Introduction

2014 marked the 75th anniversary of the death of Sigmund Freud. In the last three-quarters of a century since then, psychoanalysis has crossed Europe and spread all over the world. It continues to develop and expand. However, it does not operate under a single, uniform doctrine. In the United States, ego psychology had a overwhelming influence on psychoanalysis in the post-WW2 world, but today, self-psychology and relational psychoanalysis are also flourishing. In France, Lacanian psychoanalysis remains influential. The International Psychoanalytical Association held a meeting to commemorate its 100th anniversary not in a European city, but in Beijing, China. It appears that their intentions were not merely to help psychoanalysis grow and spread in Asian countries, but also bring it into contact with the origins and characteristics of Asian cultures. We are currently living in an age of mutual understanding and symbolic relationships. In this sense, it is highly significant that Psychoanalytic Inquiry has published a special issue on Japan.

Japan was the first country in Asia to embrace so-called modernization. The political systems and academic disciplines of Europe and the United States were brought into Japan, and many were formally adopted. The introduction of publications on psychoanalysis was no exception. It appears that books by Sigmund Freud were already being studied in 1912. Later, psychoanalytic treatment also began. In those days, however, psychoanalytic practitioners had not always undergone sufficient training as psychoanalysts. A number of pioneers who lamented to this flaw visited Vienna, underwent training, albeit briefly, and then returned to Japan to perform psychoanalytic treatment. These individuals comprised Japan’s first generation of psychoanalysis. One of their leading figures was Dr. Heisaku Kosawa, who trained and natured the second generation of psychoanalysts, whom I describe next.

After the Second World War, laws and established social s