Civilization and the Body

Organizer: USHIMURA Kei, Professor

When reflecting on history, one might wonder how people perceived their bodies and how they have maintained or altered the conceptualization of the body in the context of civilization. Contact with the “other” results in change to notions of the body, instanced by the conquistadors’ “discovery” of the new continent and its inhabitants. A focus on Japan can also lead to interesting conclusions on how the Japanese have conceptualized civilization through notions of the body after the opening of their nation in the middle of the nineteenth century, as they encountered the West and modern civilization on an unprecedented scale. This team research project attempts an understanding of the problem through the discourses that emerged in modern Japan on civilization in relation to the body. Also, we plan to find comparisons in examples of how other people conceptualized civilization within the framework of their notions of the body. An understanding thus gained will enable us to locate Japan in a larger context.

Buddhist Perspectives on the Modern and Pre-modern

Organizer: SUEKI Fumihiko, Professor

Originally, the ancient and medieval were the primary focus of Buddhist studies. Thus the unspoken assumption was that New Kamakura Buddhism was seen as the high point, and that earlier developments were preparatory stages-while post-medieval Buddhism was seen as its gradual diminution and corruption. However, currently, this kind of shared assumption is fading. With the Exoteric-Esoteric Buddhism theory, it became clear that the center of medieval Buddhism was not necessarily New Kamakura Buddhism, and the trend is now to view the medieval as a unique world. Furthermore, in contrast to the medieval, the importance of late pre-modern and modern Buddhism has come to be recognized. Moreover, it has become increasingly clear that isolated study of Buddhist history has limitations. It is fundamentally necessary to construct a comprehensive conceptual and religious history of Japan that considers the relationship of Buddhism with Kami worship as well as with late pre-modern Confucian studies and Nativism. Additionally, since it has become clear that earlier theories of the centrality of New Kamakura Buddhism were a modern fiction, clarification of ancient and medieval Buddhism is not an objective undertaking but rather bound by the limitations of the so-called modern period—and hence elucidation of pre-modern ideas and religion cannot be separated from clarification of the ideas and religion of modernity.
Thus this collaborative research, recognizing the current condition of Buddhist studies, will bring together experts in both pre-modern and modern Buddhist studies. It will compare and contrast pre-modern and modern Buddhism and attempt to uncover the meaning of the transformation from pre-modern to modern. Further, since the collaborative research will draw together experts in religious studies who approach Japanese religion from a broad perspective that transcends Buddhist studies, it will establish a point of view that considers the broader conceptual and religious history of Japan rather than simply Buddhism.
More specifically, we plan to cast our focus on the late pre-modern era (Edo period). The late pre-modern era was the period in which ancient and medieval ideas and religion were transformed into the modern, and this transformation indeed engendered and constituted a new world. Previously, late pre-modern ideas were said to have been primarily Confucian in character, but currently this interpretation has been completely overturned; instead, contemporary scholarship emphasizes the basic influence of Buddhism on the ethics and religion of the populace. For a long period of time, study of late pre-modern Buddhism was dominated by the so-called “theory of the corruption of late pre-modern Buddhism.” The theory held only negative views of late pre-modern Buddhism, claiming that the latter possessed no originality and had completely surrendered to political power. At long last, research has recently been conducted that sheds light on the creative aspect of late pre-modern Buddhism. Nonetheless, such study remains sparse, and significant problems remain to be clarified before we understood how to interpret late pre-modern Buddhism.
In this collaborative research, we will combine debates concerning members’ presentations with group readings of relevant primary texts, attempting thereby to clarify the relationship between religion, ideas, and the development of late pre-modern Buddhism. Ultimately, we will attempt to develop an appropriate interpretive framework for the study of late pre-modern Buddhism. By such means, we will venture to gain a clearer outlook concerning the problem of how late pre-modern Buddhism mediated the transformation of ancient and medieval Buddhism into modern Buddhism. In this way, furthermore, we can presumably come to comprehensive conclusions concerning not only Buddhism but also epochal changes in the entirety of Japanese religion and thought.

Tradition and Creation of Yokai Culture.
Moving Towards Expanding the Parameters of the Field

Organizer: KOMATSU Kazuhiko, Professor

The purpose of this project is to build on and refine the heretofore gains and advances made in previous Nichibunken collaborative research projects such as the preceding project titled, “Tradition and Creation of Yokai Culture in Japan.” In addition, this research project will encourage and promote the development of interdisciplinary and comprehensive approaches to further advance this growing field of study.

