Pub Date : 2023-10-13DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-88-102
Ph. O. Trunov
Since NATO’s establishment and Japan’s incorporation into the community of “liberal democracies” these actors hardly cooperated in the sphere of security and defense. In European part of the collective West, cooperation in the security field, with US participation, was multilateral, while, in the Far East, it was bilateral. But the present-day formation of the new world order and the non-West as its part gives a strong impetus to the rapprochement between NATO and Japan. In the new situation, the USA has begun to promote the idea of integrating the systems of deterring Russia and containing China. This inevitably requires substantial NATO-Japan cooperation.The article explores the difficulties, progress, and perspectives of the process by the early 2020s. For this, the author uses the theory of alliances and the method of comparative analysis.The paper presents the practical military difficulties for European NATO member states’ joining the containment of China at the same time as these countries are fully involved in the process of deterrence of Russia. In this situation, the USA encouraged their partners. Firstly, the military potential of NATO as an organization has been growing more rapidly than the strength of the member states’ national armed forces. This means that the Alliance can take part in two confrontations simultaneously. Secondly, this is the arising strategic interest towards the Far East as the new direction of NATO’s global activity. One of the reasons for this was the hasty evacuation of the NATO mission from Afghanistan (2021), which meant the loss of the Alliance’s strategic influence in the Middle East and the necessity to compensate for this loss.But the growing interest of European actors towards the Indo-Pacific region (IPR) was combined with their activity in their national capacities, without involving the auspices of NATO. Trying to change this tendency, the USA have expanded the system of formats in the sphere of security and defense (the activization of QUAD, the creation of AUKUS and the Partners in the Blue Pacific) with the membership of Anglo-Saxon states and Japan. These actors have not only increased their own involvement in the containment of China, but also stimulated European players’ interest towards this.In 2022–2023, the process of political cooperation between NATO and Japan has adjusted and intensified. The parties have prepared the spill-over effect of the cooperation into the military sphere. The paper shows the variants of this cooperation, primarily in the naval field.
{"title":"NATO’s approach to develop cooperation with Japan: Difficulties and prospects","authors":"Ph. O. Trunov","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-88-102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-88-102","url":null,"abstract":"Since NATO’s establishment and Japan’s incorporation into the community of “liberal democracies” these actors hardly cooperated in the sphere of security and defense. In European part of the collective West, cooperation in the security field, with US participation, was multilateral, while, in the Far East, it was bilateral. But the present-day formation of the new world order and the non-West as its part gives a strong impetus to the rapprochement between NATO and Japan. In the new situation, the USA has begun to promote the idea of integrating the systems of deterring Russia and containing China. This inevitably requires substantial NATO-Japan cooperation.The article explores the difficulties, progress, and perspectives of the process by the early 2020s. For this, the author uses the theory of alliances and the method of comparative analysis.The paper presents the practical military difficulties for European NATO member states’ joining the containment of China at the same time as these countries are fully involved in the process of deterrence of Russia. In this situation, the USA encouraged their partners. Firstly, the military potential of NATO as an organization has been growing more rapidly than the strength of the member states’ national armed forces. This means that the Alliance can take part in two confrontations simultaneously. Secondly, this is the arising strategic interest towards the Far East as the new direction of NATO’s global activity. One of the reasons for this was the hasty evacuation of the NATO mission from Afghanistan (2021), which meant the loss of the Alliance’s strategic influence in the Middle East and the necessity to compensate for this loss.But the growing interest of European actors towards the Indo-Pacific region (IPR) was combined with their activity in their national capacities, without involving the auspices of NATO. Trying to change this tendency, the USA have expanded the system of formats in the sphere of security and defense (the activization of QUAD, the creation of AUKUS and the Partners in the Blue Pacific) with the membership of Anglo-Saxon states and Japan. These actors have not only increased their own involvement in the containment of China, but also stimulated European players’ interest towards this.In 2022–2023, the process of political cooperation between NATO and Japan has adjusted and intensified. The parties have prepared the spill-over effect of the cooperation into the military sphere. The paper shows the variants of this cooperation, primarily in the naval field.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"131 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135919877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-13DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-103-111
V. A. Perminova
This review analyzes the monograph by a famous Japanese economist, professor of Takushoku University Toshio Watanabe, which focuses on the colonial history of Taiwan in the first half of the 20 th century. The author provides a vivid picture of the Japanese transforming the entire economy of the island and “transplanting” the model of Meiji modernization into their colony.
