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Germany was the most influential model for modern Japanese politics since the forced opening of the country. The article illustrates this by way of the example of Sakuzo Yoshino (1878-1933) and Shinkichi Uesugi (1878-1929), two professors at the Imperial University of Tokyo who were simultaneously important commentators on public affairs. Both had studied in Heidelberg, but perceived German politics in very different ways: while Yoshino decidedly rejected the German Son- d^erweg and was positively disposed towards Anglo-Saxon democracy, Uesugi defended the political role of the Japanese Emperor precisely because of his German experiences. The article tries to find explanations as to why and how Yoshino and Uesugi reached such diametrically opposed views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article presents a discussion on the impact of works by German political philosopher Eric Voegelin on studies of Japanese political history. Voegelin's notion of political religion is used in an analysis of 21st century Japanese political religion. It is suggested that Japanese culture has not experienced what Voegelin calls a "leap in being" that occurs during a cosmological civilization's shift to a civilization of transcendence.