Below are a list of activities and topics the research project plans to pursue and focus on:

1. The study of horror, strange phenomena, monsters and ghosts has made significant gains in recent years. Yet because these subjects are represented in a variety of mediums, they have an essence and personality that cannot be captured or defined in one exclusive traditional scholarly framework. The varied growth of specific vocabularies and concepts associated with specific scholarly disciplines has exacerbated this situation and stands as the main cause preventing the application of more interdisciplinary approaches. Accordingly, this project will examine concepts and methodologies from a variety of fields to encourage the development of interdisciplinary approaches.
2. To organize and examine the wealth of accumulated materials associated with pre-modern Yokai studies by Kokugaku scholars and essayists of the Edo period.
3. Research generated to this point has exclusively focused on horror, strange phenomena, ghosts and monsters within Japan. Many guest speakers will be invited to participate in this project as a means to expand the parameters of research beyond Japan. Comparative analysis and the broadening of viewpoints based on topics associated with Yokai culture in foreign and global contexts will be encouraged and explored.
4. The project will continue to uncover and examine materials traditionally associated with Yokai culture and promote their application in Yokai studies research.
   This research project is scheduled for a period of three years. During the last year the research team plans to host an international conference. Overseas researchers of Yokai culture will be invited to participate in this event.
   Papers generated from the project are scheduled to be compiled into a collaborative volume to be published by a commercial press.

Creating the Age of Life Civilization

Organizer: YASUDA Yoshinori, Professor

It is now obvious that the rice farming-fishing strategy is at the core of Japanese civilization. In the past four years, a collaborative research project investigating the cyclical system among forests, oceans, and villages constituting the rice farming-fishing civilization, was carried out in conjunction with industries and government. The collaborative research was held in the Sanriku coast area where the cycling system among forests, oceans, and villages has been sustained characteristically and the phrase “forest is the partner of ocean” has been generated. At the same time, the research group visited Ise and Miyazaki associated with the mythology of rice farming-fishing civilization (with research members’ personal expenses), and Yamagata representing the syncretization of Shinto with Buddhism. As a result, the significant importance that the rice farming-fishing strategy had for understanding the history of Japanese civilization was recognized.
The new proposed project intends to develop a detailed city planning for regional invigoration on the basis of a lifestyle linking forests, oceans, and villages, as well as the philosophy of rice farmer-fishers. Also, this project is regarded as the final stage of applying earlier research results for particular regional developmental programs, considering the benefits of the rice farming-fishing tradition for the future of Japanese society. The detailed plan will be developed under industry-government-academic cooperation, by inviting individuals working actively for regions as guest speakers, and through discussions among specialists of local/regional revitalizations working in various fields of economics, sociology, political and administrative sciences, forestry, agronomy, regional policy, landscape engineering, and environmental economics. Simultaneously, this project aims to establish a model of life civilization, which could be served as a grand design of future Japan in the twenty first century.

The Social History of Sexual Desire

Organizer: INOUE Shoichi, Professor

We have maintained a research project “Cultural History of Sexual Desire” for three years. Next we will tackle “Social History of Sexual Desire” as our forthcoming project. Both projects explore sexual desire. We will not change the topic itself but rather, the way in which we analyze the subject. As a new project, we hope to explore our objectives by way of social history rather than cultural history.
For example, let us think about the way in which we select a partner. Sometimes, biology tries to clarify animal sexual desire as simply attraction to the opposite sex. However, in the case of human beings, we cannot refer to sexual desire so simplistically. What stimulates men and women sexually is communicated in various ways according to historical or ethnic setting. The image of beauty is in the eye of the culture. The scholar of cultural history studies such variables.
Men and women cannot choose their ideal partners. They usually compromise on the matter of marriage. Moreover, our society sometimes does not allow people to cling to the opposite sex by preference. Some societies decide the combination of couples on the value of clanship or class etc. In these societies, people do not see their selected partner before the day of wedding. Human beings have historically subject to this process of selection.
Our society is binding on our sexual desire, but not only in the case of couple making. Also in our culture, is enclosed our sexual attitude. Even if the society appears to be sexually permissive, it sets parameters, and directs the sexual flow along a deliberate path.
Also, the way of social control on sexual desire is not one. It is executed in various ways according to the social setting. This team research project will explore these factors historically. However, initial, research will center on societies of modern East Asia, especially on Japan.