{"title":"Colonial development of Taiwan as viewed by contemporary Japanese scholars (using the example of the book by Toshio Watanabe <i>The Meiji Japanese Who Made Modern Taiwan</i>). Review of: Watanabe T. <i>The Meiji Japanese Who Made Modern Taiwan</i>","authors":"V. A. Perminova","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-103-111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-103-111","url":null,"abstract":"This review analyzes the monograph by a famous Japanese economist, professor of Takushoku University Toshio Watanabe, which focuses on the colonial history of Taiwan in the first half of the 20 th century. The author provides a vivid picture of the Japanese transforming the entire economy of the island and “transplanting” the model of Meiji modernization into their colony.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135919879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-13DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-112-119
E. S. Yuklyaevskikh
The article reviews the book by Vasily Shchepkin Ainu Through the Eyes of Japanese: An Unknown Collection by A.V. Grigoriev (2022). The book is based on 18 th and 19 th -century Japanese manuscript materials and blockprints about the Ainu people, which for a long time remained without proper attention from the research community. It presents not only translations of the manuscripts, but also analyzes the history of their creation and examines the evolution of the image of the Ainu in Japanese society. Particular attention is paid to the personality of Alexander V. Grigoriev, who assembled the Ainu collection of rare materials in 1879–1880.
{"title":"Unknown pages of history of the Ainu. Review of the book <i>Ainu Through the Eyes of Japanese: An Unknown Collection by A.V. Grigoriev</i> by Vasily V. Shchepkin","authors":"E. S. Yuklyaevskikh","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-112-119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-112-119","url":null,"abstract":"The article reviews the book by Vasily Shchepkin Ainu Through the Eyes of Japanese: An Unknown Collection by A.V. Grigoriev (2022). The book is based on 18 th and 19 th -century Japanese manuscript materials and blockprints about the Ainu people, which for a long time remained without proper attention from the research community. It presents not only translations of the manuscripts, but also analyzes the history of their creation and examines the evolution of the image of the Ainu in Japanese society. Particular attention is paid to the personality of Alexander V. Grigoriev, who assembled the Ainu collection of rare materials in 1879–1880.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135919509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-17-33
A. V. Suslov
The presented article is devoted, on the one hand, to the general problem of the literary process in an archaic society on the example of the genesis of waka poetry; on the other hand, it directly refers to the archaism of the so-called long song ( nagauta or chōka ). The article raises the question of the transformation of that pre-aesthetic primitive song into archaic poetry. Describing the possible ways of genesis of the primitive song, the author, agreeing with the principle of accumulation of poetic lines, proposed by Bowra-Konishi, notes the need for a deeper comprehension of the Archaic period of Japanese (Yamato) literature. Stating the necessity to distinguish a primitive song from an archaic one, the author operates with the concept of a developed “aesthetic feeling” as a necessary criterion for the transformation of the primitive song, based on parallelism. Unlike primitive poetry, which performed merely the utilitarian function, archaic poetry started to meet not only ritual, but also aesthetic needs of an ancient human. In addition, the article examines the role of writing as a necessary condition for the death of primitive song and the formation of the canon. In addition, the text presents a critical characteristic of the main body of archaic poetry, including long songs, which are relatively few in number. Based on a sample analysis of the presented texts (poetic fragments from Kojiki , Nihonshoki , long songs from Man’yōshū and Naniwaza-uta from mokkan tablets), the author provides a classification-periodization of the genesis of the archaic form of nagauta/chōka (a narrative chronicle speech-stressing long song, a non-narrative non-epic long song, and a long song created by a specific author and having a developed system of imagery. Emphasizing the chronicles’ long song, its structural heterogeneity, the author builds a hypothesis of its genesis opposite to the accumulative principle of Bowra-Konishi, consisting in the principle of reductionism from the long epic form of a primitive song. The limit of this reduction is justified by the aesthetic “capacity” of the poetic form in the transitional period of the non-written method of versification. Keywords: nagauta (long song), archaic poetry, non-book culture, literary canon, reductionism, literary process.
