How a game sparks with a book.
Yasukuni Shrine#
In "Xenoblade Chronicles 3," there is a setting: two opposing forces, let's call them Country A and Country B, both soldiers have a lifespan of only ten years, and they have to fight from the moment they are born. If they can survive, after ten years, they can participate in the "Coming of Age Ceremony" hosted by the Queen, and their lives will come to an end, revered by thousands. The soldiers all consider participating in the Coming of Age Ceremony as their ultimate goal and have extreme hatred for the enemy country.
All of the above can be referred to as Yasukuni Shrine. It's just that the Emperor has been replaced by the Queen.
"In the Yasukuni Problem," it vividly describes how Yasukuni Shrine affects the Japanese people's view of life and death. Before Japanese soldiers go to battle, they will make an appointment to meet at Yasukuni Shrine. When they really die in battle (Yasukuni Shrine enshrines all the Japanese soldiers who died in battle), the Emperor will personally pay his respects at the Shinto ceremony. This is a great honor for the Japanese people at that time, and the family members who participate in the ceremony are grateful and not at all sad. As a result, the people at that time sent their sons to the battlefield one after another, hoping that they would sacrifice themselves for the Emperor, which was considered a glorious act.
Regarding the madness of Japanese society towards war at that time, there is another example, the "Showa Heroine" Inoue Chiyoko, who committed suicide on the eve of her husband's departure to relieve him of worries and actively sacrificed herself for the country.
Some side quests in the game also depict the same tendency. When the player goes to Colony 11 (yes, the strongholds in the game are called colonies), they will encounter a group of people who consider fighting as the only meaning and are willing to harm their teammates.
Farewell to Whom#
Another setting in the game: in order to maintain the survival of the colonies, both sides must constantly take the lives of each other's soldiers to absorb energy, and the killed soldiers need to be "sent off" to rest in peace. Both the male and female protagonists are "senders" in the game. At the beginning of the game, it introduces the protagonist's uniqueness: he not only sends off his own soldiers but also sends off the enemy soldiers. As mentioned earlier, both sides hate each other, so this behavior is naturally criticized by others.
Corresponding to the issue mentioned in the book, the above setting involves defending and opposing Yasukuni Shrine. The defenders argue that the Japanese culture has extreme reverence for the deceased, and there are traditions of commemorating national martyrs all over the world. The author expresses opposition to this view: there is no continuous and stable attitude towards the deceased in Japanese history (the specific argument is not elaborated here, the focus is on the latter half), and even if there is a certain tradition, it is to commemorate all the soldiers who died in battle, such as the monument erected by Shimazu Yoshihiro for both the enemy and the Japanese side in the Imjin War.
Indeed, in the more familiar Sino-Japanese War and the War of Resistance Against Japan, Japan has erected monuments for Ding Ruchang and Zhang Zizhong. In addition, Yasukuni Shrine has another issue: it only enshrines military personnel. Modern Japan still has places like Chidorigafuchi War Dead Memorial Garden and Peace Foundation to commemorate all those who died in war. This exposes the fact that Yasukuni Shrine exists to cultivate war machines.
What is Life#
Currently, I have only played the game until the middle stage, but from the various tasks and dialogues, I can basically judge the theme: what is the purpose of being alive. Giving the protagonist the role of a "sender" obviously wants to explore life through death. The finiteness of life is an important origin of human thinking about meaning. If one can live forever, there would be no need to consider the afterlife, and it would be difficult to generate religion or ancestor worship because it is right in front of you, just ask directly if there is anything. In the game, the protagonist and his companions liberate the colonies by destroying the "Clock of Life Fire" that collects enemy lives. The soldiers lose their reason to fight as a result. Some people choose a peaceful and prosperous life (such as Colony 1), some people choose to fulfill their wishes and fight to the death (such as Eisel), and some people remain fanatical (such as Colony 11). I think if this were in reality, there would definitely be many people who would make another choice: suicide. After all, sometimes, the reason for living is equivalent to living itself.
However, the question of life is closely connected to each individual, and one cannot expect a commercial game to provide an answer. The above settings are not new in Japanese anime, and the game developers probably didn't think that much either.
Ultimate Coincidence#
The producer of "Xenoblade Chronicles 3" shares the same name as the author of "The Yasukuni Problem": Tetsuya Takahashi.