Readings
Week 2
William Tsutsui, “The Birth of Gojira”
SUMMARY ONE: Chad Brown
 Tanaka Tomoyuki was assigned to make In the Shadow of Honor for Toho Studios in 1954, but the film was unable to be made and Toho
needed Tanaka to fill the hole
 While flying over the Pacific Ocean Tanaka says he had an epiphany, “What if a dinosaur sleeping in the Southern Hemisphere had been
awakened and transformed into a giant by the Bomb? What if it attacked Tokyo?”; some are skeptical of this story
 Godzilla the monster stems from Japanese and Western legends going back ages
 One author says Godzilla lies “squarely in the tradition of the fire-breathing dragons of folklore.”
 Tanaka: “The theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the Bomb. Mankind had created the Bomb, and now nature was going
to take revenge on mankind.”
 Gojira came from heightened climate of nuclear anxiety in Japan
 Toho Studios also aware of international film industry trends, and Gojira (1954) came after other creature features King Kong (1933/1952)
and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
 Gojira shared many similarities with The Beast...: result of H-bomb testing; amphibious dinosaurs who sink fishing boats and attack major
cities; debates between scientific study and extermination
 Gojira carries more of a nuanced message than The Beast…
 Gojira was made to be a blockbuster
 Tanaka was very prolific filmmaker, often producing more than 10 films a year
 Tsuburaya Eiji was a pioneer of Japanese special effects and used meticulously detailed miniature models to achieve new standards of
realism
 Film cost more than 2x the average Japanese film and took a long time to film
 Toho used many unknown actors but also used Shimura Takashi who was praised as “the best actor in the world” by NYT for his role in Ikiru
 Special effects were not high-tech but were still convincing
 Godzilla suit designed from picture books of dinosaurs; costume itself made from framework of bamboo stakes and wire, with thick overlays
of latex and plentiful padding of urethane foam
 1st suit prototype was 200 lbs (2nd only marginally smaller)
 Nakajima Haruo could spend no more than a few minutes within costume due to hot stage lights and a lack of ventilation; technicians would
regularly pour a cup of Nakajima’s sweat from the suit between takes; he reportedly lost 20+ lbs. during film
 Gojira is a fusion of gorira (gorilla) and kujira (whale); some have said Tanaka got name from fat Toho employee, but others have refuted
this; most likely a result of high-level committee at Toho
 [Author goes on to summarize the film]
 Film was highly successful and was 8th-highest grossing Japanese-language film of 1954
 Some critics were less enthused while others praised it for its nuclear tale
 Film has strong theme of Japanese patriotic bravado and less explicit, though definitely apparent, tone of anti-American resentment
 Domestic success led to Toho seeking American distributor
 American version incorporated new footage of voyeuristic American reporter and his Japanese sidekick; ~1/3 of Honda’s original film cut for
American remake and removes most of nuclear imagery
 Godzilla, King of the Monsters opened in 1956 in New York City
SUMMARY TWO: cjlopez@fas.harvard.edu
1. Godzilla as a serious film
 “Godzilla’s debut was a somber, gripping, and thought -provoking film.” (pg13)
 “Gojira was a solemn affair an earnest attempt to grapple with compelling and timely issues, more meditative and elegiac than block
busting and spine chilling.” (pg14)
 “ The original Gojira was a sincere horror film, intended to frighten rather than amuse, which engaged honestly-indeed, even grimlywith contemporary Japanese unease over a mounting nuclear meance, untrammeled environmental degradation, and the long
shadows of WWII.” (pg14)
2. Origins of Godzilla
 “The time-honored story of Godzilla’s genesis begins in the spring of 1954 with Tanaka Tomoyuki, then a young and aspiring
producer at Japan’s Toho Studios.” (pg14)
 “Toho had fallen on hard times in the wake of WWII and was struggling in the early 1950s to regain its market leadership.” (pg14)
 “Godzilla, as the legendry has it, was Tanaka’s brainchild, the result of a brilliant ‘light bulb’ moment at a time of intense pressure”
to keep Toho studios competitive after major setbacks in production. He was given “six short months” to deliver a box office hit.
(pg14-15)
 “Godzilla in all his glory was spawned from a virtual primordial soup of political concerns, cultural influences, simple opportunism,
and sheer creativity.” (pg15)
3. Godzilla’s roots in Japanese folklore and Western tradition
 “Japanese traditional art and literature, so scholars tell us, boasted bizarre supernatural demons and monsters ‘in abundance
unequaled in any other culture.’” (pg15)


4.
“In East Asia, according to one folklorist, “the dragon is not the monstrous destroyer found in [Western] tradition, but a majestic and
benevolent beast, whose close association with the element of water turns him into a dispenser of fertility in a wet rice growing
community. He becomes a potential source of disaster, through flood and storm only when wrongly treated” (pg15-16)
“Godzilla also fits comfortably into the bestiaries of Western mythology joining a rich heritage of Norse monsters, beasts of
Revelation and medieval dragons that ate children, ravaged cities, and heralded apocalypse…Godzilla lies ‘squarely in the tradition
of the fire-breathing dragons of folklore.’” (pg16)
Godzilla’s roots in Japanese fear of erratic forces of nature
 “Japan…lies directly in the crosshairs of almost every destructive power Mother Nature can command.” (pg16)
 Japanese island villagers have endured earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, tidal waves, floods, and landslides.
 “Fire has been another ever-present natural enemy, especially to the dence, wood-built, readily inflammable cities of Japan.” (pg16)
 “‘Mankind had created the Bomb, and now nature was going to take revenge on mankind.’” (pg18)
5. Godzilla as memory of man-made destruction
 “…The shadows of war tenaciously haunted the Japanese people…in the mid 1950s.” (pg18)
 “Japan’s cities were still rebuilding from wartime fire bozmbings, families remained broken and grieving , and a complex sense of
loss---lost lives, lost dreams, the lost war---tormented many survivors.” (pg18)
 “…The dark memories of war---so compellingly evoked in Gojira--- remained fresh and traumatic.” (pg18)
6. Godzilla as a symbol of anti-American hostility
 Weeks prior to Tanaka created Gojira, “the U.S. detonated a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, a weapon almost one thousand times more
powerful than that dropped on Hiroshima, on Bikini Atoll in the central Pacific.” (pg18)
 The 23-man crew of The Lucky Dragon No.5, a small Japanese trawler searching for tuna near the testing zone, “were found to be
suffering from radiation poisoning, tainted tuna entered Japanese markets before the radioactive contamination was discovered, and
the news media erupted in a fury of nuclear fear and anit-American hostility.” (pg19)
 “Millions of Japanese (including the emperor) refused to eat fish, the tabloids proclaimed the incident yet another U.S atomic attack
on Japan, and strident antinuclear peace movements sprouted around the country.” (pg19)
 “One can also detect in Gojira a strong theme of Japanese patiotic bravado and a less explicit, though no less insistent, tone of antiAmerican resentment.” (pg35)
 The victory over Gojira “is clearly Japan’s, and not a borader triumph of humankind over the monster.” (pg35)
 Can also be seen as a moral victory over the U.S.
7.
