PRESS CONFERENCE
The Contested History of World War Two: The Hottest Flashpoints Today
M.G. Sheftall, Professor, Modern Japanese Cultural History and Communication, Faculty of Informatics, Shizuoka University.
Alexis Dudden, Professor, Department of History, University of Connecticut and Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore
Koichi Nakano, Professor, Political Science, Sophia University
15:00-16:00 Friday, August 1, 2025
Language: The speech and Q & A will be in English.
Almost a century after the bloodiest conflict in human history, we still do not agree on what happened during World War Two. Japan has sat at the center of some of the bitterest disputes over wartime history, seen in the emotional fights over the truth of the Nanjing massacre and the sexual slavery of the Comfort Women as well as the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As part of the Club's events to mark the 80th anniversary of the war's end, we have invited three leading scholars to discuss the hottest flashpoints in public memories of a conflict that still divides us today.
Koichi Nakano, Visiting Scholar at Harvard University's Weatherhead Program on U.S.-Japan Relations
Alexis Dudden, professor of history at the University of Connecticut
M.G. Sheftall, professor of history at Shizuoka University
Please join us for a no-taboo discussion of the ongoing disputes over remembering World War Two and how the history of the war remains a hotly contested battlefield 80 years after the last gun fired.
How to attend:
Please register by emailing front@fccj.or.jp with your name and the name of your media outlet. FCCJ members should also include their membership number. Doors will open 15 minutes before the event.
How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live
How to ask questions: https://forms.gle/ehyAu8ucnn44Npf27
TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event. FCCJ will limit live-streaming of FCCJ-hosted press conferences to Club members only. Non-members will no longer be permitted to live-stream these events. However, non-members may still film for reporting purposes and use footage after the press conference.
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Professional Activities Committee