Japanese History

Moral Re-armament (MRA) was an international religious movement that caught the attention of politicians, industrialists, and union leaders around the world in the 1940s and 1950s, including three (future) Japanese prime ministers – Nakasone Yasuhiro, Hatoyama Ichirō, and Kishi Nobusuke. This article examines their involvement in MRA, showing that it provided them with an internationalist register – and network – to adjust older, prewar ideas about state power, national community, and Asian regionalism to the age of the Cold War and decolonization. In so doing, the article investigates the origins of the postwar conservative imaginary arguing that, far from being narrow nationalists, Nakasone, Hatoyama, and Kishi were in fact convinced internationalists of the right. By shedding new light on the political culture of key representatives of the Japanese ruling classes, the article adds to the understanding of the country’s negotiated transition from fascism and empire to liberal democracy. It also provides a prehistory to the politics of the Right in contemporary Japan.
Link to article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09555803.2019.1646785

Book review of:

"Sengo Nihon no Fuko no Kiroku, GHQ Kameraman Boria ga Totta Nihon no Fukei" (Records of the Reconstruction of Postwar Japan, Japanese Scenes Taken by The GHQ Cameraman Boria). Photographs by Dimitri Boria, Compiled by Yoneyuki Sugita. Okayama: Daigakukyōikushuppan. Vol. 1, pp 143; Vol. 2, pp. 141.

https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/Colorized-digitally-enhanced-photos-of-postwar-Japan-bring-their-subjects-to-life

Ishinomori Shōtarō (石ノ森 章太郎) provided the blueprint for the rewriting of history in Japanese graphic art.  In Japan the hyperbole of his name ‘forest of stone’ is also synonymous with a plethora of other superlatives.  Ishinomori not only wrote the prototype for the first gakushū (学習) manga on economics , defined a new graphic genre in the process and thus paved the way for ‘serious’ manga to enter the educational discourse in Japan, but also holds the Guinness Book World Record for the most pages drawn by a single artist; totaling more than 128,000 pages. As if this was not enough, Ishinomori raised the bar by almost single-handedly penning the first comprehensive history of the Japanese Archipelago in his magnum opus Manga Nihon no Rekishi (マンガ日本の歴史; Manga A History of Japan). This voluminous compendium marks an attempt at historiographical analysis of Japanese history from its ancient ancestral roots right up to the contemporary world.  Despite the transcultural renaissance of manga on a global scale the neglect of his work from the discourse of Japanese cultural representation is somewhat surprising. 

Whereas books on the likes of Tezuka Osamu and the lesser known but still influential Yoshihiro Tatsumi have been highly appraised recently,  Ishinomori,  - usually labelled as a science fiction manga artist - as one of the founding fathers of the modern manga media is hardly discussed in the Western press. With this contradiction in mind this paper will evaluate the position of Ishinomori’s graphic analects of Japan in comparison to several other archetypes of graphic histories such as Yokoyama Mitsuteru’s Sangokushi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 1971-1986), Tezuka Osamu’s Hi no tori (Phoenix, 1978-1995) and Mizuki Shigeru’s Comikku Showa-Shi (Hereafter: Comic History of Shōwa, 1988-1989). The paper will demonstrate how Ishinomori’s representation of Japanese history in manga constitutes a new form of literacy that enables the visualisation of historical artefacts in relation to contentious issues of Japanese identity and memory formation.

Asia Pacific Perspectives, Volume XIII Number 1, Spring/Summer 2015

https://web.usfca.edu/uploadedFiles/Destinations/Institutes_and_Centers/center-asia-pacific/perspectives/v13n1/APP%20XIII1%2002%20French%2008-17-15.pdf

This paper, based on archival research undertaken in the General Headquarters (GHQ)/ Supreme Command of Allied Powers (SCAP) archives and employing geospatial data, examines the origins of a number North East Asia's territorial disputes through looking at the seizures of Japanese fishing boats during the initial postwar years. Through the hitherto unexploited medium of geospatial analysis, the paper looks at the mass seizures of Japanese fishing vessels by the maritime arms of the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea (and US Military Government of Korea), the USSR, the Republic of China, and the UN naval forces in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The paper examines and maps the incidence of the capture of these vessels as well as contextualizes the captures within the importance of the fishing industry to Japan, and Japan's neighbors' differing positions on their maritime boundaries with Japan. The policies of GHQ/SCAP and the Japanese government towards the seizures are also examined, as is the role the fishermen themselves played. The paper concludes by employing a geospatial dataset to test assumptions about the nature of the seizures of fishing vessels during the period and their significance in relation to today's territorial disputes in the region.

