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Philosophy, Culture and Sino-Japanese Relations

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Abstract

This chapter attempts to provide a Cultural Constructivist perspective to explain Sino-Japanese relations. Rather than substantiating the agents and issues, its central theme is to bring forth the relational dynamics of the two nations, against the backdrop of their philosophical ontologies and cultural behavior patterns. From a relational angle, this chapter analyzes how China and Japan are related to each other. The epistemological methodology here is interpretive, based on the ontological assumption that social relationality might be different across cultural boundaries. The purpose of examining the cultural differences between the two peoples is not to distinguish each of their national characters. Rather, it aims to reinterpret the meanings and implications culture has for comprehending contemporary world affairs. Longitudinally reviewing bilateral relations since the 1972 rapprochement, the chapter argues that mutual misunderstandings, born not out of lack of information, but a cultural fault line of relationality, have exacerbated distrust between the two peoples. Thus, the first step towards disentangling the strand must begin with fostering mutual understanding of each other’s philosophical world views and cultural behavior patterns.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For a proposal for relational study in sociology, see: Emirbayer (1997); for a relational study in IR, see: Jackson and Nexon (1999); for a more general summary of network science, see: Caldarelli and Catanzaro (2012).

  2. 2.

    Recent studies show how these classical schools of Chinese philosophy play significant roles in different social conditions in contemporary China. See for example, Hue (2007).

  3. 3.

    Confucianism , as the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China’s history, has no doubt shaped much of this onto-ethical thinking that discloses being in moral consciousness and moral action.

  4. 4.

    This yin yang holistic is said to be alien to Western rationality which cannot tolerate opposites. See, Sorajjakool (2000).

  5. 5.

    Shinto does not seek converts, because it is an ethnic rather than a universal religion. It is characterized by its lack of any complex creedal or doctrinal system, and emphasis on attitudes and customs (Kasulis 1990: 440).

  6. 6.

    For an analysis of corporate behavior from this angle, see Siddharthan (1999).

  7. 7.

    Not every philosopher of the Kyoto School can be implicated in pre-war Japanese totalitarianism. Nishitani Keiji and Tosaka Jun for example, obviously distanced themselves from the School’s mainstream such as Nishida. Refer to Shimizu (2015), Parkes (1997).

  8. 8.

    The sudden announcement of Sino-American rapprochement is also known to the Japanese as the “Nixon Shock.”. Tokyo only learnt of Nixon’s planned visit to China a few hours before it was made public. Fearing being left behind in the narrow valley (tanima) of the U.S.-Soviet-China triangle, the Japanese elite and public were under enormous pressure to quickly normalize with China (Shinohara 1971: 149).

  9. 9.

    For a detailed comparison of the negotiation power of China and Japan, refer to Uemura (2013).

  10. 10.

    My account of the Yasukuni issue in the following several paragraphs is mostly based on Murai (2006).

  11. 11.

    Boshin War , also known as the Japanese Revolution, was a civil war fought between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Imperial Court. The war ended the over 200 years of the Edo era, and brought the Meiji Restoration and a new phase of Japan’s modernization.

  12. 12.

    Collective enshrinement of class A war criminals was not made public until April 1979, when Asahi Shimbun, a major newspaper, covered this issue. Hata (2005).

  13. 13.

    For a detailed account of China’s anti-Japan nationalism, see Gries (2005).

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  1. International Studies and Regional Development, University of Niigata Prefecture, Niigata, Japan

    Takeshi Uemura

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  1. Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei City, Taiwan

    Tse-Kang Leng

  2. Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

    Rumi Aoyama

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Uemura, T. (2018). Philosophy, Culture and Sino-Japanese Relations. In: Leng, TK., Aoyama, R. (eds) Decoding the Rise of China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8288-7_4

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