Japan’s Image in the Romanian Mass-Media in the First Half of the 20th Century
Japan’s Image in the Romanian Mass-Media in the First Half of the 20th Century

Summary/Abstract: In 1975, James Clavell published his book “Shōgun” about an Englishman who shipwrecked on the shores of Edo period Japan. It became a bestseller and it was translated in Romanian, as well, after 11 years in 1988. Just one year before the Revolution of 1989, “Shōgun” became an instant success in an Eastern European country where Communist propaganda strictly controlled the book market. What made Romanians love this book? Set in a country so far away, an island isolated from the rest of the world with strict rules in a rather feudal Japan, the story of the English navigator captured the imagination. Was it because of the love story between him and Mariko? Was it because of the setting of the novel close to how Romanians felt at that time, trapped on their own country? Motivated by the impact that book had on the Romanian readers’ psyche, my colleagues and I analyzed the Romanian-Japanese relationship from several points of view during “Japan: Pre-modern, Modern and Contemporary” conference held at “Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University in September 2015. My paper discusses Japan as seen in literary magazines at the turn of the century.

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