DIJ LETTER ISSN 1433-6685 1433-6685 Information from the ... tions, euphony and meaning are to be taken into account, and where possible ... ri/kanmuri ‘crown’), Corolla, Corona,

DIJNEWSLETTER

ISSN 1433-6685

Information from the German Institute for Japanese Studies

DIJ Newsletter FEBRUARY 2003 1

18

February 2003

hat’s in a name? That whichwe call a rose / By any oth-er name would smell as

sweet. This is how Juliet, only child ofthe Capulets, enemies of the House ofMontague, consoles herself, and sweet-heart Romeo, before joyfully changingnames – Romeo My Love instead ofRomeo Montague. Such consolation isappealing, because a rose is in fact arose; it does little to alter the pleasurethat it owes its name, purely etymolog-ically, not to its scent, but to its thorns,nor does the small imprecision that Ju-liet commits: she calls both the wordand the proper noun a name.

The rose is so much a rose that itdefies embellishment. No packagingrequired. Unless, of course, it is dealtwith as a specific object. Or sold. Thenit must, as everything else that consti-tutes a commodity, be differentiated inits details; it must have a label that canbe classified, elaborated, and praised.Thus the rose, when red, is presentedas an Asja or a Black Madonna, asMoonlight when yellow, and as Virgoor Bianca when white. Mere alphanu-meric designations that the majority ofscrews, hooks, splints, and a refrigera-tor or two must content themselveswith are scorned when names for flow-ers are coined – and this is increasinglytrue of cars as well, provided that theydo not bear the family name of Daim-ler, or BMW.

Those who take notes on the streetsare amazed; just about anything seemspossible. In fact, however, creativity islimited. In addition to legal considera-tions, euphony and meaning are to betaken into account, and where possiblefrom an interlingual perspective. Anew car that is called Nova (Lada, andformerly Chevrolet) will appear to aGerman as little more than ‘new’,while a Spaniard may harbor fears thatit won’t go (no va). Similarly, in Ro-mance language-speaking countries,the Laputa (Mazda) will be met withonly little adoration; the name Opa

(Toyota) might raise objections in Ar-gentina (opa ‘mentally retarded’), inGermany perhaps, too (Opa ‘grandpa’);and only someone with no knowledgeof the Spanish language will drive hisMitsubishi Pajero without a secondthought. Even abbreviations may losetheir innocence in foreign phonetics:the sporty MR2 (Toyota) sounds likemerdeux, or emmerde(r) in French.

In this way, one of the major sourc-es of human diversion, i.e., the linguis-tic awareness that the moon and la luneare two completely different things,can at the same time give rise to consid-erable uneasiness. Yet, of greater ono-mastic interest than this or the othermishap is the question of which nameis acceptable where, and why. In thecase of models produced primarily orexclusively for the domestic market,Japanese carmakers show a strongpreference for names based on Latin-Roman, Greek, English, or Germanwords and morphemes. Japanesewords are seldom used and then mostoften in foreign disguise. Phonetically,or rather graphically – since the ka-takana translations that they owe theirown language sometimes convey quitedifferent values – A (a) and R (r) pre-dominate, with three out of four carnames hosting at least one of these let-ters. The remaining vowel-signs followin popularity, with the exception of themarkedly less common U, and then theupper and lower case N, S, T, L, and C.At the start of a name, the explosive Pis frequently used, and thanks to Toyo-ta’s Verossa, Vista, Vitz, Voltz, Voxy, theclassic V for Victory seems to be gain-ing in popularity despite its handicapof having to transform into a Japanesebui, a b, or a diacritical U.

Semantically, Mr. and Mrs. Auto-mobile are not necessarily called bytheir right names. But since words arelinked or supposed to be linked withessences, name-giving is naturallygoverned by that which “is esteemedto be beautiful, grand, honorable”

(Goethe) (which is why the aforemen-tioned Vitz, derived for whatever rea-son from German Witz ‘joke; wit’, wasgiven a less perilous alias in Germany,where it is known as Yaris).

In the beginning, however, there isthe manufacturer who, in Japan andelsewhere, likes to refer to himself(Haribo < Hans Riegel, Bonn; Adidas <Adi Dassler; Audi < Latin audire ‘to lis-ten’ < August Horch [German horchen‘listen’]; Bridgestone < Ishibashi; Honda< Honda Sôichirô). This is true forbrand as well as product names. Asso-ciations with the splendid, great, sub-lime are in this case not de rigueur (VWLupo < Latin lupus ‘wolf’ as in the cityof Wolfsburg: VW HQ), but of coursewelcome. Japanese examples of suchderivatives in nomine are the Alcyone,the Diamante, the Sunny: Alcyone, thebrightest star in the Pleiades points di-rectly to the producer Subaru (Japa-nese for ‘Pleiades’) which has incorpo-rated the six more visible of the “sevenstars” into its logo; Diamante alludes tothe stylized diamond decorating allMitsubishi products and originatingfrom the three (mitsu) lozenges of theTrapa japonica (hishi; English ‘waternut’); and Sunny is related to 日産 notonly through the sun, but also phonet-ically-anagrammatically by the read-ing: Nissan.

W

Table of Contents

Title Story 1

DIJ Events 2

DIJ Publications 6

Reports on Conferences 7

Book Review 10

Other Matters 11

German Institute for Japanese StudiesManaging editor: Matthias Hoop3-3-6 Kudan-Minami Chiyoda-ku, Tôkyô 102-0074, JapanTel.: +81-3-3222-5077Fax: +81-3-3222-5420E-mail: [email protected]: http:�www.dijtokyo.org

Alphard, Brevis, ChariotOn the Names of Japanese Cars

by Jürgen Stalph

2 DIJ Newsletter FEBRUARY 2003

Reaching for the stars – and beyond– is a popular practice anyway. Toname but a few examples, there are theMazda Capella (Alpha Aurigae), Toyo-ta’s Alphard (Alpha Hydrae), Carina(Keel of Boat), and Cygnus (constella-tion Swan), Isuzu’s Gemini (constella-tion Gemini), Daihatsu’s Mira (Red Gi-ant in the constellation Whale) andNissan’s Regulus (Alpha Leonis). AeroStar (a Mitsubishi bus) and Starlet (To-yota) shine in a more generic manner.In their midst, Nissan’s Pulsar beats outa rhythm while the gods dance above:Gaia (Toyota), the mother of heaven,the mountains and the seas (with theserendipitous additional meaning inSpanish of ‘joyful’), her son Chronos(Kronos; Mazda), his granddaughterArtemis Orthia (Honda) and, in mascu-line disguise, ‘the carrier of light’ Luci-na (Nissan’s Lucino). The Toyota Celica(< Spanish celica ‘heavenly, divine’) ad-jectively joins the ranks.

Terrestrial names, accordingly,must come with royal connotations.For some time now Toyota has beenvarying the theme of “wreath andcrown”: Camry (< Japanese kammu-ri/kanmuri ‘crown’), Corolla, Corona,Cresta, Crown; the regalia being com-pleted with Scepter, Regius, Majesta, andRoyal. Taking into account the L/R-shift, the Lexus and Legnum (Mitsu-bishi) probably also belong in this cat-egory. Nissan offers an athletic crown-ing with Laurel and Laurel Medalist,throwing in along the way the LittleKing Regulus mentioned above. Mi-tsubishi has a large bus Aero Queen,and alongside their Diamante we mayfile Nissan’s Presea (< Spanish presea‘treasure, jewel’).

Less royal, but just as dignified,awe-inspiring, or at least lofty, are Nis-san’s Cima (< Spanish cima ‘summit,ridge, completion’) and Skyline, andthe Toyota limousines Altezza, Aristo,Celsior (< Latin celsus ‘high, sublime’),Emina and Estima. These are joined al-most seamlessly by a host of cars claim-ing general excellence and supremacy,Numeri 1, as it were: Premacy (Mazda),Premio (Toyota), Primera (Nissan), Prius(Toyota), as well as Caldina (inasmuch,as ascertained, from the Roman cardi-nal[e]), Hiace (< English high + ace) andSupra (all from Toyota). The word‘high’ is incorporated into the names ofToyota’s Hilux pick-up trucks and theHilux Surf as well as Daihatsu’s Hijetsmall truck. Others carrying greatnessin their names, straightforwardly, enpassant, or as part of the article designa-tion, include the Grandis (MitsubishiChariot), the Elgrand (Nissan), the GranTurismo (Nissan Gloria) and Grand Es-cudo (Suzuki), the Lagreat (Honda), the659 ccm small Max (Daihatsu) and the

trucks Forwardmax, Giga, Gigamax (allIsuzu) as well as the Super Great (Mi-tsubishi) and Titan (Mazda). Besides,we find functional greatness, in case ofToyota in customary multiple form(Platz, Raum, and Spacio).