{"title":"Origins of Japanese archaic poetry: Japanese long song (<i>nagauta / chōka</i>)","authors":"A. V. Suslov","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-17-33","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-17-33","url":null,"abstract":"The presented article is devoted, on the one hand, to the general problem of the literary process in an archaic society on the example of the genesis of waka poetry; on the other hand, it directly refers to the archaism of the so-called long song ( nagauta or chōka ). The article raises the question of the transformation of that pre-aesthetic primitive song into archaic poetry. Describing the possible ways of genesis of the primitive song, the author, agreeing with the principle of accumulation of poetic lines, proposed by Bowra-Konishi, notes the need for a deeper comprehension of the Archaic period of Japanese (Yamato) literature. Stating the necessity to distinguish a primitive song from an archaic one, the author operates with the concept of a developed “aesthetic feeling” as a necessary criterion for the transformation of the primitive song, based on parallelism. Unlike primitive poetry, which performed merely the utilitarian function, archaic poetry started to meet not only ritual, but also aesthetic needs of an ancient human. In addition, the article examines the role of writing as a necessary condition for the death of primitive song and the formation of the canon. In addition, the text presents a critical characteristic of the main body of archaic poetry, including long songs, which are relatively few in number. Based on a sample analysis of the presented texts (poetic fragments from Kojiki , Nihonshoki , long songs from Man’yōshū and Naniwaza-uta from mokkan tablets), the author provides a classification-periodization of the genesis of the archaic form of nagauta/chōka (a narrative chronicle speech-stressing long song, a non-narrative non-epic long song, and a long song created by a specific author and having a developed system of imagery. Emphasizing the chronicles’ long song, its structural heterogeneity, the author builds a hypothesis of its genesis opposite to the accumulative principle of Bowra-Konishi, consisting in the principle of reductionism from the long epic form of a primitive song. The limit of this reduction is justified by the aesthetic “capacity” of the poetic form in the transitional period of the non-written method of versification. Keywords: nagauta (long song), archaic poetry, non-book culture, literary canon, reductionism, literary process.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136015023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-49-62
A. V. Lugovskoy, Y. S. Pestushko, E. V. Savelova
The formation of cultural characteristics of a nation as well as the peculiarities of its worldview and ethnic psychology are largely influenced by the geographical factor which comprises the location of a country, its climate, the access or absence of access to seas, oceans, etc. One of relatively new terms in the Russian and foreign humanities is “insularity” which is understood as “isolated origin,” or “island location,” or “the island effect.” The notion of insularity is not only constituted by the fact of geographic isolation, but it also includes certain cultural, political, and ethnocultural features. The study aims to analyze the effect of the geographic insulation of Great Britain and Japan on the formation of island mentality and specific socio-cultural characteristics of these two island nations. The authors discuss the defining role of the geographical factor in the formation of the aforesaid characteristics of the British and the Japanese. The article particularly focuses on the study of national character traits typical of the two insular cultures. The study argues that the insular location of Great Britain and Japan as well as the climatic and natural conditions of these countries not only predetermined the specifics of human settlement and their economy but also shaped the mentality and worldviews of the people inhabiting the islands. The key factor in forming the national identity of both the British and the Japanese is the image of the Other, the image of the enemy. The distinction between the Self and the Other has underpinned a number of key national values. At the same time, the insular cultures of the UK and Japan display certain differences. Japan is a country with a distinct hierarchical social organization in which respect for older people and superiors is a key cultural characteristic. In contrast, the UK has a less hierarchical individualistic society. Furthermore, Japan is more conventional from the point of view of its cultural and religious institutions, norms and values. In its turn, the UK is more modern and possesses an ability to flexibly incorporate other cultural traits and new ideas. Finally, Japanese culture focuses more on collectivist practices whereas the UK being partly under the influence of European mentality is more oriented towards individualism and personal freedom.
