Antiquarians of Nineteenth-Century Japan - The Archaeology of Things in the Late Tokugawa and Early Meiji Periods

Antiquarians of Nineteenth-Century Japan explores the approach toward object-based research during the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods, highlighting the intellectual continuities between these eras and the response of antiquarians to the professionalizing of academia in Meiji Japan.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 08 March 2022
Publisher: Getty Trust Publications

Originally published in Japanese, Antiquarians of Nineteenth-Century Japan delves into the approach towards object-based research during the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods, which were typically kept separate. By examining the top-down effects of the professionalization of academia in the political landscape of Meiji Japan, which had advanced by challenging earlier modes of scholarship by antiquarians, Suzuki sheds light on how individuals outside the government responded, retracted, or challenged new public rules and values. He explores the evolving process of evaluating objects from the past in conjunction with the attitudes and practices of antiquarians during Japan's rapid modernization. Suzuki demonstrates that Japan's antiquarians shared many similarities with their counterparts in Europe and the United States. Art historian Maki Fukuoka provides an introduction to the English translation, emphasizing the significance of Suzuki's methodological and intellectual analyses and showcasing how his ideas will appeal to both specialists and nonspecialists alike.

Originally published in Japanese, Antiquarians of Nineteenth-Century Japan delves into the approach towards object-based research during the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods, which were typically kept separate. By examining the top-down effects of the professionalization of academia in the political landscape of Meiji Japan, which had advanced by challenging earlier modes of scholarship by antiquarians, Suzuki sheds light on how individuals outside the government responded, retracted, or challenged new public rules and values. He explores the evolving process of evaluating objects from the past in conjunction with the attitudes and practices of antiquarians during Japan's rapid modernization. Suzuki demonstrates that Japan's antiquarians shared many similarities with their counterparts in Europe and the United States. Art historian Maki Fukuoka provides an introduction to the English translation, emphasizing the significance of Suzuki's methodological and intellectual analyses and showcasing how his ideas will appeal to both specialists and nonspecialists alike.

ISBN-13: 9781606067420