Staatsbegriff und Rezeption des internationalen Rechts um die Mitte des i9. Jhds.

What is it about?

This article examines some basic features of the concept of the state in Meiji Japan and argues that the concept was formed in response to external pressure issued by Western powers.

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Why is it important?

In the historiography of intellectual relations between Europe and Japan, the view has often been taken that the transfer of concepts from Europe to Japan took place on a one-way road and that the reception of transferred cultural goods merely consisted in adoption. Scrutinising sources reveals that rather than adoption processes of modification, adaptation and rejection played together to establish new concepts.