The kimono revival in contemporary Japanese society seems to be pertinent and of high actuality given the multiple articles on the topic in the press and even books; however, it is far from being the first one. Therefore, the study starts with the reconstruction and comparison of previous revivals in Japanese history since the beginning of the Meiji period (1868–2010). In addressing political, social and economic aspects as well the author highlights the way in which nationalist tendencies and international conflicts equally provided impulses for the multifaceted phenomenon of kimono revivals at different moments in history. In the core of the study, based on ethnographic fashion research, Oly Mayela Firsching-Tovar sets out for the first time to analyze the multifaceted aspects of the contemporary kimono revival. Thus, in elucidating the connection between the beginning of the most recent trend and recycled kimono, she shows how in this revival kimono has become part of “casual wear,” as a commodity ready to be consumed in multiple ways. But the commoditization of the kimono was not itself enough to bring about the third kimono revival: this also required the commoditization of history by turning it into nostalgia—especially in the context of tourism in Japan, where historic sites and key events were re-created as stages for the performing of the dressed body in kimono, targeting female and male consumers alike.

Shounen manga is a type of narrative via images that accurately follows the canonical narrative schema. Shounen is an adventure tale in which the protagonist must face a sequence of antagonists, often more powerful as the story carries on, in order to reach a purpose that intersects with his personal development and doesn't concern only plot-related objectives.
Every single author ends up arranging and managing differently the four moments of a story modal structure: manipulation, competence, performance and sanction can be put in different orders to recreate different plots. This thesis intends to comparate three sucessful shounen manga, One Piece, Naruto and Bleach, to show the results these different  methods can lead to.

International Relations and Identity International Relations and Identity examines the issue of collective political identity formation and expands the concept of the international beyond the notion of states. Providing a dialogical approach to questions of identity and alterity in ...

The issues of Autistic and Asperger Syndrome (hereafter ASD) adolescents were selected because personal observations show that Japanese from these populations may have an interest in becoming learners in an English as a Foreign Language (hereafter EFL) setting. The knowledge gained from the literature review and interview with a psychology professional/educator will find immediate application to educators currently working in an EFL setting with ASD adolescents. The knowledge can also find application with ASD adolescents from collectivist cultures that are currently living in the United States. These adolescents may have come from countries outside the United States because a parent was transferred to the U.S. subsidiary for a few years. Or the parents may have decided to immigrate to the U.S. The knowledge will also find application to future American Child & Adolescent specialists with an MS in Psychology planning to work in Japan or other collectivist cultures in the Asian region.
The educational and psychology professional was selected for her expertise as a psychology educator and clinical developmental psychologist in the fields of Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome in Japan. Professor Miwako Hori is attached to the Faculty of Child Development, Department of Clinical Psychology at Nihon Fukushi University in Japan. She has been a full-time lecturer at Nihon Fukushi University since 1999. Professor Hori also holds numerous advisory positions in various governmental and educational organizations in Aichi Prefecture, Japan (Nihon Fukushi University, 2013, p. 1).

