Hawaii International Conference on
Arts and Humanities, 2006
和魂洋才と国際化
Wakon-Yosai
‘Japanese Spirit, Western Learning’
and
Globalization
Norio Ota
York University
Toronto, Canada
Preamble
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Wakon-Kansai 和魂漢才 ‘Japanese spirit, Chinese
learning’
Wakon-Yosai 和魂洋才 ‘Japanese spirit, Western
learning’
Mishima Yukio 三島由紀夫 and his suicide
Bushido 武士道
Chushingura 忠臣蔵 ’47 Ronin’
Wakon-Beisai 和魂米才 ‘Japanese spirit, American
learning’
Mukon-Musai 無魂無才 ‘No spirit, no learning’
Wakonn-Wasai 和魂和才 ‘Japanese spirit, Japanese
learning’
Wakon-Mansai 和魂満才 ‘Japanese spirit, all learning’
Background
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Wakon-Kansai  Wakon-Yosai
What is Wakon?
Kurofune – 2nd Kurofune globalization
Fukuzawa Yukichi 福沢諭吉, Okakura Tenshin 岡倉天心, Uchimura
Kanzo 内村鑑三, Nitobe Inazou 新渡戸稲造, Kuki Shuzo 九鬼周造,
and Suzuki Daisetsu 鈴木大拙
Translation-ism 翻訳主義
Ogyuu Sorai 荻生徂徠 Yakubun-sentei 「訳文荃蹄」
和臭 ‘Japanism’
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Fukuzawa Yukichi’s isshin-nishou 一身二生 ‘one body two lives’
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Karl Löwith: completely separate dual life style of Japanese
scholars
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Wakon-Kansai tradition
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Ito Jinsai 伊藤仁斎(1627-1705)
Ogyu Sorai 荻生徂徠(1666-1728)
Ishida Baigan 石田梅岩 (1685-1745)
Tominaga Nakamoto 富永仲基
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principles of kajo 加上 ‘newer research tends to look
at older sources than the previous research’
異部名字難必和會 ‘it is impossible to harmonize
various theories to get to the one truth’
Naito Torajiro 内藤虎次郎 「日本文化史研究」
China’s response 中体西用 in 洋務運動
Early wakon-yosai tradition
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Mori Senzo 森銑三 “Oranda Shogatsu” 「オランダ正月」
Suminokura Ryoi 角倉了以・Kawamura Zuiken川村瑞賢・
Tanaka Kyugu 田中丘隅・Aoki Konyo 青木昆陽・
Yamawaki Toyo 山脇東洋・Maeno Ranka 前野蘭化・
Sugita Genpaku 杉田玄白・Hiraga Gennai 平賀源内・
Ito Tadanobu 伊藤忠敬・Katsuragawa Hoshu 桂川甫周・
Mogami Tokunai 最上徳内・Otsuki Bansui 大槻磐水・
Inamura Sanpaku 稲村三伯・Hoashi Banri 帆足万里・
Mamiya Rinzo 間宮林蔵・Takano Choei 高野長英・
Sakuma Shozan 佐久間象山
Seki Takakazu 関孝和 Wakon-Wasai？
Modern period
Takeda Kiyoko 武田清子「土着と背教」‘Naturalization and Renegation’
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Acculturation type
埋没型
Isolation type
孤立型
Renegation type
背教型－有島武郎
Competitive or prophetic type 対決型・預言者型－内村鑑三
Grafting type
接ぎ木型－新渡戸稲造
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Fukuzawa Yukichi 福沢諭吉 「学問のすすめ」
Uchimura Kanzo 内村鑑三
Nitobe Inazo 新渡戸稲造
「武士道」
Okakura Tenshin 岡倉天心 「茶の本」
Kuki Shuzo 九鬼周造
「いきの構造」
Suzuki Daisetsu 鈴木大拙 禅
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Datsua-nyuuou 脱亜入欧 ‘leave Asia and join Europe’
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Encouraging to study
Christianity
Bushido
Tea
Structure of IKI
Zen
After WWII
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Kokutai 国体 ‘national polity’
Wakon-Beisai 和魂米才 ‘Japanese spirit,
American learning’
Wakon 和魂 - Chushingura 忠臣蔵 ’47 Ronin’
Bubble Economy
Japan as No. 1
Collapse of the communist bloc
Loss of self-confidence
Return to Asia
Era of globalization
Japan’s second sakoku 鎖国 ‘national
isolation’
 The 9th Central Education Council general
meeting
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‘Wakon-yosai is talked about, but in the world of
academia wa is pushed by yoo, and has
atrophied. However, the philosophy of wa,
such as irrationality and transience, is also
inevitable, ….’
