The Special Issue “Max Weber” in the Japanese Intellectual Monthly Gendai Shisō.
A Review by Yufei Zhou
Max Weber’s popularity in Japan’s social sciences has long been confirmed by the sheer fact that a considerable percentage of the sales volume of Max Weber Gesamtausgabe (MWG, published by Mohr Siebeck) went to Japanese universities and research institutes. Since the name Max Weber was first introduced to Japan in 1905, his theoretical arsenal on economy, society, and the religious origin of rationality and modernity has continued to attract such significant interest in Japan that the symposium celebrating the 100th anniversary of Weber’s birth (1964) at Tokyo University attracted more than 500 attendees.
Not surprisingly, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which hampered offline celebrative events on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Weber’s death, Japanese intellectuals contributed to a substantial special issue in one of the country’s most prestigious intellectual journals — Gendai Shisō — to celebrate Max Weber’s legacy in Japan’s intellectual milieu. This special issue comprises 24 articles divided into six sections, and includes a brief discussion.
