This essay will discuss how selections from five Japanese authors deal with the themes of modernization, traditionalism, Westernization, and ôEast against West.ö It will look especially at the relative degrees and nature of whatever acceptance toward Western values that they might display.
Aizawa Seishisai, in ôThe Danger from the Westö and ôThe Source of Western Unity and Strength,ö deals with traditionalism and with the opposition of East and West, but discusses Westernization only in being implacably opposed to it, and therefore does not deal with modernization at all. He does not believe that any Western things or values are important for Japan, and thinks that all Japanese traditions are valuable. He does not believe that any compromise with the West is possible or desirable. He also repudiates compromise with or influence by other Asian cultures, and is especially critical of the West for having, in effect, guns in one hand and the Bible in the other, masking greed with religiosity. His attitude seems fairly close in many ways to that of the Japanese militarists who were responsible for JapanÆs role in World War II.
Ito Hirobumi, in ôOn the Constitution of 1889,ö deals with all four themes. He is defending the introduction of a Western-style constitution, but rejects Western concepts of where sovereignty lies. His attitude toward Japanese tradition is even pious; he seems to assume the divinity of the Emperor, and to assume that all authority is conferred downward from above. Hence he contrasts this constitution as being a free gift of the Emperor, in contrast to Magna Carta, which he points out was extorted from King John by force. Of course, in point of historical fact, the Japanese situation was much closer to that of the English than he wishes to admit.
Asahi Heigo, in ôCall for a New `Restoration,Æö deals implicitly with at least three of the four themes. He has obviously been influenced by Wes...