{"id":1740,"date":"2025-11-16T23:57:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T23:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/?p=1740"},"modified":"2025-11-16T23:57:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T23:57:42","slug":"nationalism-and-propaganda-the-flaws-of-kuki-shuzos-iki-no-kozo-as-a-nationalistic-ideology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/2025\/11\/nationalism-and-propaganda-the-flaws-of-kuki-shuzos-iki-no-kozo-as-a-nationalistic-ideology\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationalism and Propaganda: The Flaws of Kuki Sh\u016bz\u014d\u2019s Iki no k\u014dz\u014d as a Nationalistic Ideology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nationalist undertones are clearly evident in Kuki Sh\u016bz\u014d\u2019s <\/span>Iki no k\u014dz\u014d<\/span><\/i>, or <\/span>The Structure of Iki<\/span><\/i>; however, critiques on his exploitation of hermeneutic methodology and his universalization of a term concerning a minority for the whole of Japan undermine his book\u2019s ability to serve as nationalistic ideology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Published in 1930, <\/span>Iki no k\u014dz\u014d <\/span><\/i>explored the cultural meaning of <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> in order to reconcile Japan\u2019s past against the infringing influences of Western modernity. Kuki argues that <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> is a Japanese sensibility of taste which can be symbolized through objectification but only truly understood by personal experience. In other words, one may be able to find attributes of <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> in Western aesthetics, yet the works would lack the hermeneutic meaning of <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i>, \u2018as a phenomenon of consciousness\u2019.1<\/a><\/sup> Thus, <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> becomes a \u2018distinct self-expression of an oriental culture,\u2019 \u2014a uniquely Japanese phenomenon.2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In this exposition as a Japanese exclusive taste, Kuki presents a nationalist view: the realization of <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> separates Japan from the vulgarity of the West. Hence, in terms of aesthetics, Japan was culturally superior. Nevertheless, this nationalism fails to successfully manifest into nationalist ideology. <\/span><\/p>\n

In her article \u2018In a Labyrinth of Western Desire: Kuki Sh\u016bz\u014d and the Discovery of Japanese Being\u2019, Leslie Pincus critiques a paradox in Kuki\u2019s employment of hermeneutics. Although Pincus\u2019s interpretation is contested as ironic and overreaching\u2014 \u2018[Pincus] removes Kuki\u2019s work from the Japanese context\u2026 and tries to build a culturalscape of Japan\u2019s fascism and imperialism in a discourse of Japan\u2019s aesthetics, that may not have existed exactly as she portrayed\u2019 \u2014her evaluation of the hypocritical impact of hermeneutics in Kuki\u2019s argument should not be discounted.3<\/a><\/sup> The paradox stems from Kuki\u2019s revelation that \u2018<\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> has no place in Western culture as a certain meaning in its ethnic being\u2019 and his assertion \u2018the study of <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> can exist only as a hermeneutic study of ethnic being\u2019.4<\/a><\/sup> The problem, then, lies in the fact that hermeneutics is a Western mode of analysis. Therefore, Kuki ironically \u2018the terms in which he articulated Japan\u2019s difference from the West were clearly marked by a long and productive apprenticeship to European letters\u2019.5<\/a><\/sup> If Kuki must rely on European methodology in order to extract Japan\u2019s distinctive aesthetic, <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i>, then the question of whether this concept would exist without Western modernity emerges. Since Kuki posits <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> in direct opposition to Western influences\u2014that <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> remains untainted by the West\u2014this question undercuts his book\u2019s appeal to nationalistic ideology. How can Kuki\u2019s argument purport a superiority of Japanese aesthetics, or issue <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> as a national defense, when the only way to comprehend this mode of being is through a Western lens. Thus, Western influence infiltrates the very thing Kuki argues it does not, ultimately weakening his nationalistic argument. <\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, Kuki\u2019s decision to universalize a term pertaining to a small selection of Japan\u2019s population, hinders his overall assessment of <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> as a national mode of being. <\/span>Iki<\/span><\/i>, as an aesthetic, grew in popularity during the Edo period of Japan. Denoting a specific style of the mercantile class in the city of Edo, <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> represented a resistance to the samurai bureaucracy.6<\/a><\/sup> In other words, historically, <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> resided in the sentiments and style of the Edo merchant class\u2014a class holding great wealth but lacking status. By choosing a word associated with one social class in one city, Kuki severely limits the inclusive aspect of his argument. How can <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> constitute the mode of being for all of Japan when it is only linked to a small percentage of the population? In employing <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> as a cultural signifier, Kuki enlarges this minority group to portray Japan. He essentially fabricates a national identity. The lack of consideration for other groups diminishes Kuki\u2019s declaration of <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> as a national phenomenon, for <\/span>iki<\/span><\/i> does not truly represent all of Japan. Consequently, Kuki\u2019s book is unsuccessful as nationalistic ideology.<\/span><\/p>\n

  1. Sh\u016bz\u014d Kuki, \u2018The Structure of Iki\u2019, in Hiroshi Nara, J. Thomas Rimer, and Jon Mark Mikkelson (eds), The Structure of Detachment: The Aesthetic Vision of Kuki Sh\u016bz\u014d<\/i> (Honolulu, 2004), p. 58. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  2. Ibid<\/em>., p. 17. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  3. Yukiko Koshiro, \u2018Fascism and Aesthetics – Leslie Pincus: Authenticating Culture in Imperial Japan: Kuki Sh\u016bz\u014d and the Rise of National Aesthetics\u2019, The Review of Politics<\/i>, 59: 3 (1997), p. 608. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  4. Kuki, ‘The Structure of Iki’, pp. 58-59. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  5. Leslie Pincus, \u2018In a Labyrinth of Western Desire: Kuki Shuzo and the Discovery of Japanese Being\u2019, boundary 2<\/i>, 18: 3 (1991), p. 144. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  6. Ibid., p. 143. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Nationalist undertones are clearly evident in Kuki Sh\u016bz\u014d\u2019s Iki no k\u014dz\u014d, or The Structure of Iki; however, critiques on his exploitation of hermeneutic methodology and his universalization of a term concerning a minority for the whole of Japan undermine his book\u2019s ability to serve as nationalistic ideology. Published in 1930, Iki no k\u014dz\u014d explored the … Continue reading “Nationalism and Propaganda: The Flaws of Kuki Sh\u016bz\u014d\u2019s Iki no k\u014dz\u014d as a Nationalistic Ideology”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[57,67,187],"class_list":["post-1740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-20th-century-japan","tag-nationalism","tag-philosophy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1742,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1740\/revisions\/1742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}