Sukehiro Hirakawa

Japan's Love-hate Relationship with the West Sukehiro Hirakawa

With introductory chapters on Japan's historic love-hate relationship with China, the author goes on to explore his subject under five main themes: Europeanization fever and conservative reaction, which includes a discussion on Samuel Smiles's "Self-Help" - the best-selling guidebook for Meiji Japan's modernization; from war to peace, which includes an analysis of Takeyama Michio's "Harp of Burma" (1948) and the image of former British enemies; attempt at reciprocal elucidation, which includes an appraisal of the "Divine Comedy" from a Japanese perspective; Lafcadio Hearn's "Understanding of the Ghostly World of the Japanese", including a chapter on animistic belief and its use in Japanese literature; and Japanese writers between East and West, including an evaluation of Takamura Kotaro's love-hate relationship with the West.