On the “Nature” of Japanese Culture, or, is there a Japanese Sense of Nature?

Martinez, Dolores P.

doi:10.1002/9780470996966.ch12

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Although I have spoken of Japanese ideas and images of nature as playing a key role in the promulgation of the Japanese national imaginary, this understanding of nature is not ubiquitous in Japan; nature in Japan is not a singular experience. As D. P. Martinez (2005) argues in her ethnographic work on Japanese fishing villages, differences in attitudes and ideas surrounding nature were found to exist on the basis of class differences, with rural fishermen being more observant of environmental issues and urban dwellers engaging in nature much more indifferently. Nancy Rosenberger (1997) argues that nature is understood differently on the basis of gender and can in many ways legitimize gender difference itself, as demonstrated through her analysis of the role of nature tropes in Japanese women's magazines.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

From Nature to Nation

MacNeil¹

1969

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This article critically examines the history of Japanese ideas and images of nature, particularly how those ideas and images relate to the production of the modern Japanese nation-state and Japanese national identity. Drawing crucially upon Julia Adeney Thomas’s historical work on the politics of nature in Japan, while examining the lives and work of Shiga Shigetaka, Yanagita Kunio, and Watsuji Tetsur¯o, the link between nation and nature, and how those two concepts have been fashioned together throughout Japan’s modern history, is explored. This article identifies the context in which the Japanese “love of nature” is constructed through these key figures, arguing that this understanding of nature took precedence precisely because it serves to inform the Japanese national imaginary, giving voice and distinction to the Japanese nationstate. Ultimately, it is argued that this close relationship between nation and nature is undeniably a modern one, and it exemplifies but one expression in a multitude of Japanese reactions to modernity and the concomitant threat of western influence and hegemony that began during the Meiji period.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

From Nature to Nation

MacNeil¹

1969

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“…The Japanese people are generally believed to have a unique reverence for nature [8,9]. Some believe the reverence may be attributed to the agrarian history of Japan, where people believed that the divine "Kami" ancestral spirits were an important part of nature, and this developed into the Shinto religion.…”

Section: Ohanami's Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some believe the reverence may be attributed to the agrarian history of Japan, where people believed that the divine "Kami" ancestral spirits were an important part of nature, and this developed into the Shinto religion. Others attribute the reverence for nature to the very distinctive and powerful seasons of Japan [9]. For whatever reason, this reverence towards nature has resulted in one of the most powerful festivals in Japan, known as Ohanami, or "cherry blossom festivals" [10].…”

Section: Ohanami's Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sustainability of Ohanami Cherry Blossom Festivals as a Cultural Icon

Moriuchi

Basil

2019

Sustainability

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Background: One important form of sustainability is the continuation of culture and cultural practices. This study examined the case of Japanese Ohanami or cherry blossom festivals. Historically, Ohanami focused on the cherry blossom as a symbol of spring’s arrival, where communal aspects, consumption of sake and seasonal foods, painting or photography, and pilgrimages to sacred sites were used to celebrate the ephemeral aspects of blossoms, spring, and life. Methods: This study examines how cherry blossom festivals are celebrated and understood and how these celebrations are changing. Results: Current celebrations demonstrate several forces are changing this celebration. The changes in cherry blossom festivals are seen in four areas (bonding, cultural continuity, marketing exploitation, and cultural symbolism). Cherry blossom festivals are also observed overseas—at first glance this suggests its continuity, however, the ways in which Ohanami is observed raise concerns about the accuracy of this cultural practice. Conclusion: Ohanami celebrations are celebrated both in Japan and overseas, and although their practice continues, the nature of the cultural celebrations are changing.

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“…Such idealized views of Nature found in Japan and other Asian nations have always been ambiguous (Thornber 2012). The link between class and aesthetic ideas about Japanese Nature has been critiqued by several authors (Kada et al 2006;Martinez 2005). However, our growing scientific ability to see and measure Nature has shown us that it is a much messier and uncannier thing than we ever imagined (Morton 2010(Morton , 2013.…”

Section: Where Is Asia In the Anthropocene?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Placing Asia in the Anthropocene: Histories, Vulnerabilities, Responses

Hudson¹

2014

J of Asian Stud

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In the nineteenth century, the Mekong, Red, and Chao Phraya river deltas in Southeast Asia underwent a massive expansion in agricultural settlement and engineering (Dao and Molle 2000). Contending with crocodiles and herds of wild elephants in addition to more prosaic insect and bird pests (Terwiel 1989), settlers struggled successfully to make these deltas highly productive centers of rice and other agriculture. Such struggles, which were until very recently confidently labeled as “Man's Conquest of Nature,” used to be seen as representing Progress with a capital P. Historically, few men or women had doubts about the real struggle involved in making a living from Nature. In a lecture given in 1877, William Morris explained that “the race of man must either labour or perish. Nature does not give us our livelihood gratis; we must win it by toil of some sort or degree” (W. Morris 2008, 1). Human evolution could thus be summarized as a story in which “Man struggled with nature, and he is conquering it gradually through his intelligence, inventiveness, and skill” (Sigerist 1936, 597). Progress was the process by whichMan Makes Himself, to cite the title of Gordon Childe's influential 1936 book on archaeology. By the nineteenth century, the problem for socialists such as Morris was that “the fruits of our victory over Nature [have] been stolen from us” (W. Morris 2008, 10); the basic necessity of “conquering” Nature was not disputed.

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On the “Nature” of Japanese Culture, or, is there a Japanese Sense of Nature?

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

From Nature to Nation

From Nature to Nation

The Sustainability of Ohanami Cherry Blossom Festivals as a Cultural Icon

Placing Asia in the Anthropocene: Histories, Vulnerabilities, Responses

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