Otherwise, just about anythinggoes that seems desirable. Examplesinclude compact smallness (MazdaDemio, Nissan Hypermini, Mitsubishi’sMinica and minicab, or Suzuki’s Kei andMitsubishi’s ek that derive from theJapanese kei-jidôsha, meaning small ve-hicles with an engine displacement ofless than 660 ccm); names that drawinspiration from fauna (Mitsubishi’sColt, Toyota’s Harrier [a species of fal-con, and otherwise used as a label forfighter jets] and Lapin [< French lapin‘rabbit’], Nissan’s Bluebird [Salia; at thesame time a direct reference to Maeter-linck’s Blue Bird which is surprisinglypresent in the Japanese conscious-ness]); or, to name a semantic fieldwhich is also commonly tapped else-where, the wind (Nissan Cefiro andMistral; VW Passat, Scirocco, Vento). Inaddition there are many names remi-niscent of forward movement or mo-tion in general: Avancier (Honda), Ave-nir (Nissan), Corsa (Toyota), Cruze(Suzuki-Chevrolet) and Land Cruiser(Toyota), Forward (Isuzu), March, Mo-bilio, Move (Nissan, Honda, Daihatsu),Progrès (Toyota), R’nessa (Nissan), Va-mos (Honda). The remainder – if thevehicles are not just called what theyare (Mitsubishi Chariot, Nissan VanettoVan, Suzuki Wagon R) or what theydrive on (Toyota Granvia, Nissan Cami-no) – the remainder of names refer tostatus, hopes, desires, and volition.

For the attentive road user the ca-conymy of the great and small, the no-ble and functional, the funny and fer-vent has a pleasurable additional effect– it offers live entertainment that easilyoutdoes children’s number plategames: here, amidst the teeming mass-es, we come across a 6 feet 2 inch(1.88m) high Scrum Wagon (Mazda).There, on the side of the street, we seea silver grey Odyssey (Honda), whosedriver is consulting the navigation sys-tem. At the lights a Bighorn (Isuzu)honking a filthy Fun Cargo (Toyota)through the intersection. In the drop-off zone at the train station threeDames, Nadia (Toyota), Silvia and Sere-na (Nissan), are waiting impatientlyalongside MeLady Carol (Mazda) and aCavalier from Nagoya for a sleepingGalant (Mitsubishi) in the opposite laneto, at long last, allow a heavily ladenRosa (Mitsubishi) to turn. A three-literBrevis (Toyota) is trying to squeeze its14 feet 11 inches (4.55m) into the lastfree spot of the No Standing area infront of the department store, while a

well-behaved Honda trio, Integra, In-sight, and Accord, is properly queuingup at the car park entrance; and so onand so forth. Chasers, Sprinters, Soarerson Toyota family hunt, a thunderingTrueno from the same stable rushingafter them; an old Nissan Cedric,steered by little Lord Fauntleroy, driv-ing by far too fast; a seldom seen Ardeo(Toyota) pair, kissing on red; a jumbleof palindromically worthless Civics, ofFit (Honda), Swift (Suzuki), City (Hon-da), Life (Honda), and foreign Vitas(Opel), sovereignly circumnavigatedby Dignity (Mitsubishi), Gloria (Nissan)and Lord Hero of the naming trade:Proudia (Mitsubishi)!

What the majority of these names,as well as others unmentioned, havein common is first, their simple struc-ture, and secondly, from a Japaneseperspective, their foreign roots. Rareindeed are those whose names derivefrom Japanese words, as for examplethe Ryoga (< ryôga 凌駕 ‘excellence’ orryôga 龍駕 ‘imperial vehicle’) and Gal-ue (< garyû 我流 ‘personal style’), bothproduced by Mitsuoka. The foreignstill carries prestige; but even moreimportant is the fact that it, in contrastto the linguistically familiar, creates asemantic safety distance. For this rea-son, the own is almost always dis-guised: Galue instead of 我流 , Camryinstead of Kanmuri, Kei instead of 軽 .For the same reason – since as la lunethe moon is a tourist and has to shineonly in second place – cars in Japanmay even appear as Laputa, Naked(Daihatsu), or Scrum. There is onlyone thing they, nominally, may not:fade away into nothingness.

Quotes from Goethe are taken fromFaust I and the Italian Journey. The end-ing is owed to Arthur Schnitzler’s Buchder Sprüche und Bedenken (Book of Aph-orisms and Doubts).

Conference

Individual Responsibility vs. SocialSolidarity – Current Economic andLegal Issues Concerning Social Poli-cy in Japan and Germany

(Tôkyô, September 10–11, 2002)

The topic of this conference, sponsoredby the Univers Foundation, the Frie-drich Ebert Foundation, the France BedMedical Home Care Research SubsidyFoundation, and the German Embassyin Tôkyô, was recent social policychanges in Japan and Germany.

DIJ EVENTS


Both countries have been facingvery similar challenges: aging popula-tions, changing employment struc-tures, long-lasting economic stagna-tion, and globalization, all of whichthreaten existing social security ar-rangements. The focal point of thisconference was the question whetherand to what extent both welfare sys-tems, which have often been describedas “conservative-corporatist” regimes,are converging to more liberal modesof welfare capitalism. The organizersHarald Conrad (DIJ) and Arai Makoto(University of Tsukuba) brought to-gether sixteen speakers and nine dis-cussants to analyze, from a legal andeconomic perspective, recent changesin pension policy, income distribution,and long-term care, as well as age- andgender-specific issues in social securityand the changing role of the non-profitsector.

The main results of this conferencecan be summarized as follows: Al-though there seems to be, at least on avery general level, a move towardmore liberal models in almost all socialpolicy areas, for example, the introduc-tion and increasing importance of pri-vate pension provisions, there are alsonew measures which tend to strength-en existing redistributive elements.Thus, what we are witnessing appearsnot to be a real shift in paradigm. Thesame is true for changes in the socialinsurance of women. Whereas, for ex-ample, Germany has introduced an ex-tension of leave schemes for care work,an improvement of social security forfamily caregivers and increasing bo-nuses for child-raising in women’spensions, and thereby improved thesocial security of women, these ele-ments have at the same time strength-ened the male bread-winner modelstressing the existing conservative atti-tude of the German welfare state. InJapan, signs for a more liberal ap-proach in women’s social security arealso rather mixed, and the same can besaid about the growing role of the non-profit sector in both countries. Whereasthe role of this sector has indeed largelygained in importance, existing infra-structure and modes of provision, forexample in the care sector, have notchanged dramatically by these devel-opments.

With the planned publication of theconference papers we hope to presentsome interesting case studies into thedynamics of “conservative-corporat-ist” welfare regimes.

Symposium

Japan and Korea on the Road to aCommon Future: Perspectives andTasks(Brühl, September 25–27, 2002)

The DIJ hosted an international sym-posium from September 25 through 27,2002, with the title “Japan and Koreaon the Road to a Common Future: Per-spectives and Tasks.” The conferencewas held jointly with the German Fed-eral Agency for Civic Education andthe Japanese Cultural Institute, Co-logne, and in cooperation with theChair for East Asian History at the Uni-versity of Erfurt and the Japanese-Ger-man Center Berlin (JGCB). The confer-ence was supported by the JapanFoundation. Some eighty listeners at-tended the conference, which wastranslated simultaneously (German-Japanese, German-Japanese).

