Yamato-damashii
Encyclopedia
is a historically and culturally loaded word in the Japanese language
. The phrase was apparently coined in the Heian period
to describe the indigenous Japanese 'spirit' or cultural values as opposed to the cultural values imported into the country through contact with Tang dynasty
China
. Later, a qualitative contrast between Japanese and Chinese spirit was elicited from the term. Edo period
writers and samurai
used it to gloss the Bushido
concept of 'valor'. Japanese nationalists propagandized Yamato-damashii – 'the brave, daring, and indomitable spirit of Japanese people' – as one of the key Japanese military-political doctrines in the Showa period. English translations of Yamato-damashii include the 'Japanese spirit', 'Japanese soul', 'Yamato spirit', and 'The Soul of Old Japan'. Lafcadio Hearn
mentions the latter in connection with Shinto
.
Yamato (大和, lit. "great harmony") with damashii, which is the voiced
rendaku
pronunciation of tamashii (魂 "spirit; soul"). Both these kanji
readings Yamato (大和) and damashii (魂) are native Japanese kun'yomi, while the Wakon (和魂 "Japanese spirit") reading is Sinitic on'yomi borrowed from Chinese Héhún (和魂).
Yamato is historically the second of three common Japanese endonyms (or autonyms) for 'Japan; Japanese'.
In current Japanese usage, Wa 倭 is an archaic variant Chinese character
for Wa 和, Yamato is a literary and historical term, and Nihon is the usual name for "Japan; Japanese".
Tamashii or tama (魂 "soul; spirit; ghost" or 霊 "spirit; soul") is Japanese kun'yomi, while kon or gon is Chinese on'yomi (from hún 魂
). The Shinto
-influenced semantics of Japanese tama/tamashii exceed customary English concepts of "spirit", "soul", or "ghost", besides the human soul, it also includes diverse spiritual forces found in nature. Roy Andrew Miller
suggests that German Geist
or French élan are better translations than English spirit or soul:
Kotodama
(言霊, lit. "word spirit", approximately "magic word
") illustrate this traditional Japanese belief about tama(shii) energies. Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
(5th ed., 2003) gives kotodama translation equivalents
and a revealing usage example: "ことだま【言霊】 the ⌈soul [spirit] of language; the miraculous power of ⌈language [a phrase, a spell]. ̍ ⇨ 言霊の幸(さきわ)う国 Japan, "the land where the mysterious workings of language bring bliss"."
Yamato Nadeshiko
(大和撫子, lit. "Japanese fringed pink") is a floral metaphor for "the idealized traditional Japanese woman". During World War II, ultra-nationalists popularized Yamato-nadeshiko as the female manifestation of Yamato-damashii.
were highly influential.
Yamato-gokoro (大和心 "Japanese heart; Japanese mind" is the closest synonym of Yamato-damashii. The Heian poet Akazome Emon
first used Yamato-gokoro in her Goshūi Wakashū (後拾遺和歌集 "Later Collection of Waka
Gleanings," 1086).
Since Wa 和 commonly abbreviates Yamato 大和 "Japan; Japanese", 和魂 (also read Wakon) is a contraction of Yamato-damashii. The Konjaku Monogatarishū
(circa 1120) first uses it describing a burglar who murdered a nattering scholar of Chinese classical law. "Although Kiyohara no Yoshizumi (清原善澄) had admirable learning, he is said to have died in this childish way because he did not have the slightest knowledge of the Japanese spirit" (tr. Carr 1994:283).
For centuries after its use by Heian authors Yamato-damashii was rarely recorded until the late Edo period
(1600-1868). One notable Kamakura Period
exception is the Gukanshō
history (ca. 1220), which uses Yamato-damashii (和魂) in praising the character of child Emperor Toba
(r. 1107-1123).