Godzilla as cinematic plagiarism and cheap plotting
 Prior to Gojira’s release, Hollywood was experiencing positive box office trends in films of the “creature feature genre” that
“Tanaka Tomoyuki and Toho Studios were well aware of.” (pg19)
 The re-release of King Kong in 1952 earned four times more than it originally made in 1933, and “was a hit in Japan as well as in
the U.S.” (pg19)
 “Warner Borthers pushed into distribution the independently produced The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which proved a worldwide
blockbuster in 1953.” (pg19)
 “Many critics have been tempted to see the 1954 Gojira as a thinly veiled Japanese remake of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,” as
there are numerous similarities in plot. (pg20)
 “‘The basic film is American,’” the director of Gojira once confided to a reporter,” and once had “the confidential working title ‘The
Giant Monster from 20,000 Miles Beneath the Sea.” (pg20)
 Critics like Bill Warren claim that “the use of radiation in classic science fiction movies ‘was just a gimmick’” and that Gojira “was
not a form of nuclear paranoia, merely cheap and simple plotting.” (pg33-34)
8. Tsutsui’s response to criticism
 “…compared to The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (or even , if I may be sacrilegious, to the great Kong), the message of the original
Godzilla film is so much more nuanced, the special effects so different, and the emotions stirred so much more profound that any
charges of cinematic plagiarism seem all but irrelevant.” (pg20)
 “The Godzilla serious would, of course, soon descend into the B-movie morass, but the script, acting, special effects, and spirited,
confident style of Gojira would set it apart from the cinematic run of the mill.” (pg21)
9. Acclaim for Gojira
 “…no less an authority than Steven Spielberg has declared that Gojira “was the most masterful of all the dinosaur movies because it
made you believe it was really happening.” (pg24
Gojira “would end up boasting the eight-largest gross among Japanese made films---and the twelfth largest when counting Hollywood imports as
well---in 1954.” (pg32)
Week 3
Karen Brazell, “Japanese Theater: A Living Tradition”
SUMMARY ONE: credlick@fas.harvard.edu/owings@fas.harvard.edu
Introduction
- Japanese theatrical forms are largely passed directly from master to apprentice. Only those who have mastered the traditional forms can then
experiment with the new.
-Japanese professional theater has almost always been entirely male. Female performers are typically found in informal settings (i.e. teahouses).
-Many ordinary Japanese citizens enjoy practicing traditional theater as a hobby, and their paying for lessons from professionals is a major source
of financial support for the traditional theater
-The theater as a “distinct performance genre” did not appear until the 14 th century, 600 years after poetry and literature in Japan.
Historical Background
-The earliest records of a theatrical performance date to the 8 th century, when we find texts describing how, in the ancient past, “to induce the Sun
Goddess to come out of a cave where she had hidden herself in anger…a female deity named Uzume put on a costume, stamped on an overturned
bucket, became possessed, and, according to one version of the story, revealed her genitals…this heavenly performance has long been proclaimed
the origin of theater”
-Some performance arts were imported from China and Korea in the Nara (710-784) and Heian (794-1186) periods.
-Gigaku: “processions of masked figures followed by dances and mimes”
-Bugaku: “largely replaced gigaku in the Heian period and became the ceremonial
music of the court”
-Sarugaku: “acrobatics, magic, music, dance, comic pantomime, and trained
animal acts”
-Second half of the 12th century was a period of sociopolitical strife. “Civil wars, which provided a rich source of material for later dramatists,
ripped apart the basic fabric of Japanese life. In the ensuing medieval society (1185-1600), the warrior replaced the aristocrat at the center of
power, and high-ranking women lost their economic independence and the prominent role they had occupied as both writers and readers of elite
literature…sharply increased communication with the continent accelerated the importation of ideas and artifacts”
-Buddhism became increasingly popular, including new sects (Pure Land and Zen)
-Songs called sōka developed between 1185 and 1333, a possible precursor to noh
-Female dancers called shirabyōshi were “crucial to the flowering of the performing arts in the medieval period”
-The “successors” were called kusemai dancers, whose rhythms were incorporated
into noh by the actor Kannami, (1333-1384)
-When the shogunate moved its capital to Kyoto in 1333, “military patronage of the arts increased as these leaders attempted to prove that they,
like the aristocrats who had ruled before them, were a cultural elite and therefore had a legitimate right to power”
-It was under these new rulers that the first theatrical genres developed.
Development of the Four Major Genres
-The Japanese poet and actor Zeami (son of Kannami) is the major developer of noh theater, which begins roughly in 1374 with Zeami’s
performance before the shogun.
-Kyōgen plays, the second major form, typically came between noh plays. Kyōgen, in contrast with the deep and poetic noh, is typically about
“quotidian experiences” featuring “husbands and wives, masters and servants, merchants, blind people” etc.
-It is difficult to find the exact origin of kyōgen, which developed along with noh,
but the earliest surviving texts are not found until the Edo period
-Puppet theater, the third major form, originated with the combination of puppets (a part of Shinto ritual) with jōruri chanters “around the turn of
the seventeenth century”
-The instrument used by the chanters, the shamisen, is famed for its “sharp,
almost percussive sound”
-Kabuki theater, the final major form, grew directly out of the nembutsu furyū, a combination of popular and religious songs with dancers wearing
costumes and masks.
-The second half of the 1500s was another time of civil war and strife, and “the three consecutive military leaders of this tumultuous period were
patrons and devotees of the performing arts and used these arts to promote their own personal and political agendas”
-Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) was a fan of dance and nembutsu furyū
-Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) was “passionately fond of noh”
-Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) “laid the groundwork for both the perpetuation of
the Tokugawa shogunate and the role of noh as the ceremonial ‘music’ of the
military rulers”
-Ieyasu continued the practice of financial support for the 5 major noh
schools
-“In 1603…a woman known as Okuni starred in an epoch-making event: she performed what was referred to as ‘kabuki dance’ (kabuki odori).”
The result was so popular that female performers spread across Japan. Eventually the ruling class was even so swept up in it that “the shogunate
took action against the actresses and, in 1629, prohibited women from appearing on the stage. This prohibition effectively ended the direct
participation of women in the major theatrical genres.”
-Men playing female roles had to register with the government, leading to the
development of “female impersonators” (onnagata)
-“Eliminating women and young men from the stage reduced the direct sexual
allure of the performances and led to significant innovations designed to attract
wider audiences. The actors created more sophisticated dialogue-oriented scenes
to supplement the song and dance and depicted contemporary events onstage”
-The Genroku era (1680-1720) was “a time of prosperity for noh and kyōgen and of rapid progress in the development of the newer genres”
-Noh was still, at this point, a theater basically for the warrior elite, leaving the other major genres (especially kabuki and the puppet theater) for
the people
-There was an “interplay between the Kyoto and Edo styles of kabuki” in that the Kyoto style was gentler and more reserved while the Edo style
involved a lot of “swaggering about, bragging.” This illustrates the “actor-oriented” character of kabuki – the playwright simply is not that
important. “The role of the playwright was not to create a literary masterpiece; instead, his task was to provide a vehicle for the actors’ art.”
-This contrasts with how “the puppet theater…centered on the chanter and his text.”
-Very notable is the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) who wrote for puppets and kabuki. He often wrote plays about real-life
events only weeks after they occurred (i.e. Love Suicides at Sonezaki premiered 3 weeks after the actual suicide)
-The 1700s saw significant improvements in the technical ability of the puppets, and from 1705 onward the puppeteers “performed in full view of
the audience, and the chanter and shamisen player moved from behind a curtain to a platform at stage left”
-The early 1700s were the “heyday” of the puppet theater, but by the end of the century the puppet theater had largely folded, and “was kept alive
only in small urban theaters and in the countryside” for a century.
