Transcending Japan’s National Predicament: Kenichiro Hirano’s International Cultural Theory and His Perspectives on Manchuria and East Asia

平野健一郎是日本國際關係學者，專攻國際文化論且發展出「文化觸變」的概念，用以研究滿洲與東亞共同體。他經歷第二次世界大戰並參與安保鬥爭運動，這兩起事件形塑他觀看中國與東亞的基本態度，也連帶影響其日後的研究取向。 本論文敘述平野認為日本面臨的國家困境，以及解釋他如何超越。戰後日本的國家困境乃是受美國所制約的「非正常國家」狀態，以此延伸出平野健一郎所遭遇的兩項困境。第一個困境是伴隨第二次世界大戰而來的命名辯論，對於應該採用「十五年戰爭」、「大東亞戰爭」抑或是「太平洋戰爭」的稱呼，日本各界莫衷一是；第二個困境則是「安保鬥爭運動」所引發的社會分歧，因為政府與民間針對《美日安保條約》的取捨難以形成共識。 本研究旨在記錄平野如何回應日本的國家困境及其兩項人生困境。研究結果發現，平野將遭日本國家主義蒙蔽的滿洲觀設想為日本被美國控制的現況，將日本作為盟主的東亞觀比擬為美國在世界的霸權。因此，平野創造國際文化論以重構滿洲與東亞共同體研究的軌跡，其目的並非單純追求日本正常國家化，亦非借用「東亞」的概念以消解中國，而是為了超越日本作為一個國族所帶來的困境。Kenichiro Hirano is an international relation scholar in Japan. He specializes in international cultural theory and develops the concept of “acculturation” to study Manchuria and East Asian Community. He witnessed World War Ⅱ and joined in the campaign against Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan (U.S.—Japan Security Treaty), from which his perspectives on China and East Asia were derived. This thesis records what Hirano perceived to be Japan’s national predicament and how he prescribed ways to transcend it. Japan’s national predicament arises from the “abnormal state”, which is characterized by American occupation, and this national predicament shapes Kenichiro Hirano’s two predicaments. The first predicament indicates the debate over selecting a proper label for World War Ⅱ among “The Fifteen—Year War”, “The East Asian War” and “The Pacific War”. The second regards the social cleavages caused by U.S.—Japan Security Treaty. The focus of this thesis is to explain how Hirano tackles Japan’s national predicament and his two predicaments. Specifically, in his perspectives, Manchuria is conceived as a reflection that Japan is under America’s control, and Japan’s ambition to become a leader of East Asia is viewed as American hegemony. Therefore, in order to transcend Japan’s national predicament as an “abnormal state”, he rescues and reconstructs Japan’s discourses on Manchuria and East Asia from the plague of War and Nationalism by contriving an international cultural theory