Beyond Borders:

Japanese Studies in the 21st Century

International Conference on Japanese Studies

Warsaw

19-21 May 2006

In Memoriam

Wiesław Kotański

ABSTRACTS

20 May 2006, Saturday

1.Prof. Ewa Pałasz-Rutkowska, WarsawUniversity, Professor Wiesław Kotański (1915-2005) – Outstanding Scholar, Japanologist, and Foster-Father to Generations

Passing away of Professor Wiesław Kotański at the beginning of August 2005 did come as a shock to all of us, His students, colleagues and friends, who always had been impressed not only by His academic proficiency but also and foremost by His wisdom and richly warm human personality. He was an outstanding japanologist, untiring scholar, who studied so penetratingly many domains of Japanese culture, but mainly language and religion. Professor Kotański’s achievements especially in the field of the Kojiki (The Book of Ancient Events) interpretations caused a revolution in several branches of Japanese studies. Anybody who came into contact with Him was able to receive something of the spirit that inspired him and this spirit has greatly influenced the whole world of Japanese studies in Poland.

2.Prof. Yoshikazu Matsui, Osaka International University, Characteristics of the Study on Kojiki by the late Prof. W. Kotański Compared with the Study by Kokugakusha, School of Japanese Philological Studies in 18th Century

Prof. Kotanski considered the nature of the KOJIKI to be a work of philosophical thought, and he thought that it told us fruitful messages. So it is very important for him to interpret the text hermeneutically in order to understand these messages.

To find messages in the KOJIKI, Prof. Kotanski analyzed especially the names of the deities appeared in the KOJIKI. He thought that its meaning can be read by decoding the names of deities in which the messages of the KOJIKI were encoded. To understand the role of the deities in keeping this world well-ordered, as the KOJIKI tells us, we should not take the meaning of each Chinese character, into separate account . It is the reconstruction of the deity's indigenous name that is essential to the process of understanding. After completing this operation we could decode the name. So he tried to restore the original form of the name of each deity by tracing the process of the word-formation in ancient Japanese language.

The Kokugakusha, who studied Japanese classical books as sacred books, are considered today to be fanatically nationalistic scholars. But it is often said that their method is not fantastic but scientific, and their interpretations are not prophetical.

Although Prof. Kotanski himself often insisted on originality and creativity of his own interpretations, I can find some similarities between his understanding and the analyzing method and that of kokugaku. I am really interested in these similarities. Either of them have a character not only to be hermeneutic and scientific but also self-confident and ingenious. In other words, they do not follow the theory of their senior scholars unquestioningly and search their own way. This is the reason why I continue to study Prof. Kotanski’s approach and respect his understanding of the KOJIKI.

It is true that Prof. Kotanski is well-known among Japanese scholars, but I must say that it's a pity that he is famous not as a prominent interpreter of the KOJIKI but only as a foreign Japanologist. The reasons why Prof. Kotanski’s study on the KOJIKI is not yet so popular in Japan might be considered as follows. 1)Difficulties exist, even among Japanese scholars, on how to understand his inventive method of determining the morphology by which the original name of the deities was formed. 2) Japanese scholars today do not intend to accept hermeneutic interpretation of the KOJIKI, which Prof. Kotanski considered to be very important. 3) Prof. Kotanski’s understanding of the role of O-no-Yasumaro, who had written down the oral traditions in kanji, is not accepted. Most Japanese thought that Yasumaro only wrote down what were passed form ancient times, while Prof. Kotanski thought that Yasumaro compiled it with his own will, just as an author of a book usually does. 4) Some researchers of Japanese classical studies are still sceptical about analysis by foreigners. 5) Prof. Kotanski's works are not enough published in Japanese yet.

Prof. Kotanski challenged to find the meaning of the KOJIKI by inventive method, which is to decode the role of the deities, reproducing the original form of their names, and then to understand the messages which the KOJIKI left to our modern society. I believe that such challenges are very significant and must not be neglected. We should also appreciate that Prof. Kotanski had studied the KOJIKI for more than forty years, which is longer than Motoori Norinaga(1730~1801), the most famous KOJIKI interpreter ever.