Japanese modernization and Protestantism

Organizer: UEMURA Toshifumi, Visiting Associate Professor

After the opening of Japan to the West, Japan modernized radically and Japanese society changed dramatically. Science, technology, and medicine felt the greatest impact in the first stage of the Meiji Era. Western philosophy, literature, and the arts were also interesting to the Japanese. However, Christianity proved a singular exception to what Japan would accept - a legacy of the Tokugawa Shogunate of the Edo period. From the severe ban on Christianity, it seems this “Western religion” has remained a minority to Japanese people.
This study shall first analyze Japanese modernization through the lenses of history and philosophy. Through this examination, the goal of this project is to determine why Japan would not accept Christianity as a religion as it did for Buddhism. Also, the possibility that this tendency will continue into the future will be examined.
Secondly, the history of Tanzania will allow a good comparison with Japan. Interestingly, the relationship between Tanzania and the U.S.A. became a Fubyodo Joyaku (unequal treaty) in 1853, the same year that Commodore Perry visited Japan. Tanzania was colonized by Germany and then Britain, but after its independence it accepted Christianity as its religion. This seems a contradiction to me. Why has Tanzania accepted Christianity as its religion? The Lutheran Church in particular has grown in the past two decades. In contrast, Japanese Lutheranism appears in danger of dying out in the near future. What is the difference between these countries?
Thirdly, the growth of Christianity in Japanese society in Hawaii is another good example for comparison with the situation in Japan. Japanese Americans have now accepted Christianity as their religion. Examination of the background of Japanese society in Hawaii might provide some clues to answering the question of why people in Japan have not accepted Christianity. Through this comparison, the conclusions may not point to the Japanese character, but rather to social circumstances or history that may comprise important elements in the attitude towards Christianity. It may be that the answer will not be found in theology, but in the isolation of Japan from other nations in its pre-modern history.
In this project, not only the Christian side, but also other points of view will be examined.

The Rule and the Local Society in the Japanese Colonial Empire

Organizer: MATSUDA Toshihiko, Associate Professor

This study, succeeding to "Study of Bureaucracy of the Japanese Colonial empire" organized from 2004 to 2007, intends to give an deeper insight to the Korean and Taiwanese Society under the Japanese colonial rule.
The previous study mentioned above has focused on the bureaucrats of particular departments of Korean or Taiwan Government General and the colonial policy they designed. Considerable numbers of facts were found from this survey concerning what plan colonial bureaucrats had made and how they were reflected to the real colonial policies, in such areas as judicial affairs, financial affairs, public engineering, postal and telegraph, police affairs, railroad, religion. Meanwhile the reaction from the colonial society to the policies introduced by the colonial bureaucrats remains as a matter to be discussed further. Considering this problem, "The Rule and the Local Society in the Japanese Colonial Empire" will concentrate on the resistance, disinterest, or collaboration of local Korean, Taiwanese (and Japanese residents in the colonies).
The theme of this study has much to do with many theories proposed in recent colonial studies. For example, the influential theory of "Colonial Modernity" (by Chong Gun-sik and Takenori Matsumoto), which is based on the M. Foucaut's Discipline and the theory of "Bureaucrats - Yuji Ruling System" (by Chi Su-gol), which attempts to regard local "Yuji" as a mediator of the bureaucratic colonial policy and the Korean society, are both paying attention to the relation between the colonial authority and the native societies. Though much attention will be paid to these theories in this study, it does not attempt to grasp history based on a particular theory but takes the position that historical studies should demonstratively pick out events and facts that could escape from abstract theories.
The purpose of this study is thus, complementing "Study of Bureaucracy of the Japanese Colonial empire", to understand the multi-facets of the colonial society and discover the various relationship in the political sphere between the colonial policy and the local society.

Private and Public in Modern Japan
-Comparative Perspectives-

Organizer:INOKI Takenori, Director General

People’s attitudes toward things "public" and "private" essentially characterize a nation’s political and social institutions. Democracy and the market economy tend to make people independent, atomistic and socially disconnected. Individuals enclose themselves in private "cells" and lose their strong interest in public affairs.
This team’s research project focuses on the problems of "private" and "public" in modern Japan and compares them with the Western and other Asian example. The issues concerning the concept of "public" in the philosophy of law, the "common good", protection of privacy, as well as the nature of public sectors in modern economies will be discussed.
Researchers in the philosophy of law, economics, social and political thought, economic history, medieval Japanese history, legal history, media and related fields, are all collaborate to explore this important and common theme in modern societies.

The Images and Visions of Leaders in Modern Japan

Organizer: TOBE Ryoichi, Professor

How should a man act as a good leader? What roles should he play? What kind of qualities does he need in order to play the roles? How can we produce and raise those people who have the qualities required for a leader? These questions have been asked at many times in many places, and various answers given to them. The way in which the questions are asked and the answers given is an important element of political culture in a country.
This team research project will study what images and visions the modern Japanese have had of their leaders, and how they have discussed the leaders’ qualities. It will take up the Japanese images and discourses of leadership in the period from the collapse of shogunate era to the present day. We will deal with not only the images of political leaders, but also those of leaders in bureaucracy, business world, mass media, and world of art and literature. Is the image in political world different from those in other fields? And did the images change over time? We will try to tackle these questions, too.
Japanese politics in 1930’s was troubled with a sharp division in the decision making process, and haunted by gekokujo(government by below). This political disease has been analyzed in terms of political power structure. We assume that the reasons which caused the disease may be more clarified by the analysis of leadership. Japan had the times in the modern age when the people deplored the absence of leadership. We will tackle this problem by asking and answering what roles, abilities and qualities of leaders they expected.
Each member of this project will adopt the research approach and subject at his or her own choice. Some will deal with the discourse of leadership in a particular period, or in a particular field. Others will study the self image of an individual leader or a group of leaders. Collectively we will find a common characteristic of leaderships in the whole periods of modern Japan.

