The quest for civilization : : encounters with Dutch jurisprudence, political economy,and statistics at the dawn of modern Japan / / Okubo Takeharu ; translated by David Noble.

• VerfasserIn: Takeharu, Okubo,
• TeilnehmendeR: Noble, David,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands : : Global Oriental,, 2014.; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (309 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The Quest for Civilization illuminates the origins of modern Japan through the lens of its cultural contact with the Netherlands providing a rare contribution to the field in English-language literature. Following the “opening” of the country in the 1850's, Japan encountered Western modernity through a quest for knowledge personified by Nishi Amane and Tsuda Mamichi, two young scholars who journeyed to Leiden in 1863 as the first Japanese sent to study in Europe. For two years they were tutored by Simon Vissering – one of the leading Dutch economists of the nineteenth century. Following their return home, their work as government officials and intellectuals played a key role in the introduction of the European social sciences, jurisprudence, and international law to Japan, thereby exerting a decisive influence on the establishment of the modern Japanese state and the redefinition of the international and cultural order in East Asia.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / Ōkubo Takeharu -- Introduction / Ōkubo Takeharu -- The Dutch Constitution of 1848 and the Meiji Restoration / Ōkubo Takeharu -- The Rise of Statistical Thinking in Meiji Japan / Ōkubo Takeharu -- Dutch Political Economy and Nishi Amane’s Philosophical Encounter with Utilitarianism / Ōkubo Takeharu -- International Law and the Quest for Civilization / Ōkubo Takeharu -- Conclusion / Ōkubo Takeharu -- Bibliography / Ōkubo Takeharu -- Index / Ōkubo Takeharu.