Japanese History Research Articles

The Role Played by Zen “Kong” in Japanese Aesthetics

Japanese Zen Buddhism has led the way for Japanese aesthetics and has continued to bring this aesthetic to the public, most notably in the form of ukiyo-e. Zen Buddhism is a branch of Buddhism with the core principle of "no thought, no appearance, no dwelling," and "Katsu" as its practice from Linji School. As Zen became integrated into Japanese life, meditation was likewise manifested in social life, most notably in the Edo period. As a declining, last feudal period in Japanese history, the Edo Shogunate was flawed in terms of notification. The samurai class, which was attached to the Shogunate, was fundamentally lacking in subject matter, and the Tokugawa family gave them the idea of Bushido but not its inner pillar. Japanese merchants, who had no status, spent their money recklessly but gained confusion and emptiness. Bijinga-e, who specializes in painting Japanese geisha in Ukiyo-e, shows all the meanings of "Kong" through the composition, white space, and the form of people in the painting. Most impressionists in the nineteenth century expressed their emotions and imitated East Asian style artworks, and only "had the form but not the spirit." This paper thus concludes that the status of "Kong" in Japanese Zen aesthetics is like a butterfly in an invisible net, out of control and out of sight.

Learning from Japan: Advancing Education in the Arab and Islamic World through Creative Approaches

Taking a historiographical approach, this research delves into Japan's history, culture, and education. It aims to uncover the key curricular reforms and societal influences that have contributed to its academic excellence. This study highlights Japan's exceptional academic leadership. It traces it back to historical milestones, academic reforms, societal attitudes, and cultural frameworks. Notably, the Japanese educational model emphasizes principles such as effort, collaboration, problem-solving, and comprehensive education, which have played a significant role in their success. By drawing inspiration from these findings, school policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders in the Arab and Islamic worlds can consider adopting and adapting elements of the Japanese educational model. This will inform curricular reforms and foster academic excellence. Moreover, this study recognizes the importance of fostering a collaborative exchange of ideas and experiences between Japan and the Arab and Islamic worlds. By embracing Japan's historical lessons and engaging in transformative dialogues, both regions can shape the future of education, promoting deeper understanding and more effective policies. However, it is imperative to acknowledge the limitations of this study, such as the limited sample size, cases, and variations. Therefore, further research is warranted to explore more diverse cases, larger sample sizes, and varied demographics. This will enable us to attain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding that can guide the formulation of appropriate and effective educational policies.

Japan: Travel notes

The article covers some of the most prominent cultural landmarks of central Japan. Nara, Kyoto, Osaka, and their suburbs and nearest region were the foundation and all the fundamental principles of Japanese architecture and art, in particular the art of calligraphy, ceramics, red lacquer painting, and the famous Japanese weaponry. Nara became Japan’s first permanent capital in 710 (by the order of Empress Gemmei), a 72-year period in Japanese history known as the “Nara Age.” It is noted that Buddhism, and later Zen Buddhism, first came to this territory from China. For twelve centuries, Buddhist art was considered a “Japanese classic.” On the territory of the Nara temple complex, one can observe the organic coexistence of ancient Shintoism and Buddhism adapted to the consciousness of the Japanese. In the central region, a revered archaeological site is the underground structure of Isi-Butai, which dates to the ancient Asuka period (538–645). Despite many years of research of this attraction, the so-called “stone stage”, the water pipe laid in the dungeon, other details remain mysterious (about their origin) and are of keen interest to archaeologists. The paper also provides information about the Horyuji architectural ensemble (607–623). The focus is on the personality and educational role of Prince Shyotoku, who succeeded Empress Hashihito no Anahobe, the prince’s mother. The Chugudi temple (Ikaruga’s old palace) was dedicated by Shōtoku to his mother’s memory. Now there are only a few stones from this temple. Information is provided about the sculptural masterpiece of the Asuka era—the statue (national treasure) Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu, which is one of the most poetic sculptures in Japanese plastic. Special attention is paid to the embroidered sacred banner Tenjukoku Shūchō Mandala depicting the “Land of Heavenly Longevity.” The fabric is considered the oldest embroidery in Japan.

