treehr.blogg.se

The same sort of determinism has often infiltrated our assessments of the postwar period. But in fact, they share a fundamental perspective, namely, the deterministic view that the Meiji Restoration irrevocably set the course for modern Japanーthat everything that occurred up through World War II and after was somehow embedded in that seminal event. It may seem at first glance that these opposing interpretations, one positive and the other negative, have nothing in common. The left-right conflict played out in sharply contrasting interpretations of history, including the Meiji era. This was the Vietnam War era, when society was rent by deep ideological divisions. While some traced Japan’s postwar economic success back to the modernization campaign of the Meiji era, others vilified the restoration and the Meiji Constitution for laying the foundations for militarism and aggression in the 1930s. Professor Iokibe has offered an extremely constructive suggestion with his notion of dividing the past 150 years into 30-year increments.Īt the time of the Meiji centennial in 1968, Japanese society was by no means united in glorifying the Meiji Restoration and its outcomes. Perhaps the time has come to de-emphasize this perspective. The Limits of Historical Determinismįirst, it has occurred to me, as we sought to survey and assess the 150 years since the Meiji Restoration, that there are fundamental flaws in a historical approach that attempts to trace everything back to one remote starting point. Here, I would like to share some of my observations. Along the way, I have had occasion to compare and contrast this year’s discussions and observances with those of 50 years ago, when the administration of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato celebrated the Meiji centennial with much pomp and circumstance. This year, as Japan marks the sesquicentennial of the Meiji Restoration, I had the pleasure of participating in the Foundation’s forum on “Japan Since the Meiji Restoration” and taking part in wide-ranging discussions. In an essay inspired by the recent forum on “Japan Since the Meiji Restoration,” political scientist Ryota Murai reflects on the Japanese government’s 1968 celebration of the Meiji centennial and finds in the Sato cabinet’s core message a yardstick for measuring Japan’s recent and future progress. At center stage are the former emperor and empress.

Prime Minister Eisaku Sato leads the hall in shouts of banzai at a grand ceremony commemorating the Meiji centennial, held on October 23, 1968, at the Budokan in Tokyo. September 12,2018 Japan Since the Meiji Restoration (6): Reconjuring the Vision of the Meiji Centennial