Understanding Japaneseness (eBook)

Kosuke Nishitani, Dr. theol. (University of Basel) is Professor of Business Ethics in the Graduate School of International Management of Aoyama Gakuin University. As an ordained minister he serves as Campus Chaplain as well as Pastor of Toyama Church, United Church of Christ in Japan. Founded in 1950, this church was commissioned by General Douglas McArthur as a religious community center for Toyama Heights, a thousand-home subdivision in Tokyo constructed on the site of the demolished Toyama Military Academy of the Imperial Japanese Army. Nishitani’s work sustains the bold herald that on the other side of difficulty lies the path to new hope.Michael J. Sherrill, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies and Chair of Religious Affairs in the School of International Politics, Economics and Communication of Aoyama Gakuin University. His research interests center on ancient spirituality and the role of religion in contemporary society. He is ordained in the Mennonite Church and has served in Japan in church ministry and Christian higher education for over twenty years.

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsChapter 1: Seminal Studies of NipponjinronThe First Substantial Nipponjinron-ronNipponjinron as Consumer GoodsThe Significance of Befu’s Nipponjinron-ronAoki’s Work as a Baseline for Nipponjinron-ronFour Stages of Post-war NipponjinronNipponjinron-bashingBenedict’s Nipponjinron as a Point of DepartureGlocalism as a ConclusionFunabiki’s Nipponjinron-ron for the Twenty-first CenturyNipponjinron in the Context of ModernizationThe Need for Nipponjinron as Public Property and Political OpinionNipponjinron for the Self-transformation of the JapaneseChapter 2: My Own Perspective on NipponjinronModernization, Internationalization, and Globalization as a Grand Context for NipponjinronThe “Third Opening” of Japan and GlobalizationWhat Is Modernization, Internationalization, and Globalization?Fruits of the Age-old Struggle to Be FreeA Critique of Democracy in Japanese Conservative NationalismMaking Democracy a Universal Public Good“Human Rights! Human Rights! Human Rights!”Anthropological Concentration Religious Plurality as a Public Framework vs. Religious Pluralism as a Frame of ThoughtThe Need for Religious Reinterpretation of Modern ValuesHuman Nature and National FeatureNipponjinron as a Particularistic View of Japanese National FeaturesA Nipponjinron for the Public ForumChapter 3: Encountering NipponjinronThe Nipponjinron BoomFrom Bushidō to ShomindōAn Encounter of Japanese Identity with Christian SpiritualityOrgan Transplant and Nipponjinron Four Representative Cases The Etiquette of Giving and Receiving Obligation: The Psychological Complex of the Japanese Liver Transplant in JapanKinship Driven EthicsChapter 4: NipponismThe Creation of NipponismNipponism as HumanismChristian NipponistsThe Difficulty of Defining the Concept of NipponismCovenantal Adoption and Blood Relation The World of “Your You”Combinaison Binaire (Second Person Relation)Intimacy and Verticality in the Second Person RelationHonorifics in Japanese Language The Parental-filial Relation in Japanese Life The “Essence” of NipponismThe Life and Works of FabianThe Tale of Heike: A Rational Balance Sheet of Obligation The Story of Giō: On as Duty Mercury Poisoning: Claims for Compensation vs. Keeping the PeaceChapter 5: Reinterpreting NipponismA Methodological Perspective for a Study of National IdentityDiscerning Characteristics Unique to a NationThe Rigidity of the Blood Relation System in JapanParental-filial Relation: The Core of Nipponism Parental-filial Duty: Giving and Receiving OnNon-blood Relation and On: A Rational Balance SheetOn in Japanese Social EthicsThe Parental-filial Relation as Ethical Axiom Parental-filial Affection as the Religious Substance of the JapaneseNipponism as Civil Religion?Groupism and KūkiThe Problem with Regarding Nipponism as Nationalism From Intratextuality to Globality Chapter 6: Japan as a Maternal SocietyMaternalismPaternalismThe Predominance of Maternalism in Japanese SocietyThe Dream of ShinranThe Predominance of Paternalism in Western Society An Ethic of PlaceInside and Outside the PlaceIs It Possible for the Japanese to Recover Paternalism?Puer Aeternus (Eternal Boy) in a Maternal SocietyPaternalism: National Feature or Human Nature?The Japanese Were Exclusively Raised by Mothers!Children of a Father May Marry but Those of a Mother May Not!When Did the Period of Puer Aeternus