Understanding Japaneseness

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.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Seminal Studies of Nipponjinron
The First Substantial Nipponjinron-ron
Nipponjinron as Consumer Goods
The Significance of Befu’s Nipponjinron-ron
Aoki’s Work as a Baseline for Nipponjinron-ron
Four Stages of Post-war Nipponjinron
Nipponjinron-bashing
Benedict’s Nipponjinron as a Point of Departure
Glocalism as a Conclusion
Funabiki’s Nipponjinron-ron for the Twenty-first Century
Nipponjinron in the Context of Modernization
The Need for Nipponjinron as Public Property and Political Opinion
Nipponjinron for the Self-transformation of the Japanese
Chapter 2: My Own Perspective on Nipponjinron
Modernization, Internationalization, and Globalization as a Grand Context for Nipponjinron
The “Third Opening” of Japan and Globalization
What Is Modernization, Internationalization, and Globalization?
Fruits of the Age-old Struggle to Be Free
A Critique of Democracy in Japanese Conservative Nationalism
Making 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 Thought
The Need for Religious Reinterpretation of Modern Values
Human Nature and National Feature
Nipponjinron as a Particularistic View of Japanese National Features
A Nipponjinron for the Public Forum
Chapter 3: Encountering Nipponjinron
The Nipponjinron Boom
From Bushidō to Shomindō
An Encounter of Japanese Identity with Christian Spirituality
Organ Transplant and Nipponjinron
Four Representative Cases
The Etiquette of Giving and Receiving
Obligation: The Psychological Complex of the Japanese
Liver Transplant in Japan
Kinship Driven Ethics
Chapter 4: Nipponism
The Creation of Nipponism
Nipponism as Humanism
Christian Nipponists
The Difficulty of Defining the Concept of Nipponism
Covenantal Adoption and Blood Relation
The World of “Your You”
Combinaison Binaire (Second Person Relation)
Intimacy and Verticality in the Second Person Relation
Honorifics in Japanese Language
The Parental-filial Relation in Japanese Life
The “Essence” of Nipponism
The Life and Works of Fabian
The Tale of Heike: A Rational Balance Sheet of Obligation
The Story of Giō: On as Duty
Mercury Poisoning: Claims for Compensation vs. Keeping the Peace
Chapter 5: Reinterpreting Nipponism
A Methodological Perspective for a Study of National Identity
Discerning Characteristics Unique to a Nation
The Rigidity of the Blood Relation System in Japan
Parental-filial Relation: The Core of Nipponism
Parental-filial Duty: Giving and Receiving On
Non-blood Relation and On: A Rational Balance Sheet
On in Japanese Social Ethics
The Parental-filial Relation as Ethical Axiom
Parental-filial Affection as the Religious Substance of the Japanese
Nipponism as Civil Religion?
Groupism and Kūki
The Problem with Regarding Nipponism as Nationalism
From Intratextuality to Globality
Chapter 6: Japan as a Maternal Society
Maternalism
Paternalism
The Predominance of Maternalism in Japanese Society
The Dream of Shinran
The Predominance of Paternalism in Western Society
An Ethic of Place
Inside and Outside the Place
Is It Possible for the Japanese to Recover Paternalism?
