뉴스레터

In 2020, another conflict is blowing. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, mutual entry between Korea and Japan is strictly controlled and conflicts between the two countries are amplifying. The embargo on Japan's semiconductor parts for Korea in 2019 has begun to become more strained with the rapidly frozen Korea-Japan relationship not recovering.

In this phenomenon, Korea and Japan are mistaken for not being a historical problem, but as if they are naturalized among countries like the 'natural enemy' of the animal system.

2018 marks the 150th anniversary of the great political transformation of the Meiji Restoration(1868) in Japan. In Japan, the 'Meiji Restoration' is the first to remind us of the success of westernization and modernization. In the domestic world, the feudal system was abolished and it was transformed into a modern political system centered on the emperor. Outside, it began to invade neighboring countries by taking advantage of the achievements of westernization and modernization faster than the surrounding countries. Starting with the invasion of Taiwan in 1874, the Japanese defeat in 1945 was a series of wars.

It is a well-known fact that the Meiji Restoration has been talked about as an example of success in relation to modernization and westernization in Korea. However, recent evaluations have changed a lot because there are positive parts of the Meiji Restoration and studies on negative aspects. For example, the process of the Meiji Restoration was distorted a lot, the fact that the Sacho-Sakwan(Keunwang-Sakwan) has an excessive influence, and that the new government forces led by Satsuma and Choshu during the Mujin War(1868-1869) carried out battles with various allies and plundered, arsoned, and raped.

『The issue of Invasive Character and Re-perception of the Meiji Restoration』 published by NAHF describes not only the historical case of the Meiji Restoration as a successful modernization and westernization, but also the aspects that took the lives of the people of Japan and neighboring countries and made them unhappy. In other words, it contains eight papers that identify the source of aggression inherent in the Restoration and how the Meiji Restoration is newly interpreted and re-recognized in today's right-wing Japanese society.

The Thought of Divine Kingdom and Invasiveness(Park Hong-gyu) says that the fictional idea(Nihon shoki) changed into defensive idea(Mongolian invasion period) according to the situation at the time, and developed into relative supremacy idea(Jinno Shotoki), absolute supremacy idea(Yoshida Shinto).

It also reveals that it has been explicitly expressed invasive character as it developed into self-satisfied exclusive thought(Tosho Dai gongen), absolute superiority thought(Moto’ori Norinaga), and emperor-centered trivial thought(Yoshida Shoin).

「The Recognition of War by Hiroyuki Kato and evolutionary theory – Focusing on the Descriptions of First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese Wars」(Kim Do-hyung) argues that the process of justifying the development through war can be examined in East Asian situations, along with the influence of evolutionary theory on the formation of self-awareness.

It does not only contain the awareness of the way of recognizing the invasion idea or war as the existing 'Japanese speciality'. It is very significant that it provided an expanded view of justification of civilization, war and invasion as a universal period recognition.

「Consideration on the Responsibility of Education for War - Focusing on the period of First Sino-Japanese War·Russo-Japanese Wars」(Lee Kwon-hee) set the theme of "Education and War in Modern Japan" and examined the educational situation before and after the announcement of "The Imperial Edict on Education" focusing on the nationalism and militaristic nature of education.

Japan did not tolerate the people as self-determined people who enjoyed emotional freedom in the private sector. And it had to give birth to a history of tragedy that planted distorted national views and invasion ideas and drove neighboring countries into a whirlwind of unfortunate history.

The Imperial Edict on Education (1890.10)

「The Abe Administration’s Memory of Meiji and its Politics : Focusing on the 150th Anniversary of the Meiji Restoration Project」(Park Sam-heon) analyzed the meaning of the contents of the 'praise for the Meiji era' and the political schedule of 'revision of the Constitution' scheduled for 2020.

Since 2016, the Abe administration has promoted the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration with the aim of ‘education of Meiji spirit and re-recognition of Japan’s strengths’. However, this project emphasizes only the success story of Meiji, eliminating the war(First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese Wars), Asia(the colonization of Taiwan and Joseon), and the people(women, etc.).

The politician Abe has a political belief that constitutional amendment is a symbol and a method of restoring independence. The author points out that Abe is relying on the memory of the Meiji people and Japanese struggling to revise the inequality treaty for Japan's independence, and repeatedly appealing to the current Japanese people.

Recently, there has been a study that reflects the tendency of the international community to emphasize human rights, and that the number of deaths in the Meiji Restoration process is small. According to this study, the death toll in the Meiji Restoration process is about 30,000, which is called 'revolution' in terms of abolishing the ruling status(Musa) and the discrimination status.

But this is a matter of deep concern: the Meiji Restoration, which has invaded and colonized neighboring countries and lost millions of lives. And the French Revolution, which provided the ideology of freedom, philanthropy and equality to the myriad lives that were suppressed worldwide, although 2 million people died. Could not we compare these two cases simply with the death toll?

150th anniversary ceremony of Meiji Restoration ⓒYonhap News