Mr. Dierkes Japan-Germany comparison is the first new piece of information I
have heard on the war-guilt theme in months. He highlights a point that seems to
me should be obvious to any Japanologist over age 50 but has generally been
ignored in the criticism of Japan's attitude toward the war. Responsibility for
the war and guilt toward Asia--mainly China--was close to the number-one topic
in Japan for the fifteen years after the war. Look at any of the monthly
magazines. It was a real debate, and the conservatives won (plus the public got
tired of it).
If I remember _Changing Japanese Attitudes Toward Modernization_ correctly, a
big theme of the famous 1960 Hakone conference was Americans telling Japanese
intellectuals to stop obsessing about the war and talk about something more
interesting and positive.
Comparing the teachers unions in Japan and GErmany postwar is a great idea. I
don't know who constructed these memories in the US but the fact that this was
the era of "unAmerican activities" is not irrelevant.