Sunday, January 6, 2013

Tsuneyoshi Tsuzumi – Japan das Götterland (The Land of Deities) Insel Verlag Leipzig 1936

The book was edited by the Japan-Institut Berlin and published in 1936. The author, an art historian, wrote the book in German while working, lecturing and studying in Berlin. The book has never been published in another language. He aimed to raise the Germans interest into Japanese culture.

The book is structured by the following chapters:
Natürliche Kultur (natural culture)
Shintoistische Weltanschauung (Shintoist philosophy/ideology)
Bedeutung des Shinto-Schreines (significance of the Shinto shrine)
Bedeutung des Shinto-Festes (significance of the Shinto festival)
Japanische Buddhismus (Japanese Buddhism)
Die japanische Rittermoral „Bushido“ (the Japanese knight ethics „Bushido“)
Modernes Japan (modern Japan)

The book was published in Nazi-Germany while the National Socialists controlled the Japan-Institut. However, the author tries to provide information about Japanese culture and religion. He doesn't give any political stance in general or about the Axis powers specifically.


Japanistitut Berlin
The Institut was established in 1926, in the rooms of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft. Even it officially had a scientific approach, there were clearly political ideas behind he institute. After World War One, Germany was looking for partners in peace and cultural exchange. So it's no wonder its financial backing primarily came from the German ministry of foreign affairs.
After the National Socialist took over, the institute changed. It became a part of the Nazi propaganda machine and was of course used to establish relationships among the Axis powers. Besides that the institute kept parts of its independence and could publish works like „Japan das Götterland“.

 More information on Tsuneyoshi Tsuzumi:
Tanehisa Otabe: Tsuneyhosh Tsuzumi, a Pioneer in Comparative Aesthetics, and his theory of "Framlesness of Japanese Artistic Style"
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