Historical Perspectives and the History of Historiography

—— A Quick Guide to Japanese History through the Lens of Modern Philosophy

From the Edo period, when the academic level of the Japanese people improved dramatically, to the present day, how have we "cooked" and processed history? Rather than focusing on historical facts themselves, this text explains the transition of "Historical Views" (the lenses through which we view history) from a modern perspective.

Keywords: Kimon School, Mito School, Imperial View of History (Kokoku Shikan), Historical Materialism, Positivism, Nietzschean View (?), and others.

1. The "Deconstruction" of History: The End of Absolute Truth

First, we must understand how the modern concept of "correct history" was dismantled. Michel Foucault, a structuralist (or post-structuralist) who can be classified as a historian and sociologist, deconstructed the peculiar modern notion of "objective and orthodox history." This is different from the "End of History" proposed by Hegel or Fukuyama; it is the perspective of the "History of the Present" (past carved out for the sake of the present).

Broadly speaking, the following "resignations" or "realizations" are the premises of the modern age:

1. Irreproducibility: Because the past never returns, accurate truth is unknowable in principle.

2. Power/Knowledge: The history we feel we "know" is merely a narrative stitched together from documents and circulated as "truth" within the power structures of that era.

3. Fluidity: If new documents emerge or interpretations change, historical facts (established theories) change rapidly.

4. Structural Limits: The modern belief that we could "restore the accurate past" or hold "the one correct historical view" was a major mistake.

When said aloud, it seems obvious. However, in the modern era, pointing this out was shocking, which is precisely why modern philosophy (Postmodernism) became fashionable.

2. Viewing History through Narrative

Even if we say "we cannot know the truth," knowing the flow of history is useful. What is important is not the memorization of facts, but the meta-perspective: "In what narrative framework (historical view) has history been told?"

[The Origin of Japan as a "Weird Country"] The Kimon School (Kimon-gaku)

Japan is a quite peculiar country within the East Asian Sinosphere. The theoretical pillar of this "weirdness" is the Kimon School, founded by the early Edo period Confucian scholar Yamazaki Ansai and his disciples (such as Asami Keisai). Ansai researched Neo-Confucianism—the official scholarship of the shogunate—to its limit and derived a surprising logical conclusion: "Chinese dynasties are full of revolutions (coups) and lack virtue. The Japanese Imperial Family, with its unbroken lineage and no dynastic changes, is the 'True Middle Kingdom' that fits the logic of Neo-Confucianism." In short, he forcibly moved the legitimate successor of Chinese civilization from China to Japan.

Around the same time, the Ancient Learning schools (scholars like Ito Jinsai and Ogyu Sorai) thoroughly analyzed Chinese texts and developed radical arguments, such as, "If Confucius were to attack Japan, killing Confucius would be the true Confucian way." This trend of "relativizing China" led to the later ideology of Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians (Sonnō Jōi).

[The OS of the Meiji Restoration] The Mito School (Mito-gaku)

Modern Ibaraki Prefecture (Mito) is known for soccer and industry, and holds important shrines (Kashima, Katori, Ikisu), but in the Bakumatsu (end of the Edo) period, Mito was the "true protagonist" of history. While the content of the Mito School included rehashes of the Kimon School, its achievement in systematizing this into a national ideology (Sonnō Jōi) and operating it was immeasurable. If you understand the Mito School—which provided the logic to overthrow the Shogunate despite being one of the three branches of the Tokugawa family—you can clearly understand the seemingly inexplicable actions of the last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (who was from Mito), as rationality based on Mito logic.

3. The Pendulum of Modern Historical Views

From the Meiji era onwards, the "Imperial View of History" (Kokoku Shikan), based on the Mito School, became the official Operating System. However, this became taboo after Japan's defeat in WWII, and "Historical Materialism" (Marxist history) took an overwhelmingly dominant position in the postwar period.

