The article deals with the problem of revealing the exact composition of one of the earliest Japanese collections of the Kunstkamera museum and the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts - namely, the collection acquired by Dr. Johan Arnold Stützer, a Swedish doctor in the service of the Dutch East India Company, who stayed in Japan in 1787-1788. J.A. Stützer, a graduate of the University of Uppsala, was a student of Professor Carl Peter Thunberg, who largely determined his interests both as a researcher and a collector of Asian rarities, and these interests were reflected in the composition of his collection. In 1794, Stützer sent a part of his collection to St. Petersburg, addressing it to the name of Empress Catherine II. The Empress ordered to transfer the collection to the Imperial Academy of Sciences and Arts in St. Petersburg. The collection by J.A. Stützer was viewed as extremely valuable for the Russian academic and museum Japanese studies, for it provided unique materials on the Japanese culture of the late 18th c., when the Tokugawa Shogunate pursued a policy of self-seclusion, and Japanese items were considered particular rarities in Europe. The J.A. Stützer’s collection substantially enriched the Academic Museum (Kunstkamera) and the Library with a selection of very rare Japanese books, maps, and various Japanese pieces (works of various traditional and “export” arts and crafts, rare coins, samples of weapons, items introducing some of the traditional healing methods, some special items characterizing the state of Japanese sciences, etc.). Unfortunately, in the course of storing, the pieces constituting the original collection were separated and placed in different museum and archival repositories - that of Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (MAE RAS), Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IOM RAS), St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A significant part of the original composition of the collection has been preserved until nowadays, but the fate of many pieces remains unknown. The purpose of this article is to determine how many items of the original collection by Dr. J.A. Stützer are currently in the collection of the MAE RAS (Kunstkamera) and IOM RAS; what part of the items from the original collection has not been received by the Academy; what items are now considered lost. The article is the result of the research of the items composing the J. A. Stützer’s collection in the MAE RAS and IOM RAS repositories and its comparison with archival and museum documents describing the collection.

Starting from January 2018, a number of people sued the Japanese government over forced sterilization under the Eugenic Protection Law (1948 to 1996), under which about 16,500 people were involuntarily sterilized, demanding apologies and compensation. Public outcry resulting from lawsuits prompted prefectures and municipalities to release documents concerning sterilizations, enabling researchers and journalists to investigate this page in the history of postwar Japan. This paper, along with giving a brief introduction to the history of eugenics in Japan and the Eugenic Protection Law, aims to understand how sterilizations were rationalized, using archival materials of Kanagawa Prefecture. A total of 462 involuntary sterilizations were implemented in Kanagawa, among which 296 on people having non-hereditary mental illness or intellectual disability. Sterilization applications and records of the Eugenic Protection Commission meetings reveal that sterilizations were often justified by 1) the alleged protection of people who lacked the ability to care for themselves and their offspring, 2) preventing pregnancy in the case of sexual harassment. Documents also demonstrate that, although the law was a eugenic one, social factors rather than genetics were essential in determining subjects of sterilization. Commissions also were not concerned with the fact that sterilization would only prevent pregnancy, but not sexual harassment or rape. This article also tries to explain why a eugenic law was enacted in postwar Japan, and how it was rationalized. As Matsubara (1998) and others have demonstrated, the fear of “reverse selection” was often used to rationalize unethical sterilizations. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice established that if sterilizations were performed for the “public good”, they would not go against the constitution.

The article discusses the stories about horses and riders from Konjaku monogatari shū (1120s). In the Honchō part of the collection, horseback riding is one of the cross-cutting motives uniting stories on Buddhist and secular themes. There are six main contexts in which this topic is discussed. 1) A wonderful or simply unusual horse belongs to a person with a special fate, with the features of a ruler, although it is not always possible to reveal these features. 2) A horse accompanies a person not only in bad deeds, such as hunting and war, but also in good ones, for example, helps to find a sacred place for a temple. 3) Passion for horses can push a person to crime, but one who knows how to cope with it succeeds. 4) The art of riding can introduce both the rider and the spectator into a kind of “intoxication”, yoi , akin to madness, and even strict competition ceremonial is powerless against it; however, sometimes people benefit even from their defeat in competitions. 5) The meeting of a horseman and a pedestrian on the road is a difficult case in terms of etiquette, and often in such cases people unwittingly reveal how they really relate to their fellows. 6) To be born a horse is an unenviable fate, since horses, like other animals, suffer harder than people, but being close to a human allows a horse to hear the words of Buddhist teachings and acquire a better rebirth. Human attachment to horses turns out to be beneficial for horses and for their future fate according to the law of retribution, and, therefore, allows people to help animals. So the connections between the stories in Konjaku not only contribute to the integrity of the narrative, but also express the main idea of the book: the universal connection of events in the world is designed so that everyday life sets the conditions for moving towards liberation and mercifully caring for others.

