Yoshihiko Amino
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese Marxist
historian
and public intellectual, perhaps most singularly known for his novel examination of medieval Japanese history. Although little of the work by Amino has been published in the West, Japanese writers and historians of Japan regard Amino as one of the most important Japanese historians of the twentieth century.
in 1928, Amino received a high school education in Tokyo
. Amino studied under the Marxist historian Ishimoda Shō
at the University of Tokyo
, where he first became involved in both Marxist historiography
and the student movement during the early postwar period. Following graduation, Amino taught for several years at the high school level, beginning his career as a university professor at Nagoya University
in 1956 as an assistant professor before taking up a post at Kanagawa University
in 1980 as a professor of the university's Junior College and a Kanagawa Research Fellow, exchanging a more prestigious teaching position at a national university for the opportunity to devote more energy to research and publication. There, with his colleague, the anthropologist Miyata Noboru
(宮田 登; 1936–2000), he ran an interdisciplinary seminar at the newly founded Institute for the Study of Japanese Folklore (日本常民文化研究所) established in 1982. Although Amino continued in his capacity as a writer until his death, he retired from both institutional teaching and research in 1998.
Amino began his career researching the lifestyles of out-of-the way villagers and marginalized non-urbanized Japanese. His scrupulous examination of primary sources enabled him to reconstruct the outlooks of a variety of non-agrarian peasant communities that shared little in common with the image of "the Japanese" constructed by scholarship and nationalist historians. He arrived at the conclusion that medieval Japan was neither a single culturally- and socially-integrated state, but rather a mosaic of quite distinct societies, some of which knew nothing, for example, about the Japanese emperor. From these beginnings he undertook, especially in the last three decades of his life, an extensive rewriting of the common orthodoxies about Japanese history and Japanese society, which had exercised a powerful hegemony over academics and their national audience since the Meiji period
. In this sense, he became one of the great academic deconstructors of the premises and mythology of the nihonjinron
.
He died of lung cancer on February 27, 2004, aged 76.
Professor of History William Johnston writes that "a complete introduction to the Amino oeuvre would probably require its own book."
Simultaneously, Johnston writes that
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and public intellectual, perhaps most singularly known for his novel examination of medieval Japanese history. Although little of the work by Amino has been published in the West, Japanese writers and historians of Japan regard Amino as one of the most important Japanese historians of the twentieth century.
Biography
Born in Yamanashi PrefectureYamanashi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Kōfu.-Pre-history to the 14th century:People have been living in the Yamanashi area for about 30,000 years...
in 1928, Amino received a high school education in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Amino studied under the Marxist historian Ishimoda Shō
Ishimoda Sho
in Sapporo the capital of Hokkaidō was a Japanese historian, specializing in ancient Japanese history, with a particular interest in the nature of the structural transition from the ancient to the medieval period...
at the University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
, where he first became involved in both Marxist historiography
Marxist historiography
Marxist or historical materialist historiography is a school of historiography influenced by Marxism. The chief tenets of Marxist historiography are the centrality of social class and economic constraints in determining historical outcomes....
and the student movement during the early postwar period. Following graduation, Amino taught for several years at the high school level, beginning his career as a university professor at Nagoya University
Nagoya University
Nagoya University is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. It can be seen in the several rankings such as shown below.-General Rankings:...
in 1956 as an assistant professor before taking up a post at Kanagawa University
Kanagawa University
, abbreviated to is a private university in Japan. The main campus is located in Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.- History :The university was founded in 1928 by as . It was an evening school for the working youth...
in 1980 as a professor of the university's Junior College and a Kanagawa Research Fellow, exchanging a more prestigious teaching position at a national university for the opportunity to devote more energy to research and publication. There, with his colleague, the anthropologist Miyata Noboru
Miyata Noboru
was a Japanese folklorist, and a close collaborator and friend of the historian Amino Yoshihiko. He graduated from the department of literature at Tokyo University of Education in 1960, was appointed Assistant Lecturer at the Tokyo Gakugei University in 1970, and became full-time professor at the...