The importance of the Occupation within Japanese economic history is beyond doubt, however there still remain various partially explored regions within the scholarly landscape of the period. One subject which falls into this category is the impact of small four-wheel-drive passenger vehicles, or jeeps, during the Occupation. This subject can be considered ‘partially explored’, as within the scholarship its cultural impact is clearly mapped out, and often linked in the process to the power of the Occupation itself, but within the economic sphere, the jeep remains all but invisible, somewhat akin to the censorship of the jeep (and all other visible symbols of the Occupation) from Japanese films produced at the time. The reasons for this curious partial absence of perhaps the most visible symbol of the Occupation vary, as detailed below. Indeed, the jeep could be said to be in some ways a mechanical embodiment of the Occupation; an alien, militarised, and undeniably American presence in postwar Japan. The jeep, being the omnipresent transportation of General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers (GHQ) personnel, also traverses the entire landscape of Occupation. As well as being the ‘steed’ which bore everything the Occupation brought, the jeep itself also exerted other direct influences on Japan during the years 1945-1952. Some of these were cultural, influencing many Japanese people’s ideas about personal transportation and automobiles in general. Others were clearly economic, with the maintenance, refurbishment, and later, manufacture of jeeps, forming a major but rarely examined, element within the development of the postwar Japanese automotive industry. This highly symbolic (and literal) reconstruction an iconic piece of Americana in Japan was also one which laid some of the foundations of the subsequent success of several of Japan’s postwar automotive giants. This paper attempts to examine the impact of the jeep from both of these perspectives, reassessing the already well established cultural interpretations of the jeep’s impact, and detailing the hitherto neglected economic influences of the jeep during the era.

Within the ancient country of Japan, thousands of hydroelectric dams exist. The first hydroelectric dam built in Japan was the Oi Dam in 1924. These concrete megaliths have many purposes, with one major function for the Japanese and humans worldwide being the production of hydroelectric power. In essence, the electricity produced by hydroelectric power is a renewable resource generated through the movement of water. This form of energy produces no waste and does not emit carbon dioxide. Yet, many people do not consider large hydroelectric projects to be a sustainable energy source due to the belief that they do not produce enough energy to make their construction necessary. Indeed, the construction of the dams harm the environment in many ways, such as land clearing; the destruction of animal habitat, and the dispersal of humans from their ancient homelands.

The question of the specific role played by Japan in the process that led to the independence for the three nations of former French Indochina – Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia – has been seldom studied by historians. The central position of the Pacific War for American and Japanese specialists, the crucial importance of the Indochina War for French researcher, and the language barriers are the main reasons for this lack of interest.
Nevertheless, if Japan did not create the independence movements in Vietnam, nor even the conditions that led the Vietnamese to seek independence, its role was essential. Its occupation of the Western colonies in Southeast Asia not only destroyed the domination system of the Western countries, it also annihilated their prestige and gave confidence to the local populations in their ability to conquer their independence and access to modernity.
If the case of Vietnam is particular, since French colonial apparatus was left untouched until 1945, the victory against French forces in September 1940, the presence of Japanese military on Vietnamese soil and the Japanese cultural propaganda towards Vietnamese population played an important role in eroding French might. If Japanese occupation does not explain everything, it was the real starting point of the process that led Vietnam to independence.
Japan began to put pressure on French Indochina from 1938, when the front of the Sino-Japanese War moved southward. Because Chiang Kai-shek refused to give up, Japan decided to blockade China. After Canton felt the 21 archOctober 1938, the main route that linked China to the outside world was the “French Indochina route”, a railway route that was linking the Indochinese harbor of Haiphong to the Chinese city Yunnan, Kunming. Under Japanese pressure, French government accepted officially to forbid the transit of goods from Indochina to China, but accepted in fact its continuation since it wanted to help China to resist Japanese move in the direction of Indochinese border.
France opposed Japanese pressure until German victories in Europe, from May 1940, disrupted the situation in Southeast Asia. France, isolated because of its separate armistice with Germany, could not defend Indochina anymore since British alliance was necessary against any external threat. Suffering a rebuff from the United Sates, the Governor General, Georges Catroux, had to close the Chinese border and to accept a Japanese control mission in Indochina, under general Nishihara Issaku. Catroux was replaced by the admiral Jean Decoux who, despite strong words, had accept Japanese demands. Despite several treaties and agreements, Japanese forces attacked French army in Indochina the 23 September and defeated them easily. This coup, often seen, till nowadays, as a local initiative, was in fact directed from Tokyo.
Japanese army got the right to station troops in the North of Indochina, to use air fields and to remove troops from Southern China through Indochinese territory. From this time, France will have to yield to every Japanese demand : the integration of Indochinese economy to Japanese empire sphere, the lost of two territories to Thailand, the occupation of the rest of its territory and, finally, a Japanese dominion over Indochina after the Pacific War broke out. Japan had decided, from July 1940, to enforce the new policy of Southward expansion, accepting the risk of going to war with the English speaking powers. The occupation of Indochina was a part of this policy and it played an essential role in the deterioration of the relations with the United States.
Japan needed French Indochina territory to attack British colonies. This is why Vietnam played a crucial role during the first campaign of the Pacific War, especially against British Malaya – which was attacked before Pearl Harbor. After the first phase of the war, Indochina lost its strategic position, but still provided rice and raw material. Despite its anti western propaganda, Japan decided to let France continuing its domination on Indochina. This situation was not an anomaly, but a rational choice based on the fact that the best and cheapest way to administrate Indochina was to leave the task to French authorities.
During most of the Pacific War, Indochina was under a dual domination, French and Japanese. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shigemitsu Mamoru, preached for the elimination of French presence. Despite the suppression of the Vichy regime and its replacement by an enemy of Japan – the Free France –, this is only the 9 March 1945, seven months later, that Japanese army attacked. The threat of an American landing and the will of Japanese army to secure a continental road from Southeast Asia to Korea led to the decision to put an end to French administration.
By making the three nations of Indochina proclaiming their independence and by annihilating French armed forces, Japan created a watershed. Japan, being seen as a defeated country, was not successful in administrating the country, lacking time and support. The Vietminh was able to fill the void left by French administration and to get the support of a large part of the population by acting against Japan. The latter played a last important act, after its surrender the 15 August 1945, by letting the Vietminh taking the power.
What would have happened if Japan had not destroyed French domination? Since independence movements were not in position to overthrow the French colonizers, and Japan had good reasons to consider keeping the status quo, this question is not a petty one. To think of it as an alternate history can be useful in letting us understand that everything was not decided from the start, that France could have left Vietnam differently, that non communist forces could have played a more important role and, last but not least, that the Japanese attack the 9 March 1945 was the decisive defeat that France could never overcome.

