Five Journeys to North-Eastern China by Inoue Yasushi (1977– 1980): Ancient Towns of the Great Silk Road in Retrospect

Abstract

Japan-China cultural ties in the late 1970s and early 1980s received a powerful impetus for development against the background of deepening interstate relations in 1970s. In this period, it had begun the turn of Chinese foreign policy towards increasing ties with market economy countries. Traditionally, cultural transfer from China to Japan was a mainstream in the interrelations of the two countries, but during 20th century political relations and cultural dialogue experienced a series of dramatic changes. After the end of World War II, despite ideological contradictions, cultural contacts between China and Japan expanded steadily. This article aims to study the travels of prominent and award-winning Japanese novelist Inoue Yasushi to northwest China in 1977–1980 as an attempt by Japan to expand its participation in Asian affairs and to consider in detail the multi-ethnic and multicultural China. To view and understand real China. The main source of the analysis and reconstruction of the travel route is a travelogue “My travel notes to Western Regions” (Watashi no seiki kiko:, in 2 vols) published in 1983. This study summarizes information about Inoue Yasushi’s travels to the Chinese part of Turkestan, clarifies the gradual deepening of cultural dialogue between Japan and China and examines the images of the ancient cities of the Great Silk Road, which the writer, known for his loyalty to China, created through a nostalgic “view into the past” in order to explain the cultural unity and specifics of the region as part of China.