Thought and Behavior in Modern Japanese Politics (Acls History E-Book Project Reprint Series) PDF
Preview Thought and Behavior in Modern Japanese Politics (Acls History E-Book Project Reprint Series)
THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOUR IN MODERN JAPANESE POLITICS BLANK PAGE THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOUR IN MODERN JAPANESE POLITICS EXPANDED EDITION ~asao ~aruyanna Ivan Morris EDITED BY Oxford University Press LONDON OXFORD NEW YORK Copyright © 1969 by Oxford University Press. Inc. Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 74-90162 English translation of Thought and Behaviour in Modern Japanese Politics was first published by Oxford University Press, London, 1963. @ Oxford University Press, 1963 First issued, in an expanded edit~on, as an Oxford University Press paperbadt, 1969 Printed in the United States of America Editor's- Preface Among the spate books about- Japan that have appeared of~ since the war in English -and-other European languages one type is -almost -conspicuous -by its rarity: namely, studies- by Japanese scholars about -their~ own coUntry. Several-bookshelves could be filled with works: by Western experts dealing with the history, politics, economics, religion, -art, and -literature of the colintry. When-itcomes-to ttanslationofwhat modem Japanese writers say about their own its-people, how have~to land~and ever, we have been limited largely to fiction. the:. past DuriJig~ fifteen years a remarkable translated -novels, plays, num-ber~~0f and short stories have been published-:in the- West, and- cumu~ latively they give a authentic picture of life in these -vivid~and distant islands which, -f.hough- theye can nOw be -reached--by air in a matter of hourS, still tend in -many ways to be- inaeces.; sible. Yet, valuable as these translations may be, both in ~offiction c their own right- as ·liter~tUr-e- and ~ for- the-tmderstanding~ they provide· of Japan- past and p~esent,c-they hardly <?-bViate the need-m lhe West for seholarly::studies by J~apanese=scholarswho have systematically exanililed different aspects of their count-ry. A ·translation of essays by Professor Maruyama Masao* -may c help to fill-at least--a small-part of the gap. ·:Both the-Japan~se themselves and those few We&terners· w~o read their language generally· regard him as one-of the most creative and stimulating writers-wno have been at-work-during--the-past-few decades. He has been mainly concerned With Japanese history, ~intellectual- and is perhaps best known for his cstudies-on the-influence of neo Confucianism and on the develepment of nationalist thought in the modem-=period. His interests, -however, are by no--means confined to the history of-his own- country, and the present volume includes essays on general questions like political power and OD- specific~y non-Japanese matters like de-Staliriiiation. Even-in the essays that ate focused onJapan he usually broadens - - - • HeR and throughout this book .names are given in th~ Japanese. order, i.e. with family Dames first. - vi Editor's Preface- his discussion by suggesting significant parallels or contrasts with developments elsewhere. In examining Japanese national ism, for example, he frequently refers to modem Chinese history, and his study of japan's wartime leadership owes a great deal to provocative comparisons with Nazi Germany. Although Professor Maruyama is far -from being an easy writer, his books and articles are-enormously popular (his recent Intellectual History of Japan, and -earlier -works _a lso, are best sellers), and they _have undoubtedly considerable influence h~d in Japan,- particularly on the- generali on that -has- reached maturity since the war. Most of the e_ssays in this volume have been widely read, discussed, and criticized- by those Japanese who are seriously concerned-with politics and- with the intel lectual development of their COllntry. -c The essays-devoted to the Japanese political scene cover a wide- range of topics. All of them,however, share a certain general approach that Professor Maruyama had defined as follows. In the first place, he- has tried to -analyse Japanese politics not so much by studying its legal, institutional setting (the more conventional method) but rather in terms of the general cultural context and thepatter-n of interpersonal rela tionships, paying particula_r attention.to the impact ofn on-politi cal behaviour and~activities in politics. . Secondly, he has made an effort to define the underlyi:Q.g values of the Japanese {especially of the members of the ruling elites) that were not formalized into any doctrinal or theoretical pattern, and toshow-how-such systems conditioned the leadership and d,ecision-making process of Japanese politics. In examining conte-mporary -politics on a world scale, -Professor Maruyama has been particularly guided by the- belief that contemporary ideological tensions, -notably those-associated -with the Cold -War,-have been -aggravated by the tendency _of the 'isms' on -both sides -to refuse to recognize that there -are features of political dynamics com_mon -to all societies, which, in a given situation, make certain patterns of behaviour inevitable, regardless of ideology_. Without wishing in -any way to prejudge the validity