Reconsidering ‘Vicarious Consumer Travel’

Nishino develops the concept of ‘vicarious consumer travel’ through a comparison of Murakami Haruki&s;s ‘ Nomonhan no tetsu no haka ’ and Furuichi Noritoshi&s;s ‘ Dare mo sensō o oshierarenai ’. Both authors, lacking direct wartime experience, journey to sites in China and Manchuria to confront memories of Japan&s;s imperial past. Murakami&s;s visits elicit visceral, even supernatural, reactions that consolidate intergenerational trauma into literary resolve, while Furuichi&s;s museum-centred travels foreground the consumption of history as spectacle yet reveal gaps between collective and individual memory. Their differing approaches highlight generational distance and show how travelogues pledge future engagement with history and remembrance.