"Kokutai" i "nihonjinron". Polityka i kultura jako filary współczesnej japońskiej tożsamości narodowej

Abstract

The Idea of kokutai and nihonjinron and National Identity in Japan This paper is an attempt at a political and cultural interpretation of national identity in pre- and postwar Japan. For clarity of analysis the essay is divided into two parts. The first one deals with the category of kokutai, which can be translated as national character or national polity. The kokutai was the most important idea in prewar Japan and one which was exploited for creating a political sense of Japanese nationality. The concept of ethnic nationalism (minzokushugi) as well as the document Kokutai-no hongi [Cardinal Principles of the kokutai], published in 1937, were the most expressive examples of the political sense of national identity. The second part discusses the concept of nihonjinron (theories about the Japanese), which is connected with the cultural background of nationalism in contemporary Japan. The significance of this idea can be seen in a continuity of ethnic sense of national identity earlier expressed by kokutai (but without support of governments). In the other sense the nihonjinron is understood as a rank-and-file initiative of the contemporary Japanese society. It can be seen in the activity of Japanese writers, philosophers and artists who thus create a unique vision of Japan.

Keywords

• Japan
• kokutai (national character)
• nihonjinron (theories about the Japanese)
• civic nationalism
• ethnic nationalism