Faculty

Full-time Faculty

USHIMURA Kei Research Division
Specialized Field(s)	Comparative literature and culture, intellectual history
Current Research Themes	My current research interest is in reconsidering how civilization was conceived by the Japanese Army during the Shōwaera. Specifically, I am looking to explore how military figures like Tōjō Hideki, the premier at the time of Pearl Harbor, interpreted Western civilization when confronted by the Western powers.
Keywords for Research	Intellectual history, civilization, comparative culture

Education

1983	B. A., French Language and Literature, University of Tokyo
1985	M. A., Comparative Literature and Culture, University of Tokyo

Professional Experience

1989	Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Alberta
1996	Assistant Professor, at Ome, Meisei University
2000	Associate Professor, at Ome, Meisei University
2005	Associate Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies
2007	Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies

Degree(s)

2003	Ph. D., University of Tokyo

Achievements

Books

・ ストックホルムの旭日 : 文明としてのオリンピックと明治日本, 中公選書119 , 中央公論新社, 東京, 2021年07月
・『「戦争責任」論の真実－戦後日本の知的怠慢を断ず－』, PHP研究所, 京都, 2006年
 （ “Senso sekinin”ron no Shinjitsu—Sengo Nihon no Chitekitaiman wo Danzu (The Issue of the Discourses on ‘War Responsibility’—Judging the Intellectual Negligence of the Post-war Japan), PHP kenkyusho, Kyoto, 2006 ）
・『再考「世紀の遺書」と東京裁判―対日戦犯裁判の精神史―』, PHP研究所, 京都, 2004年09月
 （ Saikou “Seikinoisho” to Tokyo Saiban—Tainichi Senpansaiban no Seishinshi (The Testament of the Century and the Tokyo War Crimes Trial Reconsidered—The Intellectual History of the Japanese War Crimes Trials), PHP kenkyusho, Kyoto, September 2004 ）
・『「勝者の裁き」に向きあって―東京裁判をよみなおす』, ちくま新書 , 筑摩書房, 東京, 2004年03月10日
 （ “Shosha no Sabaki” ni Mukiatte—Tokyo Saiban wo Yominaosu (Confronting the “Victors’ Justice”—Rereading the Tokyo War Crimes Trial), Chikuma-shobo, Tokyo, 10 March 2004 ）
・『「文明の裁き」をこえて―対日戦犯裁判読解の試み―』, 中公叢書 , 中央公論新社, 東京, 2001年
 （ “Bunmei no Sabaki” wo Koete--Tainichi Senpansaiban Dokkai no Kokoromi (Beyond “the Trial of Civilization”--A Reading of War Crimes Trials Brought to Japan), Chuokoron-shinsha, Tokyo, 2001 ）

Co-authored Books

・（編著）, 『戦争と鎮魂』, 晃洋書房, 京都, 2024年02月
・（編著）, 『文明と身体』, 文春新書, 臨川書店, 京都, 2018年10月
・（共著）牛村圭＋日暮吉延, 『東京裁判を正しく読む』, 文春新書, 文藝春秋, 東京, 2008年
 （ Yoshinobu HIGURASHI, Tokyo Saiban wo Tadashikuyomu (An Accurate Reading of the Tokyo Trial), Bungeishunju, Tokyo, 2008 ）
・ Beyond the 'Judgment of Civilization' : the Intellectual Legacy of the Japanese War Crimes Trials 1946-49, The International House of Japan, Tokyo, 2003
・（監修・共著）監修／牛村圭、共著／長忠宏・藤井亮蔵, 『ひとりで学べるTOEFL』, 日東書院, 東京, 1997年
 （（with other authors）, Hitoride Manaberu Tofuru (TOEFL: Learn By Yourself), Nitto Shoin. , Tokyo, 1997 ）

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Articles

・ Joseph C. Grew, Ten Years in Japan (1944), Masterpieces on Japan by Foreign Authors, Springer, March 2023, pp.141-146
・ A Rereading of the Symposium Entitled “Overcoming the Modern”: Unconscious Links in Japanese Discourse on Civilization or the Modern, Interpretations of Japanese Culture: Views from Russia and Japan, 2009
・ The ‘Class A War Criminal’ Syndrome: Changing Historical Consciousness in Present Day Japan, Rien Segers ed. A New Japan for the Twenty-First Century, Routledge, 2008
・ Pal's ‘Dissentient Judgment’ Reconsidered―Some Notes on Japanese Responses to the Opinion, Japan Review vol. 19, 2007
・ Discourses on and against Civilization in Pre-war Japan, Cairo Conference on Japanese Studies, 2007

