Comments on: To Stab a Historian

By: J Hopkins

J Hopkins — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 06:03:27 +0000

Mr Dresner, Mr/Ms Lawson, many thanks for your valuable assistance. I have the book on order.
As for the importance of context, how about Isshiki Beach, Hayama, in front of the ‘imperial’
villa, just a few days ago? A Shintoist group (mostly men), clad in white cloths covering only
their genitals and rear ends, held a sun goddess-worshipping ceremony which ended with the
fervent singing in unison of the “Kimi ga yo” national anthem.
Yes, I know, things have changed since Reischauer’s time, but only some things. (My wife and I have met the monarch himself on that same beach, and from what I know of that courageous man,
he would not be amused.)

J. Hopkins (PhD, Tokyo)

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:25:36 +0000

I don't have the older editions of the Japanese but I do have the 1995 edition of The Japanese Today which is the same book with editorial changes made in 1989 by Reischauer and 1994 by Marius Jansen. In the last Reischauer chapter, "Uniqueness and Internationalism" he has a sharp but nuanced review of Japanese ideas about race and nation, and their uses and effects in the past, and cites the '80s as a high point of internationalism. Still, problems remain

International understanding is not just a pleasantly innocuous catchphrase for Japanese policy but has become a practical necessity. The Japanese are intellectually aware of this situation, but they find their own sense of uniqueness difficult to shake off. It is not easy for them to give up their past cozy life, safely insulated by their language barrier and thriving economy, for a more adventurous life dealing with the problems of world peace and the global economy. To put it in dramatic terms, they find it hard to join the human race. For one thing, they still have inadequate skills of communication. More seriously, they have a strong sense of separateness. (p. 409)

He then goes on to use one of Nakasone's gaffes about US diversity as an example, and argues in favor of Japan shedding their separateness to become a valued world leader. He concludes

The contradictory pulls between uniqueness and internationalism that so grip the Japanese today will be resolved in favor of internationalism. (p. 412)

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 21:52:26 +0000

I don’t have the book, but Reischauer was not oblivious to the Japanese tendency to think of themselves as unique and distinct, and was quite critical of it. He was also critical of the US tendency towards the same, in books like Education for the 21st Century.

He was of the internationalist/WWII generation, and while he was a partisan of Japanese culture, he clearly had no patience with nationalism as a phenomenon.

By: K. M. Lawson

K. M. Lawson — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 21:13:57 +0000

According to a review of his book “The Japanese” on page 420 of his book he says the Japanese “must overcome their sense of separateness and, to put it bluntly, show a greater readiness to join the human race.”

I don’t own the book though and I think it is very important to look at the context in which this statement was made. I think it would be foolish and irresponsible to try to use this quote in any way to suggest Reischauer, who was deeply passionate about Japan, the Japanese people, and US-Japan relations, had some kind of racist or discriminatory views about the Japanese.

The Japanese
Edwin O. Reischauer
Review author[s]: Robert J. Smith
Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1. (Winter, 1978), pp. 182-186.
Stable URL:

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0095-6848%28197824%294%3A1%3C182%3ATJ%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V

By: J Hopkins

J Hopkins — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 01:44:53 +0000

Can you help? I wonder if it was Reischauer who famously said “Isn’t about time the Japanese decide to join the human race?” Would you reference details for this quotation?
Thank-you,
JH