Beyond "East and West": Nishida's Universalism and Postcolonial CritiqueAuthor(s): Yoko ArisakaSource:
The Review of Politics,
Vol. 59, No. 3, Non-Western Political Thought (Summer, 1997),pp. 541-560Published by: Cambridge University Press for the University of Notre Dame du lac on behalfof Review of PoliticsStable URL:
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Beyond"East and West":Nishida'sUniversalism andPostcolonialCritique
YokoArisaka
Duringthe 1930s and1940s,many JapaneseintellectualsresistedWesternculturalimperialism.This theoreticalmovement wasunfortunatelycomplicitwithwartimenationalism. KitaroNishida,the founder ofmoderJapanesephilosophyandtheleading figureof theKyotoSchool,has been the focus of acontroversyas towhether hisphilosophywasinherentlynationalistor not. Nishida's defenders claimthathisphilosophical"universalism"wasincompatiblewiththeparticularisticnationalismofJapan's mperialisttate.Fromhestandpointofpostcolonialcritique,itisarguedthatthis defenseisinsufficient.Philosophicaluniversalismsnotinitselfanti-imperialist,but canin fact contribute oimperialistdeology.
EurocentrismandJapanese PhilosophyFor acentury,Asian intellectualand cultural ife hasbeeninordinatelypreoccupiedwith themeaningsandimplicationsof"Westernization"nd "modernization."Japan sidesteppedthisproblemduringitslong yearsofisolation,1butfinallyin1853CommodorePerryand hiscannon-wielding"blackships"cameto the shores of Yokohamaand demandedtheopeningofthecountry.Atthatpointthecountryfaced twoalternatives-eitherbecomeavictim of Westernexpansionism,ormodernizein order toprotectitself.Japanchose the latterpath,andwiththeMeijiRestorationf1868,tinauguratedan era ofdauntingmodernizationnallaspectsoflife-social,intellectual,echno-logical,political,economic,religious,aesthetic,and ofcourse,inpopularculture.It is notanexaggerationosaythat thehistoryofpost-MeijiJapanhas been ahistoryof thestrugglewiththe notionsof
1.From 1639 tothemid-1850s,theTokugawa ShogunateisolatedJapanfromnearlyallforeigncontactnorderchieflytocontrol thespreadofChristianity;onlythestrictlycontrolledportofNagasakiwasopento continuetradingwithChinaand Holland.After1653,noJapanesecould travelabroad,andallJapanesewholived abroad wereprohibitedfromreturning.
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Westernizationandmodernization.Atfirst,aversion to the"barbarians"ausedpublic outcry against any foreigninfluence.However,as thepoliticalleaders of thenewgovernmentactivelypromotedthe ideaofbuildinganew,modemcountryandgettingrid ofoldfeudalways, peopleinthecosmopolitancentersbegantoembracethe newwayoflifewith enthusiasm. Soon infatuationwiththingsWesternwasextreme;forinstance,onegroupofreformersproposedto converttheJapaneseemperortoChristianity,sincethat was thereligionunder which science haddevelopedintheWest.Beef-eatingbecamepopular,and thelocalauthoritiesissuedapublicnotice"recommendinghisunorthodoxdieton thegroundthat it would createenergyfor theperformanceofpatrioticduties andstrengthenthe nationalphysique."2"Perrykawara-ban,"anornamentaltiledepictingthe "beautiful"blackships,becameasought-after objetd'artamongthe fashionable. "RedHair"prints,depictingnorthernEuropeansand theirlifestylesandtechnologies,becamepopularas well.Westernstyledance halls became the crazeamongtheforward-lookingmodemtypes.Viewingthe worldin terms of"Eastvs.West"(toyovs.seiy6)becameadeeplyingrained practicein almostallaspectsoflife;itwas theframeworkpeopleused to understand heirrapidlychangingandoften chaoticives.Cuttingacrossclassandgenderlines,peoplebecamekeenlyawareof their"non-Wester"wayof lifevis-a-viswhatthey imaginedto be "theWestern,"he"foreign,"he "new"wayof life. Theprocessofnegotiatingwiththe Westmanifesteditselfinmyriad ways: politicalelitesdebatedhow toconstructamodernnation-state calledJapan;education reformers had toreconsiderthe balance between thetraditionaland thescientific soastocopewith the bombardmentofnewknowledge;womenandmen alike weresuddenlyfaced with theproblemof self-presentation-clothing,hairstyle,andpossessionsweretransparentmarkersoftheir stake in the culturaltransformation,oth toothersand to themselves.3The initialshock of "difference" stablished along-standingparadigmof"Japans the other ofthe West."
2.G.B.Samsom,The WesternWorldandJapan Tokyo:CharlesTuttleCo.,1984),p.383.3.Fornstance,womenwearingdresses,asopposedtothetraditionalkimonos,were "modem."The choicesindailylife-anythingfromumbrellas, shoes,furniture,eatingutensils,hairstyle-reflectedone'spositionintheprocessof theassimilationofthingsWestern.
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