The escalation of Japanese-Koreanfrictions in 2001 due to a renewed de-bate about Japanese history textbooksseemed to threaten recent rapproche-ment and even the smooth hosting ofthe FIFA World Cup in 2002. With thisbackground in mind, Japanese, Koreanand German researchers discussed thepresent state of Korean-Japanese rela-tions in three panels; these were held inthe East-West College of the FederalAgency for Civic Education in Brühl.Following the conference, a publicpanel discussion was hosted by theJapanese Cultural Institute, Cologne,which was chaired by ChristophMüller-Hofstede from the FederalAgency for Civic Education andopened with an introduction byHartwig Hummel (University of Düs-seldorf) and Sven Saaler (DIJ).

In the first panel, “A New Politicaland Economic Framework for Japa-nese-Korean Relations: Interdepend-ence and Regionalism,” papers weregiven by Izumi Hajime (Shizuoka Pre-fectural University, Japan), Kim Ho-sup (Chung-Ang University, Korea)and Hartwig Hummel (University ofDüsseldorf). The panel was chaired byWolfgang Brenn (JGCB). In the presen-tations, positive developments in re-cent Japanese-Korean relations, espe-cially in the fields of security andeconomic policies, were stressed, but itwas felt that the mutual mistrust that isstill prevailing could lead to dangers inthe future.

The second panel, “State and Per-spectives of the Japanese-Korean His-tory Debate: The Legacies of the Past,”chaired by Reinhard Zöllner (Universi-ty of Erfurt), addressed the main obsta-cle for Japanese-Korean rapproche-ment – the debate about historybetween Japan and Korea. In this pan-el, papers were given by Sakai Toshiki(Tôkyô Gakugei University), ChungJae-jeong (University of Seoul) andSven Saaler (DIJ). The papers coveredattempts on the Japanese side to sani-tize history and utilize it for politicalmeans, as well as Korean attempts tomanipulate history for the sake of na-tional integration.

In the third panel, “Civil Societyand Cultural Initiatives: New Ap-proaches in Japanese-Korean Rela-tions,” also chaired by Reinhard Zöll-ner, papers by Cho Kyu-cheol (HankukUniversity of Foreign Studies, Seoul),Kohari Susumu (Shizuoka PrefecturalUniversity) and Isa Ducke (DIJ) weregiven. The three presenters all wel-comed the future prospects for culturalexchange between Japan and Korea,

At the symposium “Japan and Korea on the Road to a Common Future”


especially by non-governmental repre-sentatives, since these have led to aconsiderable rapprochement at thegrassroots level during the last years.

In the discussions after the panelsand in the final discussion, nationalismin general and the manipulation of his-tory and its utilization for politicalmeans was repeatedly identified as amajor obstacle for Japanese-Koreanrapprochement. As became clear in thediscussion, this did not only mean at-tempts on the Japanese side to sanitizenational history, but also attempts byKorea to manipulate history for thesake of national integration. However,it became clear that on the Japaneseside, there is at present not the politicalwill to ignore sectional interests for thesake of Japanese-Korean rapproche-ment.

Overall, the conference not onlybuilt on the already excellent rapportbetween Japanese and Korean socialscientists, but also contributed to animprovement in understanding of EastAsian affairs amongst the participants,and, it is hoped, adjusted the often ste-reotypical image of Japanese-Koreanrelations prevailing in Europe.

Lecture Events

Japanese Corporations BetweenStructural Reform and Internation-alization

(Düsseldorf, October 7, 2002; Ham-burg, October 9, 2002)

Last October, two DIJ lecture events on“Japanese Corporations BetweenStructural Reform and Internationali-zation – Challenges and Changes forthe German Economy” were held inDüsseldorf and in Hamburg.

The event in Düsseldorf – organ-ized by the “Industrie-Club e.V.” – tookplace on October 7, 2002, at the Indus-trie-Club conference room. Approxi-mately one hundred representativesfrom different corporations and insti-tutions in North Rhine-Westphalia fol-lowed the invitation extended by theIndustrie-Club and the Deutsch-Ja-panischer Wirtschaftskreis. The mod-erator, Dr. Ruprecht Vondran from theDeutsch-Japanischer Wirtschaftskreis,opened the Düsseldorf event, and thefirst speaker, Hanns Günther Hilpert(German Institute for Internationaland Security Affairs), delivered anoverview on the current situation ofthe Japanese economy. Hilpert’s mainquestion, i.e., whether an end to theeconomic crisis can be expected soon,is difficult to answer. Nonetheless,Hilpert did show that reforms in Japan

are quite necessary and that impressiveexamples of change and developmentare already underway. AndreasMoerke (DIJ), who spoke on the “NewStructure of the Financial Market –Market Entry Potentials for GermanCorporations,” paid special attentionto the question of how the banking sec-tor is changing. He was able to showthat bad loans are a heavy burden forthe banks in Japan. Nevertheless, fi-nancial institutions from the U.S., Brit-ain or France have demonstrated moreinitiatives in respect to market entry inJapan than their German counterparts.The comments made by Consul ShinyoTakahiro stressed that the Koizumicabinet is quite anxious to realize re-forms in this sector.

The second part of the event dealtwith areas where chances for marketentry are even more visible. In his pa-per, René Haak (DIJ) dealt with “NewMarketing Concepts for ConsumerGoods – the Break-up of the TraditionalStructures,” revealing thereby howJapanese firms are able to compensatethe loss in the middle price segmentsby using innovative marketing con-cepts. It was emphasized that – espe-cially for premium products – the Jap-anese market still allows a good profitmargin. The potentials of one specialmarket segment – the “silver market” –were shown by Harald Conrad (DIJ) inhis paper titled “Ambitious and Finan-cially Sound – Japanese Senior Peopleas a New Target Group.” Conrad high-lighted that in various market seg-ments – be it care, health, leisure, me-dia or finance, but also real estate or thejob market – new market chances canbe found. Harald Dolles (DIJ) was thelast speaker at the event with his paper“Trust and Control in German-Japa-nese Cooperations.” Using the resultsof his empirical study, Dolles couldshow the importance of trust in busi-ness relations – especially for small-and medium-sized firms.

The second lecture event address-ing the same issues was held on Octo-ber 9, 2002, in Hamburg at the Cham-ber of Commerce. The speakers wereintroduced by Tim Goydke (RegionalManager Japan and Korea at the Ger-man Asia-Pacific Business Associa-tion) who also moderated the discus-sion. Given the space constraints at theChamber of Commerce only twentylisteners were able to attend the lec-ture, but the relatively small numberwas compensated by even more inten-sive discussions.

The lecture events turned out to beof great interest for a large number ofpeople. The talks are scheduled to becontinued in spring 2003.

Conference

Pan-Asianism in Modern JapaneseHistory: Colonialism, Regionalismand Borders(Tôkyô, November 29−30, 2002)

Throughout the year 2002, new devel-opments towards regional cooperationand integration could be observed inEast and Southeast Asia. Until quiterecently, the process of regional inte-gration in Asia was limited to South-east Asia, but since the emergence ofthe “ASEAN plus 3” concept (i.e.,ASEAN plus China, Japan and Korea),all of East Asia must be taken into con-sideration. The rapprochement of Chi-na and ASEAN has made clear for Ja-pan that only an active participation inthe integration process can, in the longrun, help avoid Japanese isolation inAsia. Prime Minister KoizumiJun’ichirô on January 14, 2002, demon-strated the awareness of this situationin Japan, when he called for the crea-tion of a “regional community in EastAsia” during a visit to Singapore.

Even though regional integrationin East and Southeast Asia still facesmany problems, the dynamics of inte-gration are no longer limited to theeconomy. Against this background, onNovember 29−30, 2002, Sven Saaler or-ganized an international conference inTôkyô on “Pan-Asianism in ModernJapanese History” with the aim of ex-ploring the ideology of Pan-Asianism(or Asianism) as a predecessor of Asianregionalism, thereby bringing histori-cal perspective to bear on approachesto regional cooperation and integra-tion, as well as to analyze various utili-zations and manifestations of Pan-Asian ideology in modern Japanesehistory. While Pan-Asianism is mostlyconnected to Japanese expansion andaggression in Asia, there is more toPan-Asianism than this very commonyet one-dimensional interpretation ofself-interested political utilization.Thus, this conference addressed ques-tions of Pan-Asian thought in modernJapan from the 1880s until the post-World War II era.

