Latin America as a Catalyst to Restore Japanese Culture: Tsurumi Shunsuke’s Post-Mexico Philosophy

Abstract

Tsurumi Shunsuke (1922–2015) was one of the most influential Japanese historians and philosophers of the twentieth century, covering fields such as intellectual history and social history of Japan. He was also a political and peace activist who took part in the anti-US movements that followed the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1952 and its respective ratifications, as well as the Vietnam War and other armed conflicts of the world’s hegemonic powers. Less known is, however, his role as a key figure in connecting Japan and Latin America. The aim of this chapter is to throw light on the role of Tsurumi as a transpacific communicator and to explain how the latter region was involved in his development of a theoretical framework that could redefine Japanese culture and history.

First, the chapter examines the influence that Tsurumi’s uncle, playwright Sano Seki (1905–1966), a former left-wing activist who sought asylum in the USSR in the 1930s and then in Mexico in 1939, had on the historian and philosopher and in his approach to Latin America. Second, it covers Tsurumi’s 1972 trip as a visiting professor to El Colegio de Mexico. It helped him establish a long-term academic relationship between Japan and the Latin America. Particular emphasis will be placed on the account that was a product of this trip, the book Guadarūpe no Seibo (The Virgin Guadalupe, 1976), as well as on other works in which Tsurumi highlighted points of contact between Mexican and Japanese cultures. Third, the chapter mentions the theoretical legacy that Tsurumi left on other writer-travelers to Latin America. As a conclusion to the analysis, the chapter introduces the category of “Another-Other,” which can describe the relationship between Japan and Latin America during the latter half of the twentieth century.