East Asia Theory (Critique of Modern Japanese Thought)

Author: (Japan) Kazuo Shibusawa / Zhao Jinghua (editors)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: This book is a collection of essential works by the renowned Japanese scholar Kazuo Shibusawa. The author is a rare critic-minded intellectual in the Japanese academic world, who has long served as the president of the Society for the Study of Japanese Thought. In the book, the author launches a fierce critique against the self-evident rationality of Japan's modern knowledge system and discourse framework, and reexamines the topic of "East Asia," which is both deeply marked by history and urgently relevant in the present. The author aims to thoroughly cleanse what is termed Japan's "modernity"—characterized by a heavy nationalism and the unreflective misuse of colonial-era discourse—through the analysis of these issues, in order to establish new values and perspectives. Additionally, the strong critical consciousness present in this book allows readers to witness the objectivity and fairness of the Japanese academic world, thereby laying some positive groundwork for the genuine establishment of a dialogue platform between the intellectual communities of China and Japan.