The late 19th century Japanese folk culture which Korean Embassy experienced - Focused on Japanese folk culture recognition of Ki-Su Kim(金錡秀) -

수신사(修信使)가 본 근대일본풍속(近代日本風俗) - 김기수의 일본풍속인식을 중심으로 -

This paper discusses the late nineteenth-century Korean intellectuals' understanding of Japanese customs on the basis of Ki-Su Kim(金綺秀)'s records. Ki-Su Kim was conservative on his inspection and observation trip to Japan Even though he was loyal to Chinese philosophy, he expressed his great interest when he was reluctant to see the Western technology flowered in Japan because it is not mentioned in Confucianism(朱子學). However, he, like mordern scholars in the later period of the Chosun dynasty, took an objective view of the military matters, such as the military training of soldiers, weapons, and others. On the one hand, he appreciated the western garment in that it, fitting the human body perfectly, makes people comfortable. In the later period of the Chosun dynasty, the Koreans had a sense of their superiority to the Japanese and held them in contempt, which had been rooted in the Japanese invasion of Chosun in the year of Imjin(AD 1592). Even around AD 1870, the Koreans regarded the Japanese as a barbarian or a savage, even though the Japanese had attempted to modernize their country with the introduction of the Western civilization since the renovation of Meizi(明治).