WHO SAID THAT?

 

Tetsuro Watsuji (1889-1960)

 

- A Climate -

 

Chapter III The special forms of the monsoonal climate

2. Japan

a. The monsoonal feature

 

"Generally, human existences have a historical and monsoonal particular structure. The particularity is showed clearly by monsoonal types limited to the finiteness of a climate. From the start, because such a climate is a historical climate, the types of climate are the sorts of history at the same time. I named the way of human existence in the region of monsoon as ‘monsoonal.’ Our Japanese should be monsoonal surely in the particular way of existence. In other words, they are acceptable and submissive.

However, we cannot definite the people only using such an argument above. Japan should be quite similar to India if considered the only climate abstracting because Japan is surrounded by broad sea around receiving plenty of sunshine and has a great blessing of water with a luxuriant growth of plants. But, although India has very routine seasonable winds between the Indian Ocean and northern high mountains like a folding screen, Japan exists between the huge areas of Mongol and Siberia and the Pacific that has more spacious expanse than the areas, besides seasonable winds blow through Japan quite changeable. Although the two countries have a common feature as they are bathed by abundant water absorbed from the broad sea, Japan has quite particular characters. On the one hand, the water changed to ‘a typhoon’ that is seasonable but unexpected, appears as an incomparable form over the world in the meanings of its dialectical feature and fierceness. On the other hand, the water becomes heavy snow that is exceptional weather conditions world-widely as a snowfall. Thus, because of the double phenomena as heavy rain and snow there, Japan should have the most particular climate among monsoonal regions.”


… Watsuji was a Japanese moral philosopher. After went abroad to Germany to study, became a professor at Tokyo University. Watsuji developed his study about existentialists at his first stages such as Nietzsche, then, pioneered quite a new and initiative view in the Japanese culture with works including ‘Pilgrimages to the Ancient Temples in Nara.’ Besides, he achieved his original ethics that research which recognizes human existences as a relationship not as individuals with the notable work as ‘Climate and Culture.’