A recurring question in the sixteenpresentations was what does “Asia”actually mean. A European conceptoriginally, the term “Asia” was used inAsia only after the arrival of the Euro-pean colonialist powers. In Japanesepolitics as well as in intellectual dis-course, the term “Asia” was extremelyambivalent: it was used as a value-free,but frequently redefined geographicalterm; as a political term; a term repre-senting “the other” when defining Jap-anese identity; as well as a term hintingat the origin of Japan’s traditional


“Asian identity.” The conference con-sisted of five panels. The first panel(Harald Kleinschmidt, Romano Vul-pitta, John Kim, and Rolf-Harald Wip-pich) addressed comparative aspectsand general questions of regionalism.The presenters of the second panel(Kuroki Morifumi, Katô Yôko, LiNarangoa, and Sakai Tetsuya) threwsome light on the necessary factors forthe creation and the construction of aregional identity. The third panel(Christopher Szpilman, Michael Sch-neider, Dick Stegewerns, and SvenSaaler) analyzed tensions of Pan-Asiandiscourse with regionalism, national-ism and ethnocentrism. In this panel,the development of Pan-Asianism dur-ing the 1920s and early 1930s stood atthe center of attention. Panel four (Rog-er Brown, Kevin Doak, Gerhard Krebs,and Hatano Sumio) dealt with the uti-lization of Pan-Asian ideology for thelegitimization of Japanese colonial rulein Asia. The presentations of panel five(Victor Koschmann, Hatsuse Ryûhei,Oguma Eiji, Kristine Dennehy, and Fu-jiwara Kiichi) addressed changes inPan-Asian discourse from wartime topostwar Japan. In doing so, continui-ties and discontinuities could be dis-covered, but in the first place it wasemphasized that Pan-Asian discoursecontinued to play an important role inJapan even after 1945 and obviouslyuntil the present day. Miwa Kimitada(professor emeritus, Sophia Universi-ty) provided the closing remarks to theconference. The complete program ofthe conference, including the titles andabstracts of presentations, can befound on the DIJ homepage. The JapanFoundation and the German Embassy,Tôkyô, supported the conference. Sev-enty-five people attended the confer-ence as listeners, proving there is awide interest for historical topics thatare connected to contemporary prob-

lems in the economy, politics, and di-plomacy. The results of the conferencewill be published at the end of 2003.

Symposium

Globalization and the Definition ofIdentity in East and Southeast Asia(Berlin, December 10, 2002)

Does globalization inevitably signifyAmericanization, as is customarily as-sumed in Japan? Or can it also meanthe worldwide dissemination of, say,Korean culture, as Lee Eun-Jeung (Uni-versity of Halle-Wittenberg) argued?This was just one of the many issuesdiscussed at an all-day symposiumheld at the Japanese-German CenterBerlin (JGCB), which acted as cohost tothe event alongside the German Insti-tute for Japanese Studies. Further top-ics of debate included the political sit-uation in East and Southeast Asia, therole of Islam and other religions as wellas the function of intellectuals. In theirwelcoming addresses, the SecretaryGeneral of the JGCB, Angelika Viets,and her colleague from the German In-stitute for Japanese Studies, IrmelaHijiya-Kirschnereit, shared the task ofsketching the framework for the fol-lowing inventory of the joint researchproject “Assertions of CulturalUniqueness in Asia” (see conferencereport in this Newsletter), to which thepapers presented during the morningsession were dedicated. Under the title“Aestheticism Between Anti-Hege-monic Critique and Cultural Self-As-sertion,” Mishima Ken’ichi (ÔsakaUniversity) analyzed in a historicalcase study from the periods betweenthe two World Wars the formativephase of such a discourse in the philo-sophical writings of the Kyôto School,

whose retrospective, selective and es-sentialist ideas have permeated “eventhe micro cells of daily life” in contem-porary Japan. Michael Lackner (Uni-versity of Erlangen-Nuremberg) sup-plemented his remarks on themethodology and aims of the projectwith a typological characterization ofmodern Chinese discourses of self-as-sertion, which he differentiated ac-cording to patterns of argumentationas well as strategies of dichotomizationand universalization into types such as“We’ve already got that,” “We have thereal thing” or “We will give you some-thing.” Lee E.-J. expanded upon thisconcentrated retrospective with com-ments on the Confucian cultural dis-course in Korea. An audience of aboutseventy individuals, from Berlin andbeyond, representing academia, gov-ernment ministries, the economy, ad-ministration and politics participatedin the lively discussions concludingthis session which was moderated bySteffi Richter (University of Leipzig).During the afternoon session, whichwas devoted to a podium discussionmoderated by Irmela Hijiya-Kirsch-nereit, contributions from the audiencebecame even more engaging. The podi-um discussion was primarily aimed atexpanding the horizon of the project’scurrent emphasis on China, Japan, andKorea to include South and SoutheastAsia, thus also touching upon aspectsof self-assertion in Islam. Judith Schle-he (University of Freiburg), ClaudiaDerichs (University of Duisburg) andVincent Houben (Humboldt Universi-ty Berlin) drew attention to the pecu-liar features of the relationship be-tween religion and politics in theregion, e.g., in Indonesia or Malaysia,and highlighted the dynamism and theconstant changes in the debates on self-assertion there, as seen, for example, inthe continuous negotiation of stereo-types and projections between the gen-erations or within one person in vari-ous life stages. Intraregional aspectsemerged repeatedly, for example, withregard to the idealization of Japanesewomen by Balinese men (Schlehe) or indiscussions of the nationalist elites inSoutheast Asia who look to Japan as arole model for their search of nationalindependence (Houben). In the ensu-ing discussion, which frequently re-turned to the role of religion, Lee re-called that it was not Confucianism butrather shamanism that was regarded asindigenously Korean, and Lacknerstated the presence of Muslim inhabit-ants in all Chinese cities, a fact that isgiven little attention within the coun-try due to everyday suppression.Houben pointed out that in multieth-nic and multireligious societies such as

The speakers of panel five at the conference “Pan-Asianism in Modern Japanese History”


Indonesia, national institutions for theregulation of conflicts have been devel-oped. Thus, the symposium which wasvoluntarily designed in the format of abrainstorming directed by a set ofguiding questions, contributed to fur-thering our understanding of the re-gion as well as some aspects of inter-continental relations. As a result of theregional and disciplinary enlargement– this was the first time anthropologi-cal approaches were introduced – thediscussions opened new perspectivesand offered many suggestions for theongoing project on assertions of cultur-al uniqueness in Asia.

Third Symposium „Assertions of Cultur-al Uniqueness in Asia“ (“Asiatische Selbstbe-hauptungsdiskurse”)(Erlangen, December 12–14, 2002)

As a follow-up to symposia held at theGerman Institute for Japanese Studies(DIJ), Tôkyô, in the fall of 2000 (cf.Newsletter 12) and at the Goethe-Insti-tute, Seoul, in November of the follow-ing year (cf. Newsletter 15), the thirdsymposium on “Assertions of CulturalUniqueness in Asia” was held at theUniversity of Erlangen-Nurembergfrom December 12 through 14, 2002.The initiators of these conferences wereMishima Ken’ichi (Ôsaka), MichaelLackner (Erlangen), and Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit (Tôkyô). This latest and todate most extensive symposium wasorganized by the Chair of ChineseStudies of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (M. Lackner) in coopera-tion with the Zentralinstitut für Re-gionalforschung. It was entitled “TheOmnipresence of Assertions of Cultur-al Uniqueness in Asia: Chinese, Japa-nese, and Korean Perspectives” (“DieAllgegenwart von Selbstbehauptungs-diskursen in Ostasien: Chinesische, ja-panische und koreanische Perspekti-ven”), thus reflecting the enhancementof themes, dimensions, and goals ofcultural self-assertion. In eight panelsdealing with typologies, revisions, artand aesthetics, language and poetry,martial arts and sports, gender, interre-gional perspectives, and interculturalcommunication, a wide variety of dis-cursive forms of self-assertions waspresented and discussed. The panelswere highly informative and well orga-nized by Iwo Amelung (Erlangen) andJoachim Kurtz (Erlangen/Princeton).Contributing to the panel “Martial Arts

and Sports,” Isa Ducke (DIJ) gave apresentation on “International SportsEvents: A Playground for Nationalismor a Starting Point for Regional Self-Assertion?” Ducke discussed the ques-tion to which degree internationalsports events such as the Asian Gamesor the Soccer World Cup 2002 contrib-uted to the formation of a regionalAsian identity. As part of the panel ongender-related issues Andrea Germer(DIJ) gave a presentation on “Genderand Nation: Feminism and National-ism in War-Time Japan” arguing forhistorical connections in the formationof national and gender identities. Shealso highlighted how emancipatorythought, aiming at the participation ofwomen in public decision-making,turned into collaborative forms of par-ticipation in ultra-nationalist discours-es of cultural uniqueness.

