Lecture | COGLOSS lecture
Japan and the Netherlands in a Global Context: Transnational Intellectual Currents of the 19th Century
- Dr. Shingo Hashimoto (Kitasato University) & Prof. Takeharu Okubo (Keio University)
- Date
- Wednesday 30 October 2024
- Time
- Series
- COGLOSS seminars 2024-2025
- Location
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- 2.60
On 30 October 2024, Dr. Shingo Hashimoto (Kitasato University) and Prof. Takeharu Okubo (Keio University) will give a talk on the topic of intellectual interactions between the Dutch and the Japanese in a global context of the nineteenth century.
No registration is required. Everyone is welcome to join.
Abstract
(1) Shingo Hashimoto, 'Catalyzing World History and Knowledge Acquisition: Dutch Influence on Geography and the Popular Enlightenment in Tokugawa Japan'
Abstract: In the mid-18th century, under the directives of the Tokugawa shogunate, a select group of Japanese scholars began studying Dutch texts—a pursuit known as Rangaku or "Dutch Learning"—to acquire practical knowledge on herbs, animals, and tools. Initially driven by utilitarian needs rather than pure scientific inquiry, their engagement with Western science led to an accumulation of knowledge that gradually shifted their focus toward embracing positivism and empirical methods. By the early 19th century, this intellectual pursuit expanded into broader concepts of civilization and enlightenment.
Geography emerged as a significant catalyst in this transformation, educating and enlightening those previously unfamiliar with global perspectives. Central to this development was scholar Mitsukuri Genpo (1799-1863), who, with assistance from his adopted son Shogo (1821-1846), translated Dutch works—mainly on geography and history—into Japanese. Employing a rudimentary academic method that utilized multiple sources, including children's books and academic encyclopedias, they ensured this knowledge permeated the nation through printing and widespread distribution.
This presentation explores how Dutch influence on geography spurred world history awareness and knowledge acquisition in Tokugawa Japan. It highlights Mitsukuri Genpo's pivotal role in disseminating geographical knowledge and fostering the popular enlightenment (keimō), thereby contributing to Japan's intellectual and cultural transformation prior to the Meiji Restoration.
(2) Takeharu Okubo, '"Civilization” and “Independence": The Influence of Dutch Studies on Yukichi Fukuzawa’s Political Thought'
Abstract: Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901) is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Japan. He is also well-known as the face of the former highest value Japanese banknote. Born in 1835 during the Tokugawa period, he traveled to the United States and Europe in the 1860s with the aim of deepening his understanding of Western culture. After the Meiji Revolution, he published a series of best-selling books, including Gakumon no Susume (An Encouragement of Learning) and Bunmeiron no Gairyaku (An Outline of a Theory of Civilization), through an intellectual struggle with the contemporary European political thought, particularly the works of François Guizot, Henry Buckle, John Stuart Mill, and Tocqueville.
It should not be overlooked, however, that Fukuzawa engaged with Dutch studies in Osaka during the Tokugawa period. He was one of the first Japanese scholars of Dutch studies to visit Leiden University in 1862. Furthermore, he emphasized that the rise of Dutch studies in the late 18th century constituted "the origin of civilization in Japan." Nevertheless, previous research has done little to clarify the relationship between Fukuzawa and Dutch studies. This presentation explores the influence of Dutch studies on Fukuzawa's thought about “Civilization” and “Independence” to re-examine the foundation of modern Japan.
About the instructor
Shingo HASHIMOTO, Ph.D., is a historian specializing in pre-modern and modern Japanese intellectual history, focusing on how Japan’s knowledge of the world, particularly the discovery of America, shaped its perception of itself and the West. He earned his doctorate in Arts and Science from Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo, as of October 2024) in 2021. He recently published a monograph, History of Forming the Knowledge and the Ideology of “the United States” in the Late Tokugawa Period (2024). Dr. Hashimoto is currently affiliated with Kitasato University in Kanagawa, Japan.
Takeharu OKUBO, Ph.D. Tokyo Metropolitan University in 2004, is Professor of the History of Asian and Japanese Political Thought at Keio University, Japan. He is now working with the Institute for Area Studies of Leiden University as a visiting scholar from the end of September 2024. He has published widely on intellectual history of cultural exchange between the Netherlands and Japan, including The Quest for Civilization: Encounters with Dutch Jurisprudence, Economics and Statistics at the Dawn of Modern Japan (translated by David Noble, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2014); 'The Concept of Rights in Modern Japan' in Oxford Handbook of Comparative Political Theory (edited by Leigh Jenco et al., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019); and Kindai Nihon no Seiji Kōsō to Oranda (University of Tokyo Press, Expanded Revised Edition, 2022).
