− | Nitobe Inazô was a [[Meiji period]] writer, perhaps best known for his book ''[[Bushido: the Soul of Japan]]'', which remains one of the chief sources for much of the modern misconceptions about the [[samurai]]. Nitobe was also an avid writer on colonization and colonialism, particularly on Japanese colonial rule in [[Taiwan]]. | + | Nitobe Inazô was a [[Meiji period]] writer, perhaps best known for his book ''[[Bushido: the Soul of Japan]]'', which remains one of the chief sources for much of the modern misconceptions about the [[samurai]]. Nitobe was also an avid writer on colonization and colonialism, particularly on Japanese colonial rule in [[Taiwan]]. He was known as a devout [[Christianity|Christian]].<ref name=peattie114>Peattie, 114.</ref> |
| In [[1908]], Nitobe was named the first chair of colonial studies at the [[University of Tokyo]]. A series of lectures he gave on the subject in 1916-1917 have been described as having "constituted the first systematic study of the subject in Japan."<ref>[[Mark Peattie]], "Japanese Attitudes toward Colonialism, 1895-1945," in Peattie and Ramon Myers (eds.), ''The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945'', Princeton University Press (1984), 86.</ref> His views on the subject included the idea that "lesser" "inferior" races could be uplifted, civilized, through assimilation into the "superior" culture - that is, Japanese culture, values, attitudes - but only gradually over a very long period of time, and relative to the degree of cultural difference between the two to begin with. Thus, he advocated that Koreans might be able to be assimilated relatively quickly, but that it could take as long as 800 years of colonial rule for the Taiwanese to be guided into becoming fully civilized, modern, people.<ref>Peattie, 95, 99.</ref> | | In [[1908]], Nitobe was named the first chair of colonial studies at the [[University of Tokyo]]. A series of lectures he gave on the subject in 1916-1917 have been described as having "constituted the first systematic study of the subject in Japan."<ref>[[Mark Peattie]], "Japanese Attitudes toward Colonialism, 1895-1945," in Peattie and Ramon Myers (eds.), ''The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945'', Princeton University Press (1984), 86.</ref> His views on the subject included the idea that "lesser" "inferior" races could be uplifted, civilized, through assimilation into the "superior" culture - that is, Japanese culture, values, attitudes - but only gradually over a very long period of time, and relative to the degree of cultural difference between the two to begin with. Thus, he advocated that Koreans might be able to be assimilated relatively quickly, but that it could take as long as 800 years of colonial rule for the Taiwanese to be guided into becoming fully civilized, modern, people.<ref>Peattie, 95, 99.</ref> |