-The shogunate was active in censoring the content of the plays. Love-suicide plays were banned in 1722, as was the portrayal of contemporary
people or events. To circumvent this, plays set contemporary events in the past.
-In this period, the kabuki and puppet theaters borrowed plays from each other extensively.
-By 1800, Edo had become the clear capital of Japanese theater, ending the rivalry with Kyoto-Osaka. Kabuki had by now become so popular that
performances began to occur outside of the urban centers, with traveling troupes touring the countryside.
-Commoners did have occasional opportunities to see noh and kyōgen, as the government occasionally sponsored public performances.
-“The opening of Japan to the West in the mid-nineteenth century and the establishment of a new form of government after 1868 brought changes
to all forms of traditional Japanese theater. Noh and kyōgen, which had depended on the patronage of the now defunct Tokugawa shogunate, were
the most radically affected. Most actors entered new professions”
- Noh was saved when the imperial family became patrons of noh, partly in
response to the reaction of several foreign dignitaries who enjoyed noh
performance while in Japan
-The puppet theater continued to struggle, but was able to survive.
- “For kabuki, the end of the Tokugawa rule meant a reduction in government restrictions and a rise in the official status of the actors
from outcasts to ordinary citizens”
- The late 1880’s saw a rise in the attempt to modernize the Kabuki theatre (with visits from the emperor and upper classes and building
of new, more Western style theatres)
- Eventually, the attempt to modernize Kabuki to compete with Western plays spread into the plots and dramaturgical styles. But these
new forms were unsuccessful and Kabuki returned to “a more traditional repertory”
- After WWII, theaters had a hard time gaining their audiences back, but eventually the government stepped in again to back the theater (probably
in an attempt to prove that Japan, too, has culture)
General Characteristics
-
The following list is of characteristics that can be seen across all three forms of Japanese traditional theater (noh, kyogen, kabuki, and
puppet plays):
o Scripts include other spoken features besides dialogue (description, commentary, stage actions)
o Actors do not have to remain “in character” (they can switch to another character or have their lines spoken by the chanter, this
gives certain lines a heightened importance or aesthetic quality)
o “Fluid narrative stance”: The speaker and subject are less important than the idea being communicated (true of Japanese
grammar as well)
o Time and space are loosely defined and very malleable on stage
o Off-stage areas are frequently incorporated as part of the setting
o Theatrical time is often expanded so that a short event may be explored from all angles
o Strict form for movements: An individual’s performance is boiled down to the characters essential characteristics (hon’i), which
include only representative movements.
o Many stylized patterns that don’t have strict meaning but are aesthetically pleasing. Therefore, it is only through their repeated
use that they come to have a conventional meaning (e.g. certain tonal chants signify that snow is falling or waves crashing)
o Props, costumes, masks, makeup, and puppet heads are highly stylized but always follow the same basic form
o The strict form means that training for the theater is about a mastery of this form (imitation of the master is the way to learn)
o Little group rehearsal is needed since everyone performs the parts in largely the same way (much more like a musician reading
the notes than anything a Western actor does to prepare)
o The mechanics of theater are similarly unconcerned with verisimilitude
 Musicians, technicians, etc. are onstage and just considered to be invisible.
 Set pieces move obviously
 Costume changes (or puppet changes) occur onstage and are applauded if done quickly and skillfully
o Originality is not prized. Rather, copying and varying are considered highly aesthetic
 Allusion to poems and other plays is an important device
 Puppet and Kabuki theatres directly allude to noh and kyogen plays and often borrow their setting because plays set in
the present were not allowed
The Stages
-
Noh and kyogen plays:
o Noh and kyogen plays perform on small, auditorium-like stages that are austere but architecturally beautiful and are never
crowded by sets
o Three types of actors in Noh plays: main actors (shite), secondary actors (waki), and kyogen actors that play minor roles.
o Four musicians in Noh: flute, two hand drummers, and one hip drummer
o Noh explores an emotion rather than focus on character development or dramatic conflict
-
o Kyogen takes place between noh acts and portrays lowly, common characters.
o Less detailed stage elements (costumes, props, etc.) for kyogen than for noh.
o Kyogen often has a light, humorous mood
Kabuki plays:
o Larger stages with more seats (but seated up high rather than far from the stage)
o Opulently decorated sets (not to create the illusion of a place, just for beauty)
o The stage is usually populated with a great many actors in larger-than-life costumes (elaborate wigs, face paint, and costumes)
o Ramps extend into the audience and are used for dramatic entrance and exits
o Puppet stages are smaller and contain partitions that conceal the puppeteers lower bodies (and serve as the ground for the
puppets)
o Puppet theater has a revolving platform on an auxiliary stage (for the chanter) and also occasionally uses a ramp
o Props are smaller and used less frequently in puppet theater because there is less room on stage
Four Figures of the Thunder God: Examples of the Four Major Genres
-
Storm gods popular form of destruction since 463 (now commonly seen in the form of thunder gods in all types of genres)
(Here the article uses four different plays about a thunder god to illustrate the four different genres of theater)
o Genre 1: Noh play that celebrates the thunder god as a deity that brings sacred harmony over the land (play cited: Kamo)
 Storm represented by motifs in the shite’s costume
o Genre 2: Kyogen play (Thunderbolt) Comedy about the thunder god falling from the sky and needing a doctor to fix his hip
 A chant used by the actor is supposed to replicate thunder. Also, dance, drums, and direct references paint the scene.
o Genre 3: Kabuki play (Saint Narukami and the God Fudo) that is light-hearted but reminds viewers that the powers of
transformation can be used for good or evil (the main character can transform himself into a thunder deity to wreak havoc). The
play also admonishes the overuse of sake and sex.
 Storm is at first portrayed using sound effects and stage movements (no verbal description). Eventually, the storm
makes it into the dialogue
o Genre 4: Puppet play (Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy) A much more complicated plot involving deception , a
struggle for the throne, and a fight in which one of the characters sends a thunderstorm to kill an enemies henchmen. The play
ends with the emperor celebrating the victors and building them a shrine.
Drums signify the storm and eventually words describe it
SUMMARY TWO: nikodem@fas.harvard.edu/cbeavers@fas.harvard.edu
Introduction:
-Major forms of Japanese Theatre: noh, kyogen, kabuki, and puppet theatre
-Modern performers, playwrights, and directors experiment with the practices and materials from Japanese theater
-Traditional Japanese theater troupes are composed of almost entirely men
-Theater as a distinct performance genre with well-developed texts appeared in Japan only after poetry, narrative literature, and a sophisticated
poetics had flourished for more than 600 years
-Full fledged theater developed in the 14th century
Historical Perspectives:
-Earliest recorded Japanese performance/proclaimed origin of Japanese theatre: sacred event depicted in the Kojiki and Nihonshoki. The Sun
Goddess hid herself in a cave because she was angry at her brother’s behavior. A female deity named Uzume put on a costume, stamped on an
overturned bucket, became possessed, and revealed her genitals. The other gods laughed at her in appreciation, and the Sun Goddess, curious,
emerged from the cave and restored light to the universe.
-Performing arts imported from China and Korea were popular in imperial court during the Nara(710-784)and Heian (794-1186) periods.
-Gigaku, an art of a procession of masked figured, dances, and mimes accompanied by flutes and drums, was introduced in the 6 th century and
flourished during the Nara period.
-It was replaced by Bugaku, a form of music and masked dance with elements from China, Korea, India, and Tibet
-Sarugaku- import from China which included acrobatics, magic, music, dance, pantomime, monkeys. Performers were usually itinerants, who
often had connections with religious institutions. Many lived as social outcasts in segregated areas, along with other entertainers and social
pariahs (such as butchers, prostitutes, and undertakers.)
- In Medieval society (1185-1600), some of the performing arts that had been on the periphery of the court culture moved toward center stage.
Interaction increased between folk and aristocratic entertainments, religious and secular arts, and male and female performers. Ex) song called
imayo. Was once sung by low class female performers, but then the emperior GoShirakawa sponsored imayo events and made it popular.
-Female dancers were crucial to flowering of performing arts in medieval period. First shirabyoshi dancers, then their successors were called
kusemai dancers whose art integrated song and dance more closely.
-In addition to song (utaimono) and dance (mai) genres, recited narratives (katarimono) were important in medieval entertainment.
-After 1333, when shogunal headquarters moved from Kamakura to an area of Kyoto called Muromachi, military patronage of the arts increased,
and major theatrical genres developed.
-Literary aesthetics of capital’s elite culture was based on poetric tradition of waka and the newer linked verse renga.
-Late medieval records mention noh plays staffed with puppets, with hand operated puppets being the focus of artistic development. Puppets
served as medium in Shinto rituals to express the words and perform the actions of the gods and puppet performances were presented as offerings
to please ad petition the deities
-Once puppeteers joined forces with chanters and shamisen players, puppet theatre was established
-Kowaka was recited narrative to rhythm, mostly battle tales. Plots of these tales suggest an intermediary stage between noh and kabuki and
puppet theaters with focus moved from the individual warrior to a larger web of social relationships and obligations.
-A group of dances called odori (which means jumping or leaping) was also involved in creation of new theatrical forms. Particularly popular in
the summer festival of the dead to pacify malignant souls.
-in second half of 16th century, three consecutive military leaders were patrons and devotees of the performing arts and used arts to promote htir
own personal and political agendas.
-Oda Nobunaga was fan of kowaka, and sponsored a competition between it and noh
-Toyotomi Hideyoshi favored noh
-Tokugawa Ieyasu laid groundwork for both perpetuation of Tokugawa shogunate and the role of noh as ceremonial music of military
rulers
-in 1603, when Ieyasu named first Tokugawa shogun, a woman Okuni performed kabuki dance in Kyoto. Kabuki literally means to tilt or to
slant, which were phrases used to refer to unusual behavior or dress. Okuni performed in Portuguese style trousers and a foreign style hat with a
Chinese cross around her neck.
-Other women pick up on kabuki and perform it in teahouses and baths, and in their performances seem available for prostitution. In 1629 the
shogunate prohibited women from appearing on the stage, which ended the direct participation of women in major theatrical genres.
-After 1652, only adult males could perform on stage. There were female impersonators called onnagata. Eliminating women and young men
from the stage reduced the sexual allure of the performances and led to renovations to attract wider audiences, like the performance of
contemporary events.
-Tokugawa clan chose Edo as its headquarters, and audiences there were part of a growing class of urban dwellers who were eager to assert own
cultural identity
-Noh theatre mostly popular with warrior class, with people of Edo and Osaka and Kyoto open to other forms of theatre
-A kabuki actor Sakata Tojuro (from Kyoto) developed an understated acting style called wagoto which is in contrast to Danjuro’s (from Edo)
bold and exaggerated arrogato style.
-Kabuki as an actor-based theatre, left to them to improvise, whereas puppet theatre is centered on the chanter and his text
-Chikamatsu was first known playwright who was not a performer, and wrote both kabuki and puppet plays. Produced Love Suicides at Sonezaki
three weeks after actual events, leading to the nickname “over night picke” for plays about current events
-Early 18th century heyday of puppet theatre, with puppets more famous than live actors
-Shogunal authorities continue to monitor theatre. Already had prohibited women onstage and made noh and kyogen official performing art of
warrior class. Since they were suspicious of the adverse effects of theatre on behavior, they censored the content of plays.
-in 1722, love suicide theme proscribed and performers were not allowed to portray members of leading families or current events
-Kabuki borrowed from puppet theatre, especial in Osaka and Kyoto. Puppet plays often reproduced on kabuki stage.
-During first few decades of 19th century, kabuki and kabuki-related arts prospered, such as the publication of illustrated kabuki playbooks
designed for reading and of woodblock prints depicting actors and scenes from plays
-kabuki flourished outside major urban centers; stages were built in villages and religious centers throughout Japan
-Government forces theaters in Edo to move from center of town to outskirts, and prohibited publication of theater related woodblock prints
-Despite kabuki popularity, puppet theatre survives
-The opening of Japan to the West in mid-19th century and the establishment of a new form of government after 1868 brought changes to all
forms of traditional Japanese theatre.
-Noh and kyogen were most radically affected, and most actors entered new professions.
-President Grant was entertained by noh theatre in Japan and urged that it be preserved
-For kabuki, the end of the Tokugawa rule meant a reduction in government restrictions and a rise in the official status of the actors from outcasts
to ordinary citizens
When it became clear that other styles of theater could better present 20 century life onstage, kabuki returned to a more traditional repertory.
After the war, the theatre was slow to regain audiences; however, the government supports the arts and keeps the culture flourishing. The scripts
of Japanese traditional theater are not solely concerned with reproducing ordinary dialogue. They also include descriptions of and commentary
on the setting, the stage actions, and the characters (the actor is not restricted to remaining “in character”. A chanter sometimes would recite the
plays. Words are voiced by the performers but no character or clearly defined narrator is speaking them. The enunciation of a single thought may
be divided between two or more stage figures or spoken by them in unison. Noh and kyogen do not utilize sets and thus a scene is created by
verbal description. Offstage areas are also often temporarily incorporated into the setting. Mime in Japanese theater is mediated by form. All
performers are well trained from young ages. The musicians that play the music for the play appear on stage where the audience can see them.
Attendants regularly enter and exit the stage during the performances. In kabuki, and to a lesser extent in the puppet theater, curtains and stage
machinery are openly manipulated as part of the visual picture. The plots of the plays usually don’t have no identifiable sources. The puppet and
kabuki theaters directly allude to noh and kyogen plays and often recycle their stories, dances, and music. The lack of verisimilitude allows
theatrically effective devices to be exploited freely and stage mechanics to be revealed to the audience. The stage on which noh and kyogen are
performed is small and never compromised by sets. Three types of actors participate in a noh play. The most numerous are shite actors who
function as the main performer. The waki actors perform the secondary role. There are also 4 types of musicians: the flutist, two handed drums,
hip drum, and the shoulder drum. Noh plays rarely focus on character development or dramatic conflict; they explore an emotion. Kyogen plays
are performed between noh plays. No viewer is far from the action in kabuki theatres. All types of Japanese theaters have made use of the figure
of thunder with 4 major genres: funny, friendly, ferocious, or frightened (thunder god).
Makoto Ueda, “Chikamatsu on the Art of Puppet Theater”
SUMMARY ONE: mshelomi@fas.harvard.edu
-Statered with traveling showmen, then advanced to literary merit.
-Puppet theater is drama, while No is poetry and kabuki is more like spectacle.
-Lifelike marionettes with lively human actions
-Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725) contributed most. 100 plays, some historical and some from the day, usually centered on conflict between
love and honor or passion and duty.
-Art, he says, lies between truth and falsehood. Actors are not real, as real people don’t wear so much makeup. Actors are more entertaining,
however.
-Closeness to detail is not entertainment. Story of the court lady and the doll she ordered identical to her distant lover, which was so
realistic as to be frightening. He love chilled, and the doll was discarded.
-Detachment between real life and art needed, and also allows for adding divine elements, sheer accidents, and tiger-shaped people into
the play where they could not exist in the real world.
-Women in society, especially in feudal times, were reserved in their emotions. In the plays, women express their feelings freely.
-Art is a likeness or reproduction, not a symbol. Rather than a pine tree symbolizing an ideal man, a pine tree will shake the snow off
itself like a man. Rather than hold back emotions (like a tree), emotions are expanded even into non-human world.
-Lifeless pupper can be made as or more convincing as a human actor thanks to pathos. If a character is under the pressure of honor, play will be
moving. Pathos deeply stirred when a character faces two alternative actions with a disaster awaiting either choice.
-Honor needed for ethics. Theatricality is central to morality. Characters must be very honorable and put in situations where this honor is made
evident, especially when it clashes with a dishonorable character.
-Characters are flat and do not grow or mature. Plot subordinant to character, drama depends on character clash.
-He differs from Shakespeare in this way, as characters do not grow or become aware of human life’s seriousness, but move through a
series of accidents and misfortunes. Consistent moral view throughout.
-His domestic plays usually have 4 characters: middle-class merchant, his wife, his courtesan mistress, and a villainous rival for the mistress.
-Historicl plays usually have hero/warrior, his wife, retainers, and concubine.
-His plays lack a prevailing view that controls them, so a diverse set of critics can see their own shadows in his world.
SUMMARY TWO: tachen@fas.harvard.edu
A. The person who contributed the most to the artistic development of the Japanese puppet theater was Chikamatsu Monzaemon (16531725)
a. he wrote on both well-known historical incidents, as well as contemporary stories
b. his works usually addressed a conflict between love and honor, or between passion and duty
c. conservative scholars respect him as a writer who insisted on the importance of reason over passion
d. romantic scholars praise him for his representation of the purest type of love
e. leftist scholars hold that his plays exemplify a clash between the conservative society and the progressive individual
B. “Art is something that lies in the thin margin between truth and falsehood… It is falsehood, and yet it is not falsehood. It is truth, and yet
it is not truth. Entertainment emerges from between the two.” –Chikamatsu
a. Chikamatsu defended puppet plays by saying that people are entertained for the very reason that puppet theater does not copy
real life exactly
b. an exact copy of reality evokes a disagreeable feeling in the spectator
i. he does not give an explicit explanation for this
C. At the same time, puppet plays present things which are truer than facts
a. “In recent plays female characters speak many things which real women could not possibly say. These belong to the domain of
art; as they reveal what real women cannot say, one comes to know what their innermost feelings are.” –Chikamatsu
b. a work of art creates a false domain where societal restrictions are lifted, permitting people to be who they truly are
D. Chikamatsu also believed that it was more important to accurately demonstrate an internal motive, rather than a faithful copy of an
external action
a. this is what gives life to drama and the story
b. all actions on stage must spring from some true motive in order to be entertaining
c. external actions show reality only at the superficial level
d. hidden reality lies behind what things seem to be; emotions
E. “It is essential that one make a thing pitiful by itself, without ever saying ‘it is pitiful.’”
a. the real tragedy in a play should come out of a dramatic situation which is built around the sense of honor in the characters of
the play
b. drama is defined by the interplay of different forces in human nature: intellect, passion, will, all of which is ruled (successfully
or unsuccessfully) by a sense of honor
F. Chikamatsu’s greatness lies neither in his plot construction nor in his characterization, but in his ability and skill to create a moment of
high dramatic impact where, forced by honor, two opposing elements in human nature fight a duel
he is different from Shakespeare in that his works focused on creating individual scenes animated with intensely emotional conflicts in which the
hero grows, rather than expressing a consistent moral view through the structure of the drama in the play as a whole
Week 4
Donald Keene, World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era
SUMMARY ONE:
-Keene begins by asserting that we can speak of pre-modern fiction as being specifically Edo literature; between 1770-1790 center of literary
activity shifted from Kyoto-Osaka to Edo, Japan.
-lots of fiction written, but the entire era can be defined by the term gesaku
-originates from a samurai who dabbled as a playwright, but wanted to distinguish his work as “playful”
-by end of 18th, term gesaku used uniformly to mean any work of fiction – writings ranged from booklets, to cartoons, to historical
novels
-gesaku writers marked by a desire to not take themselves too seriously, describing their work as “playful compositions”
-the high Chinese literacy rate and popularity of Chinese fiction influenced the rise of gesaku in Japan
-an interesting feature of gesaku is the juxtaposition between conventional language and colloquialism in the dialogue of the scripts
-Chikamatsu is known for this
-typically, descriptive passages remained in the literary language, while conversations had a “characteristically colloquial
flavor” (79)
-sharebon, stories about licensed quarters that began to appear in the Kamigata (region) around 1745
-written in colloquial language, described the manners, language, and clothes of the men who frequented Edo brothels and who
were adept in their ritualized etiquette
-they were often satirical commentary on the customers of the brothels
-kibyoshi originated about the same time as the sharebon, often written by the same men, but they were distinct literary forms
-kibyoshi were like “glorified comic books”; authors often used illustrations
-kibyoshi = yellow covers, the name referring to the color of the decorative panel on the outer wrapper
-first kibyoshi published in 1775: The Dream of Glory of Master Gold-Gold
-typically kibyoshi looks really crowded, every scrap of blank space is covered; they encompassed “a special genre halfway between
literature and art” (80)
-sharebon and kibyoshi were the two main varieties of early gesaku fiction
-both were frivolous in intent, colloquial in language, concerned solely with contemporary life (though due to censorship they
were often set in the Japan of the Kamakura period)
-the interest lay primarily in describing men in brothels and how they reveal their true characters through conversations with the
prostitutes and other customers
-the writings totally lack in intellectual content, despite who the authors were or their level of education
-a typical sharebon story followed the pattern of a visit of a professed expert and a novice, ending with the expert being shown up as a
fraud, and the “novice” being the real tsu
-the word tsu was used to designate a connoisseur of a brothel
-the best sharebon and kibyoshi were written by Santo Kyoden (1761-1816)
-his first work came as early as 1778, but his masterpiece kibyoshi is considered Romantic Embroilments Born in Edo, 1785.
-about the wealthy Enjiro who aspires to be a famous lover, but is grotesquely ugly.
-Keene then gives a summary about Enjiro’s story and the types of gimmicks he pulls in order to make himself a more attractive lover
-after Romantic Embroilments, Kyoden wrote sixteen works in the same genre between 1785-1790, all about Enjiro and his companions.
However, he shifted his work from the comic book like kibyoshi to writing sharebon when he did this
-the books were very much like guidebooks into the lives of prostitutes and their customers
-Keene goes on to describe the finer works of literature that Kyoden produced in later years; one such story The Forty-Eight Grips in
Buying a Whore, 1790, which evoked the works of Chikamatsu, presenting a more sincere love between man and prostitute as opposed to the
usual playfulness of other sharebon.
-In this story Kyoden describes a romantic relationship between a man and his courtesan, who he gets pregnant. Keene writes that
“Kyoden, perhaps inadvertently, created real human beings who confront real problems, instead of the caricatures of his earlier works.” (88).
