Tominaga Nakamoto and the Origin of Japan's Oriental Studies

Tominaga Nakamoto, a Japanese scholar of the early 18th century, changed the basic pattern of Japans Buddhist and Confucianist studies with his books Shutsujō Kōgo (Words after Enlightenment) and Okina no Fumi (The Writings of an Old Man). In the former book, based on his analysis of Chinese culture in terms of Confucianism and Indian culture from the viewpoint of Buddhism, he compared Indian, Chinese and Japanese culture and summarized their characteristics with the words “fanciful”, “elegant” and “simple” respectively. In the meantime, in combing through the development of Buddhism he put forward a set of key concepts in relation to his research methodology, extending his domain from country-specific studies to Asia regional studies and finally Oriental studies. In the latter book, he used the concept “makoto”, roughly meaning “practicing the good”, to synthesize the Way of the three nations. His study transformed Japanese Confucianism and Buddhism from a system of belief to an academic field. Despite his rational analysis and criticism of the traditional oriental culture, Tominaga consciously identified with it and inherited it. As the first scholar in early modern Japan who developed his own research methodology, Tominaga is the trailblazer of Oriental studies.