Shchepkin, V. V. THE IMAGE OF PETER THE GREAT IN MEIJI JAPAN. Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2022;44(4):80–89. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2022.770


To the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great

THE IMAGE OF PETER THE GREAT IN MEIJI JAPAN

Shchepkin
V. V. 		Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences; St. Petersburg School of Social Sciences and Area Studies, Higher School of Economics
Keywords:
Peter the Great
image of Peter the Great
image of Russia
history of Japan
Meiji period
emperor Meiji
modernization
westernization
biographies
school textbooks		 Summary: The article presents the results of an ongoing study, the purpose of which is to identify the features of the socio-cultural adaptation of the image of the Russian Emperor Peter I in Japan. This article examines the Meiji period (1868–1912), when the example of Peter the Great’s reforms began to be applied in Japan. To achieve the goal, the following tasks were set: to select the most representative texts about Peter in terms of the breadth of their distribution; to carry out a qualitative content analysis of these texts. The main sources of research were the works of Japanese enlighteners of the second half of the 19th century on world history and geography, school textbooks, collections of biographies of prominent people, as well as the first individual biographies of Peter I in Japanese. It was cleared that in the works of the authors in the beginning of the Meiji period, Peter is represented as the greatest ruler in the history of Russia, who, thanks to his wisdom, insight and desire for new knowledge, managed to completely rebuild Russia and make it a modern European state and the world’s largest empire. In general, the narrative about Peter inherits the texts of the authors of the first half of the 19th century, such as Watanabe Kazan and Sakuma Shozan, while there is increased attention to the personal qualities of the Russian ruler, his “humanization” takes place, which becomes even more pronounced towards the end of the period. Peter the Great begins to serve an example not only for state leaders, but also for ordinary Japanese. At the same time, in the context of the intensified confrontation between Japan and Russia in East Asia in late 19th century, the authors again focus on the origins and goals of the expansionist policy of the Russian emperor. Thus, the article for the first time reveals the features of the interpretation and adaptation of the image of Peter I in Japan in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.



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