The quest for civilization : encounters with Dutch jurisprudence, political economy,and statistics at the dawn of modern Japan / by Okubo Takeharu ; translated by David Noble.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Takeharu, Okubo, author.

Contributor:

Noble, David, translator.

Standardized Title:

Kindai Nihon no seiji kōsō to Oranda. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political science--Japan--History--19th century.

Political science.

History.

Japan--Civilization--Dutch influences.

Japan.

Civilization.

Physical Description:

xviii, 291 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Leiden, The Netherlands ; Boston : Brill, [2014]

Summary:

Translated by David Noble. This book illuminates the origins of modern Japan through the lens of its cultural contact with the Netherlands providing a rare contribution to the field in English-language literature. Following the “opening” of the country in the 1850s, Japan encountered Western modernity through a quest for knowledge personified by Nishi Amane and Tsuda Mamichi, two young scholars who journeyed to Leiden in 1863 as the first Japanese sent to study in Europe. For two years they were tutored by Simon Vissering – one of the leading Dutch economists of the nineteenth century. Following their return home, their work as government officials and intellectuals played a key role in the introduction of the European social sciences, jurisprudence, and international law to Japan, thereby exerting a decisive influence on the establishment of the modern Japanese state and the redefinition of the international and cultural order in East Asia.

Contents:

Acknowledgments

Preface to the English edition

Introduction

The Dutch constitution of 1848 and the Meiji restoration Confucianism, natural law, and European constitutionalism

The rise of statistical thinking in Meijijapan between Fukuzawa's outline of a theory of civilization and Vissering's lectures on statistics

Dutch political economy and utilitarianism the origins of Nishiamane's philosophy

International law and the quest for civilization

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Translated from Japanese.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9004245367

9789004245365

OCLC:

883747949

Publisher Number:

99960374964