{"title":"Insularity as a core of ethnocultural identity (a comparative study of Great Britain and Japan)","authors":"A. V. Lugovskoy, Y. S. Pestushko, E. V. Savelova","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-49-62","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-49-62","url":null,"abstract":"The formation of cultural characteristics of a nation as well as the peculiarities of its worldview and ethnic psychology are largely influenced by the geographical factor which comprises the location of a country, its climate, the access or absence of access to seas, oceans, etc. One of relatively new terms in the Russian and foreign humanities is “insularity” which is understood as “isolated origin,” or “island location,” or “the island effect.” The notion of insularity is not only constituted by the fact of geographic isolation, but it also includes certain cultural, political, and ethnocultural features. The study aims to analyze the effect of the geographic insulation of Great Britain and Japan on the formation of island mentality and specific socio-cultural characteristics of these two island nations. The authors discuss the defining role of the geographical factor in the formation of the aforesaid characteristics of the British and the Japanese. The article particularly focuses on the study of national character traits typical of the two insular cultures. The study argues that the insular location of Great Britain and Japan as well as the climatic and natural conditions of these countries not only predetermined the specifics of human settlement and their economy but also shaped the mentality and worldviews of the people inhabiting the islands. The key factor in forming the national identity of both the British and the Japanese is the image of the Other, the image of the enemy. The distinction between the Self and the Other has underpinned a number of key national values. At the same time, the insular cultures of the UK and Japan display certain differences. Japan is a country with a distinct hierarchical social organization in which respect for older people and superiors is a key cultural characteristic. In contrast, the UK has a less hierarchical individualistic society. Furthermore, Japan is more conventional from the point of view of its cultural and religious institutions, norms and values. In its turn, the UK is more modern and possesses an ability to flexibly incorporate other cultural traits and new ideas. Finally, Japanese culture focuses more on collectivist practices whereas the UK being partly under the influence of European mentality is more oriented towards individualism and personal freedom.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"239 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136015020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-63-75
S. G. Serebryakova, E. M. Osmanov
The article concerns the problem of prisoners of war during the Russo-Japanese war. The problem appears in the focus of modern researchers quite rarely: they usually write about political, military, and economic aspects of the war. The article describes the process of choosing the places of stay for the captured Japanese soldiers and officers in 1904–1905. By the beginning of the war, Russia assumed a number of obligations, since, during the Conference in Hague in 1899, it signed the Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, prescribing the treatment of prisoners based on humanistic ideals. The sources used during writing the work represent the latest research materials and the archival documents. These documents are stored in the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA) in Moscow. While determining the places for the Japanese stay, the Military department faced a severe problem, since it was necessary to take into account different factors: whether it would be possible to ensure guarding the prisoners of war, whether there was a suitable building for their accommodation, whether the Japanese soldiers and officers would have opportunities to commit sabotage. The latest issue was vividly discussed in the official documents of the period: there were concerns that the Japanese would destroy railways, as they did in Manchuria. The idea that the place for the Japanese prisoners should be in the Far East was rejected almost immediately due to its proximity to the theater of operations. Siberia also did not fit, since a railway passed through it – the most important transport artery during the war, so it was decided to place the Japanese in European Russia. The city of Penza was chosen as a collection point, from where prisoners of war were distributed to the cities of the Kazan, Moscow, Kiev, and Saint Petersburg military districts. However, in the autumn of 1904, Emperor Nicholas II issued a decree that the Japanese should not be stationed near the passage of the Russian troops. After that it was decided to accommodate all Japanese prisoners of war in one place: in the village of Medved, Novgorod province. The barracks located there were perfect for housing a small number of Japanese prisoners, where they stayed until the end of the war.
