■Research Activities Team Research 2010

The Images and Visions of Leaders in Modern Japan

Category Third research sphere Comparison of Cultures

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

Research Representative 戸部 良一 国際日本文化研究センター・教授
Organizer 瀧井 一博 国際日本文化研究センター・准教授
Team Researcher 五百旗頭 薫 東京大学社会科学研究所・准教授
小川原 正道 慶應義塾大学法学部・准教授
河野 仁 防衛大学校人文社会科学群公共政策学科・教授
楠 綾子 関西学院大学国際学部・准教授
黒澤 文貴 東京女子大学現代教養学部 ・教授
佐古 丞 大阪学院大学国際学部・教授
佐藤 卓己 京都大学大学院教育学研究科・准教授
庄司 潤一郎 防衛省防衛研究所戦史部・上席研究官
武田 知己 大東文化大学法学部・准教授
中西 寛 京都大学大学院法学研究科・教授
奈良岡 聡智 京都大学大学院法学研究科・准教授
野中 郁次郎 一橋大学名誉教授
畑野 勇 財団法人シップ・アンド・オーシャン財団・研究員
波多野 澄雄 筑波大学大学院人文社会科学研究科・教授
猪木 武徳 国際日本文化研究センター・所長
牛村 圭 国際日本文化研究センター・教授
鈴木 貞美 国際日本文化研究センター・教授
松田 利彦 国際日本文化研究センター・准教授
Team Researcher Overseas Frederick R.Dickinson Department of History School of Arts & Sciences University of Pennsylvania・Associate Prof.