3. Prof. James C. Baxter, InternationalResearchCenter for Japanese Studies, Some Recent Trends in Japanese Studies in the United States

Gender, colonialism in the Japanese empire and its aftermath, and popular culture are themes that have recently attracted strong interest among scholars specializing in Japanese studies in the U.S. To elucidate trends, I will offer examples of published work that has appeared in the last several years and still-unpublished work that has been presented at conferences or seminars in the last three years. I will give considerable attention to scholarship in history, the biggest field in terms of number of Japan specialists and sheer volume of activity, but I will remark on research in other areas, as well.

Research on women has continued to enhance our critical awareness of the roles played by women and the ways they have been constructed. Gender studies has also stimulated reevaluation of masculinity, exposing hitherto neglected features of male life. Arresting results have emerged from same-sex studies. Gendering Modern Japanese History (2005) evidences the breadth and complexity of the gender studies field. Other research by historians and literature scholars also merits notice.

On empire and colonialism, many authors have drawn inspiration from postcolonial theory as they have investigated Japanese involvement in Taiwan, Korea, the Nan’yô, and Manchuria and the effects of empire on people in the “metropole” of the home islands. Analyses of discourse have been important in this research.

Japan scholars today are paying more heed to minorities and popular culture than in the past. Metaphors of geography, mapping, and the body have gained currency. Recent American scholarship highlights ways in which these topics and tropes intersect with each other.

4.Prof. Mitsuyoshi Numano, The University of Tokyo,二人の＜佳人＞の出会い――日本とポーランドの文化交流の歴史から (日本におけるポーランド文学受容を中心に）

この報告では、まず日本におけるポーランド文学受容の歴史を簡単に振り返ったあとで、最近の日本におけるポーランド文学研究・翻訳の発展と傾向について検討する。

ポーランドのイメージは、明治前期の東海散士の政治小説『佳人之奇遇』にすでに登場する。ここでポーランドは大国によって滅ぼされた「亡国の悲劇」の国として描かれ、日本人の特別な共感を呼んだ。その後、明治後期にはシェンキェヴィチ、大正から昭和初期にかけてはレイモントという二人のノーベル賞作家が日本でも積極的に紹介された。しかし、ポーランド文学がポーランド語から直接訳されようになり、日本におけるポーランド語ポーランド文学研究が本格化するのは、1960年代以降のことである。

その際、故コタンスキ教授によって基礎が築かれたワルシャワ大学の日本学科と日本のスラヴ研究者との交流は大きな役割を果たした。1978年にはワルシャワ大学と東京大学の間に学術交流協定が締結され、現在にいたるまで多くの研究者・学生を交換している。この協定を通じて互いの大学に滞在する機会を得た研究者の中には、現在、それぞれの国の日本研究・ポーランド研究において指導的な役割を果たして活躍している者が多い。

日本におけるポーランド語ポーランド文学研究は、1990年代以降も着実に発展している。1991年には東京外国語大学に日本で初めてのポーランド語専攻学科が設立された。1986年に創刊された学術誌『西スラヴ学論集』は2006年までに9号を数え、ポーランド語ポーランド文学に関する多くの論文を掲載してきた。またミツキェヴィチの『パン・タデウシュ』、ミウォシュ『ポーランド文学史』といった重要な著作の日本語訳も次々に出ており、日本におけるポーランド文学受容は新しい段階に入りつつあると言えるが、こういった研究・紹介の発展を支えてきたのは、日本のポーランド研究者とポーランドの日本研究者の間の緊密で実り豊かな交流である。それはポーランドと日本という二人の＜佳人＞の出会いの歴史でもあった。

5.Dr. Evgenya Saharova, RussianAcademy of Science, The Main Activities of Russian Association for Japanologists

1. Brief history and general information about the organization.

2. Main activities.

2.1. Public activities.

2.2. Scholarships for students, post-graduates and young researchers studying Japanese language and Japan.

2.3. Publication activities.

2.3.1. “Annual Japan”, first number was published in 1972, in 2003 was celebrated 30-year anniversary of Annual Japan.

