When Tengu Talk: Hirata Atsutane's Ethnography of the Other World

CHAPTER 6 The Critique of the West and Defense of Native Knowledge and Ability

C H A P T E R 6 The Critique of the West and Defense of Native Knowledge and Ability Atsutane’s Ambivalence toward the West Atsutane’s attitude toward Western knowledge was one of respect, but he was also compelled to remind his audience that no matter how fine Western knowledge was, the Westerner’s character and habits were bestial at best and they were therefore not to be admired or emulated. Nevertheless, he felt that Western knowledge and technology could and should be appropriated by the Japanese, using the pretext that this knowledge originated in Japan and the kami had brought it back demanding that it be repatriated. Atsutane displayed contempt for Europeans as a race and furthered the opinion that they were an entirely different and inferior type of animal. In the following passage he describes the current state of knowledge concerning the differences between the Japanese and Dutch anatomies: Their eyes are really just like those of a dog. They are long from the waist downwards, and the slenderness of their legs makes them resemble animals . When they urinate they lift one leg, the way dogs do. Moreover, apparently because the backs of their feet do not reach the ground, they fasten wooden heels to their shoes, which make them look all the more like dogs. This may also explain why a Dutchman’s penis appears to be cut short at the end, just like a dog’s.1 Nevertheless, when speaking of their cultural achievements, he could be complimentary, as in the following: Having a patient and deliberate national style, they [the Dutch] deeply consider the very root of things. Because of that way of thinking, they have made various measuring devices. For instance, for seeing the sun, moon, and planets, they made the telescope and the helioscope. In order to know size and distance, they made things like the theodolite.2 In conducting their studies they take five or ten years, even up to a lifetime. What 170 The West and Native Knowledge and Ability they have considered and measured, they pass on in writing, recording as much as they know. Their followers, descendants or students, for generations , continue to study this.3 In another place he writes: It goes without saying how accomplished they are in astronomy and geography ; people have also been amazed by the precision of their machines. They are particularly skilled in medicine and the preparation of drugs. It has doubtless been the will of the kami that European medical books have been brought here in ever-increasing numbers and have attracted wide attention.4 One particular reason he was not ambivalent toward Western knowledge was because he was impressed by its proven accuracy and efficacy. However, there was another reason for praising Western culture, as can be seen in this passage: [Holland] is an excellent country; they do not use slippery statements based on conjecture like the Chinese. Because of that, when it comes to affairs they cannot figure out even after thinking about them exhaustively, they say that these affairs are beyond the understanding of humans and so are called God’s5 affairs. They say without the working of the gods of heaven6 they cannot be figured out. They do not make hasty guesses.7 Here we can see that Atsutane had learned that praise of the West could also have the advantage of including a harsh criticism of other more familiar and traditional enemies. We can also see that what he is praising about the West in this passage is theologically consistent with his assertion of the ultimate superiority of the kami. Atsutane’s stated opinion was that the West held superiority in science that the Japanese kami had recently decided to bring back to Japan. He further recognized that this superior science could be good for the Japanese to learn. However, the above quotation that the kami had prompted the Europeans to bring the scientific knowledge to Japan came from an Atsutane work published in 1811. This pious assertion would later be dropped for something more suitable to his nativist agenda. In 1820 Atsutane met Torakichi and started his new supernatural inquiries into Japan’s Other World. As a result of his new methods of investigation, Atsutane claimed to have discovered not only an addendum to his theology, but also a native The West and Native Knowledge and Ability 171 technological wizard and genius...