COMPLETION REPORTThe Stories They Tell, 1941-1975: Remembering and Interpreting War in Contemporary
Popular Stories for Children in Japan and Southeast Asia(Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia)
Gonzalo II Abreu Campoamor
Director/Associate Professor
Research Dissemination and Utilization Office,
Office of The Vice Chairman for Research and Dev’t
University of the Philippines
1. Activities. The objectives of my research plan were all met, despite COVID-19 crisis. The primary goal ofcollecting relevant materials in Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia were fulfilled as expected. Icould also meet with several experts on WWII and children’s literature with whom I exchanged informationand established networks for my research. Secondary data gathering has also gotten background knowledge
on Pacific War, Cold War, Vietnam War, and Cambodian Civil War. I also made analytical notes on mostof these materials. Writing one manuscript arises from this research is undertaken now.
2. Research Overseas. I went to Japan twice. I secured all materials and got advice from my former adviser
Prof. Nakano, Hitotsubashi Univ. how to best manage my research. As for Vietnamese and Cambodian texts
for the research, my colleagues bought for me.
3. Research Results. I collected around a hundred Japanese literary texts clearly published for the youth thatcan be categorized into 4 forms: popular manga, storybooks, historical texts, and novellas. Popular manga isprimarily represented by Mizuki Shigeru and Takeda Kazuyoshi. Mizuki’s work was unique because he wassent to War and thus offer a very compelling retelling of it. Takeda belongs to the younger generation ofartists who offer a secondary view of the War. Storybooks, often also referred to as picture books, resemble
their western counterparts having shorter literature and colorful images. This type of literature is best
represented by Tahara Soichiro who incorporated the Wartime generation in retelling the War. Historicaltexts can also be referred to as academic manga because such manga are informative and historical facts
replace fictional storyline. An example is the Manga de wakaru series that are obviously used in schools asadditional historical reader. Most novellas, are remarkably published outside of Japan and written in English,
like that by Yoko Kawashima Watkins. In addition, I also collected literary texts that portray the Japaneseexperience in Wartime Philippines by Ishikawa Kinichi. These primarily reflects his experience in post-War
Philippines but nonetheless illustrate his Wartime circumstance as a journalist. Since manga at present is still
an emerging form of literature in the Philippines, similar literary texts that I could gather are limited tonovelettes written by Barbara-Ann Lewis and Tess Holthe, and a storybook by Augie Rivera.
The same predomination of novelettes and storybooks is observed in those that tackle Vietnam War andCambodian Civil War. Among the authors for Vietnam, most notable are Cynthia Kadohata who authored atleast two novelettes about War and collaborators Bao Phi and Thi Bui whose storybook A Different Pond
received multiple awards. Notably, those that tackle Cambodian Civil War are all novelettes, best represented
by Loung Ung whose First They Killed My Father was adapted into film by Netflix. Storybooks that tackle
the same are usually published outside Cambodia, thus offering very different standpoint. Notable examples
are Chinese-American Minfong Ho who tackled the refugee problem in The Marble Clay and Patricia
McCormick whose Never Fall Down retells the real-life travails of Arn Chorn-Pond. Manga is still limited
only to the Japanese audience, unless for a few that were translated into English or other languages.
4. Recommendations/Advice. The most significant characteristic of Japanese War-related texts for the youth
is a sense of clear rejection of War, both as fact and as concept. The former can be best illustrated by Mizuki’s
portrayal of so many events during War that would sound absurd if read now. In his Showashi or ShowaHistory, Mizuki’s weaved into the historical manga an important fictional character Nezumi Otoko and indoing so sheds new light to how the War is can be perceived. The latter rejection of War as a concept isclearly a by-product of Japan’s post-War Constitution, particularly its Article 9 wherein peace is consideredas the consummate antithesis of War. This idea is best illustrated by Nakagawa Rieko and Yamawaki
Yuriko’s Takara Sagashi (Treasure Hunt). Its message clearly resonates with the limpid pacifism ofanimation legend Miyazaki Hayao who translated it into a short animation.
Stories for children about War in Philippines differ in content and purpose primarily because the Philippines
can be considered as non-belligerent for having been an American colony. Thus, storybooks in thePhilippines have unmistakably become more anti-Japanese than anti-War, and effectively not anticolonialism. Anti-Japanese stance can easily be explained by two factors. First, Japan lost the War and in
effect all cultural and literary interpretations about it too especially in affected countries like Philippines.
Second, the very positive interpretations toward US can be gleaned for example in Barbara-Ann Lewis’sBarefoot in Fire. The main character’s dealings with Japanese and later American soldiers show very
contrasting emotions, ultimately viewing the latter as liberator.
Stories of Vietnam and Cambodia are different as these conflicts are mainly considered domestic. Main
protagonists in stories primarily fall under just two categories: first, those who experienced the War, andsecond, those who experience it through stories of those who survived or sought refuge to avoid furthersuffering. Portrayal of Wartime life in the first category can be likened to how the movie industry in recent
decades have portrayed the War: instead of drawing a clear line between who is wrong and who is right, thestoryline focuses on a rather personalized level. This can be clearly observed in films such as Saving Private
Ryan . Loung Ung’s novelette demonstrates the same by assigning the protagonist role to a young girl whoseeyes offer a totally unique and innocent perspective on War. What makes it more powerful is that the same
innocence is subjected to the most peccant atrocities during the Cambodian Civil War. Anti-War sentimentin such stories is unmistakable. But stories that focus on this unique perspective, while offering the mostbasic idea of universal peace, often misses out in discussing perhaps the more crucial root causes of theconflict.
5. Future Plans. I expect several manuscript productions from this research. Also, it may be possible to extend
the research on how contemporary literary works intended for youngers about War is being presented anddiscussed in other regions aside from Southeast Asia using the same parameters, objectives, and methodology
used in this research.

Publication of the Results of Research Project:Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)

Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
Will look for possible journal titles

Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)
Will explore the possibility