The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies Yusuke Suzumura Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan The view toward the West of Okakura’s The Book of Tea 22 September 2008

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 1 Introduction The main purpose of this report To examine Okakura’s characteristic and original point of view towards different cultures in his The Book of Tea by contrast with Nitobe’s Bushido, the Soul of Japan. ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 2 1. Okakura criticise the Westerner because of his attitude towards the tea ceremony of Japan. 2. Okakura’s question—when the West will understand the East? 3. Difference of cross-cultural understanding between the East and the West. 4. The attitude toward the other culture is very different in the East and the West. 1. “When the West will understand the East?” ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 3 2. Okakura’s multi-cultural view (1) Okakura comes to attach importance to the intercultural communication and cultural autonomy rather than deciding on the relative qualitative level of different cultures. “We have developed along different lines, but there is no reason why one should not supplement the other.” (Okakura 1964: 5.) ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 4 Okakura’s multi-cultural view. a. There is no objective standard for measuring the level of one culture in comparison with another. b. The level of national growth is not a representative index of culture. c. No culture dominates all others. 2. Okakura’s multi-cultural view (2) ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 5 3. The international situation and The Book of Tea Japan could not achieve a leading position in the world order. The international situation surrounding Japan in the early 20th century is the rise of the concept of “yellow peril”. ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 6 4. The Book of Tea and The Bushido (1) In the general type of “the ethnographic triad” (Kuwayama 2007: 168.), “the writer” and “the reader” both belong to the “superior” culture, the “described” culture being considered inferior. Nitobe writes, however, “the writer” and “the described” both belong to the same subordinate group and introduce themselves with the language of the superior. ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 7 4. The Book of Tea and The Bushido (2) What Nitobe did is putting next to each other the world of “the described” and “the reader”. Nitobe engaged in a kind of “translation of the culture” in Bushido, by placing Japanese phenomena in a Western context. ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 8 Comparing the structure of Bushido and The Book of Tea, we may conclude as follows. a. In Bushido, the culture supposed to be in a subordinate position is forced to settle for a framework imposed by the superior culture. b. In The Book of Tea, Okakura stressed equality of each culture and the potential to enrich each other. 4. The Book of Tea and The Bushido (3) ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 9 Conclusion Okakura’ view towards different cultures is adequate for our present age, when political or economic strength and power continues to assume serious proportions. ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.

The 12th International Conference of The European Association for Japanese Studies(22 September 2008) 10 Books Referenced Kuwayama, Takami (2007), “Seiyo Bunmei-ron to shite no Nitobe Inazo’s Bushido” in Kotoba to Kotoba wo koeru mono (ed. by Hosei University Institute of International Japan-Studies), Tokyo: Hosei University Center of International Japan-Studies. Nitobe, Inazo (1969), Bushido, the Soul of Japan, Boston: Tuttle. Okakura, Kakuzo (1964), The Book of Tea, New York: Dover Publication. Oshiro, George (1992), Nitobe Inazo, Tokyo: Chuo University Press. Page, Norman (2006), “Nitobe’s Bushido” in Nitobe Inazo (ed. by Nagao, Teruhiko), Hokkaido University Graduate School of Letters. Suzumura, Yusuke (2002), “Cultural and artistic theory of Okakura Tenshin in “The book of Tea”” in The Annual of Philosophy, Tokyo: Hosei University Graduate School of Philosophy. ©Yusuke Suzumura, 2008.