In the closing discussion of thesymposium, chaired by I. Hijiya-Kir-schnereit (DIJ) the panelists discussedchances and problems of this thirdsymposium’s enhanced thematic spec-trum. The consideration of so-called“endogeneous” discourses of self-as-sertion (W. Schwendtker, Ôsaka),whose actors and goals were locatedon a subnational level, was seen to be aproductive tool. However, the diversi-ty of presentations and the variety ofmeanings associated with the termsself-assertion or assertions of culturaluniqueness strained the possibility ofdeepening the argument. Participantsstressed the need for closer definitionof terminology as a basis for future dis-cussions. A time and place for a follow-up conference has not yet been decid-ed. The publication of selected contri-butions to the previous symposia isscheduled to appear in 2003.

Japanstudien – Jahrbuch des Deut-schen Instituts für Japanstudien derStiftung Deutsche Geisteswissen-schaftliche Institute im Ausland,vol. 14. Munich: Iudicium, 2002, 402pp. (ISBN 3-89129-377-1)

In December 2002, volume 14 of theDIJ yearbook Japanstudien [JapaneseStudies] was published. This year’svolume focuses on the topic “Japan ina Paradigmatic Perspective.” Japanseems to be of special interest for stud-ies in the humanities, the social scienc-es and economics; it has been one of themost frequently used countries for

comparative studies over the past dec-ades. In the past, when it was time tocreate and formulate general notions,theses and theories in the above-men-tioned disciplines, the point of refer-ence taken was the so-called “Western”example. In that sense, the underlyingquestion in the new DIJ yearbook iswhether and to what degree Japanesestudies, i.e., research on Japan, can con-tribute to the development of the hu-manities and social sciences and thegeneral formation or modification ofmodels and theories. In addition to tenessays contributing to the main focusof this volume from the perspective ofsociology, anthropology, history, politi-cal science, law, economics, culturalstudies and gender studies, linguistics,and literature studies, there is one mis-cellaneous article as well as ten reviewsof recent books published in English,French, German, and Japanese.

CONTRIBUTIONS: I. Hijiya-Kirschnereit:Vorwort [Foreword] · I. Günther, I. Hiji-ya-Kirschnereit, M. Koch: Japan als Fall-beispiel in den Wissenschaften – EineEinführung [Japan in a ParadigmaticPerspective – An Introduction] · J. P. Ar-nason: Is Japan a Civilization SuiGeneris? · R. Grew: Comparing ModernJapan: Are There More Comparisons toMake? · S. Saaler: Japan in der interna-tionalen Militarismusforschung [Japanas a Case Study in International Re-search on Militarism] · P. Kevenhörster:Japan: Politische Entscheidungsstruk-turen im Spiegel politikwissenschaftli-cher Deutungen [Japan: Political Deci-sion-Making Structures in the Mirror ofPolitical Science Interpretations] · W.Möschel: Japanisches Kartellrecht – vonaußen gesehen [Japanese Antitrust Law– Revisited from the Outside] · F. Wal-denberger: Japan als Gegenstand kom-parativer Analysen in den Wirt-schaftswissenschaften, dargestellt amThema “Corporate Governance” [Japanas a Subject of Comparative Analyses inthe Economics, Exemplified by “Corpo-rate Governance”] · C. Schröppel, Naka-jima M.: The Changing Interpretation ofthe Flying Geese Model of EconomicDevelopment · Mae M.: Öffentlichkeitund Privatheit im japanischen Modern-isierungsprozeß [The Public and thePrivate in the Japanese ModernizationProcess] · G. Wienold: Linguistische Ty-pologie und Japanisch [Linguistic Ty-pology and the Japanese Language] · J.Walker: The Uniqueness of the JapaneseNovel and Its Contribution to the Theo-ry of the Novel · H. Meyer: Pioneer of“Taishô Democracy”: Abe Isoo’s SocialDemocratic Idealism and Japanese Con-cepts of Democracy from 1900 to 1920 ·Rezensionen [Book Reviews]

DIJ PUBLICATIONS


Harald Conrad, Ralph Lützeler(eds.): Aging and Social Policy – AGerman-Japanese Comparison. Mu-nich: Iudicium, 2002 (= Monogra-phien aus dem Deutschen Institutfür Japanstudien, vol. 26), 353 pp.(ISBN 3-89129-840-4)

In recent years, Japan and Germanyhave been facing very similar chal-lenges: aging populations, changingemployment structures, long-lastingeconomic stagnation, and globaliza-tion, all of which threaten existing so-cial security arrangements. In anumber of respects, both countries aremore socially and politically regulat-ed, and in this sense less liberal, thanthe Anglo-American economies.Nonetheless, during the last couple ofyears several important social policyreforms have been implemented. Acomparison of these reforms may thusprovide valuable insights into thechanging character of “conservative”welfare states.

This volume concentrates on twofields of social policy: long-term careinsurance and public pensions. Thesesocial insurances are at the center ofcurrent public debate in both countriesbecause an aging population translatesimmediately into a higher demand forcare for the elderly and old age securi-ty. The contributions range from demo-graphic and policy implications of ag-ing through detailed analyses on thedifferent reform measures to specificaspects such as bioethical or regionalpolicy considerations. This volume isintended not only for experts specializ-ing in social policy research, but alsofor policy-makers as well as the gener-al reader interested in the current de-bates centering on the “restructuring ofthe welfare state.”

CONTRIBUTIONS: I. Hijiya-Kirschnereit:Preface · H. Conrad, R. Lützeler: Ger-man and Japanese Social Policy inComparative Perspective: An Over-view · Arai M.: The Aging Society andthe Social Security System in Japan ·Kojima H.: Population Aging and Liv-ing Arrangements of the Elderly in Ja-pan · K. Veith: The Aging Process inGermany and Implications for aNeeds-Oriented Social Policy · P. Tal-cott: The Politics of Japan’s Long-TermCare Insurance System · G. Naegele, M.Reichert: Six Years Long-Term Care In-surance in Germany: An Overview · I.Knüver, M. Merfert: Long-Term CareInsurance in Germany: The Role of theFederal States · T. Klie: Long-Term CareInsurance in Germany and Japan: AComparative Comment · J. C. Camp-bell: How Policies Differ: Long-TermCare Insurance in Japan and Germany· H. Conrad: Old Age Security in Japan:The Implications of Recent Public andOccupational Pension Reforms · W.Schmähl: Pension Policy in Germany –Major Postwar Reforms and RecentDecisions · H. Rothgang: Long-TermCare in Germany: Projections on PublicLong-Term Care Insurance Financing ·R. Lützeler: Demographic and Region-al Aspects of Aging and Long-TermCare in Japan · S. Frühstück: The Rhet-oric of Reform: On the Institutionaliza-tion and De-Institutionalization of OldAge · Kimura R.: Bioethical Public Pol-icy and the Making of the 1997 Japa-nese Long-Term Care Insurance Law.

The Peace Boat’s 38th Voyage: Korea and Kuril Islands(August 15–30, 2002)

The Japanese NGO “Peace Boat” wasfounded in 1983 to promote interna-tional exchange and understanding inEast Asia. Since then it has organizedseveral educational voyages everyyear onboard a passenger ship. Lec-tures and seminars in the ship, as wellas exchange programs in the ports, aimto promote peace and exchanges at thegrassroots level. The 38th cruise, be-tween August 15 and 30, 2002, took 537mostly Japanese passengers to Wo3nsanand P’yo3ngyang, Pusan, Sakhalin andto the Kuril island of Kunashiri.