Era of globalization (cont.)
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Marubeni Corporation exports the wakon-yosai approach to South
Africa.
‘Africans are making renewed efforts to harmonizing their culture with
western culture, at the same time that they are arguing for the
necessity of recovering African-ism and self-respect. In those efforts,
Japanese culture such as wakon-yosai appears very fresh to them,
and the role of Japan seems gradually to become clear.’
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JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) also considers that
Japan’s accumulated knowledge regarding wakon-yosai should be a
part of financial cooperation with the recipient countries.
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A more eclectic view of wakon-yosai, taking good from both, has been
promoted by some schools and businesses such as Shiseido.
Global nature of Japanese culture
Japanese culture possesses global characteristics
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Hasegawa Nyozekan 長谷川如是閑(1938)
Keichu 契沖 ・Kamo no Mabuchi 賀茂真淵 ・Motoori Norinaga 本居宣長
re-examined Japanese characteristics by distinguishing between the influences
of Buddhism and Confucianism, in order to find a spiritual basis for a new united
nation
‘universal nature of Japanese culture’
Japanese national characteristics - harmonizing all conflicting factors by
finding common denominators
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Yamazaki Masakazu 山崎正和(1990)
‘universal nature’ of Japanese culture
interaction between the ‘ie-system’ in the farmer class and the warrior class, and
individualism in the merchant class, which have co-existed since the end of the
Muromachi Era; this dual nature has played an important role throughout the premodern and modern periods
Critics of Wakon-Yosai
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Pros & Cons
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Motto: schools, universities
Eclecticism between Japanese culture and western culture : Businesses – Shiseido,
advertisements for housing
Strategy: JICA - a model strategy for under-developing countries to adopt
Served to promote Japanese ultra-nationalism, and led Japan to its defeat in WWII
Post-war: periodwakon-beisai 和魂米才 ‘Japanese spirit, American learning’,
mukon-musai 無魂無才‘no spirit, no learning’ , Wakon-mansai 和魂満才 in the era of
globalization
Anime and film genre: Miyazaki Hayao’s ‘Spirited Away’, ‘The Last Samurai’ (a case of
beikon-wasai?) - ghost of bushido ?
Views (overseas)
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North America - Bushido, Zen, Shintoism, Buddhism, Chanoyu, Haiku, Ikebana,
Kurosawa Akira, Mishima Yukio, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, Abe Kobo - western scholars’
understanding of wakon (recycled among students)
Asian scholars’ (China, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam) - different understandings of
wakon and Japan’s wakon-yosai tradition
Chukon-yosai, chukon-wasai, kankon-yosai, kankon-wasai ?
Canadian multicultural context - first generation immigrants adopt kasai with their
cultural spirit, and disseminate their newly-created identities through their communities.
The Chushingura mentality, the essence of wakon was still prevalent among Japanese
in Japan, and also preserved strongly among Japanese-Canadians (Ota, 2003).
‘Allergic’ reaction to Christianity?
To put this issue into a personal context, like 山崎 Yamazaki I have
been advocating some global nature of Japanese culture, based on
my strong criticism of the mistakes Japan made and has been
making until now. In my attempt to understand yokon as suggested
by 福澤 Fukuzawa, religion is the largest hurdle. This seems to be a
common tradition since Arai Hakuseki 新井白石、when he
interviewed Giovanni Battista Sidotti シドッチ in the Edo Era. 川喜多
Kawakita states: ‘As a result, we Japanese have lost the ability to
comprehend all religious phenomena. Nor are we even trying to
understand them.’ (Kawakita, 76) He points out that this is the result
of overemphasizing the communalist (group-oriented) tradition over
Buddhist tradition (individualism), and suggests that Japanese
should reexamine the latter. The wakon-yosai tradition seems to
have been hampered strongly by Japanese ‘allergic’ reaction to
Christianity. 内村 Uchimura and 新渡戸 Nitobe went far beyond by
becoming Christians and probably understood yokon more deeply,
but that fact could have been one of the reasons why their ideals
were not accepted widely.