Questioning Oriental Aesthetics and Thinking :
Crisis in Self-Recognition and Task for the Future

Organizer: INAGA Shigemi, Professor

Oriental Aesthetics and philosophical thinking were consciously established and propagated by the Asians around 1930s. Beneath the awakening of the self consciousness of the Asia resided its deep identity crisis. The Eastern encounter with the West had provoked spiritual as well as material conflicts in the previous decades. The nationalistic and self-assertive image of the “Orient” has been frequently contested and criticized. And yet, neither the aesthetics nor the philosophy in the East has successfully proposed an alternative self-representation which would replace the stereotypical ‘Oriental.’ formulated in the 1930s.
The present project consists of tree aspects. It will first aim at critically question the genesis and the process of elaboration and diffusion of the so-called ‘oriental aesthetics and philosophical thinking’ in modern Asia. Second, it will analyze the Western involvement in this process. Indeed the East formulated its own image as a compromise so as to meet the Western expectation: while the East was requested to supply necessary remedy to the West, it was not expected to replace the Western hegemony either in politics or in cultural issues. The Oriental thinking was appreciated so long as it was helpful for the West to reaffirm the Western epistemology and consolidate the Western ontology. On the contrary, the Oriental thinking could no longer be accepted whenever it turned out to be incompatible or incommensurable with the Western thought. Threatening the foundation of the Western thinking was not welcome but judged as simply irrelevant and such attempts were cast out of the academic discussion.
Judging from the circumstances, rehabilitating Eastern philosophy or aesthetics is no longer the issue here. What the project will propose in the third place is to rethink the very possibility of the dialog between the East and the West. One paradox must be taken into account here: so long as the Eastern heterogeneity is acceptable for the Western epistemology, the heterogeneity in question is already tamed and recognized within the acceptable limit of the Western philosophical sphere, which is by definition sufficiently homogeneous. Acceptable heterogeneity is thus conditioned by, and equated with, implicit homogeneity. Communication can be established within (and only within) this strict limit: the acceptable heterogeneity (of the items to be treated) within the sphere of admissible homogeneity. In-acceptable heterogeneities are literally ex-communicated from the arena of possible dialog according to the logic of the dialog itself.
The limit of dialog, as it is revealed above, is one of the reasons (among many others which should also be taken into consideration) why the critical re-assessment of the ‘Oriental’ cultural identities in aesthetics and philosophy is crucial.
The reflections on the issue extend itself on a vast arena of intellectual map: Ranging from the generation of R. Tagore, Gu Hongming, Okakura Kakuzo, the chronological span will reach up to the generation of Izutsu Toshihiko in Islamic studies. Such famous or controversial figures like Noguchi Yonejirō, Watsuji Tetsurō, Suzuki Daisetsu or Yanagi Sōetsu must be critically re-evaluated. Hu Shi, Zhou Zuoren, Ling Yutang, etc. among Chinese, Ko Yusop, Park Jonghong, etc. among Korean, A. Coomaraswamy, K. Nag, among Indians, to mention just a few, may worth being re-examined. Among the Europeans, H. Focillon, P. Valery, H. Hesse, R. Rolland, R. Panwitz, A. Schweitzer, K. Röwith, B. Tauto, E. Fromm, L. Masignon, H. Massis etc need to be summoned. Not only eminent individuals and their genealogies but also thematic targets and controversies should be addressed so as to clarify the problematic of the ‘Orient.’
The questioning of the destiny of the ‘Orient’ through aesthetics and philosophy is not alien from the quest of its legacy. The theoretical perspective that the project is expected to open will be made available through the publication of the scholarly papers. This publication will be hopefully accompanied by another compilation of critical anthology of important texts and the establishment of a bio-bibliography. An international symposium will be planned so as to extend the intellectual discussion beyond the restricted limit of Japan’s national academic border.

