History Education and Reconciliation—Comparative Perspectives on East Asia

The legacy of crimes committed during the Second World War in East Asia is still a stumbling block for reconciliation and trustful cultural relations between South Korea, China and Japan. The presentation of this issue in history school books is in the focus of a heated public and academic debate. This book written by historians and pedagogues from the three countries offers insight into the construction of historical narratives that are often nation-centered and foster exclusive identity patterns. However, the essays also reveal approaches to a more inclusive regional concept of East Asian history that puts the textbook debate into the wider framework of transitional justice.

Un-suk Han is a Visiting Professor of Tubingen University (Germany). His main research areas are the German question and German reunification, reconciliation and history education in Europe and East Asia.
Takahiro Kondo is professor of Civic Education at Waseda University (Japan). His special interest is in the controversy over history teaching in East Asia. He received grants for conducting comparative studies on this topic in Germany and Austria.
Biao Yang is Associate Professor of History at the East China Normal University in Shanghai (China). His research and teaching interests include issues of history education and reconciliation.
Falk Pingel is associated fellow of the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig (Germany). He has conducted comparative textbook projects in Israel/Palestine, East Asia, South Africa, and the Balkans.