The voyage thus included visits toall the so-called “close, but distantneighbors” of Japan – North and SouthKorea as well as Russia – with whichbilateral relations are still under con-siderable stress. Even though the year2002 was the “Japan-South KoreaFriendship Year” and the cohosting ofthe FIFA World Cup was anticipated tobring an improvement in bilateral rela-tions between Japan and South Korea,latest opinion polls show that a lot ofmistrust still prevails, due to the histo-ry textbook problem as well as fre-quent visits of Japanese politicians tothe Yasukuni Shrine. Relations be-tween Japan and North Korea also suf-fer from these two issues. As for Japanand its closest neighbor Russia, disput-ed sovereignty of the Kuril Islands re-mains a thorny issue and has so farprevented the conclusion of a peacetreaty fifty-seven years after the end ofWorld War II.

Notwithstanding these politicalproblems, Peace Boat had organizedthis voyage to improve understandingbetween the people involved. The vis-its included exchange programs, homestays and cultural study tours in eachof the ports so as to offer participantsand local people the opportunity tocome together and share opinions.Sven Saaler from the DIJ was invited asa guest speaker and gave lectures onthe “History and Present State of Rus-so-Japanese Relations” as well as onthe current history textbook problemand its impact on Japanese relationswith both Koreas. Further guest speak-ers included Maeda Tetsuo (Tôkyô In-ternational University and independ-ent journalist), Takahashi Kazuo (TheUniversity of the Air), Ogata Ken (pro-fessor emeritus, Hôsei University),Uchida Masatoshi (lawyer), Kim Yon(Dôshisha University), Kawabe Ichirô(Aichi University), Kamata Satoshi(freelance writer), Terada Tatsuo (free-lance journalist).

The voyage started in Kôbe andreached the North Korean port ofWo 3nsan on the east coast of the Koreanpeninsula on the third day. Partici-pants were then taken across the Kore-an peninsula to P’yo3ngyang in buses.The four-day program included visitsat the North-South border in P’an-munjo 3m, at the P’yo 3ngyang Universityof Foreign Studies, as well as severalseminars with North Korean social sci-entists on topics such as “History Text-book Problem,” “Korean Unification,”“North Korean-Japanese Relations,”and “A Nuclear-Free Zone in North-east Asia.” After a two-day visit in Pu-san, South Korea, the voyage contin-ued and reached Korsakov (formerÔdomari) in Sakhalin. In both stops,

REPORTS ONCONFERENCES

home stays and exchange programswere organized with local partner or-ganizations. The last stop was the Kurilisland of Kunashiri. Since the southernKuril islands (called “Northern Territo-ries” in Japan) are disputed territorybetween Japan and Russia, it is normal-ly difficult to visit the islands. As aninternational NGO, however, PeaceBoat could get visa-free access for theparticipants of the voyage. It was thefirst time such a large group of Japa-nese visitors had visited the islandssince the end of the war (althoughPeace Boat had organized a trip to theKuril islands in 1991 with a smallergroup).

Intensive media coverage accom-panied the 38th voyage of “PeaceBoat,” particularly the visits in NorthKorea, where economic reforms wereintroduced just weeks previously, andon Kunashiri. Correspondents fromthe Japanese daily newspaper AsahiShinbun, Time Magazine, The NewYork Times, The Sakhalin Times andthe German weekly Der Spiegel ac-companied the cruise.

The 12th German-Language Confer-ence on Japanese Studies(Bonn, September 30 – October 3, 2002)

The conference was held in Septem-ber/October 2002 in Bonn, and organ-ized by the Department of JapaneseStudies at the University of Bonn(whose director, Josef Kreiner, inciden-tally, was the first director of the DIJ).More than three hundred participantsattended the conference from manycountries, including Germany, Austria,and Switzerland as well as Japan.

Several speakers in the introducto-ry session noted that in spite of contin-uing good bilateral relations betweenJapan and Germany, interest betweenthe respective countries is declining,and that exchange between both coun-tries should be increased. In this con-text, the various speakers in the intro-ductory session stressed theimportance of the FIFA World Cup andthe related visit of German ChancellorGerhard Schröder to Japan.

The conference even featured a spe-cial panel on the World Cup, in whichDIJ researcher Isa Ducke talked aboutthe Japanese-Korean relations. Thispanel was one of twenty-one specialsessions of the conference, comprisingpanels, workshops and discussion

Old branch office of the Hokkaidô Takushoku Bank in Korsakov (former Ôdomari)

Visit at the P’yo3ngyang University of Foreign Studies; right, Sven Saaler (DIJ)

On the way to the Kuril islands



groups on specific topics. Another DIJresearcher, Andrea Germer, contribut-ed a presentation on the developmentof feminist historiography in Japan to apanel titled “Globalization and theChange of Gender Relationships” (spe-cial session no. 13).

In addition to the special sessions,there were some seventy individualpapers grouped into sessions on histo-ry, art, religion/history of thought, eco-nomics, literature, language, law, andsociety/politics. Researchers from theDIJ gave a number of papers in thesesessions. In the society/politics ses-sion, Matthias Koch talked about Japanin a paradigmatic perspective, whileSven Saaler addressed the current text-book debate in Japan. In the economicssession, Harald Conrad discussed thefuture of pension systems in Japan.Ando Junko, in the history session, of-fered a paper on the debate over a revi-sion of the Japanese constitution. Anumber of former researchers andscholarship holders at the DIJ also gavepapers at the conference. Details can befound on the conference’s web site,www.japanologentag.uni-bonn.de.

Early publication of the papers pre-sented at the conference is planned. Nodecision was made as yet regarding thevenue of the next conference, but thefinal session offered some recommen-dations for future organizers. Severalparticipants asked that the next confer-ence should be shorter than this one.There was also some discussion aboutthe status of special sessions versusnormal, single discipline sessions.While some welcomed the interdisci-plinary possibilities offered by the spe-cial sessions, others complained thatthe relatively free timetabling of thepanels made it more difficult for theaudience to switch sessions and to pickindividual presentations they wantedto attend.

The Ninth Kyushu In-ternational Cultural Conference(Fukuoka, October 30–31, 2002)

The Ninth Kyushu International Cul-tural Conference was held on October30–31, 2002, in Fukuoka on the occa-sion of the fifty-fifth anniversary of thefounding of the Fukuoka UNESCO As-sociation. With an audience of morethan one hundred listeners, the confer-ence – which focused on “Japan’sChoices in the 21st Century and theWorld” – was very well attended. On

the first day keynote speeches weregiven by Ronald Dore (University ofLondon) on “Recapitulating the Twen-tieth Century, Reflecting on the Twen-ty-First” and Katô Shûichi on “Japan’sChoice at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century.” Moderators at the con-ference were Romano Vulpitta (KyôtoSangyô University) and Anwei Liu(Tôkyô Institute of Technology).

On the second day papers aboutthe state of affairs of Japanese Studiesin their respective countries were pre-sented by seven researchers: Xu Yi-ping (Beijing Center for JapaneseStudies), François Lachaud (Centre del’École Française d’Extrême-Orient,Kyôto), P. Abraham George (Jawahar-lal Nehru University, New Delhi),Choi Jae-chol (Hankuk University ofForeign Studies, Seoul), Alexandre A.Dolin (Tôkyô University of ForeignStudies), David Howell (PrincetonUniversity), and Sven Saaler (DIJ).The discussants were Tzvetana Kriste-va (University of Tôkyô), Okuno Ma-samoto (Kwassui Women’s College)and Jerry K. Fischer (Macalester Col-lege). Tsurumi Shunsuke provided theclosing remarks.

In the following discussions, prob-lems of Japanese Studies in the variouscountries were addressed, but the cen-tral aspect of the conference, i.e., “Ja-pan’s Choice in the Twenty-First Cen-tury” was once again examined.Notwithstanding different situationsin various countries, the similarities inthe development of Japan-related re-search became obvious during the dis-cussion, and especially the similaritiesin terms of contents of research, butalso in terms of methodology, i.e., thedevelopment from “traditional” Japa-nology to a supposedly more modernapproach of Japanese Studies in thefield of social sciences, and again to apost-Japanese Studies approach. More-over, practical questions were ad-dressed, such as the problem of re-search funding, as well as the task ofjustifying Japan-related research andtransmitting the results of research intosociety. Naturally, the latest develop-ments in international politics, a cen-tral aspect of the conference, “Japan’sChoice in the Twenty-First Century,”ignited some controversy, for example,the question of whether Japan mayhave to choose in the future betweencontinuing to rely heavily on the Unit-ed States in international politics, or tomake a conscious decision to rejoinAsia and build closer relations withChina, or, indeed, whether Japan has achoice at all.