Conclusion
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Wakon-yosai is not a unique approach for recipient nations of advanced
civilization. The problem is, however, that it does not seem to be possible to
adopt foreign culture selectively, and still maintain the local spirit intact. Wakon
has been constantly changing, being influenced by kansai or yosai.
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In the traditional view, wakon and yosai were separate and not interactive. A
more dynamic view is required in an age of globalization. Yosai always
influences wakon because yosai comes with yokon. Rather than taking a
passive view, it is necessary for Japanese scholars to learn yokon vigorously,
as Fukuzawa suggested, and develop wakon as a dynamically and
continuously changing entity. Globalization requires wakon-wasai and yokonyosai constantly interacting with each other to deepen an understanding of the
world with the synergistic effects of both.
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I would like to conclude my presentation with a personal episode.
When I read Reginald Bibby’s Mosaic Madness for the first time, I was indeed
surprised to find he had written almost everything that I had been thinking
about Canadian multiculturalism. I disagreed only on some issues of religion.
As a result, I translated this book into Japanese with my colleague in Japan; I
found it amazing that two persons from entirely different backgrounds could
share almost the same opinions on various issues. I regard this as a result of
the more dynamic model of the wakon-yosai approach.
References
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Bibby, Reginald (1990) Mosaic Madness, Stoddart.
土居健郎(1990)｢信仰と『甘え』｣春秋社
福沢諭吉（1942）「学問のすゝめ」岩波文庫
長谷川如是閑(1938)「日本的性格」岩波新書
入江昭（1995）「日本とアジア－百年の重み」世界1995二月号
加藤周一（1989）「歴史と人間－昭和を考える」世界1989一月号
賀茂真淵（1941）「語意・書意」（松田好夫校訂）岩波文庫
河原直人（2004）「我が国の医療史における価値の変遷について」
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川喜多二郎（1973）「日本文化探検」講談社文庫
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http://www.kyoto-up.gr.jp/body/sirizu/sir_1follow.html
References (cont.)
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ルイス・フロイス（1991）「ヨーロッパ文化と日本文化」（岡田章雄訳注）岩波文庫
Leclerc, Richard & Claude Roberge (1997) “Footsteps of the Quebec
Missionaries in Japan ( 日本におけるケベック宣教団の足跡)”
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松岡正剛（2002）書評 平川祐弘（1989）「和魂洋才の系譜」河出書房新社
http://www.isis.ne.jp/mnn/senya/senya0686.html
丸山真男（1961）「日本の思想」岩波新書
丸山真男・加藤周一(1998)｢翻訳と日本の近代｣岩波新書
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森銑三（1963）「おらんだ正月」世界教養全集17 平凡社
内藤虎次郎 (1925)「大阪の町人學者富永仲基」
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名取多嘉雄（1982）「和魂対洋魂―明治期のおける宣教師たちの苦悩」
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~jhntakna/wakon.html
Nitobe Inazo (1905) Bushido http://www.sacredtexts.com/shi/bsd/index.htm
Reference (cont.)
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Ota, Norio (2003) ‘What is Chushingura to current Japan?’, panel presentation,
JCCC. Toronto.
__________(2005) ‘Wakon-Yosai (Japanese spirit, Western learning) and
Globalization’, in WHY JAPAN MATTERS!, edited by Joseph F. Kess and
Helen Lansdowne, Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, University of Victoria, B.C.
太田原高昭（2002）「内村鑑三と新渡戸稲造」
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岡倉覚三（1929）「茶の本」（村岡博訳）岩波文庫
佐伯彰一（1990）「近代日本の自伝」中央文庫
清水正之「感性の来歴－日本での科学技術受容の思想史から」
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進藤宗幸・佐々木毅・武田清子・亀井俊介・西川潤（1988）「明治120年と『国際化』
－ナショナリズムの過去・現在・近未来」世界1988四月号
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和辻哲郎（1992）「日本精神史研究」岩波文庫
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山崎正和(1990)｢日本文化と個人主義｣中央公論社