-in 1790 the government issued orders to control the publication of frivolous books
-in 1791 Kyoden published three sharebon that were met with great popularity, but in the third month an order from the govt. was issued
confining Kyoden to his house in manacles for fifty days. Half of the publisher’s capital was confiscated and the censors who had approved of the
books were deprived of an office (88)
-interestingly, this made Kyoden even more popular than he had been before, though he had to give up his career as a sharebon writer
-The Kansei Reforms, the government edicts in 1790, divided earlier and later gesaku fiction
-there was a greater emphasis placed on education, which increased the potential readership of all kinds of writing, and former gesaku
writers found themselves writing more intellectual works
-lending libraries became more popular for the sake of readers who could not afford to buy the new books
-more women readers
-the writing of fiction became more of a commercial enterprise
-because of the new system of paying royalties, it became possible for authors to live entirely on the money earned from their writing
-after Kyoden was made an example of, later gesaku writers, though clearly in need of a medium for satire, feared govt. retribution, so
later gesaku lacked the intensity of satire or true didactism (90).
-the later writings are divided into various categories, each with distinctive features and a distinct readership
-“they are probably the oldest examples of Japanese prose which average readers peruse with pleasure” (91)
SUMMARY TWO:
Chapter 17: Fiction (Gesaku Fiction)
-1770-1790: center of fiction writing shifts from Kyoto-Osaka region to Edo
-gesaku: word generally used to describe all fiction during the Edo period
-term coined by Gennai in order to distinguish playful fiction (gesaku) from serious fiction
-examples ranged from cartoon books to long historical novels
-read by EVERYONE, not just nobility
-most were comic, tried to make readers laugh
-subject matter often included visits to the brothels
-borrowed from Chinese literature, which led to an interesting effect at first: the use of the formal, classical Chinese language to describe
the brothels
-over time, a shift in language occurred: classical language used in descriptive passages, while the colloquial was used in dialogue
-sharebon:
-stories about the brothels
-began to appear in Kamigata region (Kyoto-Osaka) around 1745
-origins in Chinese, borrowed stylistic elements from Chinese
-described manners, language, and clothes of the men who frequented the brothels (tsû)
-served as guides to men who wanted to be tsû
-knowledge of the brothels was necessary to understand the jokes
-kibyoshi:
-glorified comic books, often written by sharebon authors
- kibyôshi means “yellow covers,” referring to the yellow labels on the outer wrappers
-as compared to: red labels (children’s stories), black labels (more serious war stories, ghost stories, etc.), blue labels (more
frivolous, eventually merged with kibyôshi)
-first kibyôshi: Harumachi’s “The Dream of Glory of Master Gold-Gold,” 1775
-pages are cluttered with words and pictures, the words must be read WITH the pictures
sharebon & kibyôshi: what do they have in common?
-the two main varieties of early gesaku fiction
-frivolous
-used colloquial language
-concerned with contemporary life
-products of the their time period, when ruling class was rather lax and allowed artistic activity
-authors were members of the samurai class
-revealed how men in a brothel reveal their characters through conversations with prostitutes and other customers
-almost totally void of intellectual content
-refrained from social criticism except in the most benign and light-hearted way
-sharebon:
-written from 1745-1830, later mainly in Edo
-setting form: The Holy Men’s Brothel, anonymous, 1757 – about Buddha, Confucius, and Lao-tzu in an Osaka brothel
-like most later sharebon: lacks overt descriptions of actual sex in the brothels, deals more with interactions between customers
-realistic use of colloquial language
-speakers are clearly identified
-familiar plot: an expert and a novice visit the brothel, the expert is shown to be a fraud (as seen in “The Rake’s Patois”)
-how to tell a fraud from a real tsu?
-they dress and look the same, but the impostor swaggers into the brothels while the real tsu knows how to please the prostitutes
-absence of love or desire
-lightness and detachment rather than deep feelings
-Santo Kyoden:
-lived 1761-1816
-leading writer of fiction at end of 1700s, famous artist and illustrator as well
-first book 1778, greatest activity between 1782-1791
-masterpiece: 1785’s “Romantic Embroilments Born in Edo” (or as we know it…Playboy, Roasted a la Edo”
-story of ugly Enjiro, who attempts to be famous as a great lover
-pays a geisha to chase after him, has scandal sheets printed about his affair, hires a woman to act as a jealous woman,
convinces his parents to disinherit him, plans a fake lovers’ suicide, attacked by “robbers,” have to walk home almost naked,
welcomed back by his family, is allowed to marry the courtesan, asks Kyoden to put his adventures into a book
-after Playboy, Kyoden moves back to sharebon (16 works between 1785 and 1790)
-most famous: The Palace (same characters as Playboy, 1787)
-not illustrated except for a frontispiece
-prefaces full of Chinese allusion, most of the text is conversation, served almost as a guidebook for men who wished to frequent the
brothels
-“The Forty-Eight Grips in Buying a Whore”: 1790, collection of short stories that include ideas of real love and real problems
-1791: “The Courtesan’s Silken Sleeve” – tribute to Chikamatsu
-1790: government orders issued to control the publication of frivolous books by Matsudaira Sadanobu: wanted to revitalize samurai
class, encouraged military and civil arts, discouraged gesaku
-1790: Kyoden became even more famous when he was put under house arrest for his books, forced to give up career as a shrebon writer
-other sharebon author: Umebori Kokuga (1750-1821)
-“Two Different Ways of Buying a Courtesan,” 1798
-gave the idea that an ugly, middle-aged man is more likely to win a courtesan if his feelings are deeper and purer
-Later gesaku:
-divided by 1790 Kansei Reforms
-government decreed that only Chu Hsi Confucianism would be permitted
-many former gesaku writers became officials or studied science instead of writing gesaku
-emphasis was placed on education, amount of lending libraries increased
-increase in women readers, much later fiction aimed at women
-writing of fiction became much more commercial
-instead of humor that appealed only to the elite, writers aimed at mass appeal
-system of royalties made it possible for people to be professional writers
-later gesaku writers imitated speech of different classes, but literature was still not meant to be taken seriously
-fear of governmental retaliation led to the absence of satire
-no attempt made to preserve historical accuracy
Adam Kern – “Chapter 6: Playboy, Roasted a la Edo (1785)”
SUMMARY ONE:
Central Idea/Argument
Provides a historical setting for and close reading of Santo Kyoden’s seminal kibyoshi Playboy, Roasted a la Edo
A. Summary of Playboy with some analysis
a. Protagonist Enjiro uses his merchant wealth to try and buy himself a reputation as a playboy, except he has no skillz  Edo
counterpart to Austin Powers?
b. Enjiro like a stage-struck fan of kabuki because he casts himself as the star of his own kabuki spectacle [the love suicide]
c. Or perhaps star-struck by playboys of classical literature like Genji [Tale of Genji] and Narihira [Tales of Ise]
d. Enjiro’s helpers are Warui Shian and Kitari Kinosuke  ideas always backfire, resulting in physical pain, financial loss, and public
embarrassment
B. Playboy satirizes the newly rich merchant class, which Enjiro represents: his pathetic attempts are a wry comment on merchants’
attempts to translate wealth into respectability
a. Enjiro may be based on real-life figures
i. Possibly Kyoden, because Kyoden also married a courtesan, and because Enjiro’s trademark nose is called the Kyoden
nose instead of the Enjiro nose
ii. Most likely entrepreneur Kishimoto Eijiro of the Asadaya: similar names, Eijiro gained notoriety by ransoming a celebrated
courtesan, and Eijiro purportedly collected works of literature he didn’t understand
iii. Possibly the samurai Abe-no-Shikibu, who was Fire Marshal of Edo Castle during a big fire  if true, then Playboy is
poking fun at the Tokugawa shogunate via the indiscretions of one of its functionaries
C. Playboy’s artistic heritage
a. Enjiro very similar in appearance to the homunculus [round head, squinty eyes, triangle nose], little human figures of “Toba
cartoons”
i. Toba cartoons were widely disseminated cartoons of the 18 th century stylistically inspired by the Heian-period abbot Toba
Sojo, who humorously depicted animals engaging in human activities
ii. These cartoon figures were increasingly coming to be printed on various commercial goods  Edo forerunner of “cute”
merchandizing?
