THE THREE PHASES OF JAPAN-CHINA JOINT-HISTORY RESEARCH: WHAT WAS THE CHALLENGE?

In 2006 the Japanese and Chinese governments initiated a joint historical project to promote mutual understanding of World War II history. The primary purpose was to depoliticize the issue of historical recognition, and to promote mutual understanding in the spirit of "agree to disagree." It can be said that both sides ultimately succeeded in this point. Yet the project remains incomplete, since the third stage of the research requires both sides to discuss and release research findings to the public. The Chinese government has consistently avoided doing so. As an outside contributor to this joint research, the author introduces how this intergovernmental history project was created and implemented at three levels—that of historians, then governments, and finally the media. New problems were created because of gaps in understanding between the Chinese and Japanese sides as well as communication problems at all three levels. One conclusion is that intergovernmental joint research may harden the shells of both sides' national histories in the end, making it necessary to encourage private institutions to conduct research on historical recognition in the future.