Many people today have a unique perception of Japan, blurring the lines between Asian and Western cultures. Much of this strange scholarship can be attributed to a lesser-known editorial titled Datsu-A Ron, which appeared in a newspaper in 1885. The Datsu-A Ron was published anonymously, but it is widely believed that the author was Fukuzawa Yukichi. He argued that Japan should leave behind the Asian culture in which its neighbors China and Korea participated. It can be debated whether or not Japan made the correct decision to westernize. I think they made the right choice. The reasons lie not only in Japan's current situation, but also in how it compares with neighboring Asian countries. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the time of the publication of Datsu-A Ron, 1885, Japan viewed China and Korea in interesting ways. According to a translation by Kwok Dwight, the Datsu-A Ron says: “The Chinese are shameless people who do not understand humility and humility” and “The Koreans are extremely atrocious when they punish their own people.” Although it was never specified what Fukuzawa meant by these statements, one thing stands out in China's history. A very common practice in China, still in effect when Datsu-A Ron was published, was foot binding. At a very young age, Chinese women began the binding process by breaking the bones in their feet. Wang Lifen, a victim of foot binding since the age of seven, said: "Because I bound my feet, I could manipulate them more gently until the bones broke." Young bones are soft and break more easily. During this time, this act was seen as a standard of beauty and "The only way for a woman to marry into money," according to NPR. With such a cruel tradition still existing in China, it is no wonder that Japan would want to leave them behind, even if they themselves took no part in the act. Fukuzawa, fearing that something similar was happening in China, said: “Seen from the eyes of Westerners, they must judge us and see us as they do China because of geographical proximity.” And while this issue in itself may seem like a big deal, the Datsu-A Ron was the only thing sustaining leave from Asia for a while. Once the Datsu-A Ron, there were a few ways to interpret him. Assuming that Kwok Dwight's translation is accurate enough, the wording seems to be almost intentionally vague. In Datsu-A Ron, the words “Shina” and “Chosen” are used in place of China and Korea. And although Datsu-A Ron constantly talks about these countries, he is not referring to the physical countries themselves, but rather what they represent. In his thesis, Kwok Dwight states that "'Shina' and 'Chosen' that Fukuzawa focuses on in Datsu-A cannot be referred to or connected to the geographical nature of these two names but to their abstract representations." What is meant in this abstract representation is the culture of these countries. This can be anything from their food, to their religion, and even how they treat their people. As discussed above, the idea of ​​foot binding in China would certainly contribute to this abstract idea. Similar to this concept, a common interpretation of the Datsu-A Ron was to join European imperialists in helping colonize Asia. Regarding this issue, Japanese Prime Minister Yamagata Aritomo stated in a speech: "The path to the nation's independence and security lies in defining and defending its 'line of sovereignty' and 'line of interests'. '". Simply put, the way=8966942