The article discusses the Japanese government’s policy on space use and development, concentrating on the role and place of private companies and commercial space development in general. The global space services market is evidently growing nowadays, mainly thanks to the private sector growing in a number of countries. The number of companies and new start-ups dedicating their work to space activities is constantly increasing, and the range of services they are offering is expanding along with the improvement of quality. For a long time, Japanese private companies simply had no chances to commercialize their huge technological experience and scientific research. It was in the mid-2000s when the Japanese leadership finally made the decision to revise its stand regarding the use of space, thus opening the way for aerospace and defense enterprises to enter the domestic and foreign space markets. Japanese space law framework has come a long way of growth and completion shown in the article. Today, Japan has a comprehensive space development strategy carefully embracing the needs and interests of the private sector. The Japanese government is working on the development of the country’s own self-sufficient private sector aiming both at stimulating domestic demand for space services and at conquering the foreign markets. A number of state programs have been developed with the goal of attracting new companies to the space sector, as well as programs concentrating on the creation of brand new technologies for the space industry. The article also attempts to analyze the process of practical implementation of space programs and projects involving both state and private companies. Japan’s commercial space market problems, specific features, and future prospects also add to the picture.

The problem of the classification of numerous characters in Jippensha Ikku’s Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige , one of the prominent works of kokkeibon (“funny books”), a genre of entertaining literature gesaku , is raised in the article. Typical features of the characters, whose comical interaction is the main motive of the narration, altogether with their primary functions are the objects of the research. The system of the characters is perceived here as one of the most significant factors of the literary work’s popularity, taking into consideration the fact that Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige was one of the first gesaku bestsellers of such scale. All the characters are divided into three groups, namely, the protagonists, the “wandering” characters, and the “provincial” characters, among which smaller categories are pointed out. The protagonists are typical edokko , the citizens of the capital, who despise provincial traditions and are concentrated on sensuous pleasures. A narration developed around the journey of two male characters is a typical literary device for the traditional Japanese travel literature, however, compared to his literary predecessors, Ikku shows some new tendencies as well. The comical interaction of the main characters varies and takes place mainly in the form of “situational comedy”, or kyōgen. The “wandering” characters are presented by such categories as transportation sphere’s characters, swindlers, travelers, religious characters, warriors. Each category has its own features and functions, for instance, swindlers stimulate the narration’s flow as well as cause comical situations, whereas religious characters smooth out the conflicts between the protagonists and other characters. The same is also relevant for the “provincial” characters, who are represented by the staff of post station inns, traders, owners of tea houses, and provincial residents. Girls from the inns create the special atmosphere of Hizakurige and introduce new locations into the narration, while traders present the famous products of various provinces. The main points of analysis are illustrated with the fragments of the original text, translated by the author of the article.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the history of the formation of the training and educational system of the Japanese Imperial Army personnel in the Meiji period. In the structure of the new state, the armed forces were given a key role. They were supposed to ensure the security of the new government, contribute to the abolition of unequal treaties, and become an instrument for creating a rich country. On this basis, throughout the Meiji period, the main attention of the Japanese leadership was directly or indirectly paid to the armed forces, as evidenced by the slogan “fukoku kyo:hei” - “a rich country - a strong army”, chosen as the basis of Japanese state policy. The foundations for training army personnel laid down by the bakufu were successfully used and improved by the Meiji government. The former opposition, which came to power as a result of the revolution and took all the key posts in the new state apparatus, saw as its first priority the strengthening of its own power, the danger to which was represented by both internal (the threat of powerful uprisings) and external (Western pressure) factors. The only opportunity to do this was not just to create the armed forces, but also to train loyal officers. In the early years of Meiji, military education took place in military units and military schools. Thus, we have the right to say that military education was subdivided into general and special, that is, a system was created that exists to this day in all countries without exception. The process of formation of military schools in Japan was distinguished by such essential principles as the constant search for ways to improve the officer training system, studying and using professional best practices of Western countries. The article discusses the basic military educational institutions, including the Military Gymnasium - Yōnen gakkō, the Military (Officer) School - Shikan gakkō, Military Academy - Rikugun daigakkō.

