Author ｜
Bau-man Tzeng
Abstract ｜
This article focuses on the semantic changes of the concept of Nōhon (agriculture as the foundation) in modern Japan, exploring how the discourse of the concept has been influenced by the interplay of traditional values and Western thought. It points out that the proponents of “agriculture as the foundation” from the late 19th century to the early 20th century were primarily agrarian bureaucrats, landlords, and politicians. They inherited certain Confucian morals from the Edo period, viewing agricultural production as the foundation of industry and emphasizing the stability of food supply and military resources. Essentially, this was a theory that supported the interests of the state and landlords. Subsequently, with the development of capitalism, the spread of Christian thought, and the introduction of socialism and social policy studies, the advocates of “agriculture as the foundation” in the 1910s and 1920s were mostly critics, poets, and social activists. They emphasize individual self-realization and humanistic ethos, positioning themselves in opposition to the atomization of the individual under the mechanistic logic of industrial society. This orientation is often characterized by a critical stance toward capitalism and Western modernity. After the rural panic in the early 1930s, intellectuals attempted to explore a new form of community different from Western modernization through collective labor and rural autonomy. However, the proponents since the Taisho era mostly lacked the policy capacity to effectively solve rural economic problems. Under the Asia-Pacific War, the concept of “agriculture as the foundation” was appropriated by total war theorists into discourses of diligent production, self-discipline, and fulfilling one’s duties, falling into a political collusion with state socialism and imperial philosophy.
keywords ｜
Nōhon-shugi (Agrarianism), humanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Westernism, total war system