It is a time when Japan is rethinking its relationship to China. Long ago--around 1,300 years ago—Japan was a fledgling nation, and China was the center of culture and power.
I found a nice poem in the Manyoshu depicting the departure of a Japanese envoy for the great Empire to the west. It was indeed an adventure at the time, and full of risks:
Since the age of the gods it has always been said
That the Land of Yamato is
A land where Sovereign-Gods hold solemn sway,
A land where the word-soul brings us weal:
Not only has it been so told from mouth to mouth,
But all of us see and know it now.
Though many are the worthy men,
Our Sovereign, like the sun of heaven,
Out of his godlike love and favour,
Has chosen you, my lord,
A scion of a minister’s house.
Now you go upon your journey
To China, the distand land,
Faithful to his dread commands.
(1,000 Poems of the Manyoshu, Dover Publications)
From reading this poem (written in 733) you can tell it was a time when Japan was just starting to feel confident as a nation. They were starting to become more than just a smattering of disconnected kingdoms, and rather a country that was worthy of having diplomatic relations with great powers.
Japan originally saw itself in relation to China, and for the past hundred years or so it has seen itself in relation to the U.S. and the West. As China grows in power, Japan will rethink its role in the world. Will there be another evolution in identity?
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