Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe modern Japanese nation-state that was established from 1868 onwards was marked by a strong tendency towards the separation of state and religion: religions were protected as a private matter, but the public sphere was resolutely kept free of them. This was mainly done so that competing religions would not get in the way of state-sanctioned emperor worship. The latter, although imbued with elements from Shinto, was carefully defined as non-religious, so that emperor worship could be prescribed without harm to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion. This secularist approach to policing religions was broadly shared among Japanese elites—but it did not remain unopposed.From around the turn of the twentieth century, dissatisfaction with the separation of the religious and the secular spheres began to be voiced, especially by pan-Asianist activists, who sought to combine the spiritual unity of Asia with the political liberation of Asian countries from Western colonialism and imperialism. Although Japanese pan-Asianism has conventionally been seen as a purely political movement, one cannot explain it fully without taking into account its spiritual dimension, which up to the 1920s drew its primary inspiration from India. This article will show how pan-Asianist activists in Japan opposed mainstream secularism and discuss what their vision for a unified Asia was. In doing so, it will focus on the Japanese reception of the Frenchman Paul Richard, an important political activist-cum-spiritual seeker who was a central node in the network of Indian and Japanese pan-Asianists in the early twentieth century.

Two traditional approaches to the study of Japan in the West—comparison and a focus on connections—both fundamentally regard Japanese culture as a distinct entity. A less essentialist and more fruitful approach might be to see Japanese culture as the product of responses to global developments and conjunctures that the West has also been subjected to. Classical modernization theory, the multiple modernities approach, and, more recently, the Great Divergence debate have each in their own way situated Japan within global history, although they have usually been accompanied by presumptions about the West's importance for Japan, while at the same time removing Japan from its Asian context. Resituating Japan in its Asian context from a transcultural perspective yields unexpected insights. One example is the role of Islam in Japan, a topic that, although almost entirely unexplored, is closely bound to modern Japanese political history.

"In der international vergleichenden Forschung zum Faschismus ist der Fall Japan sehr häufig stiefmütterlich behandelt worden. Dies gilt bis zu den Publikationen der letzten Jahre. Das Japan der 1930er Jahre wird von diesen Autorinnen aufgrund des Fehlens bestimmter äußerer Merkmale (Massenbewegung von unten, Einheitspartei, Führerpersönlichkeit, Gewalt) nicht unter den für die europäische Zwischenkriegszeit entwickelten Begriff von Faschismus gefasst. Japanische HistorikerInnen halten hingegen bis heute an dem Begriff 'Faschismus' fest. Dabei ist die einstige Orientierung an der traditionell marxistischen Sicht mittlerweile Auffassungen gewichen, die die Schaffung eines weite Teile der Bevölkerung umfassenden Konsens in den Mittelpunkt der Betrachtung stellen und sowohl einen 'Faschismus von unten' anerkennen als auch von Kontinuitäten über das Jahr 1945 hinaus konstatieren. Ausgehend von diesen Überlegungen plädiert der Verfasser für einen erweiterten Begriff von Faschismus, der diesen Unterschieden Rechnung trägt und insbesondere die Merkmale einer 'Volksgemeinschaft' wie des 'strukturellen Antisemitismus' berücksichtigt." (Autorenreferat)

