Overview about the Japanese philosophy
Japanese philosophy
has historically been a fusion of both indigenous
Shinto
and continental religions, such as
Buddhism
,
Taoism
and
Confucianism
. Formerly heavily influenced by both
Chinese philosophy
and
Indian philosophy
, as with
Mitogaku
and
Zen
, much modern Japanese philosophy is now also influenced by
Western philosophy
.
Ancient and medieval thought
[
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]
Before
feudalism
was firmly established in
Japan
,
Buddhism
occupied the mainstream of Japanese thought. The Buddhist culture introduced politically by
Prince Sh?toku
was completed as the "making a country safe" thought in the
Nara period
. When the
Heian period
(794?1185) began, in substitution for the "making a country safe thought", a form of esoteric Buddhism collectively known as
mikky?
became widespread. However, in the late noble era when pessimism was popular due to the "belief that Buddhism will decline during the
latter days
of this world", the
Pure Land
movements spread out encouraging anticipation of a "future life" as a means to cope with desperation over "life in this world". During the
Kamakura period
(1185?1333) when government dominated by the
samurai
class began, a “new” Buddhism for the newly-risen
class
(samurai) appears.
Arrival of Buddhism and early influence in Japan
[
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]
In ancient Japan, the arrival of
Buddhism
closely relates to the national construction and the national centralization of
power
.
Prince Sh?toku
and the Soga family fought and overcame the Mononobe family, who had handled the ancient Japanese
religion
, and elaborated a plan for national
governance
based on the unification of the
legal codes
system and Buddhism. While cooperating with the Soga family, Prince Sh?toku, who was the regent of the
Empress Suiko
, showed a deep understanding in "foreign" Buddhism,
[1]
and planned to stabilize national
politics
through the use of Buddhism. The thought that national peace and security came through the power of Buddhism is called the "making a country safe" thought. In the
Nara period
, in particular the times of
Emperor Sh?mu
, the Kokubun-ji temples and Kokubun-ni-ji temples were erected throughout the whole country and
T?dai-ji Temple
and the
Daibutsu
were erected in
Nara
. The Buddhist policy of the state reached its apex during the Nara period, as evidenced by
Jianzhen
of the
Tang dynasty
bringing an imperial ordination platform to Todai-ji Temple,
While Nara Buddhism followed only the "making a country safe" thought, Heian Buddhism brought not only national
peace
and
security
but also the personal worldly
profit
. Because practitioners of Heian Buddhism frequently performed severe
ascetic
practices,
incantations
and
prayers
in the mountains; this Buddhism came to be called
mikky?
.
K?kai
, a Buddhist monk, learned Chinese
esoteric Buddhism
while on a diplomatic mission to the Chinese court, and combined Japanese Buddhism with Chinese esoteric Buddhist practices to form Japanese
Shingon Buddhism
.
Saich?
, a Buddhist monk who also journeyed to China, learned the practices of the Chinese
Tendai
sect and argued that the teachings of the
Lotus Sutra
should be the core of Japanese Buddhism.
By the late Heian era, the earthly focus of Heian Buddhism led Buddhist monks to declare a "sinful age" wherein the possibility of relief in this world was denied and therefore a trend of looking for reincarnation to the Buddhists'
paradise
after death arose. Additionally, the new thought that "Buddhism will decline during the latter days of this world" led to the rise of the
Pure Land
movement. This movement, spearheaded by
K?ya
, a follower of Pure Land Buddhism, preached faith to the
Amit?bha
and taught that all people could reach the Buddhist paradise, not just Buddhist monks.
Kamakura Buddhism
[
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]
The
J?do
faith, which affected by the Jodo sect of the late Heian period, relies on salvation through the benevolence of
Amit?bha
, and is going to be relieved by its power.
H?nen
, who initiated the Jodo sect of Buddhism, abandoned other ascetic practices entirely. He preached his pupils to believe in Amitabha and to earnestly pray "
namu-amida-butsu
", and so they would go to the paradise. His pupil,
Shinran
who initiated
Pure Land Buddhism
, thoroughly carried out Honen's teaching and preached the absolute dependence. In addition, Shinran advocated that an object of the relief of the Amitabha was a criminal who was aware of a worldly and desirous criminal oneself.
Ippen
, who initiated the
Jishu
sect, began "the chanting religious dance".
As contrast with dependent
J?d?
faith,
Zen
Buddhism attempts to be spiritually self-awakened by
Zen meditation
.
