The Paradoxes of Japan's Cultural Identity: Modernity and Tradition in Japanese Literature, Art, Politics and Religion [Hardcover]

Japan is widely regarded as having a unique culture and a strong national identity. Paradoxically, however, many basic elements of Japanese culture are not originally Japanese. Since the beginning of its history, Japan has been one of the worlds major importers of foreign cultures. Its culture was thoroughly hybrid long before that word became fashionable in contemporary global studies. But this does not mean that Japans culture lacks originality. The Japanese have always made strikingly original contributions, even improvements, to whatever they imported. Even more significantly, the hybridity of their culture produced ongoing tensions that served as a kind of creative dynamo for Japanese writers, artists, and intellectuals. This book explores the fundamental creative tension between the native and the foreign in many areas of Japanese culture, from politics and religion to art and literature  a tension also often interpreted as between tradition and modernity.Prof. Roy Starrs, PhD (UBC) teaches Japanese studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand. His publications include Modernism and Japanese Culture, When the Tsunami Came to Shore: Culture and Disaster in Japan, and Politics and Religion in Modern Japan: Red Sun, White Lotus.Foreword, Introduction, Part One: Japanese Politics, Religion and Society 1. Politics and Religion in Japan 2. The Kojiki as Japans National Narrative 3. Prince Sh.toku and Japans China Complex 4. Japans Perennial New Man: The Liberal and Fascist Incarnations of Masamichi R.yama 5. From Mishima to Aum: Religiopolitical Violence in Late Twentieth-Century Japan Part Two: Japanese Literature and Art 6. Japanese Poetry and the Aesthetics of Disaster 7. In Search of the Great Meiji Novel: From Ukigumo to Yoake mae 8. Nation and Region in the Work of Dazai Osamu 9. Ink Traces of the Dancing Calligraphers: Zen-ei Sho in Japan Today 10. Mishima, Bowie and the Anti-Metaphysics ofl#!