What Is Japan? — National Scholars Who Traced the Origins of the Japanese Language

Four scholars of Japanese classical literature attempted to uncover the "beginning of Japan" by tracing the origins of the Japanese language.

Keichū (1640-1701) arrived at "Chinese characters." Before the development of kana, how was Japanese written using Chinese characters, which originally represented Chinese?

Kamo no Mabuchi (1697-1769) found the foundation of language in "sound." Mabuchi's method of "decomposing words into meaningful sounds" led to an awareness of syllables and fifty-sound sequences.

Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801) sought to understand the hearts of ancient people by meticulously deciphering written language. His research on grammatical agreement and the pronunciation of Chinese characters, which culminated in this work, remains valuable to this day.

Fujitani Mitsue (1768-1824), sometimes called a "heretical scholar of Japanese classics," pursued "inverted language," an expression that avoids direct outpouring of emotion and instead undergoes emotional control, deeply exploring the nature of human emotions and human feelings.

This book meticulously traces and dynamically interprets the process of knowledge generation, which, through aggregation and fusion, continues to connect to modern Japanese language research.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Episteme of Edo Two Epistemes / Reading Ancient Texts / Deconstructing Language / Approaching "Emotional Information"—Metalinguistics and Waka Poetry / Exploring Imperial Court Studies through Sugoroku (a board game) / Dynamic Interdisciplinary Studies in the Edo Period / Norinaga's Universe

Chapter 1: Philologist Keichū I. Keichū's Study of the *Manyōshū*—Organizing Man'yōgana The Text of "Seigo Kana-hen" (Correct Language and Kana Characters) / Current Methods and Keichū's Method / Various " "I Can't Read It" / Keichū's Approach - Close Reading of Chinese Classics, Sanskrit (Siddham) Research / Distinction Makes Communication Possible

2. Is the *Waji Seiran Shō* a Kana Orthography Book? From the *Manyō Daishōki* to the *Waji Seiran Shō* / *Waji Seiran Shō* - Reaching the Japanese Language Written in Chinese Characters / Representing Thought with Diagrams

3. The Debate with Tachibana no Nariaki Criticism of the *Waji Seiran Shō* - *Waji Kokon Tsūrei Zensho* / Keichū's Refutation - *Waji Seiran Tsūhō* "Excerpt" and "Essential Notes on the Correction and Destruction of Japanese Characters" / Truth and Waka Poetry

IV. Awareness of Etymology and Alternative Names—Reading "Enjuan Zakki" On Etymology / On Alternative Names

Chapter Two: Kamo no Mabuchi—Perception Based on Experience and Intuition I. "Kanji Ko" Amatobuya / Nuegusa no

II. An Intuitive Approach and Logic The Heart of Ancient Times / Mabuchi and Norinaga

III. Composing and Understanding Poetry—Practical Interpretation A Devoted Heart / Thoughts in the Heart Turning words into songs / Expression of emotions

IV. A pioneering work in phonetic interpretation using the Japanese syllabary "Kana" and the Japanese syllabary / A phonetic view of word formation / A network of knowledge / The theory of deferred and abbreviated forms / Tonight's moonlit night / Conclusion

Chapter 3: Motoori Norinaga I. A grammatical diagram—"Teniwoha Himo Kagami" The awareness of "kakarimusubi"—Transmission from the Middle Ages to the Edo period / Observing "Teniwoha Himo Kagami" II. Showing the pronunciation of kanji through kana— — "The Pronunciation of Chinese Characters and Kana Usage" "Kana Tsukabi" and "The Pronunciation of Chinese Characters and Kana Usage" / Writing Chinese words in kana / Representing Chinese character sounds in kana

3. Colloquial Language as a Metalinguistic Function Metalinguistic Function—Explaining language with language / Acquisition of a metalinguistic function / Metalinguistic Functions such as "Ancient Language" and "Village Language"—Fujitani Mitsue's "Shiyō Shinga" / Text-Based Approach / Concrete and Abstract in Texts / Japanese Outside the Japanese Archipelago—Okajima Kanayama's "Tōwa San'yō" / Various Forms of Japanese within the Japanese Archipelago Words—Gozan Koshigaya's *Butsurui Shōgo*

IV. Norinaga's Method—*Kokinshū Enkyō* An overview of *Kokinshū Enkyō* / How to grasp humanistic knowledge / The "first encounter" with Mabuchi / Writing in the margins / Norinaga's reading / The verbalization of human feelings and emotions / The method of classical philology—From Ogyū Sorai to Mabuchi and Norinaga

V. The Debate with Ueda Akinari—"Kagari Yoshi" An overview of "Kagari Yoshi" / The debate in the first volume of "Kagari Yoshi" / Being nationalistic and being logical / The Positioning of Spoken Language / Conclusion

Chapter 4: Fujitani Mitsue's Theory of Inverted Words and the Spirit of Words 1. The Heretical National Scholar Mitsue's Era / Undifferentiated Texts / The Evaluation of Mitsue in the 20th Century

2. Pursuing "True Words" Through Poetry The State of the Human Heart / What is Poetry to People? — The Poetic Theory "Shingon Ben" / The "Practice and Training" of Poetry — "Kado Hisui Sho" / A "Light" Illuminating the Classics

3. Various Linguistic Findings Six Movements / Focusing on the "Ayui" (leg tying) technique—'Ayui-sho' and 'Haikai Tenjiha-sho' / 'Waka Irehimo' / Colloquial language as metalinguistics—'Shiyo Shinga' / Communicative language and poetic language

IV. The Theory of Inverted Words and Kotodama Conclusion

Final Chapter: Poetic Language and National Scholars What it Means for National Scholars to Compose Waka Poetry / Motoori Norinaga's 'Shin Kokinshu Mino no Iezuto' / The "Sense" of "Continuity" among National Scholars / Being Close to Human Feelings / The Relationship Between Human Feelings and Thought

Notes Postscript