Three new "Japanese spirit" phrases originated around the 1867 Meiji Restoration
. First, the modernization was fashioned by Kyokutei Bakin
, a famous samurai
author of Gesaku
. His Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki ("The Crescent Moon", 1811) quotes Minamoto no Tametomo
discussing seppuku
rituals: "I admit that a person who does not care about dying when on the verge of death may superficially have the Japanese spirit, but I think this is a misunderstanding from not having learned about it." (tr. Carr 1994:284). Second, Wakon-kansai (和魂漢才 "Japanese spirit and Chinese scholarship") occurs in the Kanke ikai (菅家遺戒 "Sugawara's dying instructions"). Third, Wakon-yōsai (和魂洋才 "Japanese spirit and Western techniques") was created by Yoshikawa Tadayasu (吉川忠安) in his Kaika sakuron (開化策論 , "Questions and Themes on Progress", 1867).
Following the Japanese victories in the First Sino-Japanese War
and Russo-Japanese War
, nationalists made Wakon-yōsai into a catchphrase for modernization and militarization, and developed Yamato-damashii into what Miller (1982:13) calls "the official rallying cry for the Japanese armed forces in World War II."
In the present day, Yamato-damashii is historically associated with Japanese nationalism
, but is commonly used in Nihonjinron
discussions and sports media. Professor David Pollack predicts that Yamato-damashii will become extinct.
(4th ed., 2000) defines Jap as "Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a person of Japanese birth or descent."
Michael Carr argues that Yamato-damashii (1994:280-1) "significantly differs from everyday racist slurs because it is not an overt insult, it is the opposite: an ethnic adulation. It belongs to a special category of benedictions such as Manifest Destiny
or Chosen People
that imply national, racial, or ethnic self-conceit." The nationalist and racist connotations of Japanese Yamato-damashii are comparable with German Herrenvolk ("Master race
").
Carr lexicographically analyzed Yamato-damashii definitions among modern general-purpose Japanese dictionaries
from four publishers, namely, Daijisen
(Shōgakukan, 1986), Daijirin
(Sanseidō, 1988), Nihongo Daijiten
(Kōdansha, 1989), and Kōjien
(Iwanami, 1991).
For instance, this definition from the popular Daijirin dictionary gives the kanji 大和魂, modern and Old Japanese
pronunciations, two meanings, synonyms, and usage examples from Japanese literature
.
Collectively, these four definitions provide insights into what Yamato-damashii means in current Japanese usage. They all distinguish two basic meanings: ① "A Japanese practical ability; opposed to Chinese scholarship" and ② "A traditional (bushido/nationalistic) concept of death-defying valor". When two or more definitions use identical terminology, it suggests consensus on semantics. For instance, while the dictionaries split on whether meaning ① refers to Nihon-minzoku (日本民族 "Japanese race/people/nation") or Nihon-jin (日本人 "Japanese person/people"), all four say the nationalistic meaning ② refers to Nihon-minzoku.
For meaning ①, the most salient word (used 7 times) is koyū (固有 "inherent; innate; characteristic; special quality"). This sense is defined as a noryoku (能力 "ability, capability; competency") or chie (知恵 "wisdom; insight; intelligence"), which pertains to jisseikatsujōno (実生活上 "real life; everyday/practical reality') or jitsumutekina (実務的な "actual things, practical experience").
For meaning ②, all the definitions describe a seishin (精神 "mind; mentality; spirit; soul; genius"). Specifically a "Japanese spirit" with kakan (果敢 "boldness; courage; daring; determination"), yūmō (勇猛 "bravery; valor; intrepidness; daring"), and shinmei o mo oshimanai (身命をも惜しまない "without regard for one's life"), especially when koto ni atatte (事に当たって "facing a vital matter; in case of crisis"). Purity is mentioned with seijo (清浄 "purity; cleanliness") and isagiyoi (潔い "pure; clean; honorable; gallant; brave").
Within this dictionary sample, only the Nihongo daijiten qualifies Yamato-damashii as a characteristic that is to sareta (とされた "assumed, supposed; alleged'"), whereas the other three define it as a matter of fact. Carr concludes (1994:290), "Believing that all individuals of any race or nationality share certain "spiritual" characteristics is at best overgeneralization, or at worst racism."
Some monolingual English dictionaries enter Yamato or Yamato-e, but only the Oxford English Dictionary
enters Yamato-damashii.
The OED gives three usage examples, starting with Yamato-damashi (1942, Royal Air Force Journal, "He will be filled with what is called yamato damashi [sic] or the pure spirit of Japan.") and Yamato-damashii (1957, Encyclopædia Britannica
). Note that the 1904 Hearn quotation above antedates this 1942 citation.
Most Japanese-English dictionaries literally translate Yamato-damashii as "the Japanese spirit". For instance, Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
(5th ed., 2003) enters Yamato "やまと【大和】 Yamato; (old) Japan" along with 14 subentries, including Yamato-damashii "大和魂 the Japanese spirit" and Yamato-gokoro "大和心 the Japanese spirit; the Japanese sensibility."
The online Encyclopedia of Shinto (linked below, note the pronunciation file) comprehensively defines Yamato-damashii.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. The phrase was apparently coined in the Heian period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
to describe the indigenous Japanese 'spirit' or cultural values as opposed to the cultural values imported into the country through contact with Tang dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Later, a qualitative contrast between Japanese and Chinese spirit was elicited from the term. Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
writers and samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
used it to gloss the Bushido
Bushido
, meaning "Way of the Warrior-Knight", is a Japanese word which is used to describe a uniquely Japanese code of conduct and a way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. It originates from the samurai moral code and stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and...
concept of 'valor'. Japanese nationalists propagandized Yamato-damashii – 'the brave, daring, and indomitable spirit of Japanese people' – as one of the key Japanese military-political doctrines in the Showa period. English translations of Yamato-damashii include the 'Japanese spirit', 'Japanese soul', 'Yamato spirit', and 'The Soul of Old Japan'. Lafcadio Hearn
Lafcadio Hearn
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn , known also by the Japanese name , was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things...
mentions the latter in connection with Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
.
'For this national type of moral character was invented the name Yamato-damashi (or Yamato-gokoro), — the Soul of Yamato (or Heart of Yamato), — the appellation of the old province of Yamato, seat of the early emperors, being figuratively used for the entire country. We might correctly, though less literally, interpret the expression Yamato-damashi as 'The Soul of Old Japan.' (1904:177)
Origin of the term
Originally Yamato-damashi did not bear the bellicose weight or ideological timbre that it later assumed in pre-war modern Japan. It first occurs in the section of the Genji Monogatari (Chapter 21), as a native virtue that flourishes best, not as a contrast to foreign civilization but, rather precisely, when it is grounded on a solid basis in Chinese learning. Thus we read:'No, the safe thing is to give him a good, solid fund of knowledge. It is when there is a fund of Chinese learning (zae 才) that the Japanese spirit (yamato-damashii 大和魂) is respected in the world.' (Murasaki ShikibuMurasaki ShikibuMurasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court during the Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012...
, The Tale of GenjiThe Tale of Genjiis a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be...
tr. Edward SeidenstickerEdward SeidenstickerEdward George Seidensticker was a noted scholar and translator of Japanese literature. He was particularly known for his English version of The Tale of Genji , which is counted among the preferred modern translations...
, 1976, 1:362)
Lexicology
Yamato-damashii "Japan, Japanese" compoundsCompound (linguistics)
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme that consists of more than one stem. Compounding or composition is the word formation that creates compound lexemes...
Yamato (大和, lit. "great harmony") with damashii, which is the voiced
Voice (phonetics)
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
rendaku
Rendaku
is a phenomenon in Japanese morphophonology that governs the voicing of the initial consonant of the non-initial portion of a compound or prefixed word...
pronunciation of tamashii (魂 "spirit; soul"). Both these kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
readings Yamato (大和) and damashii (魂) are native Japanese kun'yomi, while the Wakon (和魂 "Japanese spirit") reading is Sinitic on'yomi borrowed from Chinese Héhún (和魂).
Yamato is historically the second of three common Japanese endonyms (or autonyms) for 'Japan; Japanese'.
- WaWa (Japan)Japanese is the oldest recorded name of Japan. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 "harmony, peace, balance".- Historical references :The earliest...
(倭 or 和) is Japan's oldest endonym and derives from the Han DynastyHan DynastyThe Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
Chinese exonym Wō 倭 "Japan, Japanese". This character 倭, which graphically combines the 亻 "human, person" radicalRadical (Chinese character)A Chinese radical is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose...
and a wěi 委 "bend" phonetic, was usually pronounced wēi in Classical ChineseClassical ChineseClassical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...
compounds like wēichí 倭遲 "winding, circuitous", but scholars have interpreted Wō 倭 "Japanese" as connoting either "submissive; docile" or "short; dwarf". In the 8th century, Japanese scribes replaced the pejorative Chinese character 倭 for Wa "Japan" with Wa 和 "harmony; peace". - YamatoYamatoYamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan. Later the term was used as the name of the province and also as an ancient name of Japan...
(大和, lit. "great harmony") is the oldest native name for "Japan". Daiwa and Taiwa (borrowed from Chinese dàhé 大和) are on'yomi readings. This name Yamato (大和) originally referred to "Yamato ProvinceYamato Provincewas a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. It was also called . At first, the name was written with one different character , and for about ten years after 737, this was revised to use more desirable characters . The final revision was made in...
", around present-day Nara PrefectureNara Prefectureis a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....
, where Emperor JimmuEmperor Jimmuwas the first Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He is also known as Kamuyamato Iwarebiko and personally as Wakamikenu no Mikoto or Sano no Mikoto....
legendarily founded Japan. Common words with this prefixPrefixA prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
include Yamato-jidai (大和時代 "Yamato periodYamato periodThe is the period of Japanese history when the Japanese Imperial court ruled from modern-day Nara Prefecture, then known as Yamato Province.While conventionally assigned to the period 250–710 , the actual start of Yamato rule is disputed...
", 250-710 CE), Yamato-minzoku (大和民族 "Yamato peopleYamato peopleis a name for the dominant native ethnic group of Japan. It is a term that came to be used around the late 19th century to distinguish the residents of the mainland Japan from other minority ethnic groups who have resided in the peripheral areas of Japan, such as the Ainu, Ryukyuan, Nivkh, Ulta, as...
; Japanese race"), and Yamato-eYamato-eYamato-e is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang Dynasty paintings and developed in the late Heian period. It is considered the classical Japanese style...
(大和絵 "traditional Japanese-style paintings"). - Nihon or Nippon (日本, lit. "sun's origin"; "JapanJapanJapan 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...
") is the normal modern endonym. Compared with the neutral pronunciation Nihon, NipponNipponNippon is a native name for Japan, more formal than Nihon.Nippon can also refer to:-Company names:All of the following companies are based in Japan.*Nikon *Nippon Telegraph and Telephone...
has more nationalistic connotations.
In current Japanese usage, Wa 倭 is an archaic variant Chinese character
Variant Chinese character
Variant Chinese characters are Chinese characters that are homophones and synonyms. Almost all variants are allographs in most circumstances, such as casual handwriting...
for Wa 和, Yamato is a literary and historical term, and Nihon is the usual name for "Japan; Japanese".
Tamashii or tama (魂 "soul; spirit; ghost" or 霊 "spirit; soul") is Japanese kun'yomi, while kon or gon is Chinese on'yomi (from hún 魂
Hun and po
Hun and po are types of souls in Chinese philosophy and religion. Within this ancient soul dualism tradition, every living human has both a hun spiritual, ethereal, and yang soul that leaves the body after death and a po corporeal, substantive, and yin soul that remains with the corpse...
). The Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
-influenced semantics of Japanese tama/tamashii exceed customary English concepts of "spirit", "soul", or "ghost", besides the human soul, it also includes diverse spiritual forces found in nature. Roy Andrew Miller
Roy Andrew Miller
Roy Andrew Miller is a linguist notable for his advocacy of Korean and Japanese as members of the Altaic group of languages....
suggests that German Geist
Geist
Geist is a German word. Depending on context it can be translated as the English words mind, spirit, or ghost, covering the semantic field of these three English nouns...
or French élan are better translations than English spirit or soul:
But finally we must conclude that nothing in any commonly used European language, including English, really does justice to Japanese tama. The spirit, soul, Geist, or élan to which the Japanese term has reference, whether it is the tama of Yamato-damashii or the tama of kotodama, is a vital and active entity that plays no part in any usual Western-language imagery or expression. We have no such word, and we make use of no imagery capitalizing upon the concepts that it employs; but the Japanese have, and they do. (1982:131)
Kotodama
Kotodama
refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. English translations include "soul of language", "spirit of language", "power of language", "power word", "magic word", and "sacred sound"...
(言霊, lit. "word spirit", approximately "magic word
Magic word
Magic words are words which have a specific, and sometimes unintended, effect. They are often nonsense phrases used in fantasy fiction or by stage prestidigitators. Certain comic book heroes use magic words to activate their super powers. Magic words are also used as Easter eggs or cheats in...
") illustrate this traditional Japanese belief about tama(shii) energies. Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
Since its first publication in 1918, has been the largest and most authoritative Japanese-English dictionary ever published. Translators, scholars, and specialists who use the Japanese language affectionately refer to this dictionary as the "Green Goddess" or because of its distinctive...
(5th ed., 2003) gives kotodama translation equivalents
Dynamic and formal equivalence
In Bible translation dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence are two approaches to translation. The terms are not found in general linguistics or translation theory but were coined by Eugene Nida...
and a revealing usage example: "ことだま【言霊】 the ⌈soul [spirit] of language; the miraculous power of ⌈language [a phrase, a spell]. ̍ ⇨ 言霊の幸(さきわ)う国 Japan, "the land where the mysterious workings of language bring bliss"."
Yamato Nadeshiko
Yamato Nadeshiko
is a Japanese term meaning "personification of an idealized Japanese woman", "ideal" in the historical context of the patriarchal, traditional culture of Japan...
(大和撫子, lit. "Japanese fringed pink") is a floral metaphor for "the idealized traditional Japanese woman". During World War II, ultra-nationalists popularized Yamato-nadeshiko as the female manifestation of Yamato-damashii.
Later history
The record of Yamato-damashii dates back one millennium to the Heian period (794-1185) of Japanese history, when Chinese culture and Chinese languageChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
were highly influential.
Yamato-gokoro (大和心 "Japanese heart; Japanese mind" is the closest synonym of Yamato-damashii. The Heian poet Akazome Emon
Akazome Emon
was a Japanese waka poet who lived in the mid-Heian period. She is a member both of the and the .-Biography:Emon is though to be the daughter of Akazome Tokimochi, but her biological father was likely her mother's first husband, Taira Kanemori. Emon was born before her mother's marriage to...
first used Yamato-gokoro in her Goshūi Wakashū (後拾遺和歌集 "Later Collection of Waka
Waka (poetry)
Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...
Gleanings," 1086).
Since Wa 和 commonly abbreviates Yamato 大和 "Japan; Japanese", 和魂 (also read Wakon) is a contraction of Yamato-damashii. The Konjaku Monogatarishū
Konjaku Monogatarishu
is a Japanese collection of over one thousand tales written during the late Heian period . The entire collection was originally contained in 31 volumes, of which only 28 remain today...
(circa 1120) first uses it describing a burglar who murdered a nattering scholar of Chinese classical law. "Although Kiyohara no Yoshizumi (清原善澄) had admirable learning, he is said to have died in this childish way because he did not have the slightest knowledge of the Japanese spirit" (tr. Carr 1994:283).
For centuries after its use by Heian authors Yamato-damashii was rarely recorded until the late Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
(1600-1868). One notable Kamakura Period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
exception is the Gukanshō
Gukansho
is a historical and literary work about the history of Japan. Seven volumes in length, it was composed by Buddhist priest Jien of the Tendai sect c. 1220....
history (ca. 1220), which uses Yamato-damashii (和魂) in praising the character of child Emperor Toba
Emperor Toba
was the 74th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Toba's reign spanned the years from 1107 through 1123.- Genealogy :...
(r. 1107-1123).
Still, he had the personality of (his uncle) Fujiwara no Kinzane (藤原公実) characterized by Chinese learning and followed in the footsteps of (his ancestor) Sugawara no MichizaneSugawara no Michizane, also known as Kan Shōjō , a grandson of Sugawara no Kiyotomo , was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian Period of Japan...
, but Toba had even more Japanese spirit than either of them. (adapted from Carr 1994:283)
Three new "Japanese spirit" phrases originated around the 1867 Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
. First, the modernization was fashioned by Kyokutei Bakin
Kyokutei Bakin
was a late Japanese Edo period gesaku author best known for works such as Nansō Satomi Hakkenden and Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki.-Life:He was born as , he wrote under the pen name which is a pun as the kanji may also be read as Kuruwa de Makoto meaning a man who is truly devoted to the courtesans of...
, a famous samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
author of Gesaku
Gesaku
is an alternative style, genre or school of Japanese literature. In the simplest contemporary sense, any literary work of a playful, mocking, joking, silly or frivolous nature may be called Gesaku. Unlike predecessors in the literary field, Gesaku writers did not strive for beauty and perfect...
. His Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki ("The Crescent Moon", 1811) quotes Minamoto no Tametomo
Minamoto no Tametomo
was a samurai who fought in the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156. He was the son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi, and brother to Yukiie and Yoshitomo....
discussing seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
rituals: "I admit that a person who does not care about dying when on the verge of death may superficially have the Japanese spirit, but I think this is a misunderstanding from not having learned about it." (tr. Carr 1994:284). Second, Wakon-kansai (和魂漢才 "Japanese spirit and Chinese scholarship") occurs in the Kanke ikai (菅家遺戒 "Sugawara's dying instructions"). Third, Wakon-yōsai (和魂洋才 "Japanese spirit and Western techniques") was created by Yoshikawa Tadayasu (吉川忠安) in his Kaika sakuron (開化策論 , "Questions and Themes on Progress", 1867).
Following the Japanese victories in the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
and Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
, nationalists made Wakon-yōsai into a catchphrase for modernization and militarization, and developed Yamato-damashii into what Miller (1982:13) calls "the official rallying cry for the Japanese armed forces in World War II."
In the present day, Yamato-damashii is historically associated with Japanese nationalism
Japanese nationalism
encompasses a broad range of ideas and sentiments harbored by the Japanese people over the last two centuries regarding their native country, its cultural nature, political form and historical destiny...
, but is commonly used in 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...
discussions and sports media. Professor David Pollack predicts that Yamato-damashii will become extinct.
Synthesis comes to an end only when antithesis ceases to appear. For many centuries Japan found its most significant antithesis in China. During the last century and a half the West has been the antithetical term in the dialectic, and as always it has been in that "other" that Japan has sought its own image, peering anxiously for signs of its own identity into the mirror of the rest of the world. After the challenge of Western technology has been successfully met, one wonders what will be left that is "alien," besides the very fact that the historically necessary "other" is lacking. In that case, "Japanese spirit" (Yamato-damashii) will find itself face to face with the most frightening "other" of all – its lack – at which point opposition must cease or else feed upon itself. (1986:52-3)
Definitions
Racially and ethnically offensive words are problematic for dictionaries. Lexicographers and publishers have editorial policies for treating ethnic slurs and insults. For example, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English LanguageThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is an American dictionary of the English language published by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969...
(4th ed., 2000) defines Jap as "Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a person of Japanese birth or descent."
Michael Carr argues that Yamato-damashii (1994:280-1) "significantly differs from everyday racist slurs because it is not an overt insult, it is the opposite: an ethnic adulation. It belongs to a special category of benedictions such as Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
or Chosen People
Chosen people
Throughout history and even today various groups of people have considered themselves as chosen by a deity for some purpose such as to act as the deity's agent on earth. In monotheistic faiths, like Abrahamic religions, references to God are used in constructs such as "God's Chosen People"...
that imply national, racial, or ethnic self-conceit." The nationalist and racist connotations of Japanese Yamato-damashii are comparable with German Herrenvolk ("Master race
Master race
Master race was a phrase and concept originating in the slave-holding Southern US. The later phrase Herrenvolk , interpreted as 'master race', was a concept in Nazi ideology in which the Nordic peoples, one of the branches of what in the late-19th and early-20th century was called the Aryan race,...
").
Carr lexicographically analyzed Yamato-damashii definitions among modern general-purpose Japanese dictionaries
Japanese dictionaries
Japanese dictionaries have a history that began over 1300 years ago when Japanese Buddhist priests, who wanted to understand Chinese sutras, adapted Chinese character dictionaries. Present-day Japanese lexicographers are exploring computerized editing and electronic dictionaries...
from four publishers, namely, Daijisen
Daijisen
The is a general-purpose Japanese dictionary published by Shogakukan in 1995 and 1998. It was designed as an "all-in-one" dictionary for native speakers of Japanese, especially high school and university students.-History:...
(Shōgakukan, 1986), Daijirin
Daijirin
The is a comprehensive single-volume Japanese dictionary edited by , and first published by in 1988. This title is based upon two early Sanseido dictionaries edited by Shōzaburō Kanazawa , the Jirin and the revised Kōjirin .-History:Sanseido specifically created the Daijirin to compete with...
(Sanseidō, 1988), Nihongo Daijiten
Nihongo Daijiten
The is a color-illustrated Japanese dictionary edited by Umesao Tadao and published by Kodansha in 1989 and 1995 .-History:...
(Kōdansha, 1989), and Kōjien
Kojien
The is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. Many native speakers of Japanese regard the Kōjien as the most authoritative dictionary, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions...
(Iwanami, 1991).
For instance, this definition from the popular Daijirin dictionary gives the kanji 大和魂, modern and Old Japanese
Old Japanese
is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language.This stage in the development of Japanese is still actively studied and debated, and key Old Japanese texts, such as the Man'yōshū, remain obscure in places.-Dating:...
pronunciations, two meanings, synonyms, and usage examples from Japanese literature
Japanese literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
.
やまとだましい［―だましひ］4 【《大和》魂】①大和心。和魂。（漢学を学んで得た知識に対して）日本人固有の実務・世事などを処理する能力・知恵をいう。「才(ざえ)を本としてこそ、―の世に用ゐらるる方も強う侍らめ〔出典： 源氏（乙女）〕」 「露、―無かりける者にて〔出典： 今昔 二十〕」②( 近世以降の国粋思想の中で用いられた語)日本民族固有の精神。日本人としての意識。
yamato ... -damashii, -damashiFi "type 4" [accent on da] 【《大和》魂】1. yamato-gokoro. wakon. (in contrast to knowledge obtained from studying Chinese classics) Japanese people's characteristic ability or wisdom/intelligence for managing/treating actual things and worldly affairs. The Tale of GenjiThe Tale of Genjiis a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be...
(The Maiden [chapter]) "Without a solid foundation of book-learning this 'Japanese spirit' of which one hears so much is not of any great use in the world." [Tales of] Times Now Past (20) "He did not have the slightest knowledge of the Japanese spirit." 2. (term used in ultra-nationalistic ideology of recent times) characteristic mentality of the Japanese race/people. Consciousness/awareness of being a Japanese person. (tr. Carr 1994:288)
Collectively, these four definitions provide insights into what Yamato-damashii means in current Japanese usage. They all distinguish two basic meanings: ① "A Japanese practical ability; opposed to Chinese scholarship" and ② "A traditional (bushido/nationalistic) concept of death-defying valor". When two or more definitions use identical terminology, it suggests consensus on semantics. For instance, while the dictionaries split on whether meaning ① refers to Nihon-minzoku (日本民族 "Japanese race/people/nation") or Nihon-jin (日本人 "Japanese person/people"), all four say the nationalistic meaning ② refers to Nihon-minzoku.