Conference

Historical Consciousness, Historiog-raphy and Modern Japanese Values

(Banff, October 31–November 3, 2002)

This conference was organized by theNichibunken, Kyôto, in cooperationwith the University of Calgary, Alber-ta, Canada, and held in the impressivesetting of the Canadian Rocky Moun-tains. Thirty-nine researchers from Ja-pan, Canada, USA, and Germanyworked through a tightly packedthree-day conference program. The di-versity apparent in the conference titlewas also reflected in the variety of pan-els ranging from Japanese historiogra-phy in the twentieth-century Japan tohistorical fiction to historiography invisual materials as well as in the cine-ma and theatre, to aspects of na-ture/science, philosophy and ideologyin a historiographical perspective, torepresentations of gender and child-hood in history writing. The panel on“Historiography, Gender, and ModernJapan: Presentations and Representa-tions of Women,” was lively chairedand brilliantly commented by BarbaraMolony (Santa Clara University), andPatricia Tsurumi (professor emerita,University of Victoria). This panel wasone of the most thematically well-rounded as it included the presenta-tions by Kathleen Uno (Temple Uni-versity) on children’s history, BarbaraHamill-Sato (Seikei University) on thehistory of love and marriage, UlrikeWöhr (Hiroshima City University) onethnicity and gender, and Andrea Ger-mer on “Women’s History in Japan:The Case of Takamure Itsue.” Germerintroduced the pioneering accomplish-ments of Takamure Itsue in the field ofwomen’s historiography in Japan,while at the same time focusing on the-oretical premises and political implica-tions of Takamure’s historical writingin the light of her cultural nationalismin wartime Japan. Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit (DIJ) chaired and com-mented the last panel of the conferencedealing with “History and Historiog-raphy in the Cinema and Theatre.” Asdiverse as the individual presentationswere, e.g., with video samples of con-temporary theater (Cody Poulton, Uni-versity of Victoria), and of the TôkyôOlympics (Sharalyn Orbaugh, Univer-sity of British Columbia), and a highlytheoretical and beautifully eloquentpresentation on “The Literature of Cin-ematic Experience and Historical Con-sciousness in Interwar Japan” by Tho-mas LaMarre (McGill University),these presentations certainly formedone of the highlights of this conference.


Humboldt Symposium

Potential for Democracy in EastAsian Societies

(Kyôto, November 18, 2002)

In Kyôto, home of the philosophicalschool whose culturalist and essential-ist thought reminiscent of MartinHeidegger continues to throw longshadows until today, intellectuals fromJapan, China, and Korea met with Ger-man colleagues in November 2002 fora conference that was novel in manyrespects. Here, at the Goethe-InstitutInter nationes, the social philosopherMishima Ken’ichi (Ôsaka University)convened a “Humboldt Kolleg” devot-ed to the “Potential for Democracy inEast Asian Societies – as Seen from thePerspective of Critical Theory.” To-gether with Xue Hua (Chinese Acade-my of Social Sciences), Han Sang-Jin(Seoul National University) and ChonSong-U (Hanyang University), he as-sembled a circle of renowned academ-ics, including several Humboldtians,and young researchers from East Asiawho engaged in a four-day marathonmeeting with three guests from Eu-rope.

As the organizer indicated in hisintroductory remarks, the conferencewas not intended to review the “hero-ic” era of critical theory in the 1930sand 40s. Rather, the papers set out toexplore possible applications andmodifications of the impulses that formany generations have emanated fromthe critical social theories of the Frank-furt School.

Axel Honneth, a Frankfurtian in atwofold sense, opened the discussionswith a lecture on his thoughts about“History as an Education Process GoneWrong. Reflections on the Legacy ofCritical Theory.” Honneth outlined theabysmal chasm of alterity that sepa-rates contemporary intellectuals fromthe premises of the Frankfurt School,starting with the idea of reason as thedriving force of history that hardlyseems to make sense in an age charac-terized by the well-accepted pluralityof cultures and political movements.Yet, according to him, critical theoryinsists in a unique way on the media-tion of theory and history. Within thiscontext of thought and practice, theidea of a social pathology, inspired byFreud’s psychoanalysis, plays a keyrole in conceptualizing human suffer-ing that calls for healing or the libera-tion from social evils. Despite all differ-ences within the Frankfurt School, thisidea of an emancipatory interest, aninterest in reason born from suffering,

embodies the common point of refer-ence for critical theory as well as itsspecific potential for the future.

The nineteen papers and two work-shop reports – one by the director ofthe German Institute for JapaneseStudies who introduced the researchproject “Assertions of CulturalUniqueness in Asia” – that were pre-sented at the conference offered manyevocative examples of social patholo-gies as well as culturally specific traitsof the concept of reason. One connect-ing thread in this respect was Confu-cianism, as shown, for instance, in LeeJin-Woo’s (Keimyung University) in-quiry into the question “Is DemocraticUniversalism Able to Include the Oth-er? Modernity and Post-Modernity in aPost-Confucian Society” or in HanSang-Jin’s analysis of Korean policiesas a test case for the democratic poten-tial of critical theory in East Asia. Dif-ferent authors found different, or evenopposing, effects of Confucianism as asource for political culture in East Asia.To some it appeared as an obstacle onthe path to parliamentary democracy,others saw it as a supporting elementin this process. Characteristically, itwas the Chinese and Korean partici-pants who confirmed Confucianism’scontinuing power to influence politicaldevelopments, while it was scarcelyused as an argument from the perspec-tive of their Japanese colleagues. Thedifferent assessments reflect the differ-ent significance that was historicallyattributed to this teaching in the re-spective societies.

In addition to decisively theory-based presentations, some papers at-tempted to rethink political and socialpractices in light of critical theory.Ônuki Atsuko (Gakushûin Universi-ty), a scholar of German Studies, of-fered a fascinating analysis of the argu-mentation strategies employed by theauthors of the controversial revisionisthistory textbooks for Japanese schoolsand their feminist critics. Doctoral can-didate Miyamoto Shin’ya (Ôsaka Uni-versity) suggested that the phenome-non of hikikomori, or social autism, thatreceived much public attention in the1990s, could be interpreted as a caseexample of a social pathology.

The second member of the Frank-furt School present at the symposiumwas Klaus Günther whose lecture on“The Role of Law in a Global Civil So-ciety” opened a panel discussion de-voted to “Law as a Medium for Inte-gration.” In his paper, Güntheroutlined with much emphasis how glo-balization and its accompanying con-flicts are beginning to change laws aswell, with the most obvious changesoccurring in discussions on human

rights where in the eyes of the globalpublic the sovereign national state col-lides more and more often with inter-national law. Moreover, areas such ascyber criminality or e-commerce callfor transnational regulations, too. Theimplications of this development forour concept of law as well as for citi-zens in modern democracies with con-stitutional governments and the rela-tion between deliberative and directdemocracy – an example from Japanpresented by Mori Tôru (Kyôto Uni-versity) – were discussed in the con-cluding part of the symposium.

But why should we look to EastAsia at all? This question was ad-dressed by Johann Arnason (La TrobeUniversity, currently at the EuropeanUniversity, Florence) in his paper onthe democratic potential of East Asiantraditions from a comparative perspec-tive. It was Arnason who reminded theparticipants in the closing discussionthat the Frankfurt School had formu-lated their ideas with reference to thesocialist model as an alternative vari-ant of modernity. Now, after the fall ofthe Soviet Union, however, the compe-tition between these alternative vari-ants is nowhere more obvious than be-tween China and Japan. Moreover, itremains a fact of global history thatamong the high cultures of the oldworld East Asia has always been theultimate “other” of the West. In no oth-er part of the world has Western mo-dernity been “reinvented” in so manyand so consequential ways.

