Wakon yosai
Wakon Yōsai ( Japanese 和 魂 洋 才 , dt. "Japanese spirit and western technology") is a Japanese catchphrase from the late Meiji period (around 1880s to 1910s ). It is attributed to the Japanese scholar Fukuzawa Yukichi .
What is meant is that the western scientific and technical achievements, which had completely changed life in Japan since the Meiji Restoration , should be linked to traditional Japanese culture , religion and values and traditions.
The slogan was an expression of a counter-movement against the early spirit of the Meiji period, which saw Japanese culture as inferior to Western culture in every respect. According to the will of the early reformers, Japan should break completely with its traditions and orient its entire way of life towards the West. Their catchphrase was "superior western culture and backward Japanese culture" ( 優 れ た 西洋 文化 と 遅 れ た 日本 文化 , sugureta seiyō bunka to okureta nihon bunka ).
About a generation later, when the first Western teachers ( O-yatoi gaikokujin ) left the country and were replaced by Japanese who had studied abroad, this attitude changed again. A counter-movement reflected on Japanese traditions and values such as Confucianism .
Wakon Yōsai is a modification of the older slogan wakon kansai ( 和 魂 漢 才 , dt. "Japanese spirit and Chinese technique"). This comes from the Kokugaku School, when a Japanese national consciousness developed in the period of Japanese isolation, in contrast to Chinese thinking ( Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism ).
See also
- sonnō jōi ("Worship the emperor, drive out the barbarians")
- fukoku kyōhei ("rich country and strong army")
Individual evidence
- ↑ 和 魂 洋 才 . In: 朝日 日本 歴 史 人物 事 典 at kotobank.jp. Asahi Shimbun Shuppan, accessed April 26, 2012 (Japanese).
- ↑ 和 魂 漢 才 . In: 朝日 日本 歴 史 人物 事 典 at kotobank.jp. Asahi Shimbun Shuppan, accessed April 26, 2012 (Japanese).