Comparative Study of Urban Culture in Eurasia

Organizer: SHIRAHATA Yozaburo, Professor

Much research has been done on the origin and development of cities. Also, the relationship between particular regions and urban centers found in them has been explored, along with studies concerning the influence on or from other regions.
Geographers and archeologists have studied structural aspects of cities, while cultural/social anthropologists and cultural historians have focused their work on regional cultures. Although these independent disciplinary efforts have produced much for us to think about, not many attempts have been made to consider these findings in their totality. Little information can be found in the analysis of urban culture from the perspective of comparative history.
The aim of this research project is to combine the research on municipal structures and systems, with studies concerned with regional cultures and societies. By looking at urban development in its many variations in Eurasia, and linking it with the structures of cities and the regional cultures they have been influenced by, it is hoped that some answers to the multifaceted question, "What is urban culture?" can be clarified.

Empire and the Higher Education in East Asia

Organizer: SAKAI Tetsuya, Visiting Professor

This project aims at analyzing the institutions, the functions and the legacies of the higher education in the Japanese Empire with special attentions to the context of East Asian modern history. There are few, if any, previous studies on this field. One exceptional case is Umakoshi Toru’s study ‘Kankoku Kindai Daigaku no Seiritsu to Tenkai’ “The Establishment and Development of Modern Korean Universities” (Nagoya Daigaku Shuppankai, 1995). Although Umakoshi analyzed Keijō Imperial University as a typical case of Japanese colonial universities comparing with the idea of establishing the Korean people’s university under the Japanese imperial rule, there still remain several unsolved problems. The political, social and cultural functions of the Japanese colonial universities should be further investigated. Another exceptional case is the series of Iwanami Koza “Teikoku Nihon no Gakuchi” (The Academic Discourses in the Imperial Japan) (Iwanami Shoten, 2006). While this series covers the wider contexts of the knowledge and institutions in Imperial Japan, it does not focus on the colonial higher education. This project, therefore, can be said as the first interdisciplinary research project on the higher education in the Japanese Empire.
This project is constituted by the following three parts. Part Ⅰ reconsiders the institutions and ideas of the Japanese colonial higher education comparing with the cases of western empire. Part Ⅱ analyzes the functions of the colonial higher education in the structure of Japanese imperial rule. Part Ⅲ discusses the legacies of the colonial higher education in Korea and Taiwan after the end of World War Ⅱ. In order to accomplish the aims mentioned above, six workshops will be held each year. The product of this research project will be published from Nagoya Daigaku Shuppankai (the University of Nagoya Press).

Fusion of Religion and Folklore in Literature:
A Reinterpretation of Miyazawa Kenji’s World View

Organizer: Pullattu Abraham GEORGE, Visiting Research Scholar

Nowadays, a large number of researchers and scholars are engaged in the research of Miyazawa Kenji’s life and his works, not only in Japanese universities and educational institutions but also in foreign universities. This boom in Kenji research itself stands as a testimony for the universal appeal of his works, which knows no boundary. Hitherto Kenji has been branded by scholars and critics as a Buddhist fanatic, saying that his sole aim of writing poetry or prose was for propagating the teaching of the Lotus Sutra for spreading religious fundamentalism. This misunderstanding on Kenji has started disappearing gradually, thanks to contemporary researchers within and without the country who are giving new dimensions to his works by reinterpreting Kenji’s works on the basis of universal values and concepts, like prosperity and peaceful co-existence of all living beings on the earth, well being of mankind, love, equality, non-violence, self sacrifice, vegetarianism etc., lying hidden in most of his literary works.
Kenji visualized a harmonious co-existence of the cosmos and the human mind. Even the human thought should harmonize with the changing moods of the nature. As the objects in the cosmos are sources for new strength and ideas, human thoughts should also get amalgamated in to the cosmic objects. Only this unison with the nature and cosmos would bring everlasting happiness to all. Kenji’s ideals of self sacrifice, non-violence and vegetarianism have derived from the teachings of great religions like Buddhism and Christianity with which he had close contact right from his childhood. Dedicating oneself for the happiness of others is a virtue which very few people posses. Such virtuous people could turn the pains and worries of others into happiness through mercy, compassion and love as taught by the religions.
A close look at his writings will make the fact clear that his literary works, be it the poetries or the children’s stories, undoubtedly, are manifestation of this unique world view and humanitarian outlook based on kindness and mercy towards fellow beings as taught by Buddhism. Hence, his literary works are, no doubt, derived through the fusion of philosophical teaching of religions, especially Buddhism, and the folkloric believes of Japanese people. This uniqueness of Kenji’s works has long been overlooked by the scholars.
The aim of this research project is to dig out the “Japanese nature (Japaneseness)” and “Japanese sentiments” manifested in Kenji’s works by re-examining and re-interpreting his poetry and children’s stories from the point of view of religious teaching and folkloric believes evident in all his works. As mentioned earlier, fusion of religious teachings and folkloric believes is the essence, the core of his works. Bringing out these characteristics of Kenji’s works in to light is the most important objective of this research. Outwardly, Kenji’s works looks like mere fantasies derived from the hallucinative mind of a daydreamer. But actually it is not. Removing this misunderstanding from the minds of readers is essential not only for the right understanding of the writer but also for changing his stereotypical image.