One of the most fundamental problems confronting a historian is the question of how one should do history, that is to say, how does one proceed to inquire historically, and how does this relate to other forms of inquiry ? There are many issues within this larger question, such as how archaeology and history are related. In this article my particular concern is the relationship of history and literature ; specifically, how historians deal with literary sources, and how history and literature can be integrated. My aim is to present several possibilities of various conceptualizations and methods based on writings by scholars, largely historians, who have involved themselves in this issue through their work. Drawing upon the work of scholars of pre-1600 Japanese studies, I will examine a range of approaches, and the advantages and disadvantages thereof, and attempt to offer my own perspective on the issue. Instead of setting out to essentialize certain scholars or reduce them to just one perspective, I am concerned here with using them to present and discuss some of the various approaches that have been advanced in the field.

Shedding light on contemporary Japanese society in an international context, Japanese-Korean relations and modern day notions of a multicultural Japan, this book addresses the broad notions and questions of citizenship, identity, ethnicity and belonging through investigation of Japan’s Korean population (zainichi).

Despite zainichi Korean existence being integral to, and interwoven with, recent Japanese social history, the debates and discussions of the Korean community in Japan have been largely ignored. Moreover, as a post colonial context, the zainichi Korean situation has drawn scant attention and little investigation outside of Japan.

In Zainichi Korean Ethnicity and Identity David Chapman seeks to redress this balance, engaging with recent discourse from within Japan’s Korean population. By taking a close look at how exclusion, marginalisation and privilege work, the book brings insight into the mechanisms of discrimination, and how discourse not only marginalizes individuals and groups, but also how it can create social change and enhance the sense of self.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian studies and of Japanese and Korean politics, culture and society, but also to those with a broader interest in migration studies and the study of identity and ethnicity.

This book argues that the transformation of the print media in the 1950`s and 1960`s expanded the possibilities for social, individual and national identities in Japan. From the late 1950`s, the growth in the market for weekly magazines was fueled by the huge potential for advertising revenue, the rapid development of the Japanese economy, and the necessity for the growth of a consumer society. This resulted in the merging of national identity with individual subjectivity – which this book describes as 'national subjectivity' – as the Japanese media promoted individual consumption to aid the recovery of the Japanese nation as a whole.