The article discusses two texts: Chinese 8th century Meng Qiu, and early 13th century Japanese text called Mōgyū Waka, based on Meng Qiu . Both monuments perform primarily an educational function, they introduce events from the Chinese past, and have a structure convenient for remembering stories. The biography of Li Han, the author of the Chinese text, is unknown. The Chinese text is a long rhyming poem, consisting of 596 four-character lines, each of which refers to a commentary that tells a corresponding historical anecdote. Pairs of four-character lines are connected by subject. Four eight-character lines with one rhyme are structural units of the text of the poem. The heroes of the work are people of different social status, men, women, and children, as well as mythological characters. Events from ancient times to the Tang period are presented. The first commentary is supposed to be written by the author of the poem himself. The text was popular during the Tang era, but was later forgotten in China. Meng Qiu is a textbook that is still used in Japan to learn Chinese and get acquainted with the stories from Chinese past. Japanese text Mōgyū Waka is created in 1204 by Minamoto no Mitsuyuki (1163-1244). Mōgyū Waka includes 250 stories from Meng Qiu . Mōgyū Waka has a structure similar to Japanese poetic anthologies. The stories are grouped by topic in 14 scrolls. Each block of the text includes a line from the Chinese poem (four characters), the story in vernacular and the Japanese waka poem. All poems are written by the author specifically to be included in this text. Four first scrolls (four seasons) are provided with poetic themes. Two prefaces are attached, one in classical Chinese and another in the vernacular. Texts of the prefaces differ slightly in content, but significantly in the style of presentation. Сhange of the structure of the work and the presence of waka poems is a strategy for the ‘Japanization’ of the Chinese text.

The study of the reception of Tolstoy's teaching in Japan is of interest both in terms of the history, opportunities, and prospects of intercultural communication, consideration of ways to strengthen mutual understanding between the two countries, and in terms of the determination of the importance of certain ideas of domestic thought through their impact on the consciousness of people in different parts of the world as a whole. The article overviews the history of the initial stages of perception and influence of Leo Tolstoy’s teaching. The main channels of its transmission and dissemination are traced and the reasons for its popularity in Japan are investigated. Among them, it is possible to single out such reasons as this teaching’s practical orientation and humanistic nature, its consonance with the Buddhist worldview in a number of aspects, the philosophy of pacifism and non-resistance, ecumenism, idealization and ethization of agricultural work in harmony with nature, reflections on the humanitarian problems of progress. The author's analysis is focused upon the ways of rethinking and applying Tolstoy's concepts by contemporary Japanese humanities thinkers in their search for approaches to solving the civilizational, political, sociocultural, humanitarian problems of the 21st century. The subject of special attention is the incorporation of Tolstoy's ideas by modern Japanese Buddhist thinkers, in particular, Ikeda Daisaku, as well as comparative studies of Tolstoy's major philosophical concepts and key doctrines of the Japanese Buddhist tradition. The issue of particular interest is the appeal to the Russian thinker's spiritual heritage in the Japanese pacifist discourse in line with the present-day debate regarding the future of the peace clause of the Japanese Constitution and Japan's determination of its new role in the world. The article is the first attempt to generalize views on Tolstoy’s heritage and its assessments in contemporary Japan in recent decades. The author aims to complement significantly the existing knowledge about the interpretation of Tolstoy’s thought abroad, thanks to the determination of the spectrum of problems for which the resource of Russian philosophy is being used today and the identification of ways and forms of perception of its ideas.