Eisai
learned the
Rinzai
sect in China. He gave pupils a difficult problem and he made them solve it, and so they would be enlightened by themselves. Rinzai Zen was supported widely by the upper samurai class in the
Kamakura period
.
D?gen
learned the
S?t?
sect in China.
[2]
Oppose to Eisai, he preached enlightenment by earnest sitting meditation (
zazen
). Soto Zen was supported by the local samurais.
Most schools of
Nichiren Buddhism
(Japanese:
法華系??
Hokke-kei Bukky?
) refer to the priest and teacher
Nichiren
as their founding father. In his teachings he underlined the, to his mind, supremacy of the
Lotus Sutra
. He advocated the attainment of Buddhahood during one's lifetime and regarded his interpretation of the Buddhist teachings as the correct form of practice for the Latter Day of the Law
mapp?
. One of his major treatises is the "Rissho Ankoku Ron" (On Establishing the Correct teaching for the Peace of the Land). The chanting of the
Mantra
"
Namu My?h? Renge Ky?
" is to this day the central practice to almost all Nichiren Buddhist schools and organisations.
Early modern thought
[
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]
Whereas the ancient and medieval thought of Japan was tied closely to
Buddhism
, the early modern thought of Japan was mainly
Confucianism
or
Neo-Confucianism
, which was designated for official study by the
Tokugawa shogunate
. In addition,
rational
Confucianism stimulated
Kokugaku
,
Rangaku
and the non-official popular thought after the middle
Edo period
.
Confucianism
[
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]
In the
Edo period
,
Confucianism
was the authorised study. Various schools of
neo-Confucianism
were popular.
The
Zhu Xi
school of neo-Confucianism respected
family
-like
feudal
order which upheld fixed social positions.
Hayashi Razan
assumed the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism to be the theoretical basics of the
Tokugawa shogunate
. Through the principle of
civilian
government
,
Yushima Seid?
dedicating to
Confucius
was established. By the
Kansei Reforms
, the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism were still more strengthened and authorized by the Tokugawa shogunate. In addition, the thought of a school of the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism gave big influence to the political movement advocating reverence for the
Emperor
and the expulsion of
foreigners
of the late Tokugawa era.
In contrast with the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism, the
Wang Yangming
school of neo-Confucianism respecting practical
ethics
was consistently monitored and oppressed by the Tokugawa shogunate because of its criticisms against the socio-political conditions under the Tokugawa shogunate.
The third schools of neo-Confucianism took consideration into the real intentions of original texts by
Confucius
and
Mencius
.
Yamaga Sok?
established his philosophy on Confucian ethics, and assumed the
samurai
to be the highest class.
It? Jinsai
paid attention to "
ren
" of Confucius and he respected "ren" as the
love
for another person and "truth" as pure consideration. In addition, deriving from his substantial studies of ancient Chinese classics,
Ogy? Sorai
insisted that the original Confucian spirit is to rule the
world
and to save a
citizen
.
Kokugaku and Rangaku
[
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]
In the middle of the
Edo period
,
Kokugaku
, the study of ancient Japanese thought and culture, became popular against foreign ideas such as
Buddhism
or
Confucianism
. By the
Sakoku
policy of the Tokugawa shogunate, Edo intellectuals could not have any positive contact with Western civilization, and so
Rangaku
, Dutch learning, was the only window to the
West
.
In the middle days of the Edo period,
Kokugaku
became popular while being influenced by positivist
Confucianism
with
nationalism
as a background. Kokugaku positively studied ancient Japanese thought and culture, including "
Kojiki
", "
Nihon Shoki
" and "
Man'y?sh?
", and they aimed at excavating original moral
culture
of Japan which was different from Confucianism and
Buddhism
.
Kamo no Mabuchi
wrestled with the study of "Manyoshu" and called "
masurao-buri
" for
masculine
and tolerant style, and he evaluated the collection as pure and simple. Through his study of the
Kojiki
,
Motoori Norinaga
argued that the essence of the
Japanese literature
came from "
mono no aware
" which were natural feelings to occur when you contacted an object. He respected Japanese "Yamato spirit" instead of Chinese (Confucianism / Buddhism) "Kara spirit". According to him, Kokugaku should pursue the Japanese old way of "
Shinto
". Through his study of Kokugaku,
Hirata Atsutane
advocated nationalistic
State Shinto
, the obedience to the
Emperor
and abolition of Confucianism and Buddhism. It was a driving force to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the
Meiji Restoration
.