Michiko Yusa: Japanese Religions.London: Routledge, 2002, 128 pp.(ISBN 0-415-26284-4)

“Japanese Religions” is a volume fromthe series “Religions of the World,”which is intended to provide basicknowledge to the “informed citizen orstudent” rather than to an exclusivelyacademic audience. History, teachingsand the practice of “the major faiths”shall be illuminated in their interactionwithin the respective social and politi-cal context.

In addition to its function as a his-torical survey on Japanese religions,the present volume offers some addi-tional “tools.” Set out in a chronologi-cal table, Yusa parallels events of thereligious history of Japan and theworld with the political history of Ja-pan. Of course a table ranging from the

BOOK REVIEW


twelfth century B.C. until today canonly include a limited and arbitraryselection of events. Further referenceaids include a helpful glossary, a guideto pronunciation, a list of major festi-vals and holidays, an annotated bibli-ography, and an index. The transcrip-tion of Japanese or Sanskrit names andterms in the glossary, however, is farfrom consistent.

In the main part of the book, Yusadeals chronologically with the appear-ance and development of several reli-gious traditions: Shintô, Buddhism,Confucianism, Christianity, and newreligious movements. She does notlimit her descriptions to their institu-tional and doctrinal history, but givescredit to the interaction among the reli-gions themselves and inquires intotheir relation to the State (or its prede-cessors), as well as their impact on art.As a result, Yusa explains the historicaland mythological background of theclose connection between Shintô andthe imperial family, introduces themain concepts underlying the fusion ofShintô kami with Buddhas or Bodhi-sattvas, indicates the meaning of Bud-dhist teachings and practices for theruling class as well as for the non-aris-tocratic population at different times,hints at the role played by Buddhism inthe suppression of Christianity and in-troduces the Neo-Confucian schoolsthat have become popular in earlymodern Japan, and then presents anexample of the fusion of Shintô withConfucian ideas. Yusa finally consid-ers the politicization of Shintô in pre-war Japan and tries to explain the riseof new religious movements since thebeginning of the nineteenth century.

This well-balanced historical sur-vey does not fail to include the per-spective of women. Thus, Yusa con-trasts the male exclusivism of theBuddhist Tendai and Shingon schoolsin the Nara period (710–784) with themore positive attitude toward womenthat she regards as a common charac-teristic among the Buddhist schools ofthe Kamakura period (1192–1333). Ac-cording to her, the latter elevated thestatus of women by promising them anequal chance of salvation and encour-aging their religious practice. Howev-er, she does ignore the fact that in therelated teachings and scriptures, salva-tion for women often necessitates a“change to males” (henjô nanshi). Final-ly, she dedicates a subchapter to theimpact Confucian morality had on the“subservient” social status of women.

Some doubts are permissible con-cerning Yusa’s depiction of the charac-teristics of Japanese religions (pp. 16–18). Under this heading, she postulatesa specific Japanese religiosity. She re-

gards one of its traits in the world-affirmation of Shintô, as expressed byits appreciation of health, wealth, andhappiness. To this basic “Shintô men-tality” Buddhism has added a “senseof morality” and a “spiritual aware-ness.” She agrees with Luis de Almei-da, a sixteenth-century Jesuit in Japan,that Shintô is mainly appreciated for itsprovision of worldly benefits like along and happy life, while Buddhism isvalued as a means for “religious salva-tion.” This distinction does not takeinto account the services Buddhisttemples offer for those seeking divineprotection, health, and success in theform of charms and amulets, ritualprayers, or horoscopes. She also ig-nores the consensus among manyscholars that salvation in Japanese reli-gions is quite often understood in apractical and this-worldly sense.

Moreover, in describing Shintô as“native Japanese religious practicesand religious sentiments, ancient in or-igin and still prevalent within the deeprecesses of the Japanese psyche as asort of cultural and spiritual matrix”(p. 17), Yusa comes close to claiming aspecific religiosity as one element of aunique Japanese identity and riskssupporting essentialist clichés.

Apart from this reservation, Yusa’sbook is a recommendable survey onJapanese religions.

(Monika Schrimpf)

Notification

The Philipp Franz von Siebold founda-tion was dissolved on August 31, 2002,and, from September 1, the DIJ becamepart of the newly established StiftungDeutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche In-stitute im Ausland (Stiftung D.G.I.A.).The new foundation, which is gov-erned under public law and directlyresponsible to the federal government,promotes research in history, culturalstudies, economics and social sciencein selected countries and enhances theunderstanding between Germany andthese countries. The foundation pres-ently consists of seven institutesabroad and a head office in Bonn.

Personnel News

Since the summer of 2002, Dr. HaraldConrad has been part of an internation-

al team of researchers, coordinated bythe National Institute of Populationand Social Security Research (ShakaiHoshô Kenkyûjo). The team analyzescurrent pension reforms in Germany,France, Great Britain, USA, and Swe-den, in order to develop, among otherthings, reform scenarios for the nextoverhaul of the Japanese pension sys-tem in 2004. The first results of thisresearch are expected to be available inthe summer of 2003.

Dr. René Haak, head of the Businessand Economics Section, was appointeddeputy director of the DIJ in August2002.

In September 2002, Dr. MonikaSchrimpf joined the German Institutefor Japanese Studies as a research fel-low. She read Japanese Studies, Histo-ry and the Study of Religions at theUniversity of Bonn. She spent one yearas foreign student at Kyûshû Universi-ty in Fukuoka where she studied Japa-nese language and history. From 1995to 1999 she conducted her Ph.D. stud-ies in a research group on interculturalstudies on religions and religious his-tory at Bonn University. It was herethat she received her Ph.D. in JapaneseStudies with a doctorate thesis on theencounter of Buddhism and Christian-ity in Meiji Japan. Following this, sheworked at the Institute for JapaneseStudies at Bonn University in the re-search project “Iwakura-Mission,”which translated a part of Kume Kuni-take’s travel diary from that mission.After one year as assistant at the JapanExternal Trade Organization (JETRO)in Düsseldorf, she took on a position atthe Department for the Study of Reli-gions at the University of Marburg.Within a research project on the con-cepts of fate in contemporary Japanesereligions she studied notions of fateand ways to influence it in present-dayBuddhism. At the DIJ, Dr. Schrimpfwill continue her studies on religiouslife in contemporary Japan with a spe-cial focus on new religious move-ments.

In January 2003 Dipl.-Bibl. UrsulaFlache M.A. became head librarian ofthe DIJ library. In 1991 she began herprofessional training as a librarian forresearch libraries. In the course of thistraining, Ms. Flache underwent oneyear of practical work at the StuttgartUniversity Library and two years ofstudies at the Fachhochschule für Bib-liothekswesen (college for librarian-ship) at Stuttgart. After working atKonstanz University Library for twoyears she took up studies in winter se-mester 1996/97 at Tübingen Universi-

OTHER MATTERS


ty. Her majors were Japanese Studiesand English Literature. Ms. Flachespent one semester at Dôshisha Univer-sity in Kyôto and two semesters at Hiro-shima University. In November 2002she graduated as Magistra Artium.Among her research interests are thefields of religion (especially Shintô), ar-chitecture (especially shrines and tem-ples), and librarianship in Germany andJapan.

Matthias Hoop, DIJ librarian from Oc-tober 2001 to December 2002, was as-signed the task of academic editor at theDIJ in January 2003.

Dissertation Fellows

Eva Kaminski, Japanese Studies, His-tory of Art, Slavic Studies, Ph.D. candi-date at the University of Hamburg:“Reception of Japanese Culture in Ger-many since the 1970s: Ceramics as aCase Study” (October 2002 – March2003).

Mark S. Manger, Ph.D. Candidate inthe Department of Political Science,University of British Columbia, Van-couver, BC, Canada: “Binding Commit-ments and the Protection of FDI” (Octo-ber 2002 – March 2003).

Matthias Urs Zachmann, Japanese andChinese Studies, Law, Ph.D. candidateat the Ruprecht Karls University, Hei-delberg: “China’s Role in the Process ofJapan’s Cultural Self-Identification,1895–1904” (November 2002 – Novem-ber 2003).

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DIJ LETTER ISSN 1433-6685 1433-6685 Information from the ... tions, euphony and meaning are to be taken into account, and where possible ... ri/kanmuri ‘crown’), Corolla, Corona,