LE JAPON AU XIᵉ CONGRÈS INTERNATIONAL
DES SCIENCES HISTORIQUES À STOCKHOLM

Par le comité japonais des sciences historiques.

Tokyo 1960. XVIII + 482 s.

SEUNG-BOG CHO, Uppsala

This book is the English translation of a Japanese miscellany of 1959 which deals with diverse tendencies observable in the studies of humanistic sciences in Japan during and after World War II. The original Japanese title runs: *nihon-ni okeru rekishi-gaku-no hattatsu-to genjo*, which is translated into French as "l'état actuel et l'histoire des études historiques au Japon". Though the title of the book is translated into French, the book itself consists of English translations of the Japanese originals. The intention behind the English translation appears to have been to present a summary report on the state of the Japanese historical sciences in the period stated to the Eleventh International Congress of Historical Sciences which was held at Stockholm in 1960. This collective report was sponsored by the *nihon gakujutsu kaigi* (Japanese council of sciences) so that it can be taken as an official Japanese presentation. For the students of Japan who have closely followed her scientific activities from the period prior to World War II, it is welcome to note the striving towards a spirit of self-criticism and objectivity which is amply manifested throughout the volume. This fact alone clearly indicates a step forward from the dominant subjectivism which was often manifested in official report of this kind in the period before and during World War II.
This miscellany consists of contributions from 62 specialists. The studies reviewed, totalling more than 2000 in number, range from independent books to small articles. Concerning the short time in which the studies were made, the figure must be regarded as imposing. The overwhelming quantity of material is, however, not proportionate to the relative importance of the fields or disciplines of science treated. Some fields are dealt with in great detail, and there is a disproportionate number of studies on them; with some fields the opposite is true. For instance, studies on Japanese history are carried out in detail, while scientific studies on Japan's neighbours Korea and China are quite inadequate in view of her long-standing relations with these countries. Furthermore, certain subjects concerning Japan herself are not mentioned in the volume (e.g. the history of numismatics or of philology).

Each contribution is short and concise; thus one cannot expect any detailed information on the subject in question. However, because each contributor supplies in detail the bibliographies relating to his subject, this miscellany constitutes a useful synopsis of Japanese scientific activities for students of Japan (though admittedly its usefullness is limited in the case of those readers who are not versed in Japanese, for most of the bibliographies referred to are written in Japanese). Another valuable feature of the present volume is the period during which the studies have been made, viz., the period during and after World War II. For this was a time of transition towards a new epoch in the long history of Japan. As the reader may discover, the general aim of the contributors is a critical re-appraisal of the scientific methodology of the War period and this can be taken as the manifestation of a new intellectual tendency. The historical fact of Japan's unconditional surrender at the end of World War II is the first of its kind in Japan's history, in the sense that it was the first national surrender. Even though assessments of the degree of impact of this historical event may differ from person to person and from nation to nation (Japan uses the term *shūsen* 'termination of the war' to describe her unconditional surrender), it cannot be denied that some of the basic ideologies of "Modern Japan", which started with the so-called Meiji Restoration (1868
AD) have been affected by it. One of the ideological features characterizing the transition from the state of antagonism which in the early phase of the Meiji Restoration existed between the orthodox ideology of Imperial system and the democratic ideal (vide. *Jiyūminken undō* "Movement for freedom and popular rights") to a thorough-going Imperial absolutism. The destruction of the war-time ideology consequent upon defeat in World War II, has given rise to a new search for a national ideology. The struggle towards a new ideology is manifested as a reappraisal, self-critical in spirit, of the scientific methodologies which were current during the war period on the one hand, and a *widening* of the methodological horizon in the sciences on the other. For instance, the socio-economic approach to the historical studies of Japan is one of the new methodological approaches. Grouped together into ideological trends, these diverse new methodological approaches can be divided more or less into two main ideological schools: Marxist-materialism, and the subjective idealism of the "Lebensphilosophie". The latter appears to have found common ground with the traditional Buddhist existentialism (as in Zen-Buddhism).

The contributions are divided into three main groups of historical study: Part I deals with Japan, Part II with China, Korea, Manchuria and North Asia (Mongolia and Siberia) and Part III with the Western World. In addition, an index of the names of the writers and the scholars referred to is attached to the end of the volume. Each of the three parts is divided into several chapters. The first part, naturally, occupies almost half the entire volume. The studies on China alone occupy more than half of the second part. Each of the thirteen chapters of the first part deals with a separate historical science: history of the theory of history and historiography, political history, social and economic history, history of law, history of thought, history of literary studies, educational and academic history, religious history, history of the foreign relations of Japan, art history, local history, archaeology and the study of folklore. The studies on China in the second part consist of eight sections. Sections 1-6 treat of subjects other than the histories of law, Chinese thought and religions, which are reserved for the last two sections (§§ 7-8).

<footnote n="4">4 Acta Orientalia, XXVII</footnote>
The subject-matter in sections 1-6 is arranged mostly in accordance with the historical dynasties. In addition to regional studies, such as those on Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Siberia, south-east Asia, India, and Western Asia, there is on chapter on the Japanese archaeological studies in these regions. The third part consists of six chapters, each of which represents a group of studies. These are: the ancient Near East (chap. 1), classical antiquity-Greece and Rome (chap. 2), the Middle Ages (chap. 3), the transition from the Middle Ages to modern times (chap. 4), the modern and present ages (chap. 5) and international relations (chap. 6). Chapter 3 (the Middle Ages) is divided into three sections dealing with cultural history, legal and constitutional history, and economic history respectively, while chapter 5 is divided into six sections each devoted to one Western nation, namely, Italy, France, England, Germany, Russia and America.

Even though a qualitative evaluation of the works reviewed may indicate different degrees of depth in the scientific understanding of the problems, it is still significant for the understanding of the extent of Japan's intellectual interest in European civilisation to take note of the large numbers of works on the West, especially on Europe and America. Going on the numbers of studies alone, the Western Powers can be arranged in the following order in relations to the degree of interest they arouse: England, USA, Germany, France, Italy and Russia. The comparatively small number of studies on Russia presents an interesting problem for the understanding of the modern Japanese trends of thought, because Russia, out of the Powers just mentioned, is the one nearest Japan.