Translating ‘Nation’

Abstract

This article focuses on the Japanese words kokumin and minzoku, both of which are used to translate ‘nation’ into Japanese, and explores the dynamic aspects of translation practice in the process of Japan’s modernization in the mid-Meiji era (1868–1912). The kanji (Chinese characters) compounds kokumin (國民) and minzoku (民族) were both coined during the late nineteenth century during the introduction of Western concepts into Japanese society. Kokumin first appeared as a translation word at the predawn of Japan’s modernization period and, by the mid-Meiji era, when the alternative translation minzoku emerged, kokumin was relatively widespread. This paper analyzes texts written by leading intellectuals and journalists in Japan at the time and attempts to contextualize them within their sociocultural and historical background. The analysis indicates that the rise of nationalism around the mid-Meiji era, Japan’s achievement in establishing a modern state and its involvement in territorial expansion in East Asia beginning with the Sino-Japanese war (1894–1895), as well as its simultaneous struggle to unify the Japanese people as kokumin, were crucial aspects in determining the use of the alternative translation, minzoku.