For meaning ①, the most salient word (used 7 times) is koyū (固有 "inherent; innate; characteristic; special quality"). This sense is defined as a noryoku (能力 "ability, capability; competency") or chie (知恵 "wisdom; insight; intelligence"), which pertains to jisseikatsujōno (実生活上 "real life; everyday/practical reality') or jitsumutekina (実務的な "actual things, practical experience").
For meaning ②, all the definitions describe a seishin (精神 "mind; mentality; spirit; soul; genius"). Specifically a "Japanese spirit" with kakan (果敢 "boldness; courage; daring; determination"), yūmō (勇猛 "bravery; valor; intrepidness; daring"), and shinmei o mo oshimanai (身命をも惜しまない "without regard for one's life"), especially when koto ni atatte (事に当たって "facing a vital matter; in case of crisis"). Purity is mentioned with seijo (清浄 "purity; cleanliness") and isagiyoi (潔い "pure; clean; honorable; gallant; brave").
Within this dictionary sample, only the Nihongo daijiten qualifies Yamato-damashii as a characteristic that is to sareta (とされた "assumed, supposed; alleged'"), whereas the other three define it as a matter of fact. Carr concludes (1994:290), "Believing that all individuals of any race or nationality share certain "spiritual" characteristics is at best overgeneralization, or at worst racism."
Some monolingual English dictionaries enter Yamato or Yamato-e, but only the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
enters Yamato-damashii.
Yamato (ja'mato) [Jap., = 'Japan']
1. The style or school of art in Japan which culminated in the 12th and 13th centuries and dealt with Japanese subjects in a distinctively Japanese (rather than Chinese) way. Usu. as Yamato-e (†-we) [e picture]; also –ryū [-ryū style, orig. stream, school]. …
2. Yamato-damashii: the Japanese spirit. … (v. 3, 2002)
The OED gives three usage examples, starting with Yamato-damashi (1942, Royal Air Force Journal, "He will be filled with what is called yamato damashi [sic] or the pure spirit of Japan.") and Yamato-damashii (1957, Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
). Note that the 1904 Hearn quotation above antedates this 1942 citation.
Most Japanese-English dictionaries literally translate Yamato-damashii as "the Japanese spirit". For instance, Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
Since its first publication in 1918, has been the largest and most authoritative Japanese-English dictionary ever published. Translators, scholars, and specialists who use the Japanese language affectionately refer to this dictionary as the "Green Goddess" or because of its distinctive...
(5th ed., 2003) enters Yamato "やまと【大和】 Yamato; (old) Japan" along with 14 subentries, including Yamato-damashii "大和魂 the Japanese spirit" and Yamato-gokoro "大和心 the Japanese spirit; the Japanese sensibility."
The online Encyclopedia of Shinto (linked below, note the pronunciation file) comprehensively defines Yamato-damashii.
Literally, "Japanese spirit"; Yamato damashii is also written 大和魂. This term is often contrasted with "Chinese Learning" (karasae), that is, knowledge and scholarship imported into Japan from China. Yamato damashii refers to an inherent faculty of common-sense wisdom, resourcefulness, and prudent judgment that is characteristic of, and unique to, the Japanese people. It also refers to a practical, "real life" ability and intelligence that is in contrast with scholarship and knowledge acquired through formal education. It is a term used to express such ideas as the essential purity and resolute spirit of the Japanese people, the wish for the peace and security of the nation, and the possession of a strong spirit and emotion that will meet any challenge, even at the expense of one's own life. Yamato damashii is synonymous with Yamato gokoro (lit. "Japanese heart").
External links
- Yamato damashii, Encyclopedia of Shinto article, Fukui Yoshihiko
- The Japanese Spirit, Okakura Yoshisaburo, 1905
- The Japanese Spirit: Foundation of Japanese Peculiarity, chapter from Cultural Impact on International Relations, Guo Jiemin, 2002
- Yamato Damashii, Chapter from The Japanese Nation in Evolution: Steps in the Progress of a Great People, William Elliot Griffis, 1907