Mirai. Estudios Japoneses

The essence of the Meiji man: an approach to Kokoro by Natsume Sôseki

Martín Ricardo López Angelini — 2024-12-17

Taking into account the context of the Meiji era (1868-1912) and the changes it produced within Japanese society at that time, this article seeks to address the novel Kokoro (こころ, 1914) by Natsume Sōseki (夏目漱石, 1867-1916) with the aim of demonstrating, first, what is that kokoro that the work seeks to unveil before the eyes of its readers and which in this paper we identify with the «essence» of the Meiji man; secondly, we seek to identify the mechanism used in the text to elucidate it, the key to which is found in a series of specular games between the main characters of the work. We argue that this process ends with a potential extratextual instance depending on the approach that each reader makes to the novel and whose ultimate purpose is to establish a dialogue and to question the ideals of its own time.

The Concern with Memory in 21st Century Japanese Contemporary Art. Cult of the past and building collective consciousness

Pilar Cabañas Moreno — 2024-12-17

This article aims to investigate the theme of memory and its cultural meanings in the art produced in Japan during the 21st century. Methodologically, the curators and artists, selected by the Japan-Ishibashi Foundation for the exhibition of their projects in the Japanese Pavilion at the first ten Venice Biennale, have been used as a sample. The detailed analysis of the starting points of the artists and their works has led us to the conclusion that the theme of memory is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, both as a duty to guard the past and to promote the future. And his art reflects this.

The SOLO Colection: A window on Japanese history and contemporary culture through art

Alejandra Rodríguez Cunchillos — 2024-12-17

The purpose of this research is the analysis of the Japanese art collections of the Colección SOLO, one of the most important collections of contemporary art in Europe. This collection was created in Spain in the second decade of the 21st century and, today, has works by artists from all over the world; a particularity worth highlighting, since most of the collections in this country, whether public or private, usually have collections mainly from national, European or Western artists. In the case of the Colección SOLO, Asian artists especially stand out, including Japanese artists with 112 pieces by 22 authors, many of them leading artists. In addition to highlighting this collection, the artists and their works present in it, this study aims to highlight the practice of Japanese contemporary art collecting, as it offers a window into Japanese history and contemporary culture. Through the collections of Japanese art, we can learn about the evolution of the links or relationships that Japan and Spain have established over time and, on the other hand, through the pieces the particular vision that we had of the same history, in the most of the cases, told through the Western prism.

A Museographic Update of the China-Japan Collection of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría of Seville

Macarena Torralba García — 2024-12-17

This article examines the China-Japan collection organised by the Japanologist Fernando García Gutiérrez, now at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría in Seville. It documents the transfer of the exhibition from the original room to where it is currently on display. It also provides an updated museographic and museological analysis. Before addressing this topic, we reflect on the nature of the ensemble and its relationship with specific museological currents, where the question is raised as to whether or not the analysis can be classified as belonging to Oriental Museography.

"Tàpies. The trace of Zen". A clarifying exhibition

Pilar Cabañas Moreno — 2024-12-17

The text contains a commentary on the exhibition organised by the Fundació Tàpies in Barcelona to conmemorate the centenary of the artist's birth. More than forty works are distributed throughout the space of the Fundació to show his confessed affinities with the world of Zen, focusing on the work that dates from 1979. A magnificent work by Nuria Homs, the curator of the exhibition.

Landscapes with Mount Fuji and Popocatepetl in the Kaluz Museum in Mexico City: "Almost gold, almost amber, almost light. Welcome from the Mexican landscape to the Japanese landscape"

David Almazán Tomás — 2024-12-17

The text includes the critical review of the exhibition Casi oro, casi ámbar, casi luz. Bienvenida del paisaje mexicano al paisaje japonés held in 2023 at the Kaluz Museum in Mexico City. The exhibition, with a curatorial team specialized in Mexican art and Japanese art, presents a dialogue through the genre of the landscape of Mexico and Japan. The Japanese art comes from the donation of the North American Terry Welch, owner of one of the best collections of Japanese painting from the 19th and 20th centuries in Latin America.

Thoughts on the “Asia y África desde América. 60 años de creación del Centro de Estudios de Asia y África de El Colegio de México" Exhibition

Sonia Irene Ocaña Ruiz — 2024-12-17

The exhibition “Asia y África desde América. 60 años de creación del Centro de Estudios de Asia y África del Colegio de México”, hosted at the Universidad de Zaragoza’s Paraninfo, provides the local audience the opportunity to know the important publishing production that across the Atlantic Ocean is generated by the Centro de Estudios de Asia y África at El Colegio de México. This contributes to continue to consolidate the dissemination of non-European cultures in a city which for decades has been playing a leading role in this respect.