Show all Achievements

・「「A級戦犯」は敗戦責任を回避したのか？」, 『諸君！』10月号, 2005年
（ Eikyu Senpan wa Haisensekinin wo Kaihishitanoka? (Did “Class A War Criminals” Evade the Responsibility for the Defeat?) , Shokun October issue, 2005 ）
・「歴史認識論争を「文化の裁き」とするなかれー東京裁判再考」, 『中央公論』9月号, 2005年
（ Rekishininshikironsou wo ‘Bunka no Sabaki’ to surunakare -Toukyousaiban Saikou (The Tokyo War Trial Reconsidered - Do not Make the Issue of Historical Consciousness a Judgment of Culture), Chuokoron September issue, 2005 ）
・「歴史を考える難しさ」, 『修親』551号, 2005年
（ Rekishi wo kangaeru Muzukashisa (History in Difficult to Comprehend), Shusin vol.551, 2005 ）
・「教養教育と比較文学の責務」, 『比較文學研究』85号, 2005年
（ Kyoyokyoiku to Hikakubungaku no Sekimu (Liberal Education and the Responsibility of Comparative Literature), Hikakubungakukenkyu vol. 85, 2005 ）
・「「南十字星」に歴史を学ぶ」, 『ボイス』4月号, 2005年
（ Minamijujisei ni Rekishi wo Manabu (Learning History in a Musical?the Significance of Southerncross directed by Asari Keita), Voice April issue, 2005 ）
・ War and Literature in Japan, Bulletin of Meisei University vol. 13, 2005
・ ‘Bunmei no Sabaki’ wa kakumo Hukouhei (‘Judgment of Civilization’ is not Fair), Shokun September issue, 2004
・ Jikuu wo koete shisha no koe wo kiku: Gakutohei senpan Kimura Hisao to sengo Nippon(Listening Beyond Time and Space to the Voice of the Dead: The War Criminal Named Kimura Hisao and the Post-war Japan), Jikan to Kuukan (Time and Space ), Meisei University, 2004
・ Sengo Nihon Seishinshi no nakano Showa 23 nen—Tokyo Saiban to Kiku to Katana to (The Significance of the Year 1948 in the Intellectual History of the Post-war Japan—The Tokyo War Crimes Trial and The Chrysanthemum and the Sword), Bulletin of Meisei University vol. 12, 2004
・ Fusein Saiban to ‘Bunmei no Sabaki’ (Sadam Fusein’s Trial and the ‘Trial of Civilization’), Voice March issue, 2004
・ Towani wakaku soshite utukushiku (Forever Young, Forever Beautiful), Bulletin of Meisei University vol. 11, 2003
・ Fujyori ni kosuru kotoba: Seiki no Isho ga katarumono (Words Resisting the Unreasonable: A Reading of The Testament of the Century), Hyougen: Kotoba to Keishou (Expressions(II): Words and Representations), Meisei University, 2003
・「学的良心に導かれて－英米法の先達　高柳賢三」, 『明星大学日本文化学部編　古典と先達』, 明星大学日本文化学部, 2002年
（ Gakuteki Ryoushin ni Michibikarete: Eibeihou no Sendatsu, Takayanagi Kenzo (Led by Academic Conscience: Takayanagi Kenzo, A Predecessor in Anglo-Saxon Law), Koten to Sendatsu (Classics and Predecessors), Meisei University, 2002 ）
・ A Legacy of World War Two--The Tokyo War Crimes Trial and its Intellectual Influence upon Postwar Japan, Bulletin of Meisei University vol. 10, 2002
・ Yamamoto Shichihei no Tokyo Saiban (Yamamoto Shichihei's View of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial), Voice March issue, 2002
・「「A級戦犯」を濫用するなかれ」, 『諸君！』9月号, 2001年
（ Eikyu Senpan wo Ranyo Surunakare (Do not Abuse the Term ‘Class A War Criminal’), Shokun September issue, 2001 ）
・「ストックホルムの旭日－オリンピックという前衛」, 『明星大学日本文化学部編　伝統と前衛』, 明星大学日本文化学部, 2001年
（ Stokkuhorumu no Kyokujitu: Orinpikku toiu Zenei (Rising Sun in Stockholm: The Olympics as an Avant-garde), Dentou to Zenei (Tradition and Avant-garde), Meisei University, 2001 ）
・「歴史記述の倫理と想像力－レーリング判事の日本」, 『明星大学日本文化学部編　想像と現実描写』, 明星大学日本文化学部, 2000年
（ Rekishikijutu no Ronri to Souzouryoku: Reiringu Hanji no Nippon (Logic and Imaginations in Writing History: the Justice Röling's Interpretations of Japan), Souzouryoku to Genjitsubyousha (Imagination and Describing Reality), Meisei University, 2000 ）
・ Tokyo War Crimes Trial Reconsidered-Orientalism and Pal's Dissenting Opinion, Bulletin of Meisei University vol. 8, 2000
・「君子ニ三楽アリ―『今村均回顧録』の魅力」, 『明星大学日本文化学部編　表現－目的と手段』, 明星大学日本文化学部, 1999年
（ Kunshi ni Sanraku Ari: Imamura Hitoshi Kaikoroku no Miryoku (A Reading of General Imamura Hitoshi's Autobiography), Hyougen: Mokuteki to Shudan (Expressions: Ends and Means), Meisei University, 1999 ）
・ Civilizations Seen and Unseen, Bulletin of Meisei University vol. 7, 1999
・「文明批評家　東郷茂徳－『蹇蹇録』と併せ読む『時代の一面』」, 『明星大学日本文化学部編　普遍文明と民族文化』, 明星大学日本文化学部, 1998年
（ Bunmeihihyouka Togo Shigenori (Togo Shigenori: A Critic of Modern Civilization) , Fuhenbunmei to Minzokubunka (Universal Civilization and Ethnic Cultures), Meisei University, 1998 ）
・ Another Fin de Siècle--The Boxer Uprising and a Discourse on Civilization in Japan, Bulletin of Meisei University vol. 6, 1998
・ A Dutchman’s View of Japan--A Reading of B.V.A.Röling’s The Tokyo Trial and Beyond, Bulletin of Meisei University vol. 5, 1997
・「アメリカの日本文学－その教科書・翻訳」, 『創文』357号, 1994年
（ Amerika no Nihon Bungaku (Japanese Literature in America), Soubun vol. 357, 1994 ）
・「『菊と刀』から『「甘え」の構造へ」, 『比較文明』8号, 1992年
（ Kiku to Katana kara Amae no Kouzou e (From The Chrysanthemum and the Sword to The Anatomy of Dependence), Hikaku Bunmei vol. 8, 1992 ）
・「竹山道雄の東京裁判」, 『中央公論』1月号, 1990年
（ Takeyama Michio no Tokyo Saiban (Takeyama Michio's View of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial), Chuokoron January issue, 1990 ）
・「虫めづるハーン」, 『比較文學研究』47号, 1985年
（ Mushimeduru Haan (The Gentleman Who Loves Insects) , Hikakubungakukenkyu vol. 47, 1985 ）