The Cultural History of Translation in Japan

Organizer:Jeffrey ANGLES, Visiting Research Scholar

Translation has played an extremely important role in Japan from the early modern period to the present day. In a sense, translation represents the border at which different cultures meet, given that translation is the place where an idea present in one culture makes its way into another culture at the semantic level. Translation has also played an enormous role in the development of culture, especially literary culture; however, the cultural processes at work in translation still require additional study.
The majority of most research into the history of translation in Japan has focused on when certain works of literature were translated, the ways that particular words or concepts were translated into Japanese, or the ways that translations from Western languages have shaped the development of the Japanese language. In addition, because French, Russian, and English-language literature have so profoundly influenced the development of modern Japanese literature, there has been a tendency in Japanese-language scholarship to emphasize the role of Western languages on Japanese, whereas the effects of translation from Chinese and other languages has not been sufficiently studied. In order to overcome these gaps in the research, it is necessary to examine translation as a historical phenomenon and to investigate the cultural history of translation.
From the beginning of the Meiji era through the mid-Meiji era, even as translation was growing in importance, there were significant changes in the meaning of “translation” as well as in the ways in which it was done. The “translations” done by authors who were writing for a popular audience (such as such as Kuroiwa Ruikō) were perhaps closer to what one might today call an “adaptation” (hon’an) in that they took foreign works of literary and transplanted the ideas into the Japanese cultural sphere. In other words, in the late nineteenth and twentieth century, translations did not necessarily strive to transplant the words of foreign languages into Japanese faithfully; rather, they sometimes merely attempted to explain to Japanese readers the contents of foreign works.
At the meaning of translation changed over time, the kinds of Japanese that translators would translate into also changed a great deal. At the beginning of the Meiji period, translators were translating into bungo (the pseudo classical Japanese commonly used in literary language), but Futabatei Shimei’s appearance on the literary scene brought about a big change in the meaning of translation. In his Japanese translations of Turgenev (translated as “Aibiki” and “Meguriai”), Futabatei did not use ordinary bungo. Instead, he twisted the ordinary rules of Japanese and used numerous unusual expressions in an attempt to replicate the particular turns of phrase in the Russian original. Futabatei believed that through doing this, Japanese readers would be able to approach the culture and kinds of language used in the West. Futabatei’s translations influenced a number of modern Japanese writers, starting with Tsubouchi Shōyō and contributed significantly to the development of new types of literary Japanese. One could say that Futabatei’s translations were a step towards the language of genbun itchi.
A number of interesting issues arise if one examines the changing ways that translations were done and the changes in the value of translation over time. What sorts of places did translation occupy within the changing concepts of “literature” during the modern period? How did the ways that Japanese translators engage in translation change? How did the sorts of Japanese that translators were using change over time? How did Japanese translators theorize the function and processes of translation? As time went by, what changes were there in the sorts of works that translators how chose to translate from other languages? In order to start to answer these questions, the International Research Center for Japanese Studies will be hosting a year long team-research project entitled “The Cultural History of Translation in Japan,” headed by Jeffrey Angles. The areas this research project will investigate can be subdivided into the following themes: (1) Translation Theory in Japan, (2) The Cultural Effects of Translation, and (3) The History of Translation as a Profession in Japan.

Translation Theory in Japan

This project aims to examine the history of translation theory from the late Edo period through the present day, by referring to the writings (essays, reflections, and other writings) of individual authors and translators about the theory and practice of translation. It will be necessary to examine the writings of Futabatei Shimei, Ueda Bin, Mori Ōgai and other prominent translators, but the purpose is not to write solely about the approaches of a handful of individuals. Rather, the purpose is to place these individuals within the larger context of the history of translation in Japan. One purpose of this project will be to uncover unknown articles, comments, and essays about translation theory and history. The project aims to examine the work of translators, such as female translators like Wakamatsu Shizuko, who have been overlooked by literary historians until recently, and to examine their contributions to the development of Japanese literature.

The Cultural Effects of Translation

One purpose of this research will be to determine who the field of Japanese literature was transformed through the choices of individual translators – or to put the idea a little more largely, to examine how translation helped shaped the development of the Japanese language itself. It is often said that translation is an engine that drives the development of linguistic and literary development. One could say this in the case of Japanese literature.
It is also important to think about the ways that the concept of “Japan” changed as a result of translation. Indeed, one might argue that it was through translation that the outlines of “Japan” and the “Japanese language” become visible. When Ainu and Okinawan myths and narratives were first translated into Japanese, it created the illusion that the Ainu and Okinawans were incorporated into the nation of Japan as minorities. Also, when Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, and other places were incorporated into the Japanese empire, there was an increased need for translation. It may be helpful to think about the ways that translation helped incorporated these outlying territories (gaichi) into the Japanese empire. Specifically, this project will look at the sorts of techniques of used in translating the work of the subjugated people into Japanese.