Unveiling an Aloof Democracy: Voting Apathy in 21st Century Japan

On April 10, 1946, when Japan held its first general election after the devastating World War II, 72.08 percent of eligible voters of the country that failed into the debris of war went out to cast their ballot (Nohlen et al., 2001). Since then, along with Japan's postwar development and prosperity, in the next 18 general elections until 1993, the turnout maintained high stably at around 70 to 75 percent. However, after the millennium's coming, the Japanese participatory attitude towards elections seemed to come to a changing point. The turnout in subsequent elections declined noticeably and then stagnated at lower than 60 percent, which was unmatchable with the late 20th century's level (Nohlen et al., 2001). Even worse, the turnout of the previous three consecutive elections became the lowest three in the contemporary Japanese history of democracy (Tomoko, 2021). Much academic literature interprets the drastic drop and continuous low turnout as a typical sign of growing voter apathy, which means the constituents lack interest and motivation to vote when elections come (Shade & Teruelle, 2014). But why are there so many Japanese voters who lost interest in voting in recent elections? What is the cause of the growing “voting apathy,” and what could it mean to Japanese democracy and political development? Several factors could play critical roles, and they may compound and reinforce the effect of one another. The new electoral system could discourage some people from voting as it is institutionally disadvantageous to small parties and detrimental to political pluralism. The effect of institutional factors was amplified by the weakness of opposition parties from ideology to organization and internal unity, which then left voters with fewer feasible choices in elections. The increasing political alienation of young people should also be taken into account, as the drop in their turnout is the most significant in all age groups. Finally, the Japanese government, mostly led by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), could be likely to benefit from the status quo and therefore is reluctant to reform and actively encourage electoral participation.

Evolution of Flower Symbolism in Japan: An Amplified Significance in Japanese Civilization through Manipulations

Flowers are an important element of nature, especially in expressing a sense of fragility and impermanence. As peoples appreciation of the beauty of flowers rise, different forms of floral arranging appeared around the world. Japanese people have long-valued Ikebana, the traditional Japanese floral arranging art from aspects not merely observing its beauty. In this work, Ikebanas functions as media to express sentiments, to assist Zen Buddhism practice which helps practitioners to achieve inner peace, and to reveal gender-related problems throughout history are being explored and analyzed. Ikebana is widely related to many areas of Japan, and with its importance in Japanese history, popular culture, and religion, its symbolistic value can be extended further.

Women Characters in Eleventh and Eighteenth-century Japan: Attributions of Their Differences and Similarities A Comparative Study on Female Characters in the Tale of Genji and Chshingura

This paper aims to explore the differences and similarities of fictional female characters in eleventh and eighteenth-century Japan. Namely, this work selects Ygao in the Tale of Genji and Okaru in Chshingura to represent the typical females in the eleventh and eighteenth century respectively. Through thoroughly examining their feminine personal distributions, suppressed sexuality, and the instrumental fashion in which males treat them, the traditional Japanese aesthetics and the historical trend of increasing female agency are concluded. By extending the observation made from the comparison between the two compositions to the modern period of Japanese history (1868-present), this research remarks the unchanging cultural aesthetics and improving female agency in gender relations.

荒井信一における「植民地責任」に到る道

This paper traces the evolution of histriography by Shinichi Arai(1926-2017), a Japanese historians of the history of international relations. In particular, we will focus on developments since the 1990s, when Japan's war responsibility, responsibility for colonial rule, and historical awareness were severely questioned. Through this, we will examine how Japanese intellectuals deepened their awareness of the issue of Japanese colonial rule.
 Arai is not an expert on the history of the Korean history or the history of Japan-Korea relations. However, his last book was Colonialism and Cultural Properties: Thinking from Modern Japan and Korea. This book positions Japan-Korea relations within the major trends in world history of colonial rule. This reflects the characteristics of postwar Japanese historiography.
 How did Arai come to write this book? I will first explore the originality of Arai's analysis in postwar Japanese historiography. In his research, the perspective of war responsibility was particularly emphasized, whereas colonial responsibility was not emphasized until the 1980s.
 From the 1990s onwards, Arai participated in the establishment of the Center for Research and Documentation on Japan's War Responsibility and was one of its representatives. There, he made contributions as a historian to the issue of Comfort Women and the damage caused by air raids against Japan and China. In the controversy over the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, he raised the issue from an original perspective that Japanese and Korean history experts do not have. He also contributed to the creation of a forum for common discussion among East Asian intellectuals on the issue of Japanese history textbooks. Through such exchanges of intellectuals, Arai deepened his understanding of the history of colonial rule.

