Mori Arinori's Life and Resources in America'Mori notes, 'Where men think that they know everything, and boast of their superior wisdom, the presumption is that they have yet much to learn.' . . . [T]oday's readers, whether in the United States, in Japan, or elsewhere, who may think they already know so much about the subject, will find much of value in Life and Resources in America.' --Akira Iriye, Harvard University, from the foreword Mori Arinori's Life and Resources in America was written by the young, educated ex-samurai the Japanese government selected as its first diplomatic representative in the United States. Originally published in English in Washington, D.C., in 1871, this book sheds much light on the shape of an American society, government, and economy recovering from the Civil War. Like earlier philosopher-tourists such as Alexis de Tocqueville and Harriet Martineau, Mori understands the United States as a stage upon which an important experiment in democracy, pluralism, and liberalism is unfolding. Life and Resources in America is distinct for its view from the Reconstruction period and by a non-European observer. Historian John E. Van Sant has annotated and lightly edited this uniquely illuminating text, making it readily accessible to the contemporary audience it deserves. |
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Page xviii
... College of London for more than one year and spent some time traveling on the European continent . Mori spent some of his time in St. Petersburg , where he learned of Orthodox Christian- ity and of Peter the Great , who had transformed ...
... College of London for more than one year and spent some time traveling on the European continent . Mori spent some of his time in St. Petersburg , where he learned of Orthodox Christian- ity and of Peter the Great , who had transformed ...
Page xxi
... college ) then in the United States . He also produced three , mostly English - language works during his two years in Washington : Life and Resources in America , a book first published in late 1871 ; " Religious Freedom in Japan ...
... college ) then in the United States . He also produced three , mostly English - language works during his two years in Washington : Life and Resources in America , a book first published in late 1871 ; " Religious Freedom in Japan ...
Page xxvi
... College in Massachusetts in 1870 who would go on to establish Doshisha University in Kyoto and become one of Japan's most renowned Christian ministers.40 In an attempt to minimize the fears , prejudices , and political concerns that ...
... College in Massachusetts in 1870 who would go on to establish Doshisha University in Kyoto and become one of Japan's most renowned Christian ministers.40 In an attempt to minimize the fears , prejudices , and political concerns that ...
Page xxxiv
... College , 1990 ) ; chapter 3 of Hail , Mori Arinori ; and chapter 4 of John E. Van Sant , Pacific Pioneers : Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii . 1850-1880 ( Urbana and Chicago : University of Illinois Press , 2000 ) . 14 ...
... College , 1990 ) ; chapter 3 of Hail , Mori Arinori ; and chapter 4 of John E. Van Sant , Pacific Pioneers : Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii . 1850-1880 ( Urbana and Chicago : University of Illinois Press , 2000 ) . 14 ...
Page xxxv
... colleges ( two from Vassar College and one from Bryn Mawr ) . See Barbara Rose , Tsuda Umeko mid Women's Education in Japan ( New Haven : Yale University Press . 1992 ) , and Akiko Kuno , Unexpected Destinations : The Poignant Story of ...
... colleges ( two from Vassar College and one from Bryn Mawr ) . See Barbara Rose , Tsuda Umeko mid Women's Education in Japan ( New Haven : Yale University Press . 1992 ) , and Akiko Kuno , Unexpected Destinations : The Poignant Story of ...
Contents
Official and Political Life | 5 |
Life among the Farmers and Planters | 15 |
Commercial Life and Developments | 31 |
Life among the Mechanics | 43 |
Religious Life and Institutions | 51 |
Life in the Factories | 69 |
Educational Life and Institutions | 81 |
Literary Artistic and Scientific Life | 93 |
Life in the Leading Cities | 119 |
Frontier Life and Developments | 129 |
Judicial Life | 135 |
Final Thoughts on America1 | 139 |
Religious Freedom in Japan | 141 |
The Religious Charter of the Empire of Dai Nippon | 149 |
Selected Bibliography | 151 |
155 | |
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Common terms and phrases
acres agricultural amount annual believe Bible called century chapter chargé d'affaires Charles Lanman chiefly Chinese Christ Christian church Circuit civilization claim College comfort commercial connected cotton coun culture daimyō District employed England established extensive fact factories farm farmers fifty foreign Fukuzawa Yukichi give houses hundred important inhabitants institutions Ivan Parker Iwakura embassy Iwakura Tomomi Japanese Japanese students jurisdiction known labor land large numbers largest late laws leading live manufacture Meiji Meiji era Meiji government Meiji Restoration ment merchants miles millions of dollars minister Mori Arinori Mori's nation Niijima persons political population productions published regard religion religious Resources in America Sakoku samurai Satsuma schools sect ships society Supreme Court Territories Thomas Lake Harris thousand dollars tion Tokugawa Tokugawa bakufu Tokyo total number trade true United University various Washington West Western women writing York