Paging Dr. Nitobe! Social Fevers, Moral Levers, and Doctored Traditions in Bushido: The Soul of Japan. (Thesis + Soundtrack Album)

Abstract

Abstract (Thesis + Soundtrack Album)

Nitobe Inazo’s popular book, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, was an important effort to enshrine a long-standing national identity in Japan with the development of bushido, or the “way of the warrior.” This identity was crafted at the time when the samurai—a status formally defined by warrior consciousness—were themselves being forced to retreat from the national stage. Their cultural charisma shored up a newly crafted cultural institution (bushido) which was posited as the heart and soul of Japanese identity—an invented tradition meant to unify the Japanese domestically and to set Japan apart on the global stage.

This research sought to understand, from a literary standpoint, how Nitobe crafted a unifying Japanese identity through the invention of tradition. I identified and researched an array of scholars who provided insight into invented traditions as an analytical framework, as well as pre-modern and modern Japanese history. Nitobe’s professed Christianity, mastery of the English language, and prolific use of Western allusions likely helped his presentation of bushido as the soul of Japan to be more compelling, engaging, and relatable to Western audiences.

The academic, artistic, and religious profiles of a select few in Nitobe’s Western audience appear to have influenced their responses in terms of their literary tones, emphases on Japanese/Western cultural parallels and affinities, as well as levels of skepticism and opportunism. Yet, even the most skeptical of these Westerners indirectly acknowledged how Nitobe’s Bushido, through the cultural charisma of the samurai, addressed a national desire to weave a distinctively Japanese cultural tapestry of virtue-ethics, inspirational symbols, and patriotic traditions.

For each chapter of the thesis, I created an original song that artistically expresses the themes and core concepts. A lyric excerpt is presented as an epigraph at the opening of each chapter, and the lyrics of the full song are presented at each chapter’s closing. A related footnote for each song is linked to an audio-visual presentation of the song, all playable on my website: https://demoadamolekunharvardalmthesis.bandcamp.com/releases