Japan and the West: clash of identities?
Discussion with a Japanese historian
Dear readers,
for the sixth episode of the Why the West podcast, I'm delighted to welcome Miho Mastunuma, a perfectly Japanese historian who after growing up in Tokyo, taught in France and Japan. She now lives in Montreal, Canada. Thanks to her life shared between Japan and the West, she reveals the profound cultural differences between these two worlds.
You can watch the interview on the Why The West YouTube channel (click here). The interview is in French, but YouTube's automatic English subtitle translation tool works very well. Click the Parameter button at the bottom right of the video to activate it.
On the menu:
Foreigners will never really understand Japan
Universalism doesn't exist in Japan
A major difference between Japan and France: aversion to conflict in the Japanese and a permanent spirit of contradiction in the French
The world is just as it is
How the Japanese see the world
The gaze of God does not exist in Japan
How is France perceived in Japan?
Chinese, Korean and Japanese interest in Western classical music
The difference between France and Quebec
The Meiji era: a crucial period in Japanese history
Gustave Émile Boissonnade, French jurist superstar in Japan
Enjoy watching!
Guillaume
Find all previous issues of Why the West on the homepage of the site. You can also follow me on X (ex-twitter).