2020, Vol., No.28

JAPAN SPACE 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.29

pISSN : 1976-1481
https://journal.kci.go.kr/japanspace

Akai Kuji is a modern novel published in 1955 by Seicho Matsumoto, which depicts the colonial Choseon before and after liberation and the return of the Japanese people based on military experience from 1944 until the defeat. From the perspective of Korean readers in the 21st century, I would like to evaluate the following points: First, Seicho, who was defeated in Korea as a Japanese soldier, did not focus on confrontation and conflict between Koreans and Japanese. In other words, it dealt with the nature of the war and the sacrifices forced on women, not the national confrontation. Second, it depicts the risk that a soldier's wife has to deal with during the war in a cool and objective manner amid the sexual desire of soldiers and the absence of her husband.

Modern Japan is expressed in the era of ‘Sakoku(鎖國)’. The Edo Shogunate restricted external counters to Tsushima han(對馬藩), Satsuma han(薩摩藩), Matsumae han(松前藩), and Nagasaki(長崎) and was willing to manage information. However, foreign information was circulated and influenced by intellectuals at the time, regardless of the will of the Edo shogunate. Among them, in the case of information related to Joseon(朝鮮), how did intellectuals in the Edo era get information related to Joseon, what was it, and how was it distributed? Hayashi Hoko(林鳳岡), who is a member of the Edo Shogunate and is the best intellectual of the time, directly requested information on Joseon from Amenomori Hoshu(雨森芳洲), a member of the Tsushima han, known as the Joseon expert. Meanwhile, Kawaguchi Seisai(河口静斎), who was a general intellectual in Japan at the time, obtained information about Joseon through his personal relationships, including his teacher Muro Kyuso(室鳩巢). The information he obtained was circulated to the Daimyo(大名) Nabeshima Naosato(鍋島直鄕) of the Hizen(肥前) Kashima(鹿島) Domain whom he had exchanged with at the time, and to Shimomura Nagamitsuru(霜邨長盈), who was related to him. Information related to Joseon was later included in 『Byeongpilrok(秉筆錄)』 edited by Nagashima Shimomura, and along with information on Japanese and Chinese studies, the Netherlands, and the Ryukyus, and affected other intellectuals as well.

China’s maritime expansion poses a new ‘security threat’ to Japan. Also, Japan views wooden boats from North Korea spotted through the East Sea(the Japanese name: the Sea of Japan) as a grave threat to its maritime security. Therefore, Japan’s Coast Guard(JCG) is emerging as an important institution in response to new threats of maritime security by conducting ‘the Dual-Layer Security System’ both in the East Sea and in the East China Sea. In the past, the abe administration adopted the Three Principles on the Rule of Law at Sea to address those threats while strengthening of the Maritime Security System. The JCG’s enhanced role has features as follows. First, it assumes not only conventional maritime patrol but also a variety of military roles to cover an area of national security. Second, it responsible for securing national defense seeks to improve cooperation with both the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force(JMSF) and maritime security-related government bodies. Third, it strives to improve international cooperation among maritime nations in the context of Indo-Pacific vision.