Pastrana Huguet, José. “Estudio comparativo entre España y Japón sobre la reducción del riesgo de desastres. Aportaciones para la promoción de la cultura preventiva y la creación de comunidades resilientes”. Tesis doctoral

José Pastrana Huguet — 2024-12-17

This research offers a comparative study between Spain and Japan on disaster risk reduction, focusing on two concepts that we consider fundamental: preventive culture and disaster risk management, considering all the education (formal, non-formal, and informal) as an essential link between these concepts. The selection of Japan for comparison with Spain responds to its consideration as an international benchmark, its disaster risk management system, which includes education for disaster risk reduction, and the more significant development of Japanese preventive culture compared to Spain.

Galán Sanz, Ana. “Retrato de una artista. Arte y género a través de las memorias de la pintora Uemura Shōen. Life of an artist. Art and gender through the memoirs of the painter Uemura Shōen. 美術家の肖像。上村松園という画家の回想録を通してのジェンダー研究”. Tesis doctoral

Ana Galán Sanz — 2024-12-17

The objective of this research work is to elaborate a rereading of the Japanese artist Uemura Shōen under a series of parameters that allow us to know in depth not only Shōen herself, but also her opinions, positions and ideas in relation to Japanese painting, women artists or the development of Japanese art. The methodology to be followed will be divided into two axes: on the one hand, a bibliographic review of monographs and articles focused on painting and Japanese feminism; on the other, the analysis and translation into Spanish of Shōen’s literary work. This thesis aims to rediscover Shōen herself and her work, often misunderstood, in a research structured in three parts: a study on women and artists, essential to place the artist in her context; a critical analysis of the painter’s writings; and the complete translation of these texts into Spanish.

A Vision of Hispanic America in Postwar Japan: the Case of Tokyo Vice-governor Okayasu Hikosaburō after his Visit of 1952

Alberto Millán Martín — 2024-12-17

In the spring of 1952, at the same time that Japan was regaining its sovereignty and industrial capacity after the war, a mixed delegation of bureaucrats and businessmen led by the Vice-governor of Tokyo visited four Hispanic American countries as part of a larger tour around the Americas in order to explore possible trade relations and to inquire about the current situation of prewar Japanese immigrants. Vice-governor Okayasu Hikosaburō (1899-1982), also interested in Japan’s image abroad, later recorded his impressions in a travel book and several articles in economic journals. In this study we analyze those sources in order to identify, evaluate and make known the vision that a high official of the capital wanted to transmit to his fellow countrymen both about Latin America in general and about Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Peru in particular. To this end, we establish a thematic division by contrasting and unifying data from various sources and apply the theoretical framework presented in Chiappe Ippolito (2020) on three types of historical images of Latin America identified in modern Japanese literature: “primitive”, “primeval”, and “peripheral”. We conclude that Okayasu’s vision is not clearly framed in any of them and that he tried to show Latin American societies as they were: modern, civilized, complex, in an evolving process, with similarities and differences with respect to Japan, but forming part of the same world at the end of the day.

The birth of Hispanic studies in Japan: from the Philippines and Latin America to Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and the fisrt direct translations

David Taranco — 2024-12-17

This article attempts to show the birth and evolution of Hispanic Studies in Japan, from the first Spanish classes in higher education, in late 19th century, to the publication of the first direct translations of Spanish literature, in the 1920s. This study will help visualize the importance of the Philippines and Latin America – Mexico and Peru in particular – as the first driving forces for Spanish courses in Japan, as well as writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez’s precious role as the catalyst of direct literary translations.

The Japan-Spain-Mexico junction monument: A meeting point for memory and friendship

Carlos Uscanga — 2024-12-17

The Japan-Spain-Mexico Commemorative Obelisk is a point of confluence of the ties of international friendship between Japan, Mexico, and Spain. The inhabitants and local authorities of Onjuku have made an effort to keep in collective memory the events of September 30, 1609, characterized by the arrival of Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberruza's ship to the shores of Iwawada. This moment would become crucial for relations between the three countries. To the various international exchange activities, the initiative to build this monument would be added, incorporated into the diplomatic narrative of the three countries as a way to justify a long-standing friendship.

Considering the importance that have had this monument in the friendly exchange relations between these countries, this article aims to analyze the process carried out for its construction from a historical-descriptive perspective. The above is done through the information contained in Mexican sources from the Archivo Histórico Diplomático Genaro Estrada, some references from the Diplomatic Historical Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and other newspaper sources from that time, as well as notes and cybergraphic documents.

Likewise, will be identified the management process carried out by the “Society for the Erection of the Memorial Monument of the Origin of Spanish-Japanese Relations” to raise the necessary funds for its construction. This will allow to reflect on its current meaning and importance in the construction of bridges of communication and understanding between Japan, Spain, and Mexico.

