Title: Shiga Shigetaka's NAN'YÔ JIJI (Current Affairs in the South Seas)

Submitted by: Masako Gavin, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Japanese Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University, Queensland, Australia

Shiga is known among scholars of Japanese intellectual history as the pioneering advocate of kokusui shugi, a theory which called for maintenance of Japan's cultural identity in the face of increasing pressure from the West in late 1880s. He was a geographer and journalist whose Nan'yô jiji became an instant best seller. It was an account of his first-hand observations of Australia, New Zealand and other islands in the South Seas in 1886, and contained a clear warning for Japan. In the South Seas, Shiga found the evidence he needed to convince the Japanese public that the battle for 'survival of the fittest' was a real one, and was taking place on their doorstep. This study provides close readings of the key passages of Nan'yô jiji, demonstrating how Shiga used his first-hand observations to make the argument for Darwin and against the indiscriminate Westernisation of Japan.

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Carol Burnett
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