Japanese Culture from Different Perspectives: In Search of Deep Meanings — Reflections on Worlds of Japanese Culture by E. L. Skvortsova and A. L. Lutsky

Abstract

The article presents reflections on the new book Worlds of Japanese Culture by E. Skvortsova and A. Lutsky, which is dedicated to deciphering the cultural codes, deep meanings, and archetypal structures behind Japanese artistic forms, intellectual products, and other manifestations of the national mentality. To achieve this, the book employs a multifaceted approach, combining historical analysis such as the history of Japan's interaction with the West, with the study of artistic and literary traditions, and analysis of philosophical treatises. This research provides ample opportunities for comparison and is important both substantively and methodologically. It contributes not only to a deeper understanding of Japan but also of Russia, which is in the process of clarifying its identity in the face of growing confrontation at the international level, the preference of geopolitical interests over cooperation and cultural exchange, and rising dehumanization and xenophobia. The author of the review draws attention to the most significant conclusions and assessments made in the book under consideration, including: the emphasis on such cognitive features of the Japanese spiritual tradition as the “intuition of practical action” and the “bodily mode of knowledge,” the observation that thought in Northeast Asian countries is characterized predominantly from the position of a “participant” rather than an “observer,” a remark on the vagueness and permeability of the boundaries between “I” and “Other” in personal identification in Japanese culture; as well as an explanation of the tendency towards synthesis and compromise in Japan in contrast to the Western focus on analysis and the desire to insist on one’s own perception of contradiction. At the same time, the example of Japan demonstrates the transparency of cultural barriers and the existence of a whole set of mechanisms for the reception and integration of foreign cultural elements without violating cultural integrity.