Blattengeta Heruy Welde Sellase

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Blattengeta Heruy Welde Sellase (1878-1939; ብላቴን፡ጌታ፡ኅሩይ፡ወልደ፡ሥላሴ Blatten-Geta Həruy Wäldä-səllase) was a Foreign Minister and Ethiopian writer. After a diplomatic mission to Japan in 1930 he came away sufficiently impressed to argue for strengthened ties between the two nations. He hoped that by modeling their military training and modernization on Japan they could remain independent. This hoped proved illusory and the pro-Ethiopian aspect of the Japanese military fully accepted alliance with Italy soon after the war began.

He was also known for writing his "Japanizer" views. The term refers to an Ethiopian school of thought that arose after the Battle of Adwa. This school of thought compared Ethiopia to Japan and favored a modernization movement similar to the Meiji Restoration. More than most he saw similarities between Japan and Ethiopia. These included that both had longstanding imperial lines, both had had "roving capitals", and both had resisted the West. He believed that Ethiopia and Japan needed to be more aware of each other as they both resembled each other in his opinion. That being said he recognized Japan was the more prosperous of the two and had more successfully modernized. His 1932 work Mahidere Birhan: Hagre Japan [The Document of Japan] spelled out this philosophy.

[edit] Works

Wädaǧe ləbbe [My Friend, my Heart]. Addis Abeba: Imprimerie Éthiopienne 1915 Ethiopian calendar (=Eth. Cal.)
Goha Ṣäbah. Addis Abeba: Imprimerie du Gouvernement d'Éthiopie 1919 Eth. Cal.
Yä-ləbb assab : yä-bərhan-ənna yä-ṣəyon mogäsa gabəčča [Thought of the Heart: Majestic Marriage of Light and Zion]. Addis Abeba: Goha Ṣäbah 1923 Eth. Cal.
Addis Aläm [New World]. Addis Abeba: Goha Ṣäbah 1924 Eth. Cal.
Əne-nna wädaǧočče, mälk gəṭəm bä-səmaččäw [Me and my Friends, Poetry of Appearance through their Names]. Addis Abeba: Goha Ṣäbah 1927 Eth. Cal.

[edit] References

Thomas L. Kane. Ethiopian Literature in Amharic. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 1975. ISBN 3-447-01675-2
Asfa-Wossen Asserate. Die Geschichte von Šawā (Äthiopien) 1700–1865 nach dem Tārika Nagaśt des Belāttēn Gētā Heruy Walda Śellāsē. Studien zur Kulturkunde 53. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag 1980. ISBN 3-515-02936-2.