The Guilty Victim: the Post-War Japanese Identity Crisis

          Part of the brilliance of Tatsumi's work is the emotional depth of the characters and their internal conflicts. In many of the comics, we see characters embody duel natures; they are at once both a victim and a perpetrator. The tension in many of the comics draws from this dichotomy and emphasizes the presence of severe self-loathing.
          While many of the comics deal with moral ambiguity in the protagonists and other characters, perhaps the most potent example is found in the very first comic, "Hell". Within this there is a shadow of two figures burned into the wall. The narrator sees a filial son massaging his mother's shoulders at the time of the detonation. However, it is later revealed that he was attempting to strangle her. In the end, the son both commits a crime and is made a victim nearly simultaneously.
          Another example with a powerful message is "Life is So Sad". In this case the young bride waits 4 years for her husband to return from prison and, at the very end of his sentence, sleeps with another man. She is perpetually viewed as the victim, the sad girl who waits patiently for her spouse, but in the end she also disproves that thought by willingly having sex in order to forget her abusive husband and his impending return. In both cases the person is viewed as innocent, even victimized by the outside community while knowing their own guilty actions internally. In fact, this pattern can be seen in nearly every comic present in the book in one way or another.
          While some may argue that this is merely a favored story telling device employed by Tatsumi for its emotional effectiveness, I contend that this carries a much deeper meaning. This book is entirely set in the aftermath of World War II where Japan survived the first atomic bomb used during warfare. The lasting impression of the bomb is typically the narrative associated with Japan during WWII. In nearly ever circle, they are viewed as the victim of the worst horrors of war. They escaped WWII with the the image of an innocent, victimized, impotent nation. The Japanese government leapt at the opportunity to perpetuate this understanding. They had no desire to implicate themselves for their own war crimes. However history is not that simple. From the beginning of the 20th century up through the end of WWII, Japan committed atrocious war crimes that they are very rarely associated with. They imperialized Korea and outlawed many traditional practices that are now lost to history. They invaded China, burning towns to the ground and victimized women and children heavily. They performed active parts in WWII opening aggressions against the US and maintaining a large pacific theater of war. At the heart of all of this, the Japanese population, the soldiers especially, knew of these crimes and knew their own role. They remembered bombing, burning and destroying with no end goal. When they returned to Japan post the atomic bomb, they were told to play the role of the victim. While they maintained the knowledge of their actions, the soldiers were not allowed to speak out about their experiences. There was little to no psychological help and the government practiced explicit denial. To this day, most of this is not in Japanese history textbooks.
          While the Japanese government took the opportunity to be the innocent victim, the Japanese people took the brunt of the damage as they were forced into crippling silence.
          We see these themes: innocence, victimization and impotence, repeatedly in the comics. We see the innocence at play with evil. There is usually very little resolution. I think these comics are a direct representation of the Japanese identity crisis and dysphoria that occurred after the war. Steeped in images of Japanese imperialism and WWII, the comics speak to a truth that has long been suppressed for the sake of international politics.