Not long ago, there was talk of the “end of history,” as if the post-Cold War era gave the nations of the world—especially dynamic East Asia—a compelling opportunity to put aside troubled historical memories. Instead, history in the past quarter century has continued to divert progress toward forging a future-oriented regional community. Many looked to 2015 with dread, fearing that Japan under Abe Shinzo would arouse deeper historical cleavages. Yet, Abe navigated the year without serious fallout, alleviating US worries and reaching a breakthrough on the most sensitive issue with South Korea. Having passed through those troubled waters, is there a smoother sail ahead? Are bilateral relations formally weighted down by historical grievances facing a rosier outlook? We focus on five cases for clarity on the impact of historical memory: South Korean and Chinese images of each other’s history, Chinese and Russian images of Japanese history, and Japanese images of South Korean history—all with an eye to grasp how memories are undermining bilateral relationships today.

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