{"title":"About choosing places of stay for the Japanese prisoners of war in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)","authors":"S. G. Serebryakova, E. M. Osmanov","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-63-75","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-63-75","url":null,"abstract":"The article concerns the problem of prisoners of war during the Russo-Japanese war. The problem appears in the focus of modern researchers quite rarely: they usually write about political, military, and economic aspects of the war. The article describes the process of choosing the places of stay for the captured Japanese soldiers and officers in 1904–1905. By the beginning of the war, Russia assumed a number of obligations, since, during the Conference in Hague in 1899, it signed the Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, prescribing the treatment of prisoners based on humanistic ideals. The sources used during writing the work represent the latest research materials and the archival documents. These documents are stored in the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA) in Moscow. While determining the places for the Japanese stay, the Military department faced a severe problem, since it was necessary to take into account different factors: whether it would be possible to ensure guarding the prisoners of war, whether there was a suitable building for their accommodation, whether the Japanese soldiers and officers would have opportunities to commit sabotage. The latest issue was vividly discussed in the official documents of the period: there were concerns that the Japanese would destroy railways, as they did in Manchuria. The idea that the place for the Japanese prisoners should be in the Far East was rejected almost immediately due to its proximity to the theater of operations. Siberia also did not fit, since a railway passed through it – the most important transport artery during the war, so it was decided to place the Japanese in European Russia. The city of Penza was chosen as a collection point, from where prisoners of war were distributed to the cities of the Kazan, Moscow, Kiev, and Saint Petersburg military districts. However, in the autumn of 1904, Emperor Nicholas II issued a decree that the Japanese should not be stationed near the passage of the Russian troops. After that it was decided to accommodate all Japanese prisoners of war in one place: in the village of Medved, Novgorod province. The barracks located there were perfect for housing a small number of Japanese prisoners, where they stayed until the end of the war.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"120 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136015021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-6-16
A. Y. Borkina
The paper analyzes three works of Japanese author Kawakami Hiromi, in which the motive of metamorphosis is the central element. Metamorphosis in Kawakami’s fiction is viewed as both the essential part of the mythological worldview and the method, demonstrating the life path of characters. In the short story “Hokusai” the protagonist meets a shapeshifter octopus. On the seashore, the octopus, craving for the love of women, turns into a human, later becoming unable to return to his primal shape. The octopus engages the protagonist in his game and the two of them go to a dark alleyway near a station to secretly watch the women passing by and then to follow one of them. The unstable shapeshifter is a mirror reflecting the main character as well as the catalyst pushing him back to active life, even if by means of revealing the protagonist’s “dark” side. The main character of “Tread on a Snake,” Hiwako, also meets a shapeshifter – a snake, claiming to be her mother and inviting her to a “warm world of snakes.” Because of this, the protagonist has to rethink her family history and to consider the life of people surrounding her, who have shapeshifter-snakes in their houses. In the end, Hiwako resists the final transformation and fights the snake in order to keep her own humanity. The main character of the novel “Someone” transforms seven times during the course of his life due to a genetic mutation, with each form having its own personality and being a metaphor of different stages of life cycle. Finally, the protagonist faces the necessity of consistent development, rather than abrupt changes, which earlier helped him to avoid the communicative issues with others. Thus, the protagonist manages to stop the series of shapeshifts, finding the ultimate integrity in his own being.
