The role of Hokkaido studies and Japanology in the formation of Augustin Berque’s mésologie

Abstract

The French geographer Augustin Berque (1942–) proposed a theory on fudo , mésologie , based on the thought of philosopher Tetsuro Watsuji. Berque belongs to the school of Vidal de la Blache, which focuses on the historical background of social behavior under the premise that the world consists of interdependent functional parts governed by contingency (Lukkermann 1965). He studied Hokkaido and Japan using methods from economic geography, and argued that it is both possible and necessary to analyze a society’s worldview in geographical research. Later in his mésologie, he consistently criticized determinism in historical understanding for overlooking this aspect.