Preliminary Material -- Volume Introduction /Marion Eggert -- Introduction to Section 1 /Björn Bentlage -- 1.01 Anonymous: Which One Is the Right Religion for China's Future? (China, 1905) /Heiner Roetz -- 1.02 Ouyang Jingwu: Buddhism Is neither Religion nor Philosophy but What the Present Generation Is in Need of (China, 1922) /Gotelind Müller -- 1.03 Yaroe (Nightthunder) alias Yi Tonhwa: [On] the Necessity of Reform of Religion (Korea, 1920) /Andreas Müller-Lee -- 1.04 Gendun Chopel: Grains of Gold—Tales of a Cosmopolitan Traveller (Tibet, 1941) /Donald S. Lopez -- 1.05 Chaophraya Thiphakorawong: A Book on Various Things (Thailand, 1867) /Sven Trakulhun -- 1.06 Swami Vivekananda: Reason and Religion (England, 1896) /Torkel Brekke -- 1.07 Muhammad Iqbal: Is Religion Possible? (Pakistan, 1932) /Aslam Syed -- 1.08 Yūsuf al-Nabhānī: Poem of the Short 'R' in Defaming Innovation and Praising the Esteemed Tradition (Lebanon, 1908/09) /Amal Ghazal -- 1.09 Ḥusayn al-Jisr al-Ṭarābulusī: The Hamidian Treatise (Lebanon, 1888) /Björn Bentlage -- 1.10 Muḥammad ʿAbduh: The Theology of Unity (Egypt, 1898) /Johann Büssow -- 1.11 Necmeddīn ʿĀrif: Studying in Paris (Egypt, 1904/05) /Leyla von Mende -- 1.12 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky: Isis Unveiled—A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology (United States, 1877) /Gauri Viswanathan -- 1.13 Ludwig Ankenbrand: Buddhism and the Modern Reform Efforts (Germany, 1911) /Jörg Albrecht -- 1.14 Rowland Williams: Christianity and Hinduism (England, 1856) /Paul Hedges -- Introduction to Section 2 /Stefan Reichmuth -- 2.01 Kang Youwei: Report to the Throne, with a Petition for Fixing through Consultation a Law Concerning Religious Cases [. . .] (China, 1898) /Heiner Roetz -- 2.02 Shimaji Mokurai: Petition in Criticism of the Three Articles of Instruction (Japan, 1872) /Hans Martin Krämer -- 2.03 Haji Omar Said Tjokroaminoto: Islam and Socialism (Indonesia, 1924/1963) /Al Makin -- 2.04 Muhammad Iqbal: Presidential Address to the 25th Annual Session of the All-India Muslim League at Allahabad (India, 1930) /Aslam Syed -- 2.05 Dayānanda Sarasvatī: The Light of Truth (India, 1884) /Dermot Killingley -- 2.06 Rashīd Riḍā: Introduction to the First Annual Volume of al-Manār (Egypt, 1909) /Stefan Reichmuth -- 2.07 Moḥammad Ḥoseyn Na ʾīnī: Government from the Perspective of Islam (Iran, 1909) /Katajun Amirpur -- 2.08 George B. Nutting: Letter to the Missionary Herald (Turkey, 1860) and Baha Said Bey: Alevi Communities in Turkey—(Turkey, 1926) /Markus Dressler -- 2.09 Aḥad haAm: Slavery within Freedom (Russia, 1891) /Valentina Munz -- 2.10 Paul de Lagarde: On the Relationship of the German State to Theology, Church and Religion—An Attempt at Orientation for Non-Theologians (Germany, 1873) /Elisabeth Hollender and Knut Martin Stünkel -- Introduction to Section 3 /Hans Martin Krämer -- 3.01 Pak Ŭnsik: On Renewing Confucianism (Korea, 1909) /Marion Eggert -- 3.02 Watanabe Kaigyoku: The Hopes of Buddhists for the Peace Conference (Japan, 1918) /John S. LoBreglio -- 3.03 Shaku Sōen: Strenuous Endeavors (Japan, 1912) /Helen A. Findley.

Preliminary Material -- The Myōtei Dialogues in Early Edo Thought -- Emptiness and Nothingness in Habian's Critique of Buddhism /James Baskind -- Searching for God in Neo-Confucianism /Richard Bowring -- Undermining the Myths: Habian's Shintō Critique /John Breen -- Habian's Version of Christianity /Hans Martin Krämer -- First Fascicle: Buddhism -- Second Fascicle: Confucianism and Shintō -- Third Fascicle: Christianity -- Glossary -- Works Cited -- Index.