- 著者
 
          - 
             
             山中 由里子
             
          
 
          
          
          - 出版者
 
          - 日本比較文学会
 
          
          
          - 雑誌
 
          - 比較文学 (ISSN:04408039)
 
          
          
          - 巻号頁・発行日
 
          - vol.35, pp.117-128, 1993-03-31 (Released:2017-06-17)
 
          
          
          
        
        
        
        In 1879 in St. Petersburg, Nâser al-Din Shāh of Persia, on his way        home from Europe, received the Japanese Ambassador Plenipotentiary to        Russia, Enomoto Takeaki, in audience and expressed his intention of        entering into diplomatic and commercial relations with Japan. Upon his        return to Japan, Enomoto suggested the dispatch of a mission, and a        small delegation headed by Yoshida Masaharu of the Ministry of Foreign        Affairs accompanied by Noriyoshi Furukawa of the General Staff Office,        Yokoyama Magoichiro and Tuchida Masajiro of Okura and Co., and four        other merchants was sent to Iran in 1880. This delegation was        entrusted with only commercial research on the Persian trade. Travel        books published by both Yoshida and Furukawa record their hard journey        through Iran, introduce the Iranian culture, history, and religion        (which was virtually unknown to the Japanese at that time), as well as        give valuable information on the domestic situation in Qajar        Persia. In this paper I shall compare the experience of the Iwakura        delegation, who visited Europe and the United States, to that of        Yoshida, who visited Iran which was, like Meiji Japan, still in the        process of modernization. Unlike the Iwakura delegation, Yoshida’s        mission did not bring back any practical information for the        modernization of Japan. However, in Iran, Yoshida had a chance to        actually witness serious problems which resulted from the superficial        imitation of western culture, and he realized the dangers that his own        country could face, of losing its own identity in the process of        modernization. Historically, Asia has long been a menace to Australia, a white        nation isolated in the Asiatic quarter of the world. Porter could be        said to have expressed this typical feeling, whereas Herbert seeks        rather for the means to unite his home with Asia, in the search for a        new Australian identity.