The Dream and Setback of Historical Materialism

Until around the 1970s, intellectuals around the world believed that a "planned economy would open the future of humanity." In Japan, leftist ideologies were trendy, represented by the Communist Party, radical student sects (Chukaku-ha, Kakumaru-ha), and culturally by YMO's "Mao suit" fashion or the activities of intellectuals like Ryu Ota and Makoto Oda. It was also during this era that the repatriation project to North Korea was carried out, believing it to be a "paradise on earth."

However, with the Prague Spring, the exposure of the reality of the Cultural Revolution, and the economic victory of capitalist countries, the "Grand Narrative" of Marxism collapsed. In the world of historiography, "Positivist History" (such as Yoshihiko Amino), which eliminated ideological coloring, and social history influenced by the French Annales School became mainstream. Also, just as EBM (Evidence-Based Medicine) became established in medicine from the 1990s, historiography gradually began to emphasize procedures as a "science."

4. A Nietzschean View? — "Elite Narcissism" vs. "The Strength of Mud"

Here, let us hypothesize a "Nietzschean View" to look at the deep psychology moving history. We can see an eternal conflict between the "Narcissistic Elite" and the "Shrewd Masses."

Elite Narcissistic Personality (NPD)

Revolutionaries, leaders, and elites in history often exhibit tendencies of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

• Inflated sense of self-importance and entitlement.

• Lack of empathy for others (the masses).

• Self-contradiction whereby failure cannot be admitted.

They are arrogant when successful but fragile in the face of setbacks. The way former student activists "transferred" to environmental activities, human rights movements, or subcultures after their political setbacks looks like a defense mechanism to avoid anomie (normlessness) and protect their wounded narcissism. This is a variation of what Nietzsche pointed out as Ressentiment (resentment) or the "Will to Power."

The Strength of Peasants and Commoners (The People as "Mud")

On the other hand, the "commoners, peasants, and masses"—whom the intelligentsia look down upon and sometimes even hate—are surprisingly tough and shrewd. "Japanese history is the history of tax evasion." (Ango Sakaguchi, Sequel to Discourse on Decadence) "In the end, the winners were them, the peasants." (Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai) Like the people depicted by Dostoevsky or the Am ha-aretz (People of the Land) in ancient Judea, commoners move not by lofty ideals or ethics, but by survival instincts and realistic benefits.

Elites get irritated with the foolish masses who do not act according to ideals, but it is undoubtedly these masses—like "mud"—who support the foundation (soil) of history. To speak in terms of Laozi/Zhuangzi thought: just as walking is supported not only by the "being" (the ground your foot touches) but also by the vast "non-being" (the ground you don't step on), the visible stage of history (the history of elites) is supported by the activities of countless commoners (the power of decomposition and circulation like mud, soil bacteria, and earthworms) that remain unrecorded.

5. Invisible History and the Power of Fiction

Ultimately, the most critical parts of history do not remain as documents.

Conspiracy and Narrative

Think of the gazebos extending over ponds in the gardens of feudal lords (Daimyo) across Japan. Truly important secret talks were held orally in such places, leaving no evidence. Just as the radical leftist sect Chukaku-ha used water-soluble paper, or like the slush funds of politicians, the core of history always resides in the darkness bordering on "conspiracy theories" and is never visualized forever. Just as you cannot see the wiring or structural materials behind the walls of a beautifully finished house, "Evidence-Based" approaches or Positivism miss this "unclean wiring."

Lies that Support Truth

That is why history requires "imagination" and "fiction." The Romance of the Three Kingdoms rather than the official Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Ryoma Sakamoto depicted by Ryotaro Shiba rather than the historical Ryoma—these have moved people's hearts and moved actual history. The common people seek dreams, satisfaction of self-esteem, and heroes. In countries like South Korea, China, or the former Soviet Union, fiction sometimes reaches the realm of fantasy and becomes a national identity.

Summary: History as a Safety Net

When we look at history with the compound eyes of modern philosophy and psychoanalysis, we can see the "Karma of humanity" and the invisible skeleton of society that are not found in textbooks. The narcissistic rampage of the elite and the shrewd survival strategies of the commoners—all of this is history. Knowing these large frameworks should serve as a surprisingly good safety net for surviving in modern society.