The Role of Japanese Studies in Forward-Looking Asian Studies |
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MyongGwan JI |
Former Professor, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University |
日本へのアジア的関心 |
池明觀 |
元東京女子大学教授·元翰林大学校日本学研究所所長 |
Correspondence
MyongGwan JI ,Email: uzzanzi@korea.ac.kr |
Published online: 30 December 2019. |
Copyright ©2023 The Global Institute for Japanese Studies, Korea University |
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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ABSTRACT |
It is essential for Japanese studies in Korea to focus on the influence of the relationship between Korea, China, and Japan on modern Japanese history, as well as the significance of the development of their relationship in Northeast Asian and world history. While Europe has undergone self-reflection on its past wars and history and achieved integration, Northeast Asia has not yet engaged in such self-examination. Korea is one of the few partitioned countries in the world, which is a legacy of the Japanese occupation of Joseon as well as of the aftermath of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. The political wherewithal to resolve this issue has not yet emerged in Northeast Asia, and nationalist impulses in the region are strong.
Japanese studies scholars should focus on the relationship between Korea and Japan and the necessary direction of Japanese studies in Korea, rather than on this political issue. In addition, the desirable direction of Korean studies in Japan should also be assessed. This can be conceived of as an extended joint research field comprised of Asian studies carried out by Asian people. We should when necessary criticize and resist nationalist developments, and supersede obsolete ideologies. We should aim to study diversity and culture in order to foster peace in Northeast Asia, and identify a direction that Japanese studies can take in order to go beyond a politics mired in nationalism. All this can be supported by Asian studies performed by Asians. The goal should be to overcome the current political confrontation between Korea and Japan through civil solidarity. Based upon this solidarity, the birth of a new era of Japanese studies can be achieved. |
Keywords:
Northeast Asia, Japanese Studies, Korea-Japan Relationship, Asian Studies, Civil Solidarity
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キ―ワ―ド:
北東アジア, 日本学, 日韓関係, アジア研究, 市民的連帯 |
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