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The two centuries that precedes the arrival of Rankean methods to the Japanese archipelago (approx, ca. 1650-1850) saw a massive and innovative evolution in the qualities of philology and exegesis, especially, historical chronology, and the study of edition and variants among the Japanese Confucians, all of which had contributed to the departure of'Confucian studies' from being merely ethical, rhetorical or literary perse; they provided the country with an important scholarly foundation for historical studies in later years. Scholarly exchange between China and Japan had benefited both; a massive influx of evidential Confucians' achievement from China nurtured the Japanese counterpart, whereas the textual criticism and discrepant readings in China from the mid-eighteenth century onwards had largely been 'triggered' by the arrival of the works of japanese Confucians. Scholars in eighteenth century Japan had begun to work across disciplines far more intensively than ever before that eventually nurtured new methods to approach old texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although some politics and international relations discourses continue to maintain that there is a causal link between secularism and political modernity, religious studies, anthropology, and history research over the past decade has been rather merciless in debunking this idea as one of the tropes of Western imperialism. This article considers at how Japanese political thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries engaged this trope, and how that engagement contributed to the particular relationship between religion and governance that emerged in the modern Japanese empire (1868-1945). The article argues that developments in the Confucian political thought of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868), particularly in the works of Ogyū Sorai (1666-1728) and Aizawa Seishisai (1792-1863), contributed significantly to the capacity of Japanese thinkers and politicians to creatively engage the role of religion in Western imperialism during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the confrontation whether philosophy nor religion was had been adopted in Japan from Western world during the period of Meiji in 1868 to 1912. It discusses the author's objective to categorize the existence of both, as influence to the Japanese culture and likewise depicted its analysis in determining either Buddhism or Confucianism will fall under religion or philosophy. The author's view on Meiji-era philosophy and its connection to religion and ways of thinking is also presented.

The article examines "Flowers and Insects," a scroll painting by 19th century samurai artist Tsubaki Chinzan of Edo, Japan. It describes the aspects of the scroll painting that can be attributed to the Chinese. It outlines biographical information about Chinzan. It discusses the familiarity of Chinzan with the traditions of the Chinese language and the Chinese Neo-Confucian philosophy. It provides an overview of the features of the scroll painting and the poem composed by Chinzan for the painting.

Examines the relation between ethical conflicts involving Confucian principles and soteriological claims based on Amida Buddhist theology in the love suicide dramas of Japanese playwright Chikamatsu. Passion versus social duty in an environment of impermanence; Main elements of millenarian discourse; Karma and the floating world; Redemption from powerlessness through suicide.

Discusses the internal structure and dynamics of Tokugawa Confucianism at the level of ideas and ethics. Emerging common elements that distinguish it from its Chinese and Korean antecedents; Diversity and unity in Tokugawa Confucianism; Substance and form of `vitalism'; `Substance' and its problems; Nuances of the philosophy.