「心でどこを探してみても、自分より、愛しい者を見いだすことはできない。
　それと同じく、他の者にとっても、自分のことが愛しい。
　ゆえに、自己を愛する者は、他の者を害さぬように」（マッリカー経）

■ 他人のことを無理やり思いやろうとする必要はありません。ただ正直に自分の心を見つめ、「自分は傷つけられたくない。害されたくない。自分が愛しい」と確認します。さらに、「他人も同じだ。他人にとっても自己が愛しい。だから傷つけてはならない。害してはならない」と、丁寧に理解するだけでよいのです。
このように理解することで、自己を想う「自己愛」から、他者を想う「他者への慈しみ」へと、自然に広がっていくのです。
（本文より）

■ 目　次

はじめに　だらしない自分が嫌い

第１章 「自己を大切にする」とは？
・マリッカー経
　１．自己愛を否定しない
　２．視点を転じて、他人に思いを向ける
　３．自己を想う「自己愛」から、他者を想う「他者への慈しみ」へ

第２章　「自己への慈しみ」を育てる５つのステップ
・自分を思いやる
・怒りではなく、やさしさを選択する
・比べない
・心を前向きに
・定期的に瞑想する

第３章　自分を相手の立場に置き換える
・わが身にひきあてて

第４章　我（attā）から無我（anattā）へ
・「私（attā）」を使って心を育てる
・だれが実践するのか？
・輪廻の苦しみを感じてみる
・なんとかしなければ！
・なぜ、「無我」なのか？
・「我」からスタートして「無我」へ

第５章　自己をよりどころに
・心を育てる３つの詩句
　気づいたときから実践をスタート
　自分を守ってくれるもの
　自分の目的をあきらめない　

第６章　自己改善のための「私（attā）」
・自分をいたわり、他者をいたわる
・心の改革へ

あとがき　心のベクトルの転換

Mallikā Sutta 「マッリカー経」


■ 著者紹介
チャンディマ・ガンゴダウィラ長老　Ven. Dr. Chandima Gangodawila

テーラワーダ仏教長老。
2008年、スリランカの国立スリジャヤワルダナプラ大学で、学士号（優等学位）を取得。最優秀賞受賞。2015年、博士号を取得。
カナダに渡り、ブリティッシュコロンビア大学で４年間、仏教チャプレンを務め、さらにヴィクトリア大学にて教鞭を執る。
現在、カナダのオタワにあるテーラワーダ・ブッディスト・ヴィハーラに在住。
カナダを中心に、イギリスのケンブリッジ大学、アメリカ、マレーシア、タイ、スリランカの大学や寺院で、講演や法話をおこなう。
著書に、『感情の波にのまれない心のトレーニング: ストレスから心を解き放つ』『幸せへの鍵：慈経（Metta Sutta）に学ぶ〈15の善習慣〉と〈10の善行為〉』『妄想の対処法―認識プロセスを観察し、妄想ループを絶ち切る：蜜丸経（Madhupiṇḍika Sutta）』『新しい生き方を切り拓く７つの実践：小業分別経（Cūlakammavibhaṅga Sutta）』『業（カルマ）は直線ではない－生き方を変えられるのは、いま：大業分別経（Mahākammavibhaṅga Sutta）』『涅槃への道を妨げるもの: 老いない経（Na Jīrati Sutta）』『新型コロナウイルスへの不安と恐れを乗り越える８つのポイント』, シンハラ語の著書に『රතන සූත්‍රයේ පදගතාර්ථ සහ විවරණ , Ratana Sutta：Text, Word-to-word Meaning, Translation, and Explanations, 英語の著書に『Papañca to Nippapañca：Mental Proliferation to Mental Non-Proliferation』『8 Buddhist Tips to Overcome COVID-19 Fear』(以上 Sukhī Hotu), 『An Annotated Translation Into English Of Ratnamālāvadāna With A Critical Introduction』『A Critical appraisal of the contribution of Germany and France to Sanskrit studies』などがある。
ブログ：Paṭisota (https://patisota.blogspot.com/)
法話(英語)：Paṭisota YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/Patisota/)