2.3.2. “Japanese experience for Russian Reforms”, is published since 1994, two numbers per year. Every number includes 8-9 papers of Russian Japanologists on the most important and interesting aspects of Japanese economy, social life, politics and so on.

2.3.3.Japan History text-book.

2.3.4.New projects.

2.4. Internet projects (official site of the Association).

2.5. Other activities.

2.5.1.Annual conference “History and Culture of Japan”.

2.5.2.Symposium “Current situation and perspectives in Russian Japanese Studies” (February, 13-15, 2006, Russian State University of Humanities).

6.Prof. Takashi Itō, TokyoUniversity, Nihon kingendai no kojin shiryō to ōraru hisutorii(日本近現代の史料とオーラルヒストリー)

日本近現代史の一次史料（私が主として対象としているのは、政治・行政・外交・軍事等）が研究者の利用に供されるようになったのは、明治維新期の史料の一部を除いて、第二次大戦後であった。公文書については、国立公文書館が昭和46年（1971）7月になって漸く設立されたが、個人文書については国会図書館憲政資料室が大久保利謙氏らの努力で発足し、明治以降の主要な人物の文書を収集し、公開されたのは、昭和36年（1961）10月からであった。この前後からオーラルヒストリーも盛んに行われるようになった。概ねこの前後から研究を始めた私が、史料の発掘、整理、主要な個人文書の出版、オーラルヒストリーとその公開、個人史料情報についての辞典の編纂等について、行ったことを中心に現在の日本近現代の史料状況について報告する。

7.Prof. Akio Komorida, TokyoUniversity, Shakaikagakuteki nihon kenkyū no kadai to shakaigaku kenkyūjō(社会科学的日本研究の課題と社会科学研究所)

日本は今、大きな問いと選択に直面している。1980年代までの経済的成功と1990年代の経済的困難を経て、今後どのような経済モデルをめざすべきか、広がりつつある社会的格差にどのような態度をとるべきか、伝統的な性別役割分業モデルをどのように変えてゆくか、２大政党制は政治の質を高めることができるか、アメリカとの同盟と東アジア諸国との良好な関係の創出とをどのように両立させるか、等など。これらの問いと選択の焦点として、60年間一度も変えられることのなかった憲法の改正問題が、いよいよ政治日程に上りつつある。

日本が選択を迫られているこれらの問題は、ポーランドにとってもまったく別世界のものというわけではなかろう。したがって、ポーランドの日本研究において、現代日本の社会科学的研究への関心がもっと高まることを期待したい。

このような期待をもって、社会科学的日本研究の国際的拠点となることをめざしている東京大学社会科学研究所の活動の一端を紹介する。

8.Prof. Sadami Suzuki, International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Nihon ni okeru ‘ bungaku’ to ‘geijutsu’ gainen no seiritsu

日本における近代的な「文学」概念は、近代英語”literature”の中義”polite literature”(ほぼ”humanities”)と狭義”linguistic art”を受容し、伝統的な「文学」概念を再編することによって形成されたが、第二次大戦前まで「文学」概念の広義と狭義の二重性が存続し、かつ今日でも著しい日本的な特徴をもっている。その日本化は日本人の手になる中国語(「漢文」)の言語作品をも含む、国際的に稀な”bilingual”な”national literature”を「日本文学」として制度化する(「日本文学史」の二重の発明)とともに、民衆の文芸を早くから公認し、また宗教色の強い近世までの文芸をも近代的な「文学」概念によって論じる習慣を形づくってきた。その概要を紹介するとともに、本発表では新たに、”fine art”の”receptor”となった「芸術」概念の再編、および新しく造られた訳語「美術」の定着の過程について、最近の通説を補訂しつつ、二〇世紀初頭にそれが専門家のあいだに定着するまで過程を明らかにする。そして、そのとき、ヨーロッパの「ロマン主義」芸術論を借りることによって、中世的な宗教美術にこそ日本近代の美術が成立していたと説く日本芸術論が成立したことを、岡倉天心の説を例にとって、明らかにする。ほぼ並行する現象が「文芸」の領域においても見られ、これは、日本近代文学史の根本的な再編を促す提起につながる提言となるだろう。

9.Prof. Arunas Gelunas, VilniusAcademy of Fine Arts, Japanese Studies – Between Pragmatism and Self-Discovery

Presentation deals with the problem of finding a “rational ground” for studying another culture in post-colonial era with the emphasis on Lithuanian case. In what ways should Japanese studies foster inter-cultural understanding, communication and, finally, cooperation? How should the students of Japan answer the pressure to explain themselves in their local contexts? Which strategies should be undertaken in answering the challenge of adjusting the Japanese studies to the “needs of the market”?