1970년대 ‘조선반도 연구자’의 한국론

Current Korea-Japan Relations reach the worst state since Normalization of diplomatic relations in 1965. The confrontation between Japan and South Korea over the sovereignty of Dokdo, Japan's comfort women, and forced mobilization has expanded to all the aspects such as historical conflicts, economic sanctions, and diplomatic clashes. At the root of the pride of Korea which has achieved the economic growth and democracy since 1980s, Strong nationalism is in place, and this is the nourishment of ‘anti-Japanese’.
 In Japan which has become smaller since Peak Japan in 1980s, the Discomfort with Korea, which has emerged as a competitor, so-called ‘anti-Korea’ has became the major political agenda, and expanded to public society. While experiencing the risk of neoliberalism since post-cold war, the civil society in South Korea and Japan has been besieged by internal and external nationalism and has fallen victim to hostilities that have been reduced to factional logic.
 This study reviews the original form of the theory of anti-Korea of Japanese society now based on the case of Akira Tanaka, who was evaluated as a pro-Korean in Japan in the 1970s. This is also a work that reviews the reason why the evaluation on Tanaka between Korean intellectuals Kim Yoon Sik and Jeong Gyung Mo is so different. Through this study, we examined how Japanese intellectuals' “Korean studies” were related to and interconnected with Korean intellectuals' perceptions of Japan through the Hyunhaetan.
 As shown in the intellectual exchange With Seonwoo Hui, it was communism and liberal conservatism premised on Japanese (Japanese) consciousness of atonement. However, when the issue of Japanese history textbook in 1982 is recognized as infringement of sovereignty of Japan, Japanese intellectual Tanaka declared that he would no longer be a “good Japanese” on the premise of atonement, and such a recognition by Tanaka became the basic theory that forms the original form of anti-Korea in current Japanese society.

The Next Generation of Japan's National Security

The Next Generation of Japan's National Security Marina Fujita Dickson (bio) and Yoichi Funabashi (bio) Japan's security policy has undergone several drastic changes in past decade: the establishment of the National Security Council in 2013; the easing of defense equipment exports in 2014; and, most recently, the publication of the new National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Defense Buildup Program white papers in late 2022, combined with the increase of the defense budget to 2% of GDP and plans to establish new measures like a counterstrike capability. While many analysts have highlighted these developments as significant shifts in Japan's strategic priorities, a single major factor looms in the background that continues to hinder developments—Japan's aging population. Japan's attempt to become a "normal nation"—a country with an effective security policy that can accept the use of force as a potential policy tool—is constrained today by a declining birth rate, an aging population that both stresses the government's budget and limits the recruitment pool for the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), and the slow pace of technology adoption in the JSDF. Tom Phuong Le's book Japan's Aging Peace: Pacifism and Militarism in the Twenty-First Century addresses these major challenges and uniquely explores the intersection between Japanese defense policy and the country's demographic crisis, detailing exactly why and how these issues are causational. First, fewer children mean fewer potential military recruits. Second, an older, aging population requires a larger budget for institutions like the pension system, leaving less money for defense matters, such as recruiting and retaining troops. Le carefully describes both the uniqueness and individuality of the problem; while most developed economies today are experiencing declining birth rates, Japan's crisis has arguably attracted the most attention as a social phenomenon over the last two decades. In exploring how the abovementioned demographic shift affects Japan's defense, Le compares Japan with its neighbors South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Singapore, which all have some form of mandatory conscription. Yet, each of these countries faces the same issue of an aging population—and [End Page 169] some of these countries (such as Taiwan and South Korea) are experiencing this problem to an even more acute degree than Japan. Having tapped into the full extent of their recruitment pool, these four countries could be looking at a potentially more dire situation in their future. Indeed, Japan is not the only country, but rather just the first, to face the challenge of an aging population. Le argues that the way in which Japan manages this crisis domestically will thus be a lesson for its neighbors. Throughout the text, the author also underscores the various constraints on Japanese militarism beyond demographics, including issues resulting from an underdeveloped military industrial complex, arms export principles, public opinion, the constitution, the international stigma of militarism, the U.S.-Japan alliance, and Japan's three nonnuclear principles, among others. While the government can alleviate some of these issues through policy reform, many are norms that cannot be overcome without "significant social engineering" (p. 11), which is beyond the capability of the government. While Le's discussion of Japan's intertwined demographic and defense challenges—and the immense hurdles Japan faces to overcome them—is crucial, Le's most important contribution to the existing literature is perhaps his examination of "militarism" itself as a concept. Some scholars have predicted that Japan will "return to normal security behavior" (p. 34), but what do they mean by that precisely? Because there is a lack of specificity in this idea of a return to normal, it is unclear what path of militarization Japan would take and what it would mean for the country's future. It is clear, however, that Japan's "return to normal" in military terms will not be a return to the 1930s. To understand this point, one must look beyond conventional metrics of militarization such as the "increased activity" of the armed forces or changes in the defense budget to other indicators such as civil-military dynamics, the prevalence of military symbols in public view, and education on Japanese history and war, to name a few. In...