In the
Sakoku
period of the Edo period, there was no direct contact with the West, but
Rangaku
became popular by encouraging importation of Western books translated in Chinese from China during the
Ky?h? Reforms
.
Maeno Ryotaku
and
Sugita Genpaku
translated the Dutch "
Tafel Anatomie
" into Japanese. Dutch learning unfolded to other Western studies such as British, French and American studies by the late Tokugawa era. The manner of "Japanese spirit, Western
civilisation
" was completed by
Sakuma Sh?zan
’s straightforward expression, "Eastern
ethics
and Western
technology
". Because
Takano Ch?ei
and
Watanabe Kazan
criticized Sakoku strictly, they were oppressed by the Tokugawa shogunate.
Popular thought
[
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]
In the
Edo period
, private schools were opened by
samurais
,
merchants
and scholars who played an active part. Their thoughts were criticisms for the dominant
feudal
order.
Ishida Baigan
synthesized
Confucianism
,
Buddhism
and
Shinto
, and established practical philosophy for the masses. He recommended working hard at
commerce
as the effect of honesty and thrift.
Ando Shoeki
called nature's world the ideal society where all human beings engaged in
farming
and they lived self-sufficiently without artificiality. He criticized a
lawful
society where there was feudal
class
discrimination and the difference between the rich and poor.
Ninomiya Sontoku
insisted that people must repay the
virtues
, which supported their existence, with their own virtue.
Late Modern thought
[
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]
While the early modern Japanese thought developed in
Confucianism
and
Buddhism
, English
Enlightenment
and French
human rights
were prevalent after the
Meiji Restoration
had become rapidly affected by Western thought. From the time of
Sino-
and
Russo-Japanese Wars
, Japanese
capitalism
highly developed.
Christianity
and
socialism
also developed and became tied to various social movements. In addition,
nationalistic
thought and study were formed while being opposed to foreign study.
The Enlightenment and people's rights
[
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]
In the
Meiji Restoration
, English and French
civil society
was introduced, in particular,
utilitarianism
and
social Darwinism
from England, and
popular sovereignty
of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from France.
The thinkers of the early Meiji period advocated the British Enlightenment values derived from Western civil society. They attempted to criticise Japanese traditional
authority
and
feudalism
. However they were finally in harmony with the government and accepted the
modernization
from the above without the radicalness. In 1873,
Mori Arinori
formed
Meirokusha
. The people who gathered in this cultural association had much in common with points such as regarding practical learning as important, catching human characteristics practically and assuming the form of government that accepted the conditions of a country an ideal. Mori Arinori promoted national
education
as Minister of Education.
Nishi Amane
affirmed a human behaviour based on interest.
Kat? Hiroyuki
threw away
natural rights
under influence of
social Darwinism
, and instead advocated the survival of the fittest.
Fukuzawa Yukichi
, who introduced British
utilitarianism
to Japan and advocated
natural rights
, assumed that
human rights
were given by Heaven. He considered the development of the
civilization
to be the development of the human spirit, and it was assumed that one's
independence
led to independence of one country.
[3]
Fukuzawa thought that
government
is for the "sake of convenience", and its appearance should be suitable to the culture. He said that there is no single ideal form of government. In addition, he insisted that Japan should have gone into the continent externally against the
Great Powers
.
[4]
While members of
Meirokusha
finally advocated harmonization of the government and people,
democratic
thinkers absorbed radical people's
rights
from France and they supported national resistance and revolution verbally against the
Meiji oligarchy
after the
Satsuma Rebellion
. In 1874,
Itagaki Taisuke
introduced the establishment of the elected
legislature
. It spread nationwide as the
Freedom and People's Rights Movement
.
Ueki Emori
helped Itagaki and he drew up a radical draft. Strongly influenced by
Rousseau
,
Nakae Ch?min
argued for people's
sovereignty
and individual
freedom
. However, concerning the Japanese situation, he pointed out the importance of
parliamentary monarchy
. According to him, the
Imperial Constitution
should be gradually revised by the
Diet
.
From the late period of Meiji to the
Taish? era
, a
democratic
trend spread as a background of bourgeois
political consciousness
. Its current led to political movements for safeguarding the
Constitution
and for the
popular election
.
Yoshino Sakuz?
argued for party cabinet politics and popular election. He did not deeply pursue who was the sovereign but he insisted the political goal aim for people's happiness and political decisions aim for people's intentions.