Other Publications

・ Ishihara Kanji in the Context of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, Nichibunken Newsletter Vol.80, Kyoto, October 2010, pp.3-4

Presentations, Symposiums, Lectures etc.

・ (学会発表), A Rereadng of the Symposium Entitled ‘Overcoming the Modern, Interpretations of Japanese Culture: Views from Russia and Japan, 2007
・ (学会発表), A ‘Class-A War Criminal’ Syndrome: Japanese Perception of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, The Tokyo Trial: Legacy and Reassessment at Sixty, George Washington University, 2007
・ (学会発表), Discourses on and against Civilization in Pre-war Japan, Cairo Conference on Japanese Studies, 2006
・ (学会発表), From ‘Internationalization’ to ‘Globalization’: Post-war Japan in the Context of Civilization, Globalization : Economic Inequality and Large-Scale Confrontations , 2006
・ (学会発表), ‘Faceless’ History---Some Notes on Historical Consciousness in Current Japan, Globalization, Localization, and Japanese Studies in the Asia-Pacific Region, 2005

Show all Achievements

・ (シンポジウム), The Legacy of World War Two-The Tokyo War Crimes Trial and its Intellectual Influence upon Postwar Japan-, in the Breakout Session “The Weight of History”.The United State and Japan: An Enduring Partnership in a Changing World, 2001

Lectures

Committees

Awards

・ 2001年, 第10回山本七平賞
（ 2001, The Yamamoto Shichihei Award ）

Other Activities

・ 2003, （インタビュー記事）Beyond the ‘Judgment of Civilization’: the Intellectual Legacy of the Japanese War Crimes Trials 1946-49 (The International House of Japan, 2003) 　“Book takes Allies to task for claiming the civilization crown”The Asahi Shimbun International および Herald Tribune 11月8,9日号
・ 2001, （インタビュー記事）The New York Times 東京支局長ハワード・フレンチより日本近現代史につき電話取材　以下の記事に部分掲載―"Shrine Visit and a Textbook Weigh on Koizumi's Future"The New York Times 8月12日号

Academic Society Membership

・日本比較文学会
（ Japan Comparative Literature Association ）
・国際比較文学会
（ International Comparative Literature Association ）
・比較文明学会
（ The Japanese Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations ）