Shigeru Nakayama and the Historical Perspective Based on Techno-Nationalism

Abstract

　Dr. Shigeru Nakayama (1928-2014) was one of the most creative historians of science and technology in Japan. The purpose of this paper is to clarify Nakayama’s thoughts on the historical perspective based on techno-nationalism.

　Nakayama was severely critical to the techno-nationalistic arguments, emphasized by scientists, bureaucrats, or policy makers, because of its self-seeking nature and childishness. This criticism not only focused on Japanese persons concerned, but also arguments by U.S. government representatives in the era of the Reagan administration.

　But Nakayama continued to hold a keen interest in the international comparison of the level of science and technology among leading nations from 1960s. In particular, comparison of scientific and technological capability between the U.S. and the Japan was one of the main topics of Nakayama’s historical research from the late 1980s until his later years. In that sense, Nakayama was not free from the historical perspective based on techno-nationalism.