{"title":"To understand yourself and the other: Metamorphosis and the search of the lost identity in the literary works of Kawakami Hiromi","authors":"A. Y. Borkina","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-6-16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-6-16","url":null,"abstract":"The paper analyzes three works of Japanese author Kawakami Hiromi, in which the motive of metamorphosis is the central element. Metamorphosis in Kawakami’s fiction is viewed as both the essential part of the mythological worldview and the method, demonstrating the life path of characters. In the short story “Hokusai” the protagonist meets a shapeshifter octopus. On the seashore, the octopus, craving for the love of women, turns into a human, later becoming unable to return to his primal shape. The octopus engages the protagonist in his game and the two of them go to a dark alleyway near a station to secretly watch the women passing by and then to follow one of them. The unstable shapeshifter is a mirror reflecting the main character as well as the catalyst pushing him back to active life, even if by means of revealing the protagonist’s “dark” side. The main character of “Tread on a Snake,” Hiwako, also meets a shapeshifter – a snake, claiming to be her mother and inviting her to a “warm world of snakes.” Because of this, the protagonist has to rethink her family history and to consider the life of people surrounding her, who have shapeshifter-snakes in their houses. In the end, Hiwako resists the final transformation and fights the snake in order to keep her own humanity. The main character of the novel “Someone” transforms seven times during the course of his life due to a genetic mutation, with each form having its own personality and being a metaphor of different stages of life cycle. Finally, the protagonist faces the necessity of consistent development, rather than abrupt changes, which earlier helped him to avoid the communicative issues with others. Thus, the protagonist manages to stop the series of shapeshifts, finding the ultimate integrity in his own being.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136015022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-76-87
K. V. Shupletsova
This article discusses the approaches of the historian Tsuda Sōkichi to the study of the myths about the gods described in the historical and mythological records “ Kojik ” and “ Nihon chok ”. Tsuda Sōkichi left his mark on Japanese historical science as a scientist who applied new methods to the study of ancient myths. The historian applied the accumulated knowledge gained as a result of studying the advanced Western research methods proposed by B. Chamberlain, L. Ranke, and took a fresh look at the ancient historical sources “ Kojik ” and “ Nihon shok ”. During the Meiji period, the state established control over historical research and an official ideology developed around the figure of the emperor. In particular, the events of the era of the gods, described in the oldest written monuments, were believed to be the confirmation of the divine origin of the imperial family. However, the historian doubted the truth of the events relating to the era of the god, and made an attempt to clarify the origins of the myths. S. Tsuda does not consider myths to be entirely fictional stories, suggesting that they could be based on real events, but he denies the reality of the existence of gods The historian compared the myths in the two monuments and singled out the main storyline, dedicated to the emperor’s ancestral gods, and the secondary one. Using the comparative method, the historian draws a conclusion about the Chinese influence on the official mythology of the ancient Japanese state, and also determines other reasons for the changes in the plots of myths. S. Tsuda sees the origins of myths in folk tales and considers them important ethnographic material. The historian identified several functions of myths: political, moral (or religious), the function of explaining physical phenomena and the origin of toponyms and names. The key function of myths, in his opinion, is precisely the political one, since the narrative of myths is built around the divine descendants of the emperor. The purpose of the myths was to strengthen the imperial family among the nobility,nto exalt his figure, and te creatn the image of a “righteous” ruler by proving blood relationship with the main goddess of the Japanese pantheon Amaterasu.
