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Paper short abstract

This paper looks at the modern history (1920s-1990s) of Kyoto’s Mimizuka, a mound containing remains of victims killed in Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s late 16th-century invasions of Korea. Specifically, it traces how Mimizuka alternately “reappeared” and “disappeared” in public discourse across the period.

Paper long abstract

Kyoto’s Mimizuka (“ear mound”) was built in 1597 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Imjin Wars, when the noses and ears of those killed in the invasions of Korea were collected and buried there. While the Tokugawa leadership initially used the site to intimidate Korean delegations en route to Edo (Tokyo), Korean opposition led to its concealment on later visits. This paper examines how Mimizuka remained contested in the modern period, repeatedly “reappearing” as a symbol of Japanese military prowess and supposed mercy, before “disappearing” again when officials sought to hide it from foreign visitors after criticism that it conflicted with ideals of civilized imperial rule. Tracing the site into the late twentieth century, it shows how transnational activists in Japan and South Korea once more “reappeared” Mimizuka as a space for critical reflection, revealing a history shaped less by physical change than by shifting discursive strategies of silencing and exposure.