The History of Translation as a Profession in Japan

How has the profession of the translator changed over time? What sort of status has Japanese society historically assigned to the translator? When did “translators” become separate from “authors”? (In modern Japan, there are many translators who do translation work but do not write their own original works.)
Is there a difference in the type of literature that female translators and male translators have tended to translate? (It is necessary to delve into the differences between the culture of male translators and female translators in Japan.) How have the sorts of translations that Japanese society has valued changed over time?
Is the era of the “famous translator” (meiyakuka) over? Are we living in an era that no longer believes in the idea of a “famous translation” (meiyaku)?
What sorts of differences are there in the amount of money given by publishers for translations and for works that are not translations?
Have translators always had the right to choose freely the works that they will translate? As copyright restrictions grew tighter in the postwar period, how has that affected the culture of translation?
In recent years, there has been a boom in translation studies in the West that have described the cultural meanings of translation. This project hopes to draw on their work in answering the issues raised above.

The “Nihon-romanha”and Asia

Organizer: OH Kyong-hwan, Visiting Research Scholar

The purpose of my research is, first, to clarify some unsolverd issues on “Nihonromanha”, and secondly, to study the spirit of modernity appeared in the literature both in “Nihonromanha” and in Korea and China.
To do this, my concrete research themes are:

1. The idea of “romantische- Ironie” of Yojuro Yasuda as a critical theory
2. The meaning of literary tradition of Yojuro Yasuda
3. The idea of transcendence of modernity in Japan and China and Korea.

Intellectual Exchanges in East Asia Modern and Contemporary;
Focusing on Conceptual Systems

Organizer: SUZUKI Sadami, Professor

The intellectual systems currently in place in East Asia were developed from the mid-nineteenth century through the twentieth century as various regions incorporated elements of “Western” culture and reformulated their own traditional systems. In doing so, each continued to maintain their own regional differences, while developing in directions relatively independent of the systems of Europe and America. Japan was especially quick in building upon its traditional culture to reformulate a modern culture that moved in unique directions, and it has been observed that over the course of the twentieth century, those systems spread into Taiwan, Korea, and the Chinese mainland. The intellectual systems we now have in East Asia arose when those the formations put in place at that time were once again reformulated. We are now living in the midst of those systems, governed by their rules, but each country is once again charged with the task of reformulating their various systems as a result of the globalization of contemporary culture.
One representative example of the ways that intellectual systems have developed in different directions becomes clear when we examine the position of religion with intellectual systems as a whole. In nineteenth-century Europe, religious studies came hand in hand with Christianity, and the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences belonged to separate intellectual systems. However, in the case of Japan, religious studies were placed within the field of philosophy, which was in turn housed with the Departments of Letters created within the national universities. In this way, religion occupied a different position in Japan than in Europe. To give another example, the fact that the field of engineering, which had been developed in England in the late nineteenth century, quickly found a place within Japanese universities as a department owes itself to the special characteristics of the Japanese academy. There were several historical and cultural factors at work behind the creation of Departments of Engineering, but over the course of the twentieth century, the particular place for engineering within the academy came to be shared by other East Asian nations, and that situation still holds true to this day.
By re-examining the ways that intellectual systems as a whole were reformulated and examining the newly introduced aspects of “Western” culture as well as the “traditional” bases which were transformed through this influx of new culture, it should be possible to gain a greater understanding of the process of intellectual modernization within East Asia. In addition, one should examine various efforts to overcome the social problems that came arose along with the changes in values that that accompanied engineering and the promotion of modern values—efforts to overcome the abuses of modernization, such as flooding and pollution due to urbanization and widespread deforestation. To get a clear view of the future of East Asia, it is essential to re-investigate what sorts of effects these attempts have produced and the ways they have continued through the present day. To put it broadly, we are faced with the challenge of reexamining various aspects of traditional East Asian culture, the ways that intellectual systems were reformulated within the move toward modernity, and various contemporary attempts to overcome the abuses brought about by the modern age.
At the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, we have conducted two joint research projects for this purpose over the course of six years. We have conducted various international symposiums on the subject, and thus made progress in researching this area, but there has been a sudden rise in interest among Chinese and Korean scholars in the various concepts that lie at the heart of these intellectual systems. If anything, it seems that research within Japan lags behind research being conducted elsewhere.
The purpose in proposing this research project is to collect the results of this research and to contribute to the building of a broad array of intellectual systems. This project aims to share the intellectual trends within our research to other researchers in Japan and, in an open, international fashion, to study the development of intellectual systems, including development that took place in the era after World War II.