Minobe Tatsukichi
interpreted a sovereign as not an
emperor
but the
state
. According to him, an emperor only excises his
power
as the highest organ under the
Meiji Constitution
. Although his theory was widely acknowledged at first, he was politically suppressed by the military and the rightists afterwards.
In 1911,
Hiratsuka Raich?
formed
Seitosha
. She asked for awakening of women's own right and development of
feminist movement
. While
Yosano Akiko
denied
gender
differences, Raicho emphasised motherhood raising a child and she acknowledged the official aids for women to demonstrate their feminine ability. In 1920, Raicho formed a new association for women with
Ichikawa Fusae
and
Oku Mumeo
. Soon after their activities were successful in getting women's participating at political addresses, the association fell apart due an internal schism. Later, Ichikawa formed a new one and continued a movement for
female suffrage
.
Christianity and socialism
[
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]
It was
Christians
and
socialists
who struggled with social contradictions derived from Japanese
modernity
. Christian social movements were active after the
Sino-
and
Russo-Japanese Wars
, which brought
capitalism
and its contradiction to Japanese society. Many Japanese socialists were influenced by
Christian humanism
, and in that point they were deeply associated with
Christianity
.
Christianity, banned by the
Tokugawa shogunate
, influenced many Meiji intellectuals.
Uchimura Kanz?
developed "two Js" to unite
Bushido
and Christian spirit. He believed that his calling was to serve "Japan" and "Jesus". He argued for the
nonchurch movement
. He challenged the
Imperial Rescript on Education
and spoke against the
Russo-Japanese War
.
[5]
Nitobe Inaz?
was a
Quaker
and attempted to unite
Japanese culture
and Christianity. He introduced Japanese culture abroad and he became secretary-general of the
League of Nations
.
Joseph Hardy Neesima
studied
theology
abroad in the United States. He established
Doshisha University
at Kyoto and he was engaged in Christian
character building
.
About the time of Sino- and Russo-Japanese wars, Japan succeeded in capitalization through the
industrial revolution
as soon as
socialism
spread against
capitalism
. However, the social movements were suppressed by the
security police
law of 1900, and finally in the
High Treason Incident
of 1910 socialists were pressed by the military and the
fascist
government.
Kawakami Hajime
wrote articles about
poverty
in a newspaper. He emphasized personal remodeling to solve poverty at first, however, later he became a
Marxist
and he argued for social remodeling by social compulsion.
K?toku Sh?sui
originally attempted to realize socialism through the
Diet
, however he became a
unionist
and he argued for a direct action by a
general strike
. He was executed as the mastermind of the high treason incident of 1910.
Osugi Sakae
argued for individual
freedom
using the principles of
anarchism
and
unionism
. He was seen as a threat by the government and was assassinated by
military police
in the disorder following the
1923 Great Kant? earthquake
.
The development of Japanism
[
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]
The
Age of Enlightenment
,
Christianity
and
socialism
have influenced Japanese thought since the
Meiji Restoration
.
The emphasis on Japanese political
culture
and national
tradition
rose as a reaction against
westernization
. This trend has had an
ideological
side of legitimizing
imperialism
and
militarism
/
fascism
.
[6]
Tokutomi Soh?
published a magazine in which he argued for
liberal democracy
and
populism
against Japanese
westernization
. However, he was disillusioned with the
bourgeois
who should play a political part in ...
Kuga Katsunan
regarded Japanese
political culture
and national
tradition
very highly. He aimed for restoration and enhancement of national emotion; however, he was not a narrow-minded
nationalist
. He criticized the military and argued for a
parliamentary system
of government and expansion of
suffrage
.
After the
Meiji Restoration
, Japanese government protected
Shinto
and treated it not as a special religion but as
State Shinto
. The government closely related Shinto with the holy
emperor
, and they used Shinto as a tool for their state
governance
. State Shinto was clearly distinguished from private sects of the Shinto
religion
. It was a model of
ideological
state governance to form State Shinto and to promulgate the
Imperial Rescript on Education
. Meiji
statism
attempted to restore national sovereignty and pursued
imperialism
and
colonialism
through the
Sino-
and
Russo-Japanese Wars
. However, its
militaristic
trend developed to
ultra-nationalism
.
Kita Ikki
advocated the exclusion of the
zaibatsu
, senior statesmen and
political parties
and the establishment of government for direct connection with the emperor and the people.
