Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewI have long awaited a book that at last makes clear the connection between ancient Japanese spirituality and contemporary Japanese social behavior. Nishitani takes Nipponjinron into new territory in pursuit of discovering what truly lies at the heart of Japanese culture. Through his analysis of the Japanese reticence to organ transplantation he first draws our attention to the profound importance placed on blood-relationships in Japan and gradually thrusts forward to unpack the concept of “maternal-filial affection” as a cultural-religious key to understanding Japaneseness. While grappling with numerous sociological and anthropological factors, Nishitani’s work carefully builds a theology of contemporary Japanese behavior. Such an insight is urgently needed in this era of globalization. -- Hideo Ōki, President Emeritus, Tokyo Union Theological Seminary.
Table of ContentsPreface 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