Carlos Maya-Ambía, Japón: el cansancio de una nación, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, 2021, 166 pp.

Antonio Blat — 2024-12-17

Japón: el cansancio de una nación, written by Carlos Maya-Ambía, applies the theoretical framework proposed by the Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han for modern societies to the Japanese society. Thereby, the essay identifies burnout’s symptoms in current Japan. An identification based on both Japanese particularities and common elements to modern societies.

Rodao, Florentino. From Allies to Enemies. Spain, Japan and the Axis in World War II. Singapur: Springer Nature Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. ISBN 978-981-19-8472-3

Carles Brasó Broggi — 2024-12-17

The book From Allies to Enemies addresses the relations between Francoist Spain and Japan during World War II. It is an updated version of the work published in Spanish by the same author, Franco y el imperio japonés. The pioneering nature of the research stands out, as it covers a scarcely explored area of the relations between Spain, Japan, and East Asia, and the systematic use of primary sources from diverse origins makes a contrasted and panoramic view of the object of study possible.

Santiago Iglesias, José Andrés y Ana Soler Baena (coords.). Estudios de anime: aproximaciones a Neon Genesis Evangelion desde una perspectiva de medios. Gijón: Satori Ediciones, 2023. 456 pp. ISBN: 978-84-19035-47-9

Daniel Ferrera — 2024-12-17

Estudios de anime: aproximaciones a Neon Genesis Evangelion desde una perspectiva de medios, coordinated by José Andrés Santiago Iglesias and Ana Soler Baena, is organised into eleven chapters that take an analytical approach to Japanese animation with the clear intention of legitimising the so-called anime studios.

Abad de los Santos, Rafael. La delegación japonesa de 1882 en España. El descubrimiento de una antigua amistad. Coria del Río: Asociación Hispano Japonesa Hasekura, Ayuntamiento de Coria del Río, 2021. 104 pp. ISBN 978-84- 09-36195-3 (edición bilingüe español-japonés)

Carmen Tirado Robles — 2024-12-17

The work of Rafael Abad de los Santos on the discovery in 1882 of the letter sent by Date Masamune to the City Council of Seville more than two centuries earlier, which features three Japanese diplomats, serves to delve into the analysis of the relevance of the Keichō embassy and its impact on relations between Spain and Japan, at a time when Japan was seeking its place on the international scene as a modern and efficient country.

Review of the book Japan in Spanish: The Dissemination of Japanese Culture through Books (1868-1945)

Pilar Garcés García — 2024-12-17

The research addressed in this collective work demonstrates how in Spain, during the period between 1868 and 1945, there were real possibilities of achieving a remarkable degree of knowledge about Japan. A cross-cutting proposal that analyzes a selection of fundamental texts.

De Moraes, Wenceslau. La ceremonia del té. Axel Gasquet, 2024. (Versión española de Axel Gasquet del original de Wenceslau de Moraes, O culto do chá). 85 pp.

Raquel Madrigal Martínez — 2024-12-17

O culto do chá, a work written by Wenceslau de Moraes and published in 1905, introduces us to the rituals related to the cultivation and preparation of tea in Japan; during the narration, with a deep lyrical feeling, the author «paints» bucolic pictures of landscapes and rooms and also offers us a psychological portrait of the characters that populate his stories and of Japanese society in general.

Gil Alares, Fabiola. Mokuhanga. Manual ilustrado de xilografía japonesa. Zaragoza: Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 2023. 234 pp. ISBN: ‎ 978-8413407265. Gil Alares, Fabiola. Mokuhanga. Manual ilustrado de xilografía japonesa. Zaragoza: Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 2023. 234 pp. ISBN: ‎ 978-8413407265

Alejandro M. Sanz Guillén — 2024-12-17

Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza has published the first manual on Japanese woodblock printmaking in Spanish, written by the artist and instructor Fabiola Gil Alares. This book is divided into several parts, starting with a historical introduction to Japanese prints by professor David Almazán, followed by several sections describing the processes, from the preparation of the design, wood carving and printing, introducing new tips and resources that have never been described before. The book is complemented with illustrations by the author, which help to understand the explanations, and complementary audiovisual materials.

Takagi Takanashi, Kayoko (ed.). Aspectos de lengua y cultura de Japón. Homenaje a Ana María Goy Yamamoto. Madrid: Ediciones de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2023. 256 pp. ISBN: 978-84-8344-908-0

Raquel Rubio Martín — 2024-12-17

This work invites you to introduce yourself to the Japanese language and culture. It proposes an exploratory journey, not necessarily linear, from its origin to the present day. Language and culture are two dynamic systems that adapt, shape, enrich, and are co-constructed by socio-political changes.