Puer Aeternus (Eternal Boy) in a Maternal Society
Paternalism: 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 Paternalism
Chapter 7: A Psychology of Japanese Maternalism
A Psychoanalytical Theory Made in Japan
Ajase Monogatari (Ajase Story) and The Ajase Complex
Reciprocal Therapy: Repentance and Forgiveness
The Transmission of Maternal-filial Conflict between Generations
Ajase Story and Orestes Story: Maternalism and Paternalism
Oriental Mechanism of Defense against Guilt-consciousness
Japanese Masochistic Maternalism
Amae (Dependence) and Japanese Maternalism
A Definition of Amae
Social Application of Amae in Japan
Amae as a Predominant Y Derived from the Maternal-filial Relation Z
Maternal Love, Amae and Homosexuality
Manifestation of Maternal Feelings Latent in Japanese Society
Japanese Society through Maternal Eyes
The Song of Yoitomake
Japanese Maternal Eyes
“I love the authentic Japan more than the Japanese do”
Kan’non the Sorrowful Mother
Chapter 8: An Ethic of Maternal-filial Affection
San’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 Kobun
Saving One Another’s Face in the Parental-filial Relation
On Receiving Something for Nothing
Kobun’s Money in Oyabun’s Pocket
An Anatomy of Japanese Politics
A 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 Japan
Okami as Oya (Parent) Victimizing Shimojimo as Ko (Children)
Why Bureaucrats Prevail over Politicians in Japan
An Important Dialogue with Mr. van Wolferen
Chichi Kaeru (Father Returns Home)
The Parable of the Prodigal Son and Chichi Kaeru
The Return of the Prodigal. A Comedy for Fathers
Instinctive Belief in the Japanese Parental-filial Affection
“Even Akutagawa Was Crying”
Kenagesa (Admirableness) of the Child
Awaresa (Pitifulness) of the Old Person
Affection and Forgiveness in Blood Relation
Oya no Kogaeri (The Parent Becoming the Child)
The Bottom Line of Parental-filial Affection for Ethics
Chapter 9: Irresponsibility: The Decisive Problem of Japanese Society
Social Irresponsibility and the Second Person Relation
Irresponsible Hierarchy in the Emperor System
A View of the Japanese Emperor as a Baby
Irresponsibility and the Hollow-centered Structure of Japanese Society
Abolishing the Emperor System: The Impossible Agenda
“The Emperor Was Only Made Use of”
Chapter 10: The Origin of the Japanese System
Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and Nippon-shoki (Chronicles of Japan)
The Invention of Man’yō-gana
Norinaga Moto’ori
Sōkichi Tsuda
Fujiwara no Fuhito: The Original Designer of the Japanese State
The Emperor System in a Legal State
The Emperor: High Priest as Political Figurehead
Subordinate as True Leader
A Survey of Japan’s Historical Formation
Prince Shōtoku and the Soga Clan
Taika Reform
The Relationship of Emperor Tenji and Nakatomi no Kamatari to the Soga Clan
The Compilation of a National History
Emperor Tenmu on Buddhism and Taoism
Empress Jitō’s Impatience
Fujiwara no Fuhito’s Debut in the Yamato Dynasty
An Alliance between Jitō and Fuhito
The Sword of Prince Kusakabe
A Principle Never to Be Changed
A Personal Agenda under the Guise of Public Principle
An Analysis of the Myths in Record and Chronicles
Chapter 11: Interpreting Chronicles of Japan
The Historical Process of Writing Chronicles of Japan
The Key Importance of Man’yō-gana
Group α Chinese Authors and Group β Japanese Authors
The Two Divisions of the 30 Volumes of Chronicles
Group α: Shoku Shugen and Satsu Kōkaku
Group β: Yamada no Fuhito Mikata
Who Wrote the Seventeen-Article Constitution?
The Last Volume on Empress Jitō
The Process of the Making of Chronicles
A Chronology of the Compilation of Chronicles
The First Term of the National History Project
The Second Term of the National History Project
The Relationship between Kojiki and the Fujiwara Clan
The Relationship between Fujiwara no Fuhito and Yamada no Fuhito Mikata
The Case for Fuhito as the Producer of Record and Chronicles
Chapter 12: The Japanese System and Maternal-filial Affection
The Significance of Ueyama’s View
Japan as a Religious State: The Division of Labor in Buddhism and Shintō
The DNA of the State of Japan: Jitō’s Filial Affection for her Descendants
Maternal-filial Affection as a Public Value in Japan
The Uroboric Regency as the Cost of the Emperor System
Epilogue
Think of Me as Your Mother
Shintō Beliefs: The Blood Relation between Kami and Humans
Shintō Faith: This World Alone
Index