The Structure and Reordering of Manchurian Studies

Organizer: LIU Jianhui, Associate Professor

Over the last ten years or so in China and Japan, research in the area of so-called colonialism concerning imperial Japan’s largest "colony" Manchuria, has developed greatly and produced many encouraging results. The research has made use of varied methodologies, starting with the survey and organization of historical materials and reprints, and expanded to include reminisces and testimonies of people from that era and area, which became the basis for further historical consideration and analysis. By overcoming the common biases of ideology and emotions, which have a tendency to arise in Manchurian studies, it is becoming a more objective endeavor.
However, this research on Manchuria is not infrequently limited to certain areas. From the perspective of a structural understanding of a complete portrait of Manchuria, including the era of the Manchuria Railway, and its relationship to China, Japan, Korea, and Russia, it is still difficult to say that a multifaceted investigation is sufficiently developed. The excessive emphasis on the political, economic, and military arenas has continued as before, and it is a fact that there is a lack of discussion of the deep influence that the societal and cultural aspects of the actual region (Manchuria) had on the mental and behavioral activities of both the Japanese and the Manchurians. Therefore, even though there is much in the way of research results, a complete picture of “Manchuria” has yet to be achieved. It is not an exaggeration to say that the implications of this for both China and Japan have yet to be realized.
In this research group, we are considering the above issues, and based on the results of the joint research project "Comprehensive Research on the Culture of Northeast China (Modern Manchuria)", we aim as far as possible to establish of a complete picture from a multifaceted structural perspective. From this base I hope to investigate the significance of the historical role and meaning that a complete image of Manchuria had for China, Japan, and Korea.

New Directions in the research of folk song

Organizer:HOSOKAWA Shuhei, Professor

This interdisciplinary team research is intended to discuss the new methodology in folk song studies. Conventional framework for the folk song studies privileged topics such as the collection of words and the classification of melodic patterns. However, the focus of scholars has recently been shifted towards the concept of folk song, discourse, the ideology of authenticity, the intervention of technology and scientific research, the impact of industry, the politics among others. Our team will argue critically each of these new themes.
One of our shared interests is to assess the role of mediators (agents) who link the “original” locales and the outside worlds. The mediators in our team include scholars, record producers, radio producers and announcers, urban professional performers, city halls, and so on. Without their intervention, few “outsiders” could have got access to the rural songs. Several members will investigate the cultural implications of the work of mediators in different countries and times.
Another force of displacing the rural songs to metropolis is migration. When people move, their songs accompany them. The displaced songs, often susceptible with the syncretism, have of course different cultural meaning. Some of our members will present their work on the songs of migrated communities to discuss the interference between the original and the adopted milieus.
Another focus of our team is to compare the Japanese folk song (min’yo) and the other ones. The concept of min’yo, a typical case of the “invention of tradition”, entered in Japanese intellectual (and then popular) parlance towards the end of the 19th century. The ways of conceptualizing it were not so different from those in the West. For the concept of folk song was part of the process of modernization in globalized (and standardized) music culture. The folkloric usually puts on the symbolism of the nation in many cultures as well as inspires many concert composers and popular musicians. It is important to reflect upon the formation of the concept and adaptation of min’yo in the wider context.

The Synthetic Researches of Japanese Diaries

Organizer:KURAMOTO Kazuhiro, Professor

Why will the person write down a diary? In other words, on earth what would the Japanese be going to get by writing down a diary?
Why would the literary people ask the world a work of the self with a form called the diary? Furthermore, would the nobles continue writing down such an enormous diary in why?
In this study, I gather Japanese historical study, Japanese literature and psychology, front-line researchers in each field in the cathedral and am going to study a diary and a relation with the Japanese generally by accumulating an argument in the meeting for the study.
The characteristic in the times and a change find out the essence of the work again while I read the situation of the master of each note and a mention purpose, contents and the significance of the description, and untying it and want to perform the elucidation from an angle more than studies in the past such as an only classification, besides, to be called "a diary" and the evaluation, the point of view of the history of enjoyment. I do not merely perform presentation of the results of the study about the diary which each researcher assumes one's specialized field, and this study puts such an experimental trial in the field of vision on this occasion, for example, what kind of chemical change will produce the diary of the one if the researcher of the field that is different as a subject performs plural presentation of the results of the study.
In addition, I classify China and the viewpoint called the comparison with the Western diary into the field of vision in the future.
It is it with the experience that is useful by all means in each expertise without I become it, and it being intellectual, stimulating it for each other, and the result that these presentations of the results of the study brings predicts that it will be it with an opportunity to bring about new results of research.