Harm and Harmony—Concepts of Nature and Environmental Practice in Japan

Japan is often surrounded by the myth of featuring a unique “love for nature”, and its traditional culture and lifestyle as having been “in harmony with nature” before it was corrupted by modernization and Westernization. In this paper, I employ three examples to delineate images of nature in different times of Japanese history and point out the discrepancy between discourse on nature and physical engagement with nature. I argue that the environmental destruction that peaked in the Meiji period (1868–1912) is not primarily derived from a new, dualistic Euro-American understanding of nature. Rather, I demonstrate that environmental harm was already inherent in premodern Japan and was reconcilable with the respective concepts of nature. Therefore, industrialization and the adoption of Western technology solely released the potential for large-scale environmental impact.

Clustering Occurrence Patterns in “Red Sign” Auroral Events throughout Japanese History

Clustering Occurrence Patterns in “Red Sign” Auroral Events throughout Japanese History

Tsugishige Kondo, The Father of Japanese Surgery: Exploring the History of Hideyo Noguchi's Hand Reconstruction With a Forearm Flap Before the Establishment of Plastic Surgery in Japan.

Hideyo Noguchi is one of the most famous scientists in Japan's history, and his portrait has adorned the ¥1,000 banknotes since 2004. He had a childhood burn injury resulting in severe hand scarring and contracture that plagued his early life and education.The resulting hand deformity required 3 separate reconstructions with the third and most complex surgery performed by Professor Tsugishige Kondo just before Noguchi's final medical doctor license examination in 1897. In this surgery, Kondo released the contractures using the first radial forearm flap performed in Japan long before the establishment of plastic surgery in the country.Reviewing the history of Kondo, we find that he likely learned the art of reconstructive surgery along with many other surgical techniques during his stay in Europe from 1891 to 1896 where he was mentored by 4 prominent surgeons of the era: Christian Albert Theodor Billroth, Vincenz Czerny, James Israel, and Carl Nicoladoni. During this period, Czerny reported performing the world's first breast reconstruction using lipoma transfer, and Nicoladoni performed the world's first thumb reconstruction with a chest flap and with toe-to-thumb transfer. Kondo may have watched these world's first operations and may have also been taught these innovative techniques including the forearm flap directly by these pioneers. He returned to Japan and successfully applied these reconstructive surgery methods in his practice and teaching, as evidenced by the landmark surgery of Hideyo Noguchi's hand, and laid the foundations for the development of plastic surgery in Japan.

