午夜剧场

As is well known, Japanese history is often divided into four periods: Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern. My specialization, the Early Modern period, generally refers to the era from the Azuchi-Momoyama period to the Edo period.

Ginzo Uchida's "History of Early Modern Japan" (Nihon Kinseishi, Fuzanbo, 1903) is sometimes cited as a pioneering work that advocated for "Early Modern" (Kinsei) as a chronological concept. Uchida was a historian of the Meiji and Taisho eras who taught at Kyoto Imperial University and other institutions. Researchers at Kyoto University seem to have a tendency to hold Uchida in high regard.

On the other hand, some take the position of not highly evaluating the groundbreaking nature of the book, arguing that "Early Modern" in that context meant what we call "Modern" today, and the subsequent "Recent Modern" (Saikinsei) meant the contemporary era. Keeping this perspective in mind, it becomes important to look at the process through which "Recent Modern" was clarified as the concept of the "Modern" period throughout the 20th century, while the preceding "Early Modern" period developed a rich image as an era distinct from the modern age.

That said, the Japanese word "Kinsei" originally carries the meaning of "an era close to the present" (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten). Today, as the Modern era has exceeded 150 years since the start of the Meiji period, the Early Modern period is likely no longer a "close era." The nature of the state and society, as well as the way people live, have transformed significantly.

In the periodization of literary history, there are terms such as Jōko (Ancient), Chūko (Middle), Kinko (Recent Ancient), and Kinsei (Early Modern), where Kinko refers to the period from the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period. In my view, the era from the Azuchi-Momoyama period to the Edo period presents an appearance more like Kinko than Kinsei. It is an era that feels close yet distant.

Since around the 1970s, it has become common to distinguish the "Contemporary" (Gendai) era as the time following Japan's defeat in 1945, separate from the "Modern" (Kindai) era. The view that was influential in the 1960s—which considered the period after the interwar years of the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars as the Contemporary era—faded away. Sometimes, the Contemporary era is included within the Modern era as the age of the nation-state, capitalism, and civil society.

Even if such a Modern era does not pass away for a while, the definition of when the Contemporary era began will likely continue to change. Today, it seems acceptable to regard the period after the 1960s, which experienced rapid economic growth, as the Contemporary era. Alternatively, the Contemporary era might start from the late 1990s, when the IT revolution was loudly proclaimed.

In the future, the existing frameworks of Japanese historical research may become even more unstable. In such a context, how should the "Early Modern" period, including its very name, be retold and passed down?