Thread by @Thesis90

🧵Great russophobic writers in history, pt 2:
Kume Kunitake (1839-1931)

In the spring of 1873, a Japanese delegation arrived in St Petersburg. Some were diplomats. Others were there to study russia… 1/12

The group’s senior writer was historian Kume Kunitake. Let’s hear some of his thoughts…
2/12

“In the country, people live in hovels, and we have seen here and there places which were like cave dwellings or animal sheds, while the big cities are full of towering mansions and their splendour gives Russia a superficial brilliance.” (Kume, 1873)
3/12

“The grand shops worth looking at in St. Petersburg are all run by Germans (some are run by British or French people, but I am speaking here of the majority).” (Kume, 1873)
4/12

“Because the countries of the West have flourishing iron industries, tools and machines of all sizes are cheap to purchase and easily repaired.” (Kume, 1873)
5/12

“The Russians cannot help feeling inferior to Britain and France. The efforts the Russians are making to advance are inspired simply by the desire to bestow upon their country a lustre similar to that of the leading countries.” (Kume, 1873)
6/12

“Wealth is concentrated in the hands of the powerful, and the progress of the ordinary people cannot rise above a mediocre level… The people are much misled and are taught a great deal which stands in the way of progress in knowledge and skills.” (Kume, 1873) 7/12

“The folly of the people can thus be easily apprehended. On account of this, the emperor has unlimited power and the army has unprecedented strength, and Russia has been able to extend its power.” (Kume, 1873)
8/12

“Most of the people in the country are little different from slaves.” (Kume, 1873)
9/12

Recap: Kume thought russia was a miserable wasteland of squalor, ignorance, slavery and militarism, where an urban elite dependent on Western technology and German commerce struggled with their own justified inferiority complex. That was in 1873.
10/12

Source: Kume Kunitake, “Actual Record of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary's Tour of America and Europe” (1878)
Abridged version in English, “Japan Rising” (2009)
11/12

If you enjoyed this thread, do please share the first post 🙂 Thanks!
/🧵

https://x.com/Thesis90/status/1958514712439664979