohibited and yet, it conducts violent acts (Fruhstuck 7).

Author s Contribution to Study of the Topic
In analysis of the aforementioned information, it can be said that the issue regarding the Japanese army has a lot of discrepancies, and there is confusion as to which should be maintained and what should be ultimately removed. The author provides information regarding the contradictions between what the military is teaching the people to what it is actually doing. Since Fruhstuck is able to conduct her research regarding the troops  everyday lives, decisions and motivations, she is able to provide insights and in-depth analyses of how the military works. The overall thought in Fruhstuck s discussion regarding the Japanese army is that it tries to preach and yet, it fails to practice what it preaches.