Nitobe Inazou as a Cultural Carrier (2) : The Concept of "Kou"

This paper discusses Inazou Nitobe's effort to interpret Japanese ideas toward westerners, especially focusing on the concept of "Kou" (filial duty). Nitobe (1872～1933) revised his well-known writing Bushido in 1905. At the preface in this revised edition, he mentioned the concept of "Kou," one of the traditional Japanese moral codes by devoting almost half of the space of the whole preface. However, what he stated here was simply that he was not able to write about it. It is pointed out that Nitobe's approach to writing Bushido is to make the "congruity" between Japanese ideas and western ideas. To put it an other way, Nitobe's comment at the preface will be a statement that 'Kou' is one of the most unique Japanese traditional moral concepts. In spite of knowing the importance of the notion, why did he drop 'Kou' for Bushido which is written for explaining Japanese moral tradition to the west? Actually, after Bushido, he had tried to explain the moral duty of the child-parents relationship several times in his English articles. Comparing those English articles to his writings about "Kou" for the Japanese audience, I would like to consider Nitobe's actual aims and roles as a cultural carrier.14KJ00004192576departmental bulletin pape