Japanese Psychology flourished when students traveled to America and Europe for trading. There has been translations of psychological research, particularly by Amane Nishi, but being in the labs of other researchers was a motivating factor.
Amane Nishi (1829-1897)
Samurai are figures of myth and legend. They carried two swords (true), were able to kill at will (not true), and were the enforcers of the feudal lord’s will (sort of true). They were not just hired help. They were part of ruling class, often feudal lords themselves. In the 13th century, they defended Japan from Attack. In the 19th century, they were abolished. Essentially, they were too expensive. Conscription was much cheaper.
Nash’s was quite familiar with samurai. His father was a physician and practitioner of Chinese medicine, whose patients were samurai. They could afford to pay for the best. Consequently, Nash’s family could afford to educate him well.
He studied Confucianism, as one did, before going to Edo (now called Tokyo) to learn Dutch language and technology. These rangaku schools were designed to prepare students to interpret for Dutch traders, and to acquire new knowledge for Japan. Nash’s translated books from Europe, eventually going to the Netherlands to study law and economics.
Nasji’s translations were the first introduction of psychology to Japan.
Yūjirō Motora (1858-1912)
As a child, Yujiro (also called Yuzero) studied English, read widely, and became a teacher. Motora was born to the samurai class but married a commoner. He also moved from Confucianism and Zen meditation to Methodism. He attended Boston University to study theology, and transferred to the Johns Hopkins University to study with G. Stanley Hall, and major in philosophy. Back in Japan, Motora taught at the Tokyo Imperial University (University of Tokyo), eventually becoming chair of the department of psychology, ethics and logic.
Motora Wrote the first Japanese textbook of psychology, founded the first psychological laboratory in Japan, and became Japan’s first experimental psychologist.
He died of erysipelas, a bacterial infection which can be fatal. It is the same condition that killed John Stuart Mill. Today it is treated with antibiotics.
Matsumoto Matatarō (1865–1943)
Matataro studied under Yujiro Motora, receiving his undergraduate and masters in Tokyo. He went on to earn a PhD from Yale, and to study post-doc under Wundt.
Returning to Japan, he established his own lab at Kyoto University. It was only the second one in the nation. He was particularly interested in intelligence, acoustical space, and the connection between mental processes and motor movement.
After Motora’s death, took over his role at Tokyo Imperial University. After Matataro retired from teaching, he Founded first Japanese journal of psychology (Japanese Journal of Psychology). And he Founded the Japanese Psychological Association.
Tsuruko Haraguchi (1886-1915)
Tsuru Arai (married name Tsuruko Haraguchi) was the first Japanese woman to receive a doctorate, in any field
She was very bright, and completed her schooling quickly, but there were few opportunities for women in Japan. Matsumoto Matataro encouraged her to pursue more education, so she attended Columbia University in New York. She studied under Thorndike, receiving a PhD in psychology in 1912..
After graduation, she returned to Japan and married Takejirō Haraguchi, a university professor. They had two children but their happiness was short lived. She contracted tuberculosis, and died at the age of 29.
The Japanese Psychological Association
Matsumoto Matataro founded it in 1927. They are a relatively small organization,~7k members, but they hosted the 20th and 31st International Congress of Psychology. The first Congress was in Paris, and was part of the Exhibition that featured a new structure: the Eiffel Tower. In 1972, it was held in Tokyo. In 2016, it was in Yokohama.
Masatake Morita (1874-1938)
Japan was not exempt from the influenza of Sigmund Freud. Masatake (also called Shōma) combined Freud and Zen Buddhism into a clinical treatment for anxiety and depression. Morita Therapy is a Japanese-inspired clinical approach. It aims to move patients towards self acceptance and harmony with nature.
He maintained that people can’t control them. They are independent of us, and don’t cause behavior. We can live alongside our feelings by accepting them, knowing our purpose, and putting our plans into action. Accepting is associated with rest. Purpose is associated with meditation. And doing avoids our being passive. We are not victims. We are active participants, connecting with nature and other people. We learn by doing.
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Waves & Schools
Want to jump ahead?
- Philosophical Roots of Psychology
- Waves & Schools of Psychology
- Old Philosophers, New Ideas
- Hobbes, Galileo & Descartes
- Experimental Physiology
- American Psychology
- Japanese Psychology
- German Psychology
- Russian Psychology
- Five Paths To Truth
- Birth of Psychology
- British Empiricism
- British Psychology
- French Psychology
- Wundt
