Kanji Nishio

Kanji Nishio ( Japanese 西 尾 幹 二 , Nishio Kanji ; born July 20, 1935 in Tokyo Prefecture ) is a Japanese German studies scholar. He was a university professor of literature in Tokyo and is known for his Nietzsche translation, for his contributions to literature and philosophy, and also for his contributions to questions of Japanese and Western society.

Career and work

Nishio graduated from the University of Tokyo with a bachelor's degree in 1958 with a thesis on German literature. In 1961 he became a master at the same university. In 1964 he took on an assistant position at the Denki Tsūshin Daigaku ( 電 気 通信 大学 ), then went from 1965 to 1967 for a research stay at the University of Munich . Back at his university in Tokyo, he became a professor there in 1975. In 1979 he received his doctorate with a thesis on the early Nietzsche. In 1999 he finished his university career.

Nishio's publications include more than 70 books. In addition, more than 30 translations can be traced back to him - occasionally with co-authors. He was involved in translating the complete edition of Friedrich Nietzsche by the Walter de Gruyter publishing house , and he was the translator of works by other German philosophers, among others. a. von Schopenhauer's Die Welt as Will and Idea .

Nishio and Germany

During his stay in Germany from 1965 to 1967, Nishio mainly dealt with Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. But he also traveled around the country and published his observations.

In 1978 he broadcast a lecture on the 2. Bayerischer Rundfunk with the title The Exclusivity of Europe . The Japanese title Yōroppa no heisa-sei ( ヨ ー ロ ッ パ の 閉鎖 性 ), “Europe that is marginalized”, shows a line of his criticism of Europe early on.

In 1980 Nishio was in Germany at the invitation of the DAAD . In autumn 1982, supported by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, a series of lectures entitled What is modern Japan? . In this lecture, which was held between September 29 and October 11 in Kiel, Lüneburg, Hamburg, Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Munich and Stuttgart, Nishio explained that it was precisely for this reason that European intellectual history could be received so quickly in Japan because they had a good own intellectual historical basis for this, that the current economic recession in Germany was due to the fact that one here failed to For example, to invest in the electronics industry so that something is now being repeated that resembles the rise of Germany within Europe a hundred years ago: that Japan is now being viewed with suspicion, as was Germany at the time.

In 1988 the literary-intellectual monthly magazine Chūōkōron published a contribution by Nishio under the title Some questions to Helmut Schmidt: The Eurocentrism of Germans and their “ coming to terms with the past”. , in which he critically examines Helmut Schmidt's view of Japan, repeatedly expressed in various magazines. Among other things, Nishio writes that Schmidt's remark that Japan has no friends in its neighborhood, that, unlike Germany, does not speak the language of its neighboring countries, is not wrong, but fails to recognize that Germany is located within linguistically related Europe and therefore not with Japan The edge of a heterogeneous East Asia can be compared in this way. In his contribution, Nishio suggested to Schmidt “to finally get away from the traditional custom in Europe of showering Japan with pedagogical advice”. - Japan would undoubtedly have committed atrocities of war, but not something that could be compared to the factory-like extermination of many millions of Jews. It is understandable, therefore, that there is a difference in the Japanese attitude towards the Pacific War compared to the German attitude towards two world wars that Germany has started.

Final remark

Nishio's lasting merit is his translations of the works of Nietzsche (the eighth since 1911) and Schopenhauer. The criticism he formulated in the 1980s of the European self-centeredness that was often noticeable at the time should be noted.

Fonts (selection)

• Yōroppa no kojinshugi ( ヨ ー ロ ッ パ の 個人主義 , "Europe's individualism"), 1969.
• Higekijin no shisei ( 悲劇 人 の 姿勢 , “The attitude of tragic people”), 1971.
• Kaigi no seishin ( 懐 疑 の 精神 , "The Spirit of Skepticism"), 1974.
• Nīche ( ニ ー チ ェ , "Nietzsche") 1977, 2001.
• Hikari to dangai, saibannen no Nīche ( 光 と 断崖, 最 晚年 の ニ ー チ ェ , "Light and Abyss, Nietzsche's last years")
• Shōpenhauā to Doitsu shisō ( シ ョ ー ペ ン ハ ウ ア ー と ド イ ツ 思想 , "Schopenhauer and the German world of thought")
• Soren chishikijin tono taiwa, Doitsu saihakken no tabi ( ソ 連 知識 人 と の 対 話 、 ド イ ツ 再 発 見 の 旅 , “Conversations with Russian intellectuals, Germany: Journey of rediscovery”), 1979.
• Nihon no kyōiku, Doitsu no kyōiku ( 日本 の 教育 、 ド イ ツ の 教育 , "Education in Japan, Education in Germany"), 1982.
• Bungaku hyōron ( 文学 評論 , "Critique of Spiritual Science")
• Yōroppa tono taiketsu ( ヨ ー ロ ッ パ と の 対 決 , "dealing with Europe")
• Jiyū no higeki ( 自由 の 悲劇 , "Tragedy of Freedom"), 1990.
• Nihon no kodoku ( 日本 の 孤独 , "The isolation of Japan"), 1991.
• Zentaishugi no noroi ( 全体 主義 の 呪 い , "The Curse of the Everything Principle"), 1993.
• Jinsei no kachi ni tsuite ( 人生 の 価 値 に つ い て , “About the worth of a person”), 1996.
• Watakushi no Shōwa-shi ( わ た し の 昭和 史 , "My story of the Shōwa time").
• Shimmotsu suru rekishi ( 沈 黙 す る 歴 史 , "history falling silent ").
• Chainiban: Minzoku no rekishi ( 決定 版 国民 の 歴 史 , "History of the People, Final Edition").
• Nihon no kompon mondai ( 日本 の 根本 問題 , "Fundamental Problems of Japan").
• Edo no dainamitizumu ( 江 戶 の ダ イ ナ ミ テ ィ ズ ム , “The Dynamics of the Edo Period”) 2007.
• Kiki ni tatsu hoshu ( 危機 に 立 つ 保守 , "Against the crisis, steadfastly conservative").
• Rekishi shikan no kakumei ( 歴 史 史 観 の 革新 , "Revolution in the historical consideration of history").

Remarks

1. ↑ A detailed discussion can be found in
   • "Different tragedies: Japan and Germany" ( 異 な る 悲劇 日本 と ド イ ツ , Kotonaru higeki: Nihon to Doitsu ), 1994.
   • "Does Japan bear the same guilt as the Nazis ?: Different tragedies" ( 日本 は ナ チ ス と 同 罪 か 異 な る 悲劇 , Nihon wa Nachisu to dōzai ka: kotonaru higeki ). WAC Bunko, 2005. ISBN 4-89831-539-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nishio Kanji zenshu. Dai-ikkan. Yoroppa no kojin-shugi . Kojusho, 2012. ISBN 978-4-336-05380-0 .
2. ^ Translated into German by Renate Herold, printed by Sansyusha, Tokyo, 1980.
3. ^ Lecture manuscript, 1982. 57 typewriter pages.
4. ↑ Chūōkōron, July 1988. German translation by Satoru Tanaka. 20 typewriter pages