英文回答问题 日本历史10题

1. How can sumo be considered an “invented tradition”?

Sumo is a popular Japanese wrestling game and has become a symbol of Japanese culture. While actually the term “Sumo” was originated in the Northern and Southern Dynasties when imperial noble officials were extremely into the wrestling games. Early in the 23 B.C., Japanese wrestling came into being and gradually formed a large extent under the Chinese influences and with the introduction of Chinese characters, “Sumo” was adapted and used as the official name of the game. By combining Chinese and Japanese tradition of wrestling, sumo was well accepted by Japanese people. After 1500 years of development, it has become the national sport. In a word, it was not first appeared in Japan, but with the absorption and imitation, Japanese sumo was invented and given the new meaning of its life in Japan.

2. How do Shinto myths justify the rule of the Emperor over Japan?

The best justification of Shinto myths that witnessed the rule of the Emperor over Japan can be regarded as the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution. This decree was the symbol of the contemporary Japanese constitutional monarchy which postulated that the power of the Emperor was derived from the gods of the Shinto myths and the Shinto was placed as the national religion that everyone should obey the rule of Shinto and the internal relationship of the emperor and Shinto from the legal perspective. In the time period of the rampart of the militarism, the imperial centralized system was set to control the nation and highlighted that all citizens should follow the emperor. Shinto was then not only a religion, but also a spiritual shackles over people.

3. What is the key to reaching enlightenment in Buddhism? How was this helpful to the samurai?

The key to to reaching enlightenment in Buddhism is to recognize and accept your inner resistance in your mind. As the principle of Buddhism advocates, to stick to your inner own faith and leave out the crowded world is the only way to pure practice. The essential point is to take a mirror to repeat checking yourself and learn from it. If you are still entangled with affairs of others while in the meantime self-acclaiming that you are a stylite, you are far away from the true enlightenment of the principle.

Japanese Samurai always hold a set of ethnic rules and philosophy of life due to

their consciousness of chivalry that can be worthy of the entitled honor. They are blind in the absolute obedience and the unconditional loyalty to the inner morality and the Samurai principle even with the cost of lives. The Buddhist enlightenment influenced samurai and helped them formed the notion of devotion to the pursuit of principle.

4. Compare and contrast Ogami Itto (hero of Lone Wolf and Cub) with Mimura (hero of Love and Honor).

Ogami follows a harsh and largely impenetrable ethic. He will pursue his objectives regardless of risk, and no matter who stands in his way. He often kills people he clearly admires, and without apparent regret. Even his contemporaries sometimes find his motivations and philosophy baffling. For example, he has discarded much of his former samurai ethos, and attaches no special importance to his sword. It is a tool for killing, nothing more. Despite his inscrutability, Ogami is, on the whole, sympathetic. He clearly loves Daigoro, even though that love is secondary to his mission. He can be merciful but he will occasionally use his deadly skills to protect or avenge chance-met strangers.

While for Mimura in the film,the blind warrior was much lovelier. He would play jokes on his wife and even his servants, call his wife a \ tone, and even pranks on fishing children despite the old servant's nagging about the image of a warrior. These representation all seem to be a far cry from the strong and dignified image of bushido. But he looked more like a human being than a symbol of some kind of spirit.

5. What does “soft power” mean, and how does it influence other cultures?

According to Joseph Nye, soft power refers to an ability that can be influential in the choices of others, such as the attractive cultures, ideologies, and institutions. In fact, the term soft power applies not only to politics, but also to business and individuals.Nye points out that there are many ways to influence other people's behavior, not by threatening and rewarding them but by attracting them. For example, the most influential soft power can be American values that promote the individualism through movies produced by Marvel. Superheroes are vividly depicted in the movies who

change the world with their own strength, while in reality there is no possibility of a single person changing the world. But the truth is that these movies are well accepted and loved and even are deeply-rooted in others cultures by shaping their thought and ideologies of individualism.

6. How did the political aims of the US Occupation of Japan change over time?

After the second world war, the U.S. became the top in the world stage when those traditional powerful European countries were all crushed. Then came the “Cold War”-the military competition between Soviet Unions and America. The purpose of controlling Japan was to smother the recovery of Japanese militarism due to the Pearl Harbor attack while in the meantime to control the Asia-specific regions in order to maintain the hegemony in the region by the threat of the fast development of China. With the change over time, Japan has gradually become the companion with whom America could work with to fight against China with the geographical advantages. Though Japan’s development and prosperity can be largely accounted for American support, the actual aim has never had any substantial changes nut only focusing on the control of Japanese politics and maintain the hegemony in the world.

7. Choose one controversial issue from WW2 and describe the two different versions that have been presented in Japanese history texts.

Probably the most controversial issue from WW2 in Japanese history is the depiction the the Japanese invasion of China. There are different textbooks that hold different attitudes towards the invasion. For example, books by Educational Publishing aimed for primary students introduced the Nanjing Massacre as Nanjing Incident: In Nanjing, the Japanese army took away the lives of the captured Chinese soldiers and many local residents, which was not told to the Japanese at the time and was later condemned by the international world. In the books published by Tongyuan Bookstore for high school students describe the same massacre as : Japan invested heavily in its military and captured the capital, Nanjing, in late 1937.At that time, The Japanese army