Description
Book SynopsisThis is the first comprehensive study of modern Japanese historians and their relationship to nationalism and how they interpreted ancient myths of their origins.
Trade ReviewThis work would constitute an excellent introduction to the modern history of the discipline of Japanese history up to the end of the Pacific war. -- Herman Ooms * Canadian Journal of History *
Brownlee offers the first full treatment of historical perspectives on the central Japanese creation myth .... Soundly researched with a wealth of Japanese sources, this is an important book, useful to specialists and nonspecialists alike. -- C.A. Desnoyers * Choice *
Brownlee is careful not to condemn historians working under different conditions at different times. ... Yet he convincingly demonstrates the pitfalls of state-controlled education. And he is concerned about his contemporary Japanese colleagues, warning that they ‘do not appreciate the perils of misstatement and of failure to speak out.’ His highly readable book is a vivid testimony that the history of history can be just as fascinating as history. -- Florian Coulmas * Japan Times *
Table of ContentsPart I: The Tokugawa Period
1 Hayashi Razan (1583-1657) and Hayashi Gaho (1618-80): Founders of Modern Historical Scholarship
2 Dai Nihon Shi [History of Great Japan]
3 Arai Hakuseki (1657-1725) and Yamagata Banto (1748-1821): Pure Rationalism
4 Date Chihiro (1802-77): Taisei Santen Ko [Three Stages in the History of Japan]
5 The Resistance of National Scholars
Part II: The Modern Century
6 European Influences on Meiji Historical Writing
7 The Beginnings of Academic History
8 The Kume Kunitake Incident, 1890-2
9 The Development of Academic History
10 The Southern and Northern Courts Controversy, 1911
11 Eminent Historians in the 1930s: The Betrayal of Scientific History
12 The Commission of Inquiry into Historical Sites Related to Emperor Jinmu, 1940
13 Tsuda Sokichi (1873-1961): An Innocent on the Loose
Epilogue: Historical Scholarship, Education, and Politics in Postwar Japan
