National collective memories and their functions in Japan and the US

Collective memories are shared representations of a group's past. For nations, these memories serve important purposes: they shape national identity, promote social cohesion and guide future decisions. Although extensive research has examined collective memory in Europe and the United States, less is known about countries outside these regions, such as Japan. Cultural tightness and other societal differences may influence the extent to which collective memories serve these functions. To address this issue, we first asked Japanese participants to nominate nationally important collective memories (Study 1), and then asked both Japanese and American participants to report the extent to which their country's collective memories serve directive, social and identity functions (Study 2). Surprisingly, Japanese participants showed agreement on relatively few collective memories and rated those memories as serving these functions to a lesser degree than did Americans. These findings raise questions about how cultural tightness, institutional influences and educational systems shape collective memory and its functions. We suggest that in Japan, national identity may rely more on structural and cultural continuity than on shared recollections of specific historical events.