(宮田 登; 1936–2000), he ran an interdisciplinary seminar at the newly founded Institute for the Study of Japanese Folklore (日本常民文化研究所) established in 1982. Although Amino continued in his capacity as a writer until his death, he retired from both institutional teaching and research in 1998.
Amino began his career researching the lifestyles of out-of-the way villagers and marginalized non-urbanized Japanese. His scrupulous examination of primary sources enabled him to reconstruct the outlooks of a variety of non-agrarian peasant communities that shared little in common with the image of "the Japanese" constructed by scholarship and nationalist historians. He arrived at the conclusion that medieval Japan was neither a single culturally- and socially-integrated state, but rather a mosaic of quite distinct societies, some of which knew nothing, for example, about the Japanese emperor. From these beginnings he undertook, especially in the last three decades of his life, an extensive rewriting of the common orthodoxies about Japanese history and Japanese society, which had exercised a powerful hegemony over academics and their national audience since the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
. In this sense, he became one of the great academic deconstructors of the premises and mythology of the nihonjinron
Nihonjinron
The term literally means theories/discussions about the Japanese. The term refers to a genre of texts that focuses on issues of Japanese national and cultural identity. The literature is vast, ranging over such varied fields as sociology, psychology, history, linguistics, philosophy, and even...
.
He died of lung cancer on February 27, 2004, aged 76.
Legacy and Influence
A prolific historian, Amino produced a published output of at least 486 known titles–ranging from newspaper and magazine interviews and articles, book reviews, dialogues, round-table discussions, and other publications to several hundred original articles and over twenty books that were either monographs or essay collections and several multiple-volume series on historical and ethnographic themes. Wesleyan UniversityWesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
Professor of History William Johnston writes that "a complete introduction to the Amino oeuvre would probably require its own book."
Simultaneously, Johnston writes that
Despite his prolific output and stature in Japan, only a handful of papers and only
one book (although even that remains unpublished) by Amino have been translated in the
English language. As a leading scholar of early modern Japan once told me, everybody
talks about Muen, kugai, raku, one of Amino’s most important books, but few have read
it. For the most part, one could say the same about much of his work.
At least two reasons for this arise from Amino’s work itself. One is that much of
it has a highly specialized focus on medieval Japan, and another is the context in which
his work is read. Many of his essays and monographs focus like a micro laser on the minutiae of landholding patterns, forms of taxation, local power relations, changes in legal codes, the reading and interpretation of documents, and similar specialized topics, and as a consequence even in Japan only specialists find them compelling reading. And while much of his later work is compelling to a large segment of the Japanese reading public, it is less so to a general audience outside Japan. This is especially true for his work on issues concerning Japanese ethnic origins, the tennø, rice cultivation and consumption, geography, and other topics... Finally, although much of his work would certainly be of interest to students and scholars of Japanese history outside Japan, the shortage of translations remains an obstacle.
Books
- 1991: 日本の歴史をよみなおす (Reinterpreting Japanese History). Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo.
- 1990: 日本論の視座――列島の社会と国家 (A New Standpoint on Nihon-ron: Society and the State on the Archipelago). Shogakkukan.
- 1966: 中世荘園の様相 (Conditions on Medieval Estates).
Articles
- 2007: "Medieval Japanese Constructions of Peace and Liberty: Muen, Kugai, and Raku". International Journal of Asian Studies 4 (1): 3-14.
- 1996: "Emperor, Rice, and Commoners". In Donald Denoon, Mark Hudson, Gavan McCormack, and Tessa Morris-Suzuki, eds. Multicultural Japan: Palaeolithic to Postmodern. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996: 235-45
- 1995: "Les Japonais et la mer" ("The Japanese and the Sea"). Annales 50 (2): 235-258. (FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) - 1992: "Deconstructing 'Japan'". East Asian History 3: 121-42.