D. Enjiro’s legacy
a. Two years later, Kyoden authored Stylishly Slangy Latticed Bordello [Prof Kern must make a special point of coming up with the
weirdest translations he can possibly think of], which featured Enjiro & Co. in a fashionbook
b. Contemporary writers like Jitokan Shujin and Inoue Hisashi have modeled protagonists after Enjiro
SUMMARY TWO:
Playboy, Roasted a la Edo – by Santo Kyoden, published first in 1785, a kibyoshi
Regarded as epitomizing Kyoden’s kibyoshi
Brief summary:
Protagonist: Enjiro, son of a wealthy shop owner, tries to buy/fake himself a reputation as a romantic swashbuckling womanizer
Culminates in staging a false double suicide reminiscent of the kabuki theater
His father stages a masked robbery of Enjiro, forcing him and his “lover” to walk back home in their loincloths
Humor derives from contrast between Enjiro’s ambitions and his inherently uncouth, foppish nature
Enjiro is ridiculous in “desperately seeking nonchalance”
Confusion of fiction for real life may have been relevant to those who were “encountering the jolting discrepancy between live theater and its
representation in printed form.”
At the time, Kabuki was being dislocated from its position as one of the most pervasive forms of popular entertainment in major cities to a more
secondary position
Enjiro casts himself as a star of his own kabuki play
Enjiro – pun on enjiru: “performing”
Level of language in Playboy
Two contrasting modes of speech: the romantic mode (allusions to classic works, poems, etc) that itself seduces Enjiro, then the colloquial –
heard in the asides, the dialogue of characters behind Enjiro’s back
Enjiro pays for others to beat him up, to be humiliated – he shows no intellectual or emotional development – but does show a lot of heart
His idea of instant sophistication might be a satirization of both the romantic mode and the instructional texts and the materialism of the nouveau
riche, the merchants that Enjiro emblemizes
Some say that Enjiro was modeled on contemporary figures
- Izumiya Junsuka, a merchant of extravagant taste and self-promotion
Some say that Enjiro is Kyoden himself – the nose gets to be known as the “Kyoden nose” and Kyoden himself marries a celebrated
courtesan
- Most widely accepted view is that Enjiro is image of the entrepreneur Kishimoto Eijiro
Nakamura theorizes that Playboy is a mélange of stories of contemporary couples, one of a samurai – helps explain a lot of seemingly weird
details in the comic, suggests a satiric nature of Playboy indirectly at that Tokugawa shogunate – theory has problems, though
Enjiro’s picture was not designed directly by Kyoden – came to life at a “Handtowel Competition” at which people submit their own designs of
visual-verbal puns; Kyoden himself recounted the competition in his picturebook “The Handtowel Competition” which includes Muchikage’s
pug-nosed character, rendered into Enjiro by Kyoden
The competition also has a lot of places/patterns/images/people that appear in Playboy, even if only obliquely – Utahime’s name on a lantern, for
example, Hanaogi’s double-cherry crest on a tobacco tray, etc etc
Thus, Playboy may be a roast of assorted contemporary playboys, but also an imagination of The Handtowel Competition
In the Japanese context, the size of your nose is correlated with your status – Enjiro is sabotaged by his tiny pug nose; emblematic of many
cartoon character’s visible flaws (Charlie brown’s hair, Chaplain’s walk)
In Playboy, a woman comments that Enjiro looks like a “Toba cartoon”
Some take this as a reference to the comic Frolicking Critters, by Toba Sojo
However, contemporary readers probably weren’t familiar with these scrolls of the 12th century – more likely “Toba cartoons” that began
appearing in the Kyoto-Osaka area during the early part of the 18 th century and were still produced at Playboy’s time
Toba cartoon figures also started to be printed on commercial goods like Hello Kitty – an account of Enjiro’s failed suicide is
disseminated not on broadsheets or leaflets, but on inexpensive paper fans
Kyoden continues to write about similar themes: “Stylishly Slangy Latticed Bordello” is about Enjiro’s progeny Unuatro
Inoue Hisashi (1934 - ) writes about a rich kid named Izumiya Eijiro who wants to be known as a great writer of playful literature
Page 108 of the coursebook
“In closing, Playboy no doubt appealed to contemporary readers for many reasons, not the least of which is that the story delights in the
eternal theme of romantic youth. Yet it also contains enough in-group references and local color to have satisfied even the most
discriminating of sophisticates. Playboy’s satirical guns likewise point in all directions. The piece can be read as a conservative satire,
policing the boundaries of the literary and dramatic arts by lampooning kabuki plays, the fashionbook tradition, and the rise of the
nouveau riche as a class, if not as specific individuals. It can also be read as a progressive satire, taking a swipe at the government
through the proxy of Edo Castle’s Fire Marshal, thereby emboldening others, perhaps, to try their hand at such nose-thumbing.
Admittedly, any reading of a story about misreadings is by definition a perilous undertaking.”
Week 5
Richard A. Gardner, “The Blessing of Living in a Country…"
SUMMARY ONE: Rina Onur
Humor in the Response to Aum Shinrikyo
- Senryu: Comic or satiric verse. 5-7-5 syllables that originated in Edo. Many Japanese newspapers publish these submitted by their readers.
- The paper translated and analyzes many senryu about Aum from major Japanese daily newspapers to capture the humorous and joking reaction
to Aum within Japan: a reaction that has received almost no attention.
- In March 1995, there was a sarin gas attack in Tokyo subways. After this, considerable effort has been given to understand why Aum Shinrikyo
has turned to violence.
- After the attack, a Japanese newspaper received more than 1000 senryu per day from its readers about the attack.
- How Aum has been interpreted in Japan had considerable impact on the legal system, govt. agencies, the media, the police system, attitudes to
religion and youth.
- Even though the action of Aum was horrific and had no place for humor, the way people talked about Aum in informal settings were always full
of parody, ridicule and satire.
- But humor hasn’t been a topic of explicit discussion, probably because people thought it wasn’t capable of capturing the gravity of the situation.
- So the question people asked themselves was this : Is Aum a mirror of Japanese society? How is it similar to Japanese society and how is it still
different?
- Humor wasn’t only used to criticize Aum, but also aspects of Japanese society by likening them to Aum!
- Neither waka nor haiku have strong comic, especially satiric, characteristic.
- None of the waka published at the time had any reference to Aum or any social or political issue. There were a few haiku with reference to Aum
that did appear.
- Senryu is published 5 times a week, while waka or haiku are published only once a week. Thus senryu deserves attention in looking at Japan’s
response to Aum.
- Most senryu reflect the ordinary and daily conversation about Aum. So it provides a good source for folkloric studies of modern Japan. But
some others contain ingenious and original insight about the issues.
- Senryu have a little bit anarchic orientation. It’s a type of humor sanctioned by mass media institutions.
