To the Ends of Japan: Premodern Frontiers, Boundaries, and Interactions

355 Pages·2003·2.69 MB·English

by  Bruce Loyd Batten

Bruce L. Batten
University of Hawai‘i Press
Honolulu
© 2003 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
08 07 06 05 04 03 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Batten, Bruce Loyd.
To the ends of Japan: premodern frontiers, boundaries,
and interactions/Bruce L. Batten.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-8248-2447-4 (alk. paper)
1. Japan—History. I. Title.
ds835 .h6316 2002
952—dc21 2002011946
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper
and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council
on Library Resources.
Designed by Jeanne Calabrese
Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
To my mother and my father

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 State 19
Japan Today / Frontiers and Boundaries in Theory and in World History /
Ancient Japan / Medieval Japan / Early Modern Japan / Frontiers and
Boundaries of Premodern Japan
Chapter 2 “Race” and Culture 52
Japan as “Nation-State” / “Race” and Biological Origins / “Culture” /
Culture and the State
Chapter 3 Ethnicity 87
What Is “Ethnicity”? / Japanese Ethnicity: A Historical Overview /
Ethnogenesis on the Periphery / Ethnogenesis, Ethnic Borders, and
“Japan”
Chapter 4 Premodern Japan in World-Systems Theory 125
Japan’s Borders: Barriers or Conduits? / The “Modern World-System” /
The Premodern World-System(s) / A Japan-Centered “World-System”?
vii
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 5 Political and Military Interactions 143
Japan as an Autonomous “Political/Military Network”? / Factors
Aªecting Cross-Border Interaction / Political/Military Relations with
the Continent: A Brief Survey / Patterns and Explanations / Questions
of Scale / A Web of Overlapping Systems
Chapter 6 Bulk Goods 162
Japan’s Bulk Goods Network / Circulation of Bulk Goods in Ancient and
Medieval Times / The Early Modern Period / Bulk Goods and the State
Chapter 7 Prestige Goods 181
Japan’s Prestige Goods Network / “Tribute Trade,” “Maritime Regions,”
and “Networks” / “Public” vs. “Private” Exchange / Imports / Exports /
Transshipment and Scale of Exchange
Chapter 8 Information 206
Information and Frontiers / “Formal” vs. “Informal” Channels / Inflows /
Outflows / Nature and Scale of the Network
Chapter 9 Japan, East Asia, and the World 225
Japan and East Asia / Japan and the World
Chapter 10 Social Power: Causes and Consequences 235
The Frontier as “Contested Ground” / Actors and Strategies /
Sociopolitical Organization / Technology / Environment and Ecology /
A Socioenvironmental Feedback System / The End of Geopolitics?
Notes 263
Works Cited 295
Index 327