ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historical overview of trends in rhetorical research and practice in modern Japan. The chapter begins with an analysis of the developments that took place in the late nineteenth century following Japan’s reopening to the Western world, highlighting the early research accomplishments within the newly introduced field of rhetoric, from its earliest meaningful interactions with the indigenous rhetorical tradition to the critical interface that the discipline had with key elements in the formation of the nation-state, namely the construction of a literary canon and the creation of a modern form of written language. The analysis highlights in particular the unprecedented popularity of public speaking throughout the political landscape of the so-called Taish? (1912-1926) democracy.
Next, the chapter examines the interwar years. Although the period is widely acknowledged as one of sharp decline in rhetorical research, a few seminal essays, duly analyzed in this section, did appear that would have critical ramifications for the trajectory of future research.
The chapter then examines the post-war developments, from the establishment of stylistics as an independent field of study to the ensuing convergences between this and the fields of literature and psychology. It then discusses the impact that new advancements in semiotics, linguistics and related disciplines would have for the direction of rhetorical research in Japan, chronicling in particular the formidable blooming of scholarship on tropes and their internal mechanisms witnessed during the 1980s and 1990s.
