The Research On Japanese Cultural Nationalism

Japan, as an East Asian island nation, has always been good at absorbing, digesting, the integration of alien civilization. In its ancient time, there are manifestations of’cultural nationalism’which is as Kato Syuichi said. It stands for the uniqueness and superiority of Japanese civilization, sometimes belittle the Chinese culture, sometimes despise western civilization. Cultural nationalism as nationalism political tool got the active support by the Japanese regime, and had been stressed in unprecedented size for a long time, and played a constructive or destructive role in the different historical conditions. In present, it appears like cultural nationalism.This thesis studies the manifestations and influence of Japanese cultural nationalism in the various historical stages. Especially, it studies the role that the Japanese cultural nationalism played in the self-building process of national cultural identity awareness while considering Chinese culture and Western civilization as "otherness" as well as the role in the process while the ancient cultural community transforming to the modern political community. In the international society environment where principles like "multiple co-existence","harmonious but different","integration and symbiosis" are emphasized, especially among Northeast Asian countries, we are moved to objectively view the cultural phenomenon which take nation-state as a unit, and inclined to adopt the correct way to deal with extreme cultural nationalism behavior. The full text is divided into five chapters, introduction and conclusion, respectively, as the first and fifth chapter. The second chapter to the fourth chapter is the main part of this paper:Chapter Ⅱ analyzes the nationalism and cultural nationalism and paves the theoretic way for the discourse of Japanese cultural nationalism.Chapter Ⅲ historically explores the develop grain of the Japanese cultural nationalism mainly by theoretical paradigm of nationalism, and through the analysis of the manifestations in different historical periods, pointed out that China is always "otherness" in the formation of Japanese nationalism. Confronting with China and establishing "Huayi Order" which is centered on Japan are an intrinsic link that combines Japan’s ancient and modern nationalism. The transformation process from ancient culture community to modern political community is an adaptation process of nationalism antagonistic attitude and ego identity awareness when Japan faced the West-"otherness". And also, it is a process that the sense of identity among personal, ethnic and nation accomplished.The chapter IV further analyzes modern national community awareness on the basis of previous chapters’analysis and points out its impact and where the problem lies:on the one hand, modern national community awareness emphasized internal unity and external independence, which lays foundation for government to integrate the public; on the other hand, the crisis awareness due to excessive adhesive to national self-esteem, uniqueness and superiority, laid the basis for modern Japanese nationalism’s non-rational thought, affected the present Japan, and seriously impeded the normal development of relations among East Asian countries.