Japan's Modern Myths

Paper Summary:

In this article the writer discusses Professor Carol Gluck's views regarding Japan as portrayed in Chapter 5 and 6 of 'Japan's Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period'. The writer points out that Professor Gluck argues that Japanese society was and is a society founded upon the values of the collective, rather than upon the individual. Further, the writer notes that her view of Japanese civic virtues is extremely broad and suggests that on every level of public and personal morality, the nation is given greater value than the lives of its citizens. The writer then discusses that, in Chapter 6, Gluck paints the period as a constant struggle between the forces of nationalism and collectivism versus the "social fever" for modernity, or Westernization, that is still present and, in Gluck's opinion, was a natural, human impulse in contrast to the expressed will of the state.

From the Paper:

"Gluck suggests that the Meiji policies of the late 19th and early 20th century Japanese government leading up to World War II made civil obedience and national sacrifice a religious calling. Gluck's views of the causes of World War II thus take on a very socially deterministic cast. In her view, because the Emperor was divine, everything he did and was done in the name of Japan was seen as right and just. In terms of Japanese religion, although Gluck argues that although it might seem Buddhism had had a strong religious presence in Japanese morality, she believes this should not be over-emphasized, stating that Buddhism was often perceived as a foreign religion by the state In contrast, Gluck stresses the emphasis on the indigenous Japanese religion Shinto as a state religion. She sees Shintoism, as opposed to the imported philosophy of Buddhism, to form the true philosophy of the civil cult of the state. She points out that the Shintoists continued to press their claims for the institutionalization of Shinto as a separate office of state, apart from Buddhists."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Japan's Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period by Carol Gluck (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999)

More papers on Japan's Modern Myths:

• Analytical Essay # 136322 : "Modern Myth and Society"
• Essay # 23685 : "Modernization of Japan"
• Essay # 6955 : "Japanese History from the Ancient Times to Modern Day"

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