10.Prof. Hideo Watanabe, ShinshūUniversity, Chūgoku kodai ongakuron to Nihon no waka bungaku (中国古代音楽論と日本の和歌文学)

力をも入れずして、天地を動かし、目に見えぬ鬼神をもあはれとおもはせ、男女の仲をもやはらげ、たけきもののふの心をもなぐさむるは、うたなり。

(『古今和歌集』仮名序)

和歌は、天地や鬼神を感動させることができるといい、こういう霊妙・不可思議な力を平安後期以来「歌の徳」と呼んで来ました。なぜ「うた」はこのような不思議な効能をもつのでしょうか。また、平安前期時代の『1古今集』から室町時代の『21新続古今集』に至る21代にわたって、連綿と勅撰和歌集が編まれ続けるのは、なぜなのでしょうか。勅撰和歌集の序では、和歌が「世を治め、民をやはらぐる道〔世の中を平和に治める手法〕」(『新古今集』仮名序)であり、「国を治むるわざ〔国家統治の道具〕」(『風雅集』仮名序)であるといいます。つまり和歌は国を治めるための必要不可欠の大切な道具だというのです。

国家による、歌集の継続的な管理・編纂という事例は、中国・韓国はおろか、世界中にもみあたりません。その根拠理由はなんなのでしょうか。これらの、我国の和歌文学に固有の事象への理解認識を深めることは、日本の文化伝統の本質を探求することに等しいものがあります。

こうした問題を解くためには、古代日本の「うた」についての考え方・思想を知る必要があります。それは，広く東アジアに伝わった古代儒教に基づく「礼楽」思想――とりわけ，当時の日本が受容し規範とした「古代中国の音楽思想」です。

11.Prof. Shigemi Inaga, International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Tenshin Okakura Kakuzō and Sister Nivedita – On an Intellectual Exchange in Modernizing Asia

The paper treats a case of cultural exchange between Japan and India in Modern era. Tenshin Okakura Kukuzo (1862-1913) ‘s stay in India in 1901-02 was a marked incident of the Japanese encounter with the Indian intellectuals. His friendship with Swami Vivekanada (1863-1902) and Rabindranatha Tagore (1861-1941) and others are well known. Yet his intense relationship with Sister Nivedita (1867-1911) during the preparation of Okakura’s first book in English, The Ideals of the East and The Awakening of the East (1902 posthumously published in 1938) has not yet been thoroughly investigated.

In the first place I will briefly outline the circumstances in which Okakura stayed in India. Secondly I would propose some of the concrete evidences which may establish the mutual influence which occurred in the elaboration of Okakura thinking of the Ideals of the East as well as in Sister Nivedita’s idea of the Indian national identity. Thirdly, I may argue that this intellectual collaboration prepared positive appraisal with which Sister Nivedita celebrated the new Bengal nationalist paintings at the beginning of the 20th Century. In conclusion, the role of female mediators in the colonial context will be critically examined.

12.Prof. Konstyantin Komisarov, Taras Shevchenko University, Kyiv, Japanese Studies in Ukraine – history and modernity

The real origins of Japanese studies in Ukraine date back to the early 1990s after Ukraine proclaims its independence in 1991, when Oriental Studies departments have been established the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv and later at KyivNationalLinguisticUniversity. The first Ukrainian-Japanese and Japanese-Ukrainian dictionaries, Japanese textbooks and other teaching materials have appeared and the first research papers on Japanese studies were submitted at that time.

At present, the Japanese language and literature are taught as majors for bachelor and master degrees in five universities of Kyiv as well as in National universities of other cities, such as Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Lugansk and Zaporizzha. Approximately 350-400 students in total are currently majoring in Japanese language and literature. There are also secondary schools, colleges and lyceums where the Japanese language is taught as the first, second or third foreign language.

