Political philosophy in modern Japan

Abstract

This essay examines Japanese political philosophy in the modern age, that is, in the period since the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The first observation we may make is that works of political philosophy in modern Japan are neither systematic nor metaphysical, unlike Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651), Hegel’s Philosophy of Right of Law (1821), and other Western philosophical treatises. On the whole, the Japanese works are situational and practical, falling rather in the broad category of political discourse. This characteristic may be attributed first to the turbulent history of Japan’s modernization and, second, to the fact that political theses were advanced not only by philosophers but by journalists, political scientists, and activist intellectuals. I shall discuss the ideas and activities of certain of these opinion leaders with a view to illustrating this peculiar brand of political philosophy in modern Japan.