{"title":"The methodology of research of Japanese myths (<i>shinwa</i>) in the studies of historian Tsuda Sōkichi (1873–1961)","authors":"K. V. Shupletsova","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-76-87","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-76-87","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the approaches of the historian Tsuda Sōkichi to the study of the myths about the gods described in the historical and mythological records “ Kojik ” and “ Nihon chok ”. Tsuda Sōkichi left his mark on Japanese historical science as a scientist who applied new methods to the study of ancient myths. The historian applied the accumulated knowledge gained as a result of studying the advanced Western research methods proposed by B. Chamberlain, L. Ranke, and took a fresh look at the ancient historical sources “ Kojik ” and “ Nihon shok ”. During the Meiji period, the state established control over historical research and an official ideology developed around the figure of the emperor. In particular, the events of the era of the gods, described in the oldest written monuments, were believed to be the confirmation of the divine origin of the imperial family. However, the historian doubted the truth of the events relating to the era of the god, and made an attempt to clarify the origins of the myths. S. Tsuda does not consider myths to be entirely fictional stories, suggesting that they could be based on real events, but he denies the reality of the existence of gods The historian compared the myths in the two monuments and singled out the main storyline, dedicated to the emperor’s ancestral gods, and the secondary one. Using the comparative method, the historian draws a conclusion about the Chinese influence on the official mythology of the ancient Japanese state, and also determines other reasons for the changes in the plots of myths. S. Tsuda sees the origins of myths in folk tales and considers them important ethnographic material. The historian identified several functions of myths: political, moral (or religious), the function of explaining physical phenomena and the origin of toponyms and names. The key function of myths, in his opinion, is precisely the political one, since the narrative of myths is built around the divine descendants of the emperor. The purpose of the myths was to strengthen the imperial family among the nobility,nto exalt his figure, and te creatn the image of a “righteous” ruler by proving blood relationship with the main goddess of the Japanese pantheon Amaterasu.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136015139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-34-48
N. N. Trubnikova
It is possible to speak about the connection of the Buddhist and Taoist traditions in Japan at different levels: everyday, ritual, philosophical, and others, including the level of word usage in texts that are far from terminological accuracy and do not belong to any of the scholarly traditions. Such are collections of setsuwa didactic tales. In the largest of them, Konjaku monogatari-shū (1120s), there are a number of stories about Taoists ( dōshi ), but the concept of “immortal” ( sen , sennin ), important to Taoism, is more common and has a wider range of meanings. Following the Chinese translators of Indian Buddhist texts, the narrators in tales about India call the Indian sages who lived before Buddha sennin. In the tales about China, in the disputes between Buddhists and Taoists, the word “Great Immortal,” daisen , refers to Buddha himself, who taught not about prolonging life, but about complete liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. At the same time, the teachings of Chuang Tzu are spoken of with great reverence. In the very first tale about Japan, Taoists appear as former-life interlocutors of the Japanese prince Shōtoku. Immortals live in the mountains of Japan, many of them belong to the number of ascetics of the Lotus Sūtra , which teaches about the eternal life of the Buddha. If we compare all these tales with stories from the collection Honchō Shinsen-den (turn of 11 th –12 th centuries), it is clear that the concept of immortal in both texts implies a departure from the world and overcoming suffering inherent in human life, the acquisition of miraculous abilities and their use for the benefit of people; whatever way it is achieved, it sets a good example, and therefore the search for immortals, whether in the mountains or in books, constitutes a useful experience from the Buddhist point of view.
