Japan and Its World

by Marius B. Jansen

Long recognized as an authority on Japanese history, Marius Jansen synthesizes a lifetime of scholarship in this landmark book. Bringing together the series of Brown and Haley lectures delivered in 1975 at the University of Puget Sound, Japan and Its World continues to be a source of insight for anyone interested in the changing ideas the Japanese have had of themselves, the United States, and the Western world during the past two centuries.

Genres: Japan, History, Nonfiction

150 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1980

About the author

Marius Berthus Jansen was Emeritus Professor of Japanese History at Princeton University. Jansen graduated from Princeton in 1943, having majored in European history of the Renaissance and Reformation. After serving in the United States Army, during which time he studied Japanese and working in the Occupation of Japan, Jansen returned to the United States and completed his PhD in history at Harvard in 1950, studying Japan with Edwin O. Reischauer and China with John K. Fairbank. Jansen began his teaching career at the University of Washington in 1950 and moved to Princeton in 1959 as professor in the departments of history and Oriental studies, where he taught until his retirement in 1992.

Reviews

[Yalin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In what might be considered a short work - which as the reader is aware is based on a lecture by the late Professor Jansen - there is a great deal of knowledge and insight being conveyed to the reader. It is a wonderful read for those interested in the period and history of Japan's opening up and engagement with the larger Western dominated world, from which it had isolated itself for so long.

[Zhijing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started the book because of the interest in what view Japan holds towards China, and I ended up with enlightenment of how beliefs in traditional East Asian culture transitions into the modern world's knowledge. It's still useful to educate people who hesitate between the fancy-looking traditional culture and the modern science.

1) As readers, we can follow Japan's evolution of world views, and refresh our beliefs. The examples given in the book are vivid. For example, a group of Japanese stopped by Angola during their international trip, where they discovered that the look of tribe people turns out to resemble the image of Buddha. Their belief were crushed -- so after all, their long-believed "god" image was from a backward tribe that still uses rudimentary tools ("村垣发现当地人颇似佛祖的面貌，'今见黑人的样子，知道印度和非洲都是一种土人，它们的释迦就是酋长'"). Another strong evidence is the Japan-China war 1894-1895 which shows that adapting to the modern technology and European systems leads to success, as opposed to the stagnant, backward system of China at that time.

2) The correct attitude towards Japan's unique culture:
内藤湖南以黑格尔的历史观，从地理学和美学方面解释，内藤湖南利用一切学说(日本的传统价值中国哲学、日本忠君思想以及西方科学). 欧洲已在衰微，欧洲人亦开始感到物质主义的空虚，这正是日本不可多得的时机。"日本的任务不是把西方文化引进中国，也不是保护中国的古董并把它卖给西方。日本的任务是振兴具有独特趣味的日本文化，并使其光照四海。日本必须在中国开始这项工作。"

3) Key problems: US-Japan relationship, Japan-China relationship, Japan-Soviet boundary disputes, economic decline. Special characteristics of Japan: scarce natural resources (largely dependent on importation); population density; almost no fee spent on military and have to promote peace; very large cognitive gap between the conservative, hardworking post-WWII generation and the new generation.

4) To condense the understanding of Japan, we can look at the trace of some representative people: 杉田玄白 translated western publications to Japan in 1773, 久米邦武 traveled to western countries and witnessed Japan from weak to strong, 松本重治 studied abroad in the US from 1923, worked in the UK in 1927, worked in Shanghai during WWII, and became an editor after WWII.

Let me end with the quote from the diary of an ambitious young Japanese, 村垣范正, who aspires to make his country prosper (1860):

此次蒙天地开辟以来最初的异域使命，若辱君命，则成为神州的耻辱。
自今日起，我国之月，
亦赢异邦人之心。

[Chao Pepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writer chooses three typical people to narrate three pivotal time period during which significant transitions occurred in Japan over four hundred years. It's a good perspective, but the narration lack details. This lack of detail seems to imply that the whole Japanese recent history is a process of transforming their views on China.
I question that conclusion, but, sadly, my knowledge is insufficient to refute it.