Although Ukraine did not exist as a state for a long time, the first hand-written Russian-Japanese and Japanese-Russian dictionaries created by Japanese sailors called hyoryumin (people who reached Russian land after shipwreck) show that the Ukrainian language and culture had indirect contacts with Japanese culture since the end of the 18th century. There were numerous Ukrainian words in such dictionaries as well.

The first Ukrainian who has significantly contributed to the establishment of the intercultural relations between Ukraine and Japan was Vasyl Yeroshenko (1890-1952) a blind writer and Esperantist who lived in Japan in 1914-16 and 1919-21 and published his works in Japanese scientific and literary magazines. Yeroshenko's fairy tales and legends were written in Japanese which he had mastered, and Esperanto, which he knew perfectly. These fairytales became well-known and some of them were even published in Japanese school textbooks.

The first dictionary in the history of Ukrainian Japanese studies was Ukrainian-Japanese dictionary by Anatolii Dibrova and Vasyl Odynets (11 000 words) printed in Harbin (Manchuria) in 1944 by the efforts of the Ukrainian Diaspora.

The first special edition of Japanese literary works in Ukrainian was a book containing 26 tanka poems by Japanese poets of the 5th-13th centuries translated by O. Kremen /Kharkiv, 1931/. However, the main advantage of this book is that it begins with an extensive foreword that can be considered the first scientific publication on the history of Japanese classical poetry in the Ukrainian literature studies.

In the thesis, some other Ukrainian translations of works by Japanese writers are analyzed, along with the publications by modern Ukrainian scholars who research Japanese language, literature and language teaching methods. In addition, a reference list containing scientific literature and fiction concerning Japanese studies in Ukraine is attached to this thesis.

21 May 2006, Sunday

13.Prof. Chiharu Inaba, MeijōUniversityPolish POW’s in Japanduring the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

There were 71,802 prisoners-of-war of the Russian Empire in Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. The biggest minority nation in the POWs was Poles and the number was 4,658, 6.5 % of all the prisoners. Treatment of the POWs were basically equal under Japanese rule, however, the Japanese government established independent camps and managed special treatment only for Poles. Why was Japanese treatment of Polish POWs different from the others? The Centenary Symposium on POWs in the Russo-Japanese War was held in Matsuyama in 2003 and some on important material on Polish POWs were newly discovered during the symposium. In my presentation, I introduce the new material and refer reasons of the Japanese favorable treatment for Polish POWs.

14.Dr. Agnieszka Kozyra, WarsawUniversity, The Notion of Faith in Philosophy of Nishida Kitarō

Nishida Kitarō (1870-1945), the founder of the so-called Kyoto school (Kyōtoha), was interested in Buddhism, especially in Zen tradition. However his views on religious faith were also influenced by the doctrine of Pure Land Buddhism. Nishida’s mother was devout Pure Land Buddhist and she was able to console him after the death of his daughter Yūko, being sustained with her faith in the infinite mercy of Amidha Buddha. Nishida also taught part-time at ShinshūŌtaniUniversity (renamed ŌtaniUniversity in 1922), closely related to the True Pure Land Sect. When Ōtani Alumni Association planned publication of a book Shūsokan (Views of the Founder) in 1911 to commemorate the 650th anniversary of the death of Shinran (1173-1263), Nishida also contributed an essay Gūtoku Shinran (Shinran the fool).

Nishida states that ‘religious faith’ should not be understood as the act of believing in a certain religious doctrine, which is against ‘reason’. According to him there is no religion without ‘spiritual fact’ of the sacred and the absolute, which can be experienced, in human life. ‘Faith’ implies the act of self-negation, which reveals the true essence of the reality as ‘absolutely contradictory self-identity’ (zettaimujunteki jikodōitsu). Both reality and the act of faith comply with logic of ‘absolute contradictory self-identity’. ‘Faith’ is not irrational since formal logic with its principle of identity ((A = A) is one aspect of logic of ‘absolutely contradictory self identity’ (A = A and A ≠ A). Nishida’s interpretation of ‘religious faith’ is unique, since he rejects the dualism of ‘self-power’ (jiriki) and ‘other power’ (tariki), typical of Japanese Buddhism. Nishida argued that scientific experience (mainly quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of relativity) also prove his vision of the reality as ‘absolutely contradictory self-identity’.

