Introduction: The Trouble with Nature

Abstract

This introductory chapter explains the theme of this book, which is about the concept of nature in modern Japanese political ideology. This book re-examines some of the major debates about state ideology in Japan from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth, the period during which Japan metamorphosed from a semi-feudal world relatively isolated under the rule of daimyo to an industrializing colonial empire. It argues that during this crucial period, the intellectual and political leadership of Japan repeatedly and consciously re-configured the concept of nature.