Latin America as a spiritual homeland : the Japanese sociologist Mita Munesuke’s critique of Western modernity

Chiappe Ippolito, Matías (author)

This paper explores how the Japanese sociologist Mita Munesuke (1937–2022) engaged with Western modernity in a critical way through transcultural interaction and a recon­figuration of temporality. Mita developed an epistemological framework that conceptu­alized non-modern, communal understandings of modernity, drawing on his experiences with indigenous cultures. Instead of dismissing these perspectives as outdated, Mita po­sitioned them as alternative ontologies to the linear, progress-oriented temporality preva­lent in industrial societies. The study posits that Mita’s 1974–1975 stay in Mexico, during which he served as a visiting professor at El Colegio de México, significantly influenced his subsequent scholarly work and the creation of his alter ego and pen name, Maki Yūsuke. Focusing on Kiryū no naru oto: Kōkyō suru komyūn (The Sound of Airflows: A Symphony of Communities, 1977) and Jikan no hikaku shakaigaku (A Comparative Soci­ology of Time, 1981), both of which were published under the pseudonym Maki Yūsuke, this analysis demonstrates how Mita employed a new narrative voice and creative socio­logical arguments to position Mexican, indigenous, and Japanese experiences as sites of resistance to the linear conception of time in Western modernity. Particular attention is given to Mita’s designation of Latin America as his “second spiritual homeland”. These insights are contextualized within Japan’s post-1968 disillusionment era, which was char­acterized by a critique of scientific rationality and developmentalist ideologies. The paper concludes that Mita’s project aimed to reconceptualize modern subjectivity and social organization by fostering a deeper engagement with indigenous worldviews and spiritual practices. Additionally, it proposes further studying the resonances and shared themes Japanese scholars and writers saw in Latin American cultures, as these represent new avenues for researching the connections between the two regions.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Mita Munesuke, critique of Western modernity, Latin America, indigenous worldviews, sociology of time
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 173-197
• Numbering: Vol. 14, no. 2
• ISSN on article: 2232-5131
• DOI: 10.4312/as.2026.14.2.173-197
• Publication date in RUL: 05.11.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Asian studies = Azijske študije
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265206272

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Latinska Amerika kot duhovna domovina : kritika zahodne modernosti japon­skega sociologa Mite Munesukeja

Abstract

Ta članek raziskuje, kako se je japonski sociolog Mita Munesuke (1937–2022) kritično ukvarjal z zahodno modernostjo prek transkulturne interakcije in preoblikovanja časov­nosti. Mita je razvil epistemološki okvir, ki je konceptualiziral nemoderno, skupnostno razumevanje modernosti, pri čemer se je opiral na svoje izkušnje z avtohtonimi kultura­mi. Namesto da bi te perspektive zavrnil kot zastarele, jih je postavil kot alternativne on­tologije linearni, k napredku usmerjeni časovnosti, ki prevladuje v industrijskih družbah. Študija trdi, da je Mitovo bivanje v Mehiki v letih 1974–1975, med katerim je deloval kot gostujoči profesor na El Colegio de México, pomembno vplivalo na njegovo poznej­še znanstveno delo ter ustvarjanje njegovega alter ega in psevdonima Maki Yūsuke. S fokusom na delih Kiryū no naru oto: Kōkyō suru komyūn (Zvok zračnih tokov: simfonija skupnosti, 1977) in Jikan no hikaku shakaigaku (Primerjalna sociologija časa, 1981), ki sta bili obe objavljeni pod psevdonimom Maki Yūsuke, ta analiza prikazuje, kako je Mita uporabil nov narativni glas in ustvarjalne sociološke argumente, da je mehiške, avtohtone ter japonske izkušnje postavil kot mesta upora proti linearni zasnovi časa v za­hodni modernosti. Posebna pozornost je namenjena Mitovi označitvi Latinske Amerike kot njegove »druge duhovne domovine«. Te ugotovitve so umeščene v kontekst japonske dobe razočaranja po letu 1968, za katero je bila značilna kritika znanstvene racionalnosti in razvojnih ideologij. Članek zaključuje, da je Mitov projekt ciljal na ponovno kon­ceptualizacijo moderne subjektivnosti in socialne organizacije s spodbujanjem globljega ukvarjanja z avtohtonimi svetovnimi nazori ter duhovnimi praksami. Poleg tega predlaga nadaljnje proučevanje odmevov in skupnih tem, ki so jih japonski znanstveniki ter pi­satelji videli v latinskoameriških kulturah, saj ti predstavljajo nove poti za raziskovanje povezav med tema dvema regijama.

• Keywords: Mita Munesuke, kritika zahodne modernosti, Latinska Amerika, avtohtoni svetovni nazori, sociologija časa