{"title":"Immortals and Immortality: Combining Buddhist and Taoist Traditions in <i>Konjaku monogatari-shū</i>","authors":"N. N. Trubnikova","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-34-48","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-3-34-48","url":null,"abstract":"It is possible to speak about the connection of the Buddhist and Taoist traditions in Japan at different levels: everyday, ritual, philosophical, and others, including the level of word usage in texts that are far from terminological accuracy and do not belong to any of the scholarly traditions. Such are collections of setsuwa didactic tales. In the largest of them, Konjaku monogatari-shū (1120s), there are a number of stories about Taoists ( dōshi ), but the concept of “immortal” ( sen , sennin ), important to Taoism, is more common and has a wider range of meanings. Following the Chinese translators of Indian Buddhist texts, the narrators in tales about India call the Indian sages who lived before Buddha sennin. In the tales about China, in the disputes between Buddhists and Taoists, the word “Great Immortal,” daisen , refers to Buddha himself, who taught not about prolonging life, but about complete liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. At the same time, the teachings of Chuang Tzu are spoken of with great reverence. In the very first tale about Japan, Taoists appear as former-life interlocutors of the Japanese prince Shōtoku. Immortals live in the mountains of Japan, many of them belong to the number of ascetics of the Lotus Sūtra , which teaches about the eternal life of the Buddha. If we compare all these tales with stories from the collection Honchō Shinsen-den (turn of 11 th –12 th centuries), it is clear that the concept of immortal in both texts implies a departure from the world and overcoming suffering inherent in human life, the acquisition of miraculous abilities and their use for the benefit of people; whatever way it is achieved, it sets a good example, and therefore the search for immortals, whether in the mountains or in books, constitutes a useful experience from the Buddhist point of view.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136015296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-11DOI: 10.55105/2500-2872-2023-1-46-58
A. Meshcheryakov
Life expectancy is the most important indicator of the state of society and the quality of life of the people who live in it. It depends on many factors that affect mortality: nutrition, physical activity, epidemic and other diseases, natural, social and anthropogenic disasters, the level of public anxiety, the state of the environment, healthcare, hygiene, etc.In Japan during the Tokugawa period, the body did not belong to the person himself. His mission was to “serve” – to the overlord and parents. This was possible only if the person was healthy for as long as possible. During the Tokugawa era, the Japanese were taught that only a healthy person could fulfill his duty. Healthcare was entrusted to the person himself, there was no public health system. Despite the huge differences in natural conditions, lifestyle, nutritional diet, scientific and medical ideas, in terms of life expectancy, Japan was approximately on the same level as major European countries.After the Meiji revolution, the concept of “service” did not disappear, but now the main object of service became the state represented by the emperor. The state made serious efforts in the field of healthcare, but the negative consequences of modernization for a long time did not allow to increase life expectancy. Its slow but steady growth begins only in the second half of the 1920s. However, before the Second World War, Japan lagged significantly behind the developed countries of the West in terms of life expectancy. The expansionist policy of Japan demanded to increase the number of Japanese people. Since increasing life expectancy is a time-consuming task, the choice was made in favor of a policy of increasing the birth rate.
{"title":"Life expectancy in Japan (17th – first half of the 20th centuries)","authors":"A. Meshcheryakov","doi":"10.55105/2500-2872-2023-1-46-58","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55105/2500-2872-2023-1-46-58","url":null,"abstract":"Life expectancy is the most important indicator of the state of society and the quality of life of the people who live in it. It depends on many factors that affect mortality: nutrition, physical activity, epidemic and other diseases, natural, social and anthropogenic disasters, the level of public anxiety, the state of the environment, healthcare, hygiene, etc.In Japan during the Tokugawa period, the body did not belong to the person himself. His mission was to “serve” – to the overlord and parents. This was possible only if the person was healthy for as long as possible. During the Tokugawa era, the Japanese were taught that only a healthy person could fulfill his duty. Healthcare was entrusted to the person himself, there was no public health system. Despite the huge differences in natural conditions, lifestyle, nutritional diet, scientific and medical ideas, in terms of life expectancy, Japan was approximately on the same level as major European countries.After the Meiji revolution, the concept of “service” did not disappear, but now the main object of service became the state represented by the emperor. The state made serious efforts in the field of healthcare, but the negative consequences of modernization for a long time did not allow to increase life expectancy. Its slow but steady growth begins only in the second half of the 1920s. However, before the Second World War, Japan lagged significantly behind the developed countries of the West in terms of life expectancy. The expansionist policy of Japan demanded to increase the number of Japanese people. Since increasing life expectancy is a time-consuming task, the choice was made in favor of a policy of increasing the birth rate.","PeriodicalId":53811,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Studies in Russia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48953087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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