Sociology of ritual and narrative as post-Western sociology: from the perspective of Confucianism and Nativism in the Edo period of Japan

Abstract

Modern sciences were introduced to Japan from Western countries during the Meiji period. In other words, this was the process of translating Western academic languages into Japanese academic languages. The translation was meant to reuse existing Chinese characters with similar meanings to Western academic languages or create new Chinese characters. Japan was able to rapidly introduce modern Western science during the Meiji period because it already had academic languages comparable to modern Western science; thus, the translation proceeded smoothly. This means that academic ways of thinking that were comparable to modern Western science were developing in Japan. At that time, modern Japanese society first encountered sociology as modern science. Sociology was translated into the Chinese characters “社会学 (Syakaigaku)” and introduced to Japan. The term Syakaigaku first appeared in Japan during the Meiji period; however, before that, early modern Japan had developed several kinds of sociological thought. The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of Japanese thought, especially the new types of Confucianism and Nativism (Kokugaku), in the Edo period in comparison with Western sociology. Various remarkable thoughts similar to those seen in Western sociology are found. This paper then reviews a Nativism scholar, Motoori Norinaga, who was active during the Edo period and influenced Japanese environmental sociology through the folklorist Kunuo Yanagita. Finally, a new sociology, which combines the Western sociological theory of ritual, the Japanese Confucian theory of ritual by Ogyu Sorai, and the narrative theory of Norinaga, is presented.