独島/竹島 韓国の論理

by Hakutyun Kimu

Tankobon Hardcover

Reviews

[Isaac Anderson]

Korea and Japan have an ongoing territorial dispute over a barely inhabitable rocky islet in the sea. Naming either the sea in which it is located or the island itself is ideologically charged because both sides use their own terminology. From the Korean point of view, “Dokdo” in the “East Sea” has historically been theirs; as the Japanese would have it, the Koreans left “Takeshima” in the “Sea of Japan” empty and unattended, which left it vulnerable to Japan’s imperial ambitions at their most grabby.

Dokdo/Takeshima: Korea’s Position is not the first book I’ve read about Korea in Japanese, but it is the first one I’ve read that was translated from Korean into Japanese. Though I don’t feel enough interest in the Korean language to learn it, I am interested in the culture and language when approached obliquely, that is, through the lens of a language that has not abandoned its use of Chinese characters. (Cheap shot?)

Because I speak Chinese and Japanese and study these cultures, people often assume that I like anything “Asian.” I must like Korean barbecue, and durian ice cream, and any sort of slop with the latest buzzword: ube, matcha, mochi…

Read the rest of my review here!