The Story of Japanese Culture by the 45 Joseon Tongsinsa, a 21st-Century Edition

The Joseon Tongsinsa served as a cultural mission between Joseon and Japan.
"Japanese Culture Seen Differently When You Know It" is a book about Japanese culture published based on the contents of studies and discussions about Japan conducted at the "East Asia Love Room Forum," which dreams of becoming a 21st century version of the Joseon Tongsinsa.
Japanese nerds who have studied and experienced Japan in various fields, including Japanese language and literature, history, politics, and economy, talk about Japanese culture with colorful photos.
In particular, the 45 Korean and Japanese forum members who participated as authors guide readers to view Japan in a diverse and three-dimensional way, free from bias and distortion.


Although the 45 authors have different areas of expertise, they share a common goal of viewing Japan “without prejudice.”
This book borrows the framework of collective intelligence in that it allows us to understand the overall characteristics of Japanese culture by looking at various aspects of it together.
As you follow vivid stories such as how the garbage island Naoshima was reborn as an art island, why Japan rebuilds the Ise Grand Shrine every 20 years by moving its location, why Japanese people use ambiguous language when refusing without specifying the circumstances, and whether seppuku, committing suicide for the monarch, was truly a righteous death recognized by all, you will see the difference between Japanese people and Japanese culture.

The more I learn about Japan, the more I realize that it is a country with a unique charm.
However, rather than simply dismissing Japan as a “peculiar and strange country,” we need to understand why Japan has these characteristics.
Understanding Japan like this is never easy.
This book contains various stories about Japan as seen through the eyes of Koreans and Japanese who are seriously studying Japan.
I hope that my efforts to gain a correct understanding of Japan through books and experiences will provide stimulation and inspiration to readers interested in Japan.
So, if the number of readers who want to understand Japan more objectively and three-dimensionally increases, I think it will be worthwhile for this book to be published.
I hope this book will serve as a small stepping stone in narrowing the gap with Japan.
--- p.11, from "Introduction"

The underground art museum he designed was built underground, as its name suggests, so as not to damage the scenery of the Seto Inland Sea.
Looking down from above, you can only see square, rectangular, and triangular holes, everything else is dirt.
The art gallery has a large open ceiling, so the expression of the artwork changes depending on the angle of the sunlight coming in.
Light and wind were incorporated into the work.
Tadao Ando said, “Architecture should not talk too much.
“Architecture should be quiet and let the wind and light speak instead,” he says.
Literally, the center of Ando's architecture is 'emptiness'.
The Jijung Art Museum is dominated by light, wind, emptiness, and nature.
Only the works of three artists are permanently exhibited here: Monet, James Turrell, and Walter de Maria.
--- p.17, from “Naoshima, the Trash Island, Reborn as Art”

In Shinto, a Japanese folk religion, it is believed that all things have a soul.
Dolls are no exception.
Of course, we cannot assume that all Japanese people living in the 21st century believe this, but there are quite a few who fundamentally treat dolls as if they were living beings.
A good example of this is the doll hospital and doll donation.
Doll hospitals that repair broken or worn-out dolls exist in the United States and France as well, so it cannot be said to be a culture unique to Japan.
But in Japan, there is a special doll hospital.
It is a workshop run by a family of doll craftsmen who repair or restore traditional dolls that have become worn out over time.
For example, in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, there is a workshop belonging to the famous Iwamura family, which has been making Ichimatsu dolls (traditional Japanese dolls that realistically depict children) for four generations.
In addition to its own products, Iwamura Doll Workshop also repairs Ichimatsu dolls from other companies.
-- p.95~96, from “Japan, the Land of Dolls”

Even putting aside the emotional gap on historical issues, there are many parts that make you feel 'it's very different from Korea.'
One of them is related to religion.
Korea has a clear religious distinction.
It is difficult to imagine a Christian going to a temple to perform a ritual, or a Buddhist getting married in a church.
Still, Japan is different.
When a baby is born, people visit a shrine to pray for health and a bright future. When they get married, they hold a wedding ceremony at a church or cathedral. And when they have a funeral, they go to a temple and hold a Buddhist ceremony.
It is truly a country that is both close and far away, yet so unknown.

--- p.205, from “When you are born, you receive blessings at a ‘shrine’, when you get married, you receive happiness at a ‘church’, and when you die, you receive prayers at a ‘temple’”

Mori Ogai (1862-1922), a master of modern literature, used this incident as material for his novel “The Abe Clan” published in 1913.
According to Fujimoto Chizuko, this work is one of Ogai's finest and a representative masterpiece of historical novels, and much research has been conducted on it.
At the time the work was published, Japan had completed its modernization process and was on par with Western powers, forcibly annexing its neighboring country Joseon and burning with ambitions to invade the continent.
Why did the author, at this time, bring to the forefront the outdated feudal spirit of warriorism and write a work based on an incident in which a man followed his lord to his death?
Kikuchi Kan finds his motif in the seppuku incident of Army General Nogi Maresuke, who committed suicide after the death of Emperor Meiji, the pivotal figure in the construction of modern Japan.
-- p.311~312, from "Abe Clan, a masterpiece of modern Japanese historical novels, by Mori Ogai"

Regarding the Japanese way of refusing, “This week is a bit…”, Koreans feel uneasy about why they don’t clearly refuse without giving a reason.
However, the method of refusing without explaining the reasons in detail is naturally accepted among Japanese people.
Instead of explaining the reasons for refusal in detail, they sometimes use vague expressions like “I’m not in a good mood this week…”
By using this expression, you indirectly convey your unacceptable intentions and appeal to the other person to understand.
As mentioned above, Japanese is a language in which the intent of a utterance can be understood through context or situation even without the speaker having finished speaking, so ambiguous speech patterns in incomplete sentences are allowed.
This way of expression is possible because it is a language culture that respects the private space of individuals and prevents misunderstandings even when a specific reason is not given when refusing.
--- p.355, from “The Ambiguous Speech and Interjections of the Japanese”

In the early days of its founding, Hiroshima was in last place and was not even able to pay the players' salaries, which was a problem for the team.
The team became a burden to the league, and rumors of a merger were raised just two years after its founding.
The Kap fans opposed the merger and did everything they could to protect the club.
A fundraising campaign to save the club was launched when 400 police officers from the Hiroshima City Police Department donated money to the club.
A wooden barrel for soaking alcohol was placed in front of the baseball field to collect donations, so that people could freely donate at any time.
As a result of the fundraising campaign, KAPF was able to avoid the crisis of merger and dissolution and make a fresh start.
It was possible because it was a citizens' club.
More important than the story of the poor club and the struggles of the players who don't receive salaries is the love of baseball among the citizens of Hiroshima who did not hesitate to save their food expenses to pay the baseball game ticket price.
Their situation may have overlapped with that of the Kap, who was having a hard time winning.
In this way, KAPF, which comforted the sorrow of the people in the atomic bomb area, became a spiritual pillar of Hiroshima, and as times changed, it gradually became established as a local content.

--- p.401~402, from "A Message of Peace Delivered through Baseball, Hiroshima Carp"