■ 訳　者
出村 佳子　Yoshiko Demura

翻訳家。訳書に、チャンディマ・ガンゴダウィラ長老著『感情の波にのまれない心のトレーニング: ストレスから心を解き放つ』『幸せへの鍵：慈経に学ぶ〈15の善習慣〉と〈10の善行為〉』『妄想の対処法―認識プロセスを観察し、妄想ループを絶ち切る：蜜丸経』『新しい生き方を切り拓く７つの実践：小業分別経』『業（カルマ）は直線ではない―生き方を変えられるのは、いま：大業分別経』『涅槃への道を妨げるもの: 老いない経』『新型コロナウイルスへの不安と恐れを乗り越える８つのポイント』（以上 Sukhī Hotu）, バンテ・Ｈ・グナラタナ著『慈悲の瞑想：慈しみの心』（春秋社）, 『マインドフルネス：気づきの瞑想』『マインドフルネスを越えて』『８マインドフル・ステップス』、アチャン・チャー著『アチャン・チャー法話集　第一巻　戒律』『アチャン・チャー法話集　第二巻　マインドフルネスの原点』『アチャン・チャー法話集　第三巻　智慧への道』, エリーン・スネル著『親と子どものためのマインドフルネス』（以上サンガ）などがある。
ブログ：Sukhī Hotu 智慧と慈悲の実践 (https://sukhi-hotu.blogspot.com/)

VISIT AMAZON TO PURCHASE A COPY
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B08KP1937J/

TWO-STAGE  (DUAL) FUNERARY RITUAL OF JAPAN AND OKINAWA AS  A CULTURAL MODEL (Abstract of the Ph.D. Thesis)
Pукопись aвторефератa диссертации на соискание ученой степени кандидата культурологии (специальность 24.00.01 – теория и история культуры, культурология).
Работа выполнена в Секторе «Языки культур» Российского института культурологии. Москва, 2005
Научный руководитель: доктор исторических наук А.Н.Мещеряков
Официальные оппоненты:
доктор филологических наук Т.П. Григорьева
доктор культурологии Т.В. Мордовцева
Ведущая организация – Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет

Folding screens, known as byôbu in Japanese, are treasures within any museum’s collection and are beloved by the general public. This beautiful publication brings together the very finest screens from the world-renowned collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Art Museum. The featured works range from an extraordinary pair of landscapes by Sesson Shukei, a Zen-Buddhist monk-painter of the late 16th century, to daring contemporary works from the late 20th century.

The first half of the Edo period (1615–1868) is especially well represented, with a dozen screens from the 17th century by such masters as Kano Koi and Tosa Mitsuoki. The contemporary scene is also well covered, with ten examples from the 20th century—proving the longevity of this art form and its currency among modern-day artists. Enlightening essays by important scholars in the field cover topics like the emergence of screens as an art form and a novel discussion of the relationship of Japanese screens to those made in other countries.

Ōuchi Yoshitaka's attempted to move Japan's capital to Yamaguchi in 1551. These efforts failed and resulted in his destruction and the death of many courtiers. This hitherto unknown event profoundly influenced the politics of sixteenth-century Japan.

Oshima Nagisa’s film Nihon no Yoru to Kiri (Night and Fog in Japan, 1960, Japan), the last he would make with the Shochiku film studio, documents a pivotal moment in postwar Japanese history without the use of any actuality footage.1 In lieu of newsreel documentation, it takes the form of what Sato Tadao calls a “discussion drama” or “drama dialogue,” in which two generations of student protest movements are allegorized and rendered theatrical.2 Through its idiosyncratic use of mise-en-scène and cinematography, Oshima’s film stages the rift between two anti-imperialist factions of the Japanese left: the Stalinist generation of the 1950s, known as the Old Left, and what would become known as the New Left, the younger students protesting the Japan-US Security Treaty, called ANPO in Japanese (Nichibei Anzen Hoshou Jouyaku), in 1960.

Co-curated event, "A Pilgrimage to WWII Japanese-American Internment Camps." An exhibit at the Hartnett Gallery, University of Rochester, Nov. 17 -  Dec.11, 2017, with photographs by Margaret Miyake, commentary by Notch Miyake, and historical ephemera from the Re-Envisioning Japan Collection (J. Bernardi). Sponsored by the University of Rochester Humanities Project, the Dept. of Modern Languages and Cultures, The Hartnett Gallery, The RIver Campus Libraries Digital Humanities Center, the American Studies Program, the Dept. of History, the Dept. of English, and the Film and Media Studies Program. A University of Rochester Humanities Project event.

