MIMESISINTERNATIONAL

HASEKURA LEAGUE INTERCULTURAL STUDIES EDITIONS
n. 2
Editorial Board
Raffaele Milani (University of Bologna), Rolando Minuti (University of Florence), Ikuko Sagiyama(University of Florence), Andreas Niehaus (Ghent University), Judit Arokay (Heidelberg University),
Harald Fuess (Heidelberg University), Ivo Smits (Leiden University), Franco Mazzei (University ofNaples “L’Orientale”), Giangiorgio Pasqualotto (University of Padua), Matilde Mastrangelo (Sapienza
University of Rome), Glenn Hook (University of Sheffield), Akihiro Ozaki 尾崎彰宏 (TohokuUniversity), Ryūsaku Nagaoka 長岡龍作 (Tohoku University), Hiroo Satō 佐藤弘夫 (TohokuUniversity), Yoshimichi Satō 佐藤嘉倫 (Tohoku University), Akinori Takahashi 高橋章則(Tohoku University), Paul Ziche (Utrecht University), Bonaventura Ruperti (Ca’ Foscari University ofVenice), Georg Stenger (University of Vienna)

KNOWLEDGE AND ARTSON THE MOVE
Transformation of the Self-aware Image
through East-West Encounters
Edited byChristopher Craig, Enrico Fongaro and Akihiro Ozaki

MIMESISINTERNATIONALThis book has been subjected to peer review process.

© 2018 – MiMesis international – Milan
www.mimesisinternational.com
e-mail: info@mimesisinternational.com
Isbn: 9788869771323
Book series: Hasekura League Intercultural Studies Editions, n. 2
© MIM Edizioni Srl
P.I. C.F. 02419370305

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forewordby the Editors

7
SECTION 1“EAST IN WEST”

soMe reMarks on Japan in italian culture beFore and aFter
the end oF isolation

Rolando Minuti

13

Japanese and european Medieval theaters and their Modernrevivals: perForMing cultural heritage in the MirroroF the otherEstelle Doudet

25

european reFlections in Chinese Mirrors: interpreting selF andother through encounters with Chinese arteFacts in the Dutchrepublic, 1685-1715
Willemijn van Noord39
SECTION 2“WEST IN EAST”“attaining useFul abilities is by nature the highest goal oF
education”
Andreas Niehaus59Ōgai Mori as educator: creativity and syncretisM in culturaltransMission within the FaMily

Matilde Mastrangelo

77

the politics oF Mutual understanding and the FutenMa baseissue in Okinawa: diFFerent actors, diFFerent understandings
Glenn D. Hook89
the unhappiness intrinsic to blessing: the case oF the tale ofGenji
Ikuko Sagiyama 鷺山郁子
101
SECTION 3“THE GREAT TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE, TSUNAMI
AND NUCLEAR DISASTER”
the watchFul gaze oF the deadHiroo Satō 佐藤弘夫

117

the beginning oF the never-ending struggle
Akihiro Ozaki 尾崎彰宏

129

rethinking tepco’s liability For nuclear daMages
Hiroshi Kabashima 樺島博志

139knowledge and arts on the Move: transForMation oF the selFaware iMage through east-west encounters
Kōichi Morimoto 森本浩一
151

FOREWORD

This book collects a selection from the papers presented at thesymposium Knowledge and Arts on The Move: Transformationof the Self-Aware Image through East-West Encounters, heldon 13-14 February 2017 at Tohoku University. Japanese Studies
scholars in a variety of disciplines in the humanities and social
sciences from 13 universities in Europe and Japan presented
on a stunning array of topics. Ideas surrounding the encounter
between the monolithic constructs of ‘East’ and ‘West’ and theways in which this encounter shaped conceptions of the self are
the shared concerns linking these disparate works.
The papers in the pages that follow apply methodologies
and concerns from history, literature, art history, aesthetics,sociology, political science, law, and anthropology to issues
relating to the creation and transformation of self-image
through the encounter between East and West. The firstsection is concerned with European receptions of ideas about
and from East Asia. Rolando Minuti examines changing
understandings about Japan in Italy from the 17th to the 19thcentury, exploring how these understandings intersected withconnections among and between Italian scholars and othersfrom elsewhere in Europe. Estelle Doudet’s chapter traces theinfluence of the Japanese dramatic forms of kabuki and nō on
the avant-garde in 20th-century French theatre and illuminates
processes of hybridity and transnational innovation. The
reception of Chinese artefacts in the Netherlands is the topic ofWillemijn van Noord’s chapter, in which she demonstrates the8

Knowledge and Arts on the Moveroles of misinterpretation and misrepresentation in the Dutch
construction of a Chinese other through the consumption ofimported cabinets and antiques.
The book’s second section flips the perspective to focus on
Japanese encounters with the West and changes in Japaneseconceptions of the self. Andreas Niehaus delves into the thoughtof Jigorō Kanō, the creator of modern jūdō, highlighting thefactors within and outside Japan that shaped his formulationof moral principles. Matilde Mastrangelo presents a portraitof Japanese educator Ōgai Mori and examines the ways inwhich he incorporated explicitly foreign ideas in shaping hisfamilial relationships. Glenn Hook’s chapter centers on thecontemporary situation in Okinawa, unravelling the competing
actors and concerns surrounding the conflict over the placementof American military facilities in the prefecture. Finally, Ikuko
Sagiyama presents a detailed analysis of concepts of good
fortune and their links to gender in The tale of Genji, a work ofliterature that is foundational to both Japanese self-image andforeign understandings of Japan.
The last section of the book brings together Japanese scholars
who had direct experience with the 3.11 earthquake, tsunami andnuclear disaster, an event of global significance which connected
Japan and the world in multiple ways. Hiroo Satō reflects on theplace of the dead in Japanese society, charting its evolution overtime and situating it in an international and historical context.
Akihiro Ozaki discusses the ongoing Fukushima nuclear disasteras an event without end and relates it to the perpetual war
against terror in the United States in the 21st century. Hiroshi
Kabashima closes out the book with an explanation of the legal
issues surrounding liability for the nuclear disaster and the key
concepts at work in determining who bears responsibility andwhat amends must be made by the responsible parties.
This collection represents the second volume in the Hasekura
League Intercultural Studies Series. The series is a forum forForeword9

research produced in conjunction with the member institutionsof the League in Europe and Japan and in pursuit of the goal ofpromoting innovative collaboration in Japanese studies acrossdisciplinary and geographic boundaries.
December, 2017
The Editors