7:45 a.m. The following is a retyping of some notes I made two days ago while reading the first chapter of Japanese Civilization. This is a fairly thick and scholarly book, which is going to require a fair amount of time and concentration to move through and assimilate. However by the end, I hope to have a much clearer and substantive understanding of Japanese history and culture.

The chapter has 5 major sections:

1. The Transition to the Modern Japanese State
2. The Ideology and Civic Theology of the Meiji State
3. Religious Policies: Separation of State and Religion and the Sacralization of the State
4. The Looseness and Hegemony of the Meiji Ideology
5. The Meiji State in a Comparative Perspective.

I decide to read the last section first. Here are the main points that I identified:

• there was a relatively high level of social mobilization
• there was a relatively high level of economic development
• there were many repressive and manipulative measures used to promote the Meiji ideology (this was a bit new to me!)
• Russian, French, American revolutions all tried to destroy the old order whereas Japan tried to build and extend the old order.

Now I went back and made notes on the first section:

• high level of political and administrative centralization (from hundreds of daimyo to a unified state)
• role of the state was important in initiating changes and guiding the transformation
• no clear, preconceived plan or vision; rather a process of trial and error over the first two decades
• many uprisings (this was new to me!): Tokugawa loyalist peasants, local Buddhist priests, dislocated samurai groups
• establishment of universal military conscription, centralized police control and a centralized educational system
• emphasis on tradition and the Bushido ethos
• strong emphasis on capitalism in economic policies
• rise in the scope of social mobility (army helped here) with a strong emphasis on achievement
• the constitution was promoted as a gift of the emperor
• political power was first held by the oligarchy and beauracracy - only later did a representative approach become important.

Section 3 made a few good comments on religious practice:

• the idea that Shinto was not a religion was a gradual idea.
• Shinto became more aligned with civic duty and patriotism
• Shinto gradually acquired a general, rather ambiguous place
• Shinto was considered the repository of official state rites, with a strong emphasis on ancestor worship and civic worship.

These appear to be the major points in this chapter. Rereading the above helps reinforce the importance of all of these points in appreciating much of the present Japanese culture. I am most struck with the gradual nature and evolution of the new Meiji state. In many ways, China today appears to be adopting a similar strategy, whereas Russia is also remaining true to its history of radical shifts. The "long view" appears to have much merit.

Reviewing my three themes, I should now return the first theme on Classical Literature and the Early Greeks. At the moment I am quite pleased with the emergence of the three themes and would like to keep them all alive. I am also pleased with my ability to maintain a regular routine and with the progress I have made in two weeks.