of this approach, or its success as it applies to the essays in the p~esent volume, I would nevertheless suggest that it has in_ general made for a most original type of analysis. Profess_or Maruyama's writing can be challenging, provocative, sometimes even infuria- Editor's PreftlCe .1 VB ting; it is rarely banal. Among his most-valuable contributions is_ to_ have called into question certain conventional -theories about Japanese poJitics, for instance the idea that a slow but steady pr-ogress towards democracy was rudely, and more or less fortuitously, interrupted -in ~e -1930S by the 'militarists' and that since the war Japan has -returned to her normal course. One reason for the liveliness of Professor Maruyama's--writing is his readiness to express emotions and value judgements-of a type that Western scholars nowadays tend to eschew when dealing with of this kind. A propensity towards such subj~cts value judgements seemsto have been prevalent amongJapanese scholars -in-the social sciences, especially since 945. -As. Professor I Dore points out, this may be- the effect of the almost endemic sense of crisis in post-war Japan, which-has prompted an urgent sense' -of personal involvement among Japanese intellectuals, exacerbated in some cases by a feeling of guilt at not having been sufficiently committed -to do anything effective to prevent the success of militarism in the 930S. I Whatever justification -there may be for the introduction of value judgement in scholarly writing -(and Professor Maruyama cogently argues the case in his essay on 'Politics as a- Science'), the practice is bound to shock many Western readers, especially since his values are- often different from ours. One difference may arise from the fact that, like so many modem Japanese intellectuals, Professor Maruyama is deeply conversant with Hegelian dialectics and .influenced by Marxist ideas and termi nology. This is certainly not to suggest that he is a committed member of any extreme political group. Even a cursory reading of an essay like 'A Critique of De-Stalinization' will indicate how far Maruyama is from being an .o rthodox Marxist. Indeed his approach to contemporary politics cannot be classed in any ready-made category. His point of view-on most questions is thoroughly individual and has the merit of incensing members of both political extremes. Where the intellectual history of his country is concerned, Professor Maruyama writes with erudition and authority. Yet the reader-should remember that his conclusions-are often hotly disputed by eminent Japanese colleagues. If Maruyama's position is to be classified, one would presumably describe him as Editor's Preface VIII an independent member of the left. Inasmuch as the left-wing intelligentsia nowadays exerts an influence in Japan out of all proportion to its numbers, arid since it is generally recognized that the West should try to maintain a dialogue with the non communist left in Asia, we have a good deal to learn from these writings by one of its most talented and ereative representatives. It remains, perhaps, to be added that the views in expressed~ these essays are not necessarily shared by the respective trans lators or by- the editor. * * * The editor's aim has been to present these translations in as free a style as was possible while still accurately preserving the sense of the original. Maruyama's ideas tend to be complicated and the language he uses does nothing to make them appear any simpler than they are. The Teutonic style has had a major influ ence on Japanese scholars, and it is particularly pronounced in the writing of Maruyama, who has been greatly by influenced~ German writers. The length and complexity of his sentences and his penchant for abstract words and curious turns of phra sing make his work difficult even -for educated Japanese readers-. Toput this into fairly readable En-glish has involved taking considerable liberties with the structure and phrasing of the original. Professor Maruyama, however, has thoroughly checked each of the- -translations (occasionally making amendments to the original text), and the editor feels confident that ifviolence has been done to the author's thought it is only very rarely and in minor matters. Professor Maruyama's notes appear at the bottom of each page and the translators' notes at the end of each essay. The glossary at the back of the volume contains explanations of all the important proper names occurring in the nine essays, and of many less important names also. The editor would like to express his thanks to Kaoru and David Titus and to Paul Varley for their help in preparing this glossary, as well as the index. I should also take this opportunity to thank the teams of translators (whose names appear in the list of contents) for their faithful co-operation, and the following people for the as-sistance they have given at one stage or another in the pre paration of this volume: Professor George Totten (University Editor's Preface ix of Rhode Island); Dr. Ronald Dore (London School of Econo mics); Mr. Richard Storry (St. Antony's, Oxford); Professors James Morley and Herschel Webb, Miss Miwa Kai, and Mr. Shumpei Okamoto (Columbia University). IVAN MORRIS BLANK PAGE
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