A STUDY ON THE HARBOUR CONSTRUCTIONS IN TAKAO TAIWAN IN THE MODERN AGE―FOCUSING ON THE FIRST AND SECOND HARBOUR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF TAKAO

This paper aims to clarify the process of the first and second harbour construction projects of Takao in Japanese Colonial Taiwan from 1908 to 1918. The Government of Japanese Colonial Taiwan tried a complete mechanization in dredging, however, the dredging boats were always confronting malfunctions, thus, tons of labour were used to cover the malfunctions. Concrete as a new material for harbour construction in the 1910s was all produced in Takao by using the gravel and ash in Taiwan. Takao harbour was the third example of using Concrete Caisson to build breakwaters in the history of Japanese harbour constructions.

Reading Japanese Documents from the Marega Collection: An Introductory Manual with Selected Texts by Naohiro Ōta

Reviewed by: Reading Japanese Documents from the Marega Collection: An Introductory Manual with Selected Texts by Naohiro Ōta Daniele Lauro Naohiro Ōta. Reading Japanese Documents from the Marega Collection: An Introductory Manual with Selected Texts. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2021. ix + 134 pp., color illustrations, maps. ISBN: 978-88-210-1076-7. Achief challenge that all scholars of premodern Japan are bound to encounter in the course of their careers is acquiring sufficient skills to read and understand komonjo, a term used to describe various types of documents produced before the Meiji period (1868–1912). The challenge is twofold. First, komonjo feature grammatical structures and words that are no longer in use or that have assumed different meanings in modern Japanese. Second, premodern documents are often written using kuzushiji, a cursive style in which the original shape of the characters is altered, thus making the task of reading texts particularly daunting. In Japan, where the field of paleography emerged at the end of the nineteenth century, an abundance of komonjo manuals and dictionaries have been published over the years. Additionally, Japanese universities, museums, and other research institutions routinely offer classes for the study of premodern documents. Outside of Japan, however, opportunities are more limited, despite the initiatives launched in the past decade by European and American universities. In this context, Naohiro Ōta's volume, Reading Japanese Documents from the Marega Collection, possibly the first komonjo primer in English, is a long-awaited and much-needed contribution. Ōta, a professor at the National Institute of Japanese Literature (Tokyo), developed the volume as a by-product of an international project involving Japanese and European scholars to catalog and digitize a forgotten collection of premodern Japanese documents donated by Mario Marega, a Salesian missionary to Japan, to the Vatican Apostolic Library in the 1950s. The approximately 14,500 documents that Marega collected during his time in Ōita Prefecture were produced between the seventeenth and the nineteenth [End Page 152] century and pertain to the institutions used to control and prevent the spread of Christianity, a religion that had arrived in Japan in the mid-sixteenth century but had been outlawed by the military government of the Tokugawa in the early seventeenth century. The volume, whose primary aim is "to introduce the basic skills for reading Japanese early modern records," is divided into five chapters (3). The first chapter provides an overview of the collaborative efforts that started in 2012 to study and digitize the Marega Collection. The chapter also discusses the genesis of the volume and some of the challenges that the editors, three Italian scholars of Japan, tackled to make the volume as approachable as possible to non-Japanese readers. Chapter 2 introduces foundational knowledge for the study of komonjo, and it is divided into four sections. The first explores the material dimension of documents by examining traditional Japanese writing implements and the formats of paper used for administrative purposes, as well as common techniques to wrap and seal documents. The discussion of the "documents as objects" is noteworthy because, in addition to supplying the reader with the technical knowledge to talk about premodern administrative documents, it casts light on the wealth of information that can be gathered by analyzing the material aspects of written records. For example, we learn that the type of paper and the format used in official documents depended on the social and power dynamics between the sender and the receiver. The second section examines "writing and language as gateways to a full understanding of the documents' content" (15). Ōta starts with an explanation of the traditional scripts as well as the writing styles used in premodern administrative documents. Next, he introduces some techniques to decipher texts written in the complex cursive style (kuzushiji) and some conventions that are adopted in premodern texts to read characters in the correct order. Finally, the author examines the various parts of a document and their position in the text, and general grammatical aspects of sōrōbun, a literary style commonly used in administrative documents. This section is beneficial because the structure of Japanese premodern administrative sources follows conventions that are not necessarily intuitive for non-Japanese readers. For...

