Table Of ContentThe Japanese
and Western Science
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The Japanese
and Western Science
Masao Watanabe
Translated by Otto Theodor Benfey
With a Foreword by Edwin O. Reischauer
and a new Epilogue by the author
Ujψ
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS Philadelphia
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Nihonjin to Kindai Kagaku (The Japanese and Western Science)
Copyright © 1976 by Masao Watanabe
First published in Japanese 1976 by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo
First published in English 1990 by the University of Pennsylvania Press
Translation copyright © 1988 by Otto Theodor Benfey
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Watanabe, Masao, 1920-
[Nihonjin to kindai kagaku. English]
The Japanese and Western science / Masao Watanabe ; translated by
Otto Theodor Benfey ; with a foreword by Edwin O. Reischaucr and a
new epilogue by the author,
p. cm.
Translation of: Nihonjin to kindai kagaku.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8122-8252-3
1. Science—Japan—History. 2. Science—Philosophy—History.
3. Evolution—History. I. Title.
Q127.J3W3713 1990
509'.52—dc20 'JO-13039
CI Ρ
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Contents
Foreword: Edwin O. Reischauer ix
Translator's Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Japan's Modern Century 1
The Power of Modern Civilization
In Search of Knowledge
Some Examples
1. From Samurai to Scientist: Yamagawa Kenjlrö 6
Turning Toward Western Science
Japan's Future and Physics
The Beginnings of Physics
Experiments with X-rays and on Extrasensory
Perception
The Promotion of Science and the Development of
Education
Japanese Traditions and Western Skill
2. Japan Studies of Foreign Teachers In Japan:
Investigations of the Magic Mirror 23
Robert William Atkinson: The Theory of Varying
Coefficients of Reflection
William Edward Ayrton and John Perry: The Theory
of Varying Curvature Due to the Megebö
Gustave Ε. Berson: The Theory of Variation in
Curvature Due to Thermal Stress
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vi Contents
Magic-Mirror Studies by Japanese Scientists
The Echo in America: The Student Annual The Makio
The Magic Mirror in Subsequent Years
3. A Zoologist Fascinated by Japan: Edward
Sylvester Morse 41
From Shellfish to Ceramics: A Many-Sided Life
Morse's Contributions to Biology
The Theory of Evolution
Involvement with Japan
Science and Life
4. Response to a New Scientific Theory: Darwinism
in the Early MeIJi Era 66
First Encounters with the Theory of Evolution
The Theory of Evolution as Social Theory
The Theory of Evolution and Christianity
The Theory of Evolution Against the Background of a
Different Worldview
5. Biology and the Buddhistic View of the
Transience of Life: Oka Asajirö 84
Oka's Life and Thought
The Decline and Extermination of the Human Species
The Idea of the Transience of Life
6. Modern Science and the Japanese Conception of
Nature: A Sketch 99
Differing Conceptions of Nature in Daily Life
Varying Conceptions of Nature: A Structural
Comparison
The Western Viewpoint and the Rise of Modern
Science
The Japanese Outlook
The Encounter with Environmental Destruction
7. Overall Perspectives: Tasks for Today 115
The Need for an Overall Perspective
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Modern Science as the Product of a Worldview
The Confrontation with Modern Science and
Technology
Concluding Comments
Epilogue to the English Edition
Bibliography
Index
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Foreword
Edwin Ο. Reischauer
Dr. Masao Watanabe's brief book entitled The Japanese and Western
Science is a fascinating contribution to our knowledge of modern Ja-
pan. This is because it is written by a Japanese scholar for Japanese
readers and deals not with the mastery of technology, at which the
Japanese have proved so adept, but with the acceptance of the concepts
of pure science, which borders on philosophy.
A Westerner presented with the subject "The Japanese and West-
ern Science" would probably discuss original Japanese weaknesses in
science, possible propensities as compared with other non-Western
nations, earlier glimmerings of Western science through the so-called
"Dutch learning," the gradual introduction of scientific concepts and
achievements, skillful Japanese imitations of Western science despite
the scarcity of original contributions, and the current blossoming of
Japanese inventiveness as well as superb technological skills. There is
very little of all this in Watanabe's book, though there is a certain
amount of overlap in detail concerning a few of the Western scientists
who figured in the introduction of science to Japan. Instead, Watanabe
deals largely with the intellectual and philosophical problems the Japa-
nese met with in adopting Western science and the difficulties they still
encounter. For example, their relationship with nature, which the
Western scholar might miss entirely, is given very full and revealing
treatment.
Much of the book is devoted to Darwinism, which illustrated the
differences in the way in which science was accepted in the West and in
Japan. In the West, Darwinism proved a difficult hurdle to the accep-
tance of modern scientific ideas, but in Japan it produced no such
problem. Because of Shinto ideas, there were no clear lines between
natural objects, such as rocks, trees, waterfalls, and mountains, and
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χ Forcword
living creatures of all sorts, vegetable or animal, and humans, or be-
tween humans and gods. Buddhism had also brought the idea that the
quality of one's present life might bring rebirth as a superior being or as
an inferior one, like a bug or a worm. No one recoiled at the idea that
humans could be descended from less advanced animal forms. In fact,
Darwinism proved a support to the acceptance of Western science.
The Japanese took readily to the idea of social Darwinism. It lent
support to their already ingrained belief that the superior would tri-
umph over the inferior, and they embraced the concept of the survival
of the fittest, taking for granted that, despite the temporary physical
superiority of the West in military and economic power, Japan's superi-
ority in spirit would make it eventually supreme.
Watanabe does not discuss these topics as the reverse of the picture
I present here. He comes to the question in his own way, which is
uniquely Japanese. To him, the Japanese adoption of science is basi-
cally an exercise in philosophy. As he puts it, "when modern science is
looked at as the product of a Western worldview, and particularly when
its formative phase is examined, its true nature as an intellectual and
spiritual human activity becomes evident."
This is a most revealing book, worthy of study by anyone who
wishes to know more about modern Japan, its tremendous success in
modern science, and the problems it still faces in the scientific field.
It must be admitted that the Japanese are changing radically, and
younger Japanese who, unlike Watanabe, received their education
entirely after World War II might well display very different attitudes
toward science. But this is a significant book, which will greatly reward
the reader.
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