Treading the Tiger's Tail: Pearl Harbor Veteran Reunions in Hawai'i and Japan

Abstract

This essay compares decade-long commemorations between American and Japanese veterans of Pearl Harbor, and the ancient kabuki legend of “Treading the Tiger's Tail”, which also concerns enemies who come to appreciate their commonalities. The “danger zones” in the joint Pearl Harbor reunions had less to do with enemies still fighting an old war, than with each nation's internally unresolved tensions and with sensitivities across a broader, more complex constellation of postures toward war memory. Hawai'i played a significant role in providing a more culturally porous milieu for the veterans to meet, away from the mainstream tensions in each of their respective nations.