num_pages: 315
description: A biography of the late Meiji social and cultural critic Taoka Reiun who was known for his fierce attack on modernity. Reiun was convinced that the western conception of modernity in the late 19th and early 20th century was based on an overly narrow, materialistic view of the world-one that placed too much emphasis on commerce, profit, and utilitarianism-and he believed that this concept was rapidly emptying life of its richness, depth, and meaning. He, therefore, could not help but decry a world that had "squandered its spirit and vitality, forsaken its grandiose visions, and lost its sense of mystery, its very soul!" A careful reader of philosophy, religion, and literature, Reiun embraced a vision of history, society, and the future that marks him as an original and creative thinker whose understanding of what it means to be modern and human remains alive and vital today. "Vividly brings to life an overlooked contrarian whose writings show that Japan's modernization process was much more complex and controversial than the standard Meiji progress narrative would have us believe. Reiun comes through in this exhaustively researched study as a powerful critic who thought capitalist materialism had robbed Japan of its soul-a much-censored opponent of slavish Westernization who insisted that modernity should spring from the creation of autonomous individuals. Loftus's attention to Reiun's tumultuous personal life brings special energy to the work."- James L. Huffman, Wittenberg University "An excellent introduction to the intellectual life of perhaps the most critical period of Japan's modern experience. Reiun's courage, thoughtfulness and imagination are the kind of critical intellectual energy and intervention that are called for today, making the book an important read for students of modern Japan and East Asia."- Sho Konishi, University of Oxford
language: English
title: The Turn Against the Modern: The Critical Essays of Taoka Reiun
publisher: Association for Asian Studies, Inc.