15.Dr. Monika Szychulska, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Natsume Soseki no “Bunchō” no kachi(夏目漱石の『文鳥』の価値)

夏目漱石の短編『文鳥』は、明治41年（1908年）6月「大阪朝日新聞」に連載された。この作品は、死をテーマにした「哀切な趣」のある作品と言われている。『「文鳥」について』と題したエッセーの中で、西田りかはこの問題を、テクストにしばしば現れる「淋しい」と「気の毒」という表現を通して論じ、籠の中に飼われた文鳥の境遇を、封建制度のもとに生きる女性たちの境遇に比較している。そして、同時代の他の作品を引いて、明治期の樋口一葉の『十三夜』（1895年）でお関が「死」を選ぶこと、即ち「我」を捨て、残酷な夫との生活に耐えていくことを、また大正期の宮本百合子のフェミニズム小説『伸子』（1924年）でも「籠鳥になっては堪えらない」という女性の切実な立場が描かれていることを指摘している。

『文鳥』には、確かに、近代日本の中で女性たちが置かれていた非常に厳しい状況が暗示されているが、同時に、この作品を詳細に分析すると、漱石が世界の中で女性に与えられるべき位置を探求していたこと、さらには女性との様々な関係の中で築かれるべき男性の「我」の位置を探求していたことも見えてくるのである。

16.Anna Zielińska-Elliott, M.A., Boston University, Murakami Haruki and the Decline of Poland’s “Exotic Japan”

Without a doubt, Murakami Haruki is currently the most read and best known contemporary Japanese author in the West. This paper takes up the reception of Murakami’s novels in Poland, where there is now an ongoing boom of interest in things Japanese, mainly focused on pop culture, in which Murakami certainly figures. But it is also important to examine the interest in Murakami in the context of Poland’s long “Orientalist” tradition of interest in Japan, which has typically been more of the “high culture” variety. I ask whether Murakami is read as a Japanese author and read mostly because readers are looking for some “oriental” mystique, or whether he has transcended those labels and stereotypes and is being viewed as a popular writer of “world literature” who just happens to be Japanese. Has Murakami’s writing become crucial in the process of “de-orientalizing” Japan in Poland? I look at critics’ and readers’ reviews, as well as at Murakami’s own evolving position as to whether he sees himself as a Japanese author. As a translator of some of Murakami’s works, I will also consider the role of Murakami’s European-language translators in the “de-orientalizing” process.

17.Marcin Kaczanowski, M.A.NicolausCopernicusUniversity, Toruń, Kumagusu Minakata – Life and Career of a Genius in Japan and Abroad

Kumagusu Minakata (南方熊楠; 1867-1941), a world-renowned naturalist and demonologist Japan has ever produced, came back to Japan in 1900 after 14 years of unique study experience abroad mainly in America and England. He settled in WakayamaPrefecture, his birthplace, until his death in 1941, particularly lived in TanabeCity for 37 years from 1904 to 1941. Minakata could speak 18 languages and therefore earned the epithet ‘a walking encyclopedia’ for his native marvelous memory and knowledge of animals, plants, astronomy and history. He studied abroad in America and England in the Meiji era when it was very difficult to travel abroad to the foreign lands.

Kumagusu devoted his entire life to studies of natural history and folklore, and contributed a number of articles to the British science magazine ‘Nature’ and the British folklore magazine ‘Notes and Queries.’ He was also actively involved in anti-shrine-consolidation protests and the nature conservation movement in Japan. He was worshipped as “a great scholar with no degree” and loved by the locals who called him Minakata Sensei (the teacher) or Minakata-san (Mr. Minakata), while branded by some people as an eccentric person.
About 65 years after his death, Kumagusu’s achievements and life history has been made clear by a number of books and papers including ‘the Complete Works of Kumagusu Minakata’ and ‘the Diary of Kumagusu Minakata,’ and the research is still ongoing.