Reflecting on History to Learn About the Present

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Auschwitz. These are the stages of 20th-century tragedies. We might add Chernobyl and, entering the 21st century, Fukushima to that list. Two were atomic bombings, two were nuclear accidents, and one was a genocide. Three out of these five events took place in Japan.

Is this country uniquely cursed among the nations of the world? Surely that cannot be the case. Modern and contemporary Japan has overextended itself more than almost anywhere else in the world. It has pushed itself to the limit, piling effort upon effort. Because of that, there have been many successes. However, when you overextend yourself, you become prone to falling. Consequently, the incidence of tragedy also increases. Is it not possible to think of it this way?

I am particularly interested in the history of modern and contemporary Japanese thought and culture. Specifically, the era of the two World Wars, as well as post-war political and social thought, philosophy, and culture and the arts. There are many fruits to be found there. However, there are also failures and tragedies born from excessive overextension. Present-day Japan is built upon the accumulation of learning—and sometimes forgetting—those lessons. It is, after all, a matter of 'learning from the past to know the new.' It is only by looking back at history that one can acquire a perspective for learning about the present. I believe many of you aim for the Faculty of Law because of an interest in law and politics. However, it is naturally impossible to suddenly master those subjects in isolation. There are many things that can only be seen, noticed, or realized by having a good understanding of the underlying premises and related fields. The various courses in the humanities, including history, are provided for exactly that purpose.