Begin?From Maternalism to the “Creation” of PaternalismChapter 7: A Psychology of Japanese MaternalismA Psychoanalytical Theory Made in JapanAjase Monogatari (Ajase Story) and The Ajase ComplexReciprocal Therapy: Repentance and ForgivenessThe Transmission of Maternal-filial Conflict between GenerationsAjase Story and Orestes Story: Maternalism and PaternalismOriental Mechanism of Defense against Guilt-consciousnessJapanese Masochistic MaternalismAmae (Dependence) and Japanese MaternalismA Definition of AmaeSocial Application of Amae in JapanAmae as a Predominant Y Derived from the Maternal-filial Relation ZMaternal Love, Amae and HomosexualityManifestation of Maternal Feelings Latent in Japanese SocietyJapanese Society through Maternal EyesThe Song of YoitomakeJapanese Maternal Eyes“I love the authentic Japan more than the Japanese do”Kan’non the Sorrowful MotherChapter 8: An Ethic of Maternal-filial AffectionSan’nin Kichisa (The Three Kichisas)A Society not of Chōtei (Arbitration) but of Chūsai (Intercession)Oyabun (Superior) and Kobun (Subordinate)Semi-Blood Relation: Oshō as Oyabun and Ojō or Obō as KobunSaving One Another’s Face in the Parental-filial RelationOn Receiving Something for NothingKobun’s Money in Oyabun’s PocketAn Anatomy of Japanese PoliticsA Model of Amae (Dependence) and Oya-gokoro (Parental Affection) The Handiwork of a Kyariya-kanryō (Career Bureaucrat)Amakudari (Golden Parachute)Dangō (Consultation)Why Social Reform Is So Difficult in JapanOkami as Oya (Parent) Victimizing Shimojimo as Ko (Children)Why Bureaucrats Prevail over Politicians in JapanAn Important Dialogue with Mr. van WolferenChichi Kaeru (Father Returns Home)The Parable of the Prodigal Son and Chichi KaeruThe Return of the Prodigal. A Comedy for Fathers Instinctive Belief in the Japanese Parental-filial Affection “Even Akutagawa Was Crying”Kenagesa (Admirableness) of the ChildAwaresa (Pitifulness) of the Old PersonAffection and Forgiveness in Blood RelationOya no Kogaeri (The Parent Becoming the Child)The Bottom Line of Parental-filial Affection for EthicsChapter 9: Irresponsibility: The Decisive Problem of Japanese SocietySocial Irresponsibility and the Second Person RelationIrresponsible Hierarchy in the Emperor SystemA View of the Japanese Emperor as a BabyIrresponsibility and the Hollow-centered Structure of Japanese SocietyAbolishing the Emperor System: The Impossible Agenda“The Emperor Was Only Made Use of”Chapter 10: The Origin of the Japanese SystemKojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and Nippon-shoki (Chronicles of Japan)The Invention of Man’yō-ganaNorinaga Moto’oriSōkichi TsudaFujiwara no Fuhito: The Original Designer of the Japanese StateThe Emperor System in a Legal State The Emperor: High Priest as Political Figurehead Subordinate as True LeaderA Survey of Japan’s Historical FormationPrince Shōtoku and the Soga ClanTaika Reform The Relationship of Emperor Tenji and Nakatomi no Kamatari to the Soga ClanThe Compilation of a National HistoryEmperor Tenmu on Buddhism and TaoismEmpress Jitō’s ImpatienceFujiwara no Fuhito’s Debut in the Yamato DynastyAn Alliance between Jitō and FuhitoThe Sword of Prince KusakabeA Principle Never to Be ChangedA Personal Agenda under the Guise of Public PrincipleAn Analysis of the Myths in Record and ChroniclesChapter 11: Interpreting Chronicles of JapanThe Historical Process of Writing Chronicles of JapanThe Key Importance of Man’yō-ganaGroup α Chinese Authors and Group β Japanese AuthorsThe Two Divisions of the 30 Volumes of ChroniclesGroup α: Shoku Shugen and Satsu KōkakuGroup β: Yamada no Fuhito MikataWho Wrote the Seventeen-Article Constitution?The Last Volume on Empress JitōThe Process of the Making of ChroniclesA Chronology of the Compilation of ChroniclesThe First Term of the National History ProjectThe Second Term of the National History ProjectThe Relationship between Kojiki and the Fujiwara ClanThe Relationship between Fujiwara no Fuhito and Yamada no Fuhito MikataThe Case for Fuhito as the Producer of Record and ChroniclesChapter 12: The Japanese System and Maternal-filial AffectionThe Significance of Ueyama’s ViewJapan as a Religious State: The Division of Labor in Buddhism and ShintōThe DNA of the State of Japan: Jitō’s Filial Affection for her DescendantsMaternal-filial Affection as a Public Value in JapanThe Uroboric Regency as the Cost of the Emperor SystemEpilogueThink of Me as Your MotherShintō Beliefs: The Blood Relation between Kami and HumansShintō Faith: This World AloneIndex