[7]
Yanagita Kunio
was at the forefront of study of Japanese
folklore
. He named members of the general public who are not political leaders and
intellectuals
as “jomin”. Other folklorists are
Minakata Kumagusu
,
Yanagi Muneyoshi
and
Orikuchi Shinobu
.
In pre-war Japan,
German philosophy
was eagerly studied and introduced. However, from the late
Meiji
to
Taish? period
,
Kyoto School
attempted to harmonize Western thought with Eastern thought such as
Zen Buddhism
.
Nishida Kitaro
established an original thought by fusion of Zen and Western thought. His thought is called Nishida philosophy. He insisted on pure
experience
in which there is no opposition between subjectivity and objectivity.
[8]
His
ontology
derived from absolute nothingness.
Watsuji Tetsuro
criticized Western selfish
individualism
.
[9]
His
ethics
says human beings are not in an isolated
existence
but related existence. He insisted that individual and social beings should be aware of their own individuality and social membership. He is also well known as his
Climate and Culture
in which he studied the relationship between the natural environment and local lifestyle.
Contemporary Japanese philosophy
[
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]
After World War II, many academic philosophers have published books on Continental philosophy and American philosophy. Among those,
?mori Sh?z?
,
Wataru Hiromatsu
,
Yasuo Yuasa
and
Takaaki Yoshimoto
created original works under the influence of
Marxism
,
phenomenology
and
analytic philosophy
. ?mori Sh?z? created a unique monist epistemology based on his concepts of "representation monism", "double depiction", and "language animism". Wataru Hiromatsu developed his theory of "multi-subjective ontological structure of the world". Yasuo Yuasa advanced a new theory of the body influenced by
Merleau-Ponty
and the body image found in
Chinese medicine
. Takaaki Yoshimoto is famous for his "shared illusion theory" and various philosophical essays on Japanese culture. Today, such scholars as
Kojin Karatani
(
literary theory
),
Hitoshi Nagai
(
solipsism
),
Shigeki Noya
(
analytic philosophy
),
Masahiro Morioka
(
philosophy of life
),
Motoyoshi Irifuji
(
analytic philosophy
) are considered to be characteristic philosophers in the Japanese academy.
[10]
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
See
Sangyo Gisho
and
Seventeen-article constitution
.
- ^
For a philosophical study of D?gen's concept of language cf. Ralf Muller:
D?gens Sprachdenken: Historische und symboltheoretische Perspektiven
[D?gen’s language thinking: Systematic perspectives from history and the theory of symbols], Welten der Philosophie, vol. 13. Freiburg/Munchen: Verlag Karl Alber, 2013; reviewed by Steffen Doll in Philosophy East & West Volume 65, Number 2 April 2015 636?639.
- ^
Encouragement of learning
(1872?76) and
An outline of a theory of civilization (1875)
- ^
Datsu-A Ron
- ^
How I became a Christian
(1895)
- ^
See also
Total war
and
Pan-Asianism
.
- ^
See
February 26 Incident
.
- ^
An inquiry into the good
- ^
The significance of ethics as the study as man
- ^
See for example,
Collected works of Shozo Omori
Archived
2015-12-22 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Shozo Omori bibliography
,
Collected works of Wataru Hiromatsu
Archived
2015-05-02 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Collected works of Yasuo Yuasa
,
Collected works of Takaaki Yoshimoto
,
Collected works of Kojin Karatani
Archived
2015-12-22 at the
Wayback Machine
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Texts
- James W. Heisig, Thomas P. Kasulis, John C. Maraldo (eds.),
Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook
, Honolulu: University of Hawai?i Press, 2011.
- David A. Dilworth & Valdo H. Viglielmo, with Agustin Jacinto Zavala (eds.),
Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy: Selected Documents
, Westport: Greenwood Press, 1998.
- R. Tsunoda, W.T.de Bary, D. Keene (eds.),
Sources of Japanese Traditions
, New York: Columbia University Press, 1964, 2 vols.
- Studies
- H. Gene Blocker, Christopher L. Starling,
Japanese Philosophy
, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2001.
- Hajime Nakamura,
History of Japanese Thought: 592?1868. Japanese Philosophy before Western Culture Entered Japan
, London ? New York: Kegan Paul, 1969.
- Gino K. Piovesana,
Contemporary Japanese Philosophical Thought
, New York: St John's University Press, 1969.
External links
[
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]