동양, 탈아와 정체, 아시아연대와 타율 - 식민주의 역사학에 대한 단상

The modern historiography of Japan, developed since the late 19th century, revealed the progress of the Japanese people in response to the demands of Japanese society, which developed modernization and imperialism at the same time after contact with the West. However, it is said that the Japanese thought of Japan in Asia after contact with the West, rejected the Chinese-centered worldview in the past, relativeized China and other Asian countries, and created the Tōyō as a new space centered on Japan. In Tōyō, Japan was the only one in Asia to succeed in Westernization out of Asia and lead the solidarity of Asia. Japanese historians’ study of Korean history was to explain the historical inevitability of the task of “Out of Asia” and “Asian Solidarity” that the Japanese imposed on themselves to achieve modernization and imperialism.BRIn order to explain the “Out of Asia” that only Japan was able to do, the others such like Korea and China, which were historically stagnant and failed, were essential. The view of Japanese historians to Korea’s past, which we have summarized as “the stagnation theory”, was aimed at reflecting Westernization, which was only possible by Japan. And in order to historically show that Japan was bound to be the leader of the Asian Solidarity, it had to reveal that the past of Japan, the island nation at the eastern end of Asia, was accompanied by the historical development of the Asian continent. At this time, the Korean history of the peninsula close to Japan takes on more important meaning to them. From their point of view, Korea is a place where the historical changes of the continent are condensed, with the absolute inuence of continental forces such as Manchuria, Mongolia, and China, and Japanese history can be linked to the historical changes of the continent as Japan has established relations with Korea since the beginning of history. What we have summarized as the “Heteronomy eory” of Korean history is to connect Japanese history to the historical development of the continent, and in this regard, the so-called “Heteronomy eory” opens the way for Japanese history to be newly organized around Japan. If so, the more prominent the character of Japan’s modern historiography is, the more stagnant and heteronomous the history of other Asian countries, including Korean history, is revealed.BRMeanwhile, the view of colonialist historiography had its influence even after the war. This didn’t stop in Japanese academia after 1945, but it seems likely to affect American academia. e U.S. policy stance in the northeast Asia, which sought U.S. national interest and hegemony by blocking the spread of socialism centered on Japan, resembled the idea of Japanese historians who wanted to paint the Tōyō centered on Japan, talking Korea’s lack of feudalism and insisting on the impossibility of internal modernization.

A Study on the Correlation between Ito Chuta’s Art view and the Contents of Japanese History Textbooks

A Study on the Correlation between Ito Chuta’s Art view and the Contents of Japanese History Textbooks

Cover Image Commentary—Shooting a Shot: The Decisive Moment of Abe Shinzo's and Asanuma Inejirō’s Assassinations on Camera

