| THE 20TH CENTURY AND I | |
| by Shuichi Kato November 2000, 188 x 129 mm, 256 pp.,  2,200- |
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This book contains autobiographical
essays by Shuichi Kato, an internationally renowned literary and art
critic. The author describes his experiences and reflections on their
meaning, and discusses developments that angered and touched him during
the last century. Kato traces his own history and discusses such vital
issues of the 20th century as war, socialism, nationalism, history,
and culture, based on his own experiences. Kato writes,
“This book is a summary of my interpretations of and reactions to the events and circumstances of the 20th century. A large part of the book is based on my first-hand experiences. Therefore, it is not a balanced, objective account of events that took place in the period called the 20th century. My curiosity covers a vast territory, but a large part of what happened during the last 100 years is beyond my perception. This book is a kind of 20th-century memoir written by myself, an ordinary citizen, with limited time, space, and intellectual capacity.”One of Kato's books, Introduction to the History of Japanese Literature has been translated into seven languages. Its French translation won the decoration of Region de Noer (Officier) in France in 2000. |
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| Contents | |
| Part 1 - Dangers of the Here and Now | |
| Curiosity Regarding the Unknown The 20th Century As I Experienced It What happened in 1999 Subordination to the United States and Anti-U.S. Sentiment Dangers During the Last 10 Years Aerial Bombing without U.N. Resolutions The Japanese Tradition of Swimming with the Tide Have People in Japan Really Changed? Lack of Uniformity in Information |
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| Part 2 - Prewar and Postwar Periods - Continuation and Interruption | |
| Humans Are Not Demons by Nature Abolition of Capital Punishment and Opposition to War The Broken Personality of an Old Friend Thoughts on Intellectual Curiosity History of Gradual Power Seizure Round-Table Discussion on “Conquest of the Modern Ages” Thoughts on the Expression “Kokutai (National Polity)” Jean-Paul Sartre and Freedom Reading Under Life-and-Death Circumstances Artistic Activities in Wartime Thoughts on “Cultural Mongrelism” Thoughts on Constitutional Questions My First Visit to Nanjing |
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| Part 3 - Beyond Socialism and the Cold War | |
| The Collapse of the Soviet Union Socialism in the 19th Century Bureaucratic Socialism of the Soviet Type Prague Spring My Visits to Socialist Nations during the Cold War A Journey through Croatia Jean-Paul Sartre and His View of the Soviet Union Thoughts on Perestroika We Cannot Understand China with Cold War Logic |
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| Part 4 - Languages and Nationalism | |
| The 20th Century and Its Negative Legacy Historic and Cultural Nationalism Japanese People Favor the Word “Nation” Thoughts on Yamatogokoro (Japanese Spirit) Motoori Norinaga and His Interpretation of Kojiki (Ancient Chronicle) Nakamoto Tominaga and “Accounts of an Old Man” Language as a Source of Pride Literature and Its Mission |
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| Afterword | |
| About the Author |
| Born in Tokyo in 1919, Shuichi Kato graduated with a medical degree from the University of Tokyo. He lived in France from 1951 to 1955. On his return, Kato practiced as a medical doctor and published Mongrelism as a Characteristic of Japanese Culture, and other titles as a part-time writer. Major books by this literary critic and author include Mongrel Culture; the two-volume Sheep Songs; Introduction to the History of Japanese Literature; Spirit of Contemporary Europe; and Lost Printing Blocks — a Strange Tale about Nakamoto Tominaga. Kato's works have been compiled in a 15-volume collection entitled The Selected Works of Shuichi Kato. |