This article analyses the Gozen rongi, doctrinal disputations held before Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Sunpu castle, and his son Hidetada at Edo, in the 1610s. These events gathered monks from almost all the major schools of traditional Buddhism in order to perform deep doctrinal discussions before the representatives of political power.
Most disputations involved Tendai or Shingon (both Shingi and Koyasan), but Kegon and Hossō monks were also involved. Previous research has well shown how monks such as Tenkai planned and used these disputations both in order to respond to Ieyasu's requests and to benefit the Tendai school. However, this article, by focusing on these events globally, demonstrates not only that a similar process was at work with the Shingon school, and to a lasser extent Kegon and Hossō, but also that the Gozen rongi were important cultural events, which should be understood in the context of the various manifestations of pageantry held at Ieyasu's court.

El caso de Nagasaki es paradigmático cuando se habla de ciudades cuya estructura urbanística ha sido desarrollada para dar soluciones a los usos y necesidades de los habitantes de la misma: antes de la llegada de los jesuitas, a mediados del s.XVI, Nagasaki era un pequeño puerto pesquero bajo el dominio del señor feudal Omura Sumitada; sin embargo, con la fundación del puerto comercial en la bahía de Nagasaki -que supondría una puerta de entrada a Japón para los comerciantes portugueses-, junto con el establecimiento de una numerosa comunidad de cristianos en los territorios circundantes, la población de la ciudad creció rápidamente y, con ella, su superficie, cuyo urbanismo presenta una fusión de características japonesas y portuguesas, en aras de cubrir las necesidades de su heterogénea población.

Con el estallido de una serie de conflictos entre las autoridades japonesas y los portugueses, y en el contexto de la política de aislamiento arrancada por el shogunato en 1635, el gobierno Tokugawa ordenó la confinación de los comerciantes lusos de Nagasaki en una isla artificial, Dejima, cuyo proceso de construcción y organización interna responden claramente a cuestiones prácticas. En 1636, la isla sería terminada y los comerciantes portugueses confinados en ella, si bien su presencia en la misma sería efímera, pues en 1639 se hizo efectivo el edicto que proclamaba su expulsión, quedando Dejima deshabitada hasta 1641, cuando se establecieron allí los comerciantes holandeses trasladados desde Hirado, quedando la ciudad como único punto de contacto e intercambio entre Japón y Occidente.

En 1689 el urbanismo de la ciudad volvería a cambiar con el establecimiento de un área comercial destinada al alojamiento y actividades de los comerciantes chinos de la ciudad, conocida como Tōjinyashiki, a la que se anexaría posteriormente otra isla artificial.
Gracias a su desarrollo urbanístico, claramente orientado al comercio marítimo, primero con portugueses, y más tarde con holandeses y chinos, Nagasaki terminaría siendo un lugar de intercambio, no sólo comercial, sino también cultural pues, aunque los extranjeros tuvieran limitados sus movimientos dentro de la ciudad, los muros de sus respectivas áreas de confinamiento serían permeables, y nuevas influencias, cultura y avances científicos entrarían a Japón a través del contacto con los comerciantes foráneos.

In 1874-1875, hundreds of colorful nishiki-e (woodblock prints) pictorialized individual articles previously published in Tokyo's main daily newspapers. Because many prints foregrounded violent, sexual, and supernatural themes, they have been viewed as "hybrid" Edo-Meiji media forms that demonstrate an imperfect understanding of what constituted the news. In the context of 1870s' urban culture, however, news nishiki-e were part of a broader category of "old media"-including theater, short illustrated fiction, and oral storytelling-that self-consciously incorporated the newly prominent term shinbun (news or newspaper). These prints exploited the indeterminacy of images and the possibilities of text-image interplay to draw out social tensions and encourage audiences to reflect critically on changes wrought by the Restoration. Because the choice of what to think always remained with the reader-viewer, the disappearance of news nishiki-e thus constituted the loss of a mode of criticality.