When Abe Shinzo 安倍晋三 (1955–2022), Japan's former prime minister, was shot from a short distance on July 8, 2022, the audience was stunned, shocked, and halted. Abe briefly turned back to where he heard the shots coming from before dropping to the floor. Mere seconds later, the murderer was caught with a homemade gun, his motivation not quite clear. The whole sequence took only a few seconds and was caught on multiple mobile phone cameras used in a mundane way to snap pictures of the local event by the audience who, looking toward Abe from various angles, unintentionally documented the shooting. The clips instantly became evidence of the crime committed, and were soon after posted on social media, broadcast on television, and shared with billions of viewers around the globe.Abe's assassination was not the first one in Japan's history to be caught on camera. The first was the killing of Asanuma Inejirō’ 浅沼稲次郎 (1898–1960), the leader of Japan's Socialist Party, who was murdered during a televised political debate on October 12, 1960.1 This infamous moment was caught on televised footage, as well as in a renowned image by Nagao Yasushi 長尾靖 (1930–2009), who won the 1961 World Press Photo of the Year2 and the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for that image (fig. 1).3What is so significant about the image of Asanuma's stabbing is the fact that it merges the crucial moment of photography (“the decisive moment,” as coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson [1952] in Images à la sauvette) and the instant of killing—the critical moment of death. Although the press announced the death later, the presence of this specific moment on camera is astonishing to viewers, as it displays the impossibility of the gaze to isolate this split second, while the camera is able to perfectly freeze, uniting together life and death at their point of convergence.In On Photography, Susan Sontag (1973: 10) has memorably discussed the closeness of photography and death, of photography and shooting: the photographer is “loading” the camera, then “aiming” through the viewfinder, till the focal point blends with the target; both the photographer and the assassin release the trigger (or shutter), which makes the process of taking pictures similar to the act of shooting. Yet, the result is not only the moment of death of the one who is shot, but the eternity of the photograph that documents that decisive moment. When the two coalesce, it is a stunning fraction of time.Although Nagao's image does not refer to a rifle or killing by gun, it contains the knifepoint at its center, and the picture is loaded with tension and coiled movement that predicts the looming death. For me, the spectacles dropping from Asanuma's nose and sitting diagonally across his face are the punctum of the image, foretelling his fall to come.In 2006, Morimura Yasumasa 森村泰昌 (b. 1951, Osaka) reenacted Asanuma's killings in two photographs, which are part of his Requiem for the 20th Century series. The reenactment consists of two frames: the reenactment of Nagao's photograph, in which Morimura performs as all men in the frame: the assassin, Asanuma himself, and the crowd (fig. 2, also the cover image for this issue); while the second image (fig. 3) is apparently a repetition of a frame taken from the footage of the stabbing shot in the TV studio where the political debate took place.The reenactment of a decisive moment is a tautological act: for Cartier-Bresson and those taking part in the language of photojournalism, the most important element is the immediacy, the liveness, and the punctual, decisive nature of the snap that is taken at an unrepeatable instant of time. Attempting to reenact this moment is an act of reexperiencing, reassessing, reevaluating the meaning of the political moment in particular, and the meaning of photography in general. Morimura's reenactment of these decisive moments through his shooting of the images is a reminder of the fragility of life and politics. In other words, the assassination of Abe Shinzō was experienced as a return into the past, a repetition of a dark age and practice that led Japan to darker moments of repression and totalitarianism in its history, exactly what makes it such a visceral, emotive experience.

Journey in time. Review of the book “Japan. Chasing the Wind of Centuries” by Alexander N. Mescheryakov

The article reviews the book by Alexander Mescheryakov “Japan. Chasing the Wind of centuries” (Moscow: Lingvistika, 2022, 512 p. ISBN 978-5-91922-098-5). The monograph is a collection of the author’s recent articles. The range of topics and the chronological coverage are extraordinarily wide, with many phenomena of Japanese history and culture considered throughout centuries and portrayed in enormous diversity and variability. At the same time, the fates of individual people are not lost in the context of large-scale historical and cultural changes, and the author carefully brings us their voices. This makes the book a real journey in time.

Adaptation of Historical Figures into Mobile Game Characters (Case Study: Hijikata Toshizo from Fate/Grand Order)

Movies and animations widely liked usually have good character designs. The audience often encounters elevating historical figures as one of the characters in the designed media, so it is necessary to understand what things need to be present when visualizing these characters. Hijikata Toshizo in history is a famous samurai in Japan and is a historical figure and often appointed in entertainment media such as animation, games, and comics, so Hijikata Toshizo is very popular among lovers of Japanese culture and history. The visual changes from the Hijikata Toshizo character in Japanese history to the Hijikata Toshizo character in Fate/Grand Order are analyzed so that it can be an additional reference for designers when designing characters based on historical figures. After the related data was collected, the data was later analyzed with the Manga-matrix method introduced by Hiroyoshi Tsukamoto to analyze the character design's shape, costume, and personality. According to the results of the analysis, there are similarities and variances in the character of the Hijikata Toshizo game and its historical counterpart. Each element was brought about through the use of historical evidence and the designer's creativity.

Introducing the Warring-States Japan Battle Data

This article introduces the “Warring-States Japan Battle Data,” a new dataset covering 2,889 battles occurring within Japan during its Warring-States period, from 1467 to 1600. The dataset contains fifteen variables covering various features of the battles, including the date, location, participants, initiators, and victors, among others. This article introduces the sources of the data, describes the collection procedures and coding rules, presents basic descriptive statistics of key variables of interest, and applies the battle data to an important question in the political violence and international relations literature: whether conflict “contagiously” diffuses across time and space. The data introduced here should be of interest to scholars of international relations, civil conflict, early modern East Asia, and Japanese history, among others.