关键词: 火野苇平, 战争责任, 开除公职, 政治诉愿, 文学文本

Abstract: In the early post-war period, in an effort to evade the GHQ’s punitive measure of discharge from public office, Hino Ashihei initiated two political petitions for relief from liability. His literary justifications following the revocation of his disciplinary actions aimed to counteract the accountability assigned by officially sanctioned historical narratives. There exists a palpable constraint between the scope of his self-defense and the political environment under Allied Occupation. In response to the official grounds for accountability, Hino, along with his witnesses, denied accusations of “active involvement” during wartime, leveraging his straightforward and passive nature. He identified himself as a humanitarian, liberal, and leftist writer, thus repudiating his previous advocacy for militarism. In fact, this mentality of “humanitarianism domestically while militaristic externally” is precisely what led several Asian nations to repeatedly fall victim to Japanese aggression. Hino attributed the responsibility for defeat to the militarists, exonerating both the emperor and the soldiers, which represents a disintegration of fascist militarism from movement to regime. Concurrently, he reframed personal guilt as patriotic resistance against America, thereby obfuscating Japan’s responsibilities for the wars waged against various Asian countries. This incomplete reflection on guilt holds significant case study value for understanding the post-war thought of defeated nations, particularly as represented by Japan.

Key words: Hino Ashihei, war responsibility, discharge from public office, political petitions, literary texts