- The pronunciation of the syllable ‘om’ (most sacred syllable in Sanskrit into Japanese) in Japanese language is same for the Japanese word
‘parrot’, Thus this gave rise to the perception of Aum members as parrots. The thought about ‘to parrot’ (to repear mindlessly what one has heard
or been told) also exists in Japanese culture. This was widely used in characterizing the performance of Aum members on TV.
- After the sarin gas attack, police widely used canaries to detect the poison gas. So the confrontation between Aum and the police force became a
confrontation of parrots and canaries.
- A good way of comparison for Aum in senryu became the comparison between parrots and other birds.
- Many senryu also pointed to the similarities btw Aum and the militarized Japan of war period.
- The high number of Aum members with elite educational backgrounds and training led to the critique of the importance granted in Japanese
society to a good school record.
- Mass media, TV, the practice of medicine, constitution, family, Self Defense Forces and also Japanese politics/ social policy were also subjected
to ridicule through Aum critique.
- Lost in translation: various puns and play on words that cannot be translated easily. Chinese characters can’t be translated to English easily.
Usually references to Japanese cultures that most non-Japanese readers can’t pick up easily. They’re meant to be somewhat obscure. That’s the
reason the translations are heavily annotated.
( please check out the translated lines from p.115-122 on the coursepack for passage ID questions)
SUMMARY TWO: klukeman@fas.
This article focuses on one aspect of the reaction to Aum has received little attention in Japan: the humor, joking, parody, and satire that formed a
major part of the efforts to understand and come to terms with Aum. This humor, parody, and satire relating to Aum appeared throughout
Japanese mass media, particularly as senryu (comic or satiric verse) that were anonymously contributed by readers to major Japanese daily
newspapers.
An attempt to understand Aum Shinrikyo, a controversial religious group, and its turn to violence the sarin gas attack on Tokyo subway lines on
March 20, 1995.
Humor has received particularly little attention in analyses of the reaction to Aum. Why?
-Commentators not aware of the amount of humor generated by Aum?
-No room for humor in response to this evil?
No, because Japanese scholars (or anyone reading popular Japanese publications at the time) were fully aware of the amount of joking
surrounding Aum.
-The only plausible explanation is that humor, although interesting and amusing, is simply not deemed to be of importance in understanding a
serious matter such as the reaction to Aum in Japan.
However, humor was a central part of the effort to make sense of Aum within Japan.
The implausible beliefs, hypocrisy, and obvious lies of Aum members gave rise to laughter and ridicule.
People examined how Aum was similar to and yet different from Japanese society. Every aspect of daily life was interrogated as to whether it
could have a possible relation to Aum.
Humor was used not just to critique Aum but also to criticize aspects of Japanese culture and society by liking them to Aum.
Senyru was a comic, satiric verse form of 5-7-5 syllables (similar to Haiku in construction) that originated in eighteenth century Edo. Aum was
one of the major topics treated by the senryu that appeared in the major Japanese newspapers weekly.
Senyru make use of humor in relation to political and social problems. Can be anarchic and critical; have been censored and suppressed at times
in the past. Read by a large percentage of the Japanese population.
Senyru play with Japanese language. For example, the pronunciation of Aum (om) in Japanese is the same as that for the Japanese word “parrot”.
This gave rise to a widespread perception of Aum members as parrots or of Aum as a parrot. Also, police carried canaries to detect poison gas
when raiding Aum facilities, and therefore the confrontation between Aum and the police was often referred to as the parrots against the canaries.
-A seemingly insignificant resemblance can generate a series of association and interpretations.
Aspects of contemporary Japanese culture, the nature of Japanese politics and social policy, media coverage of Aum (particularly television),
large Japanese companies, the practice of medicine, the constitution, religion, and the family were all subject to critique in senyru by drawing
some sort of parallel between them and Aum.
Problems with Translation
- In translating senyru, you lose the 5-7-5 structure by trying to capture the literal meanings.
- Reading translations has obvious drawbacks; you lose the variety of types of puns and plays on words not easily transferred into English.
- There are also explicit and implicit references to elements of Japanese culture that most non-Japanese readers cannot easily pick up.
- Hard to relate to something that happened years ago as if it were in the newspaper yesterday.
To account for these difficulties, author tried to compile heavily detailed annotations in the notes at the end of the translations that should be read
as you read the senyru.
Random examples of senyru:
“Canaries released amidst the parrots”
“Thanks to Aum, the stars usually on television are able to stretch their wings and relax a bit”
“A big city where a lid cannot be kept on smelly things”
“In my living room, the Giants and Aum stabbing each other”
Ed Cranston, “Salad Days: The Poetry of Tawara Machi,”
SUMMARY ONE: mshelomi@fas.harvard.edu
-1987, 2 years out of college, she appears with collection of food/love related tankas called Sarada kinenbi (Salad Anniversary). Many prises and
much media attention followed, and she has struggled to avoid being swept away in the hype.
-Studied classical form under tanka poet Sasaki Yukitsuna. She is capable of writing classical poems, but often uses modern words and images
not from classical lexicon, including science and pop songs.
-Broken expectations lend power to use of modern voice in tanka
-Many times, Tawara uses both classical and colloquial terms
-Always 5-7-5-7-7, but Tawara sometimes does not use the smooth and neat use of verb inflections and particles at the end of lines. She
uses a harsher “sprung rhythm.”
-Colloquial tanka are not original: part of this centuries poetic revolution
-Often echoes early poems, especially those of Yosano Akiko.
-Poems show her awareness of her place in tradition, but they are popular for redefining a woman in love. Use of boyfriends (not lovers), a hurt
but healable heart, and tons of comfort food.
-Dedicated to the tanka form, just refined and modernized. No superfluous flesh.
Week 6
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, “In a Grove” and “Rashomon” (mrarnold@fas)
SUMMARY ONE:
“In a Grove”
The story is divided up into sections, each section being a different person’s testimony of the murder.
i.
Woodcutter’s Testimony
-claims to have found the body just off the road; dead body lying on its back in a blue kimono and head-dress
-did not see sword along the way, but found rope and comb
-looks like there was a confrontation because surrounding bamboo trampled
ii.
Buddhist Priest’s Testimony
-claims to have seen murdered man at noon the day before walking beside his wife on a horse
-man armed with sword and bow and arrows
iii.
Policeman’s Testimony
-claims to have arrested the bandit, Tajomaru, after having fallen off his horse in the early hours of the night
-Tajomaru was wearing a dark blue kimono, a sword, and bow and arrows; “same bow and arrows as dead man so Tajomaru must be the
murderer”
-Tajomaru has a history of prowling Kyoto in pursuit of women
iv.
Old Woman’s Testimony
-“the corpse is the man who married my daughter”
-murdered man was a samurai in town of Kokufu, and his name was Kanazawa no Takehiko, age 26
-her daughter, the wife of the murdered man, named Masago, age 19
-says that Masago left with Takehiko yesterday and is now nowhere to be found
v.
Tajomaru’s Confession
-“I killed him, but not her.”
-doesn’t know where wife went, but is willing to tell the whole truth
-met couple a little past noon the day before; immediately taken by woman’s beauty and made up mind to capture her “even if he had to
kill her man.”
-“to me killing isn’t a matter of such great consequence as you might think”
-finally decided he would do his best to not kill man
-lures man into grove by telling him there a treasures there; man “blinded by greed”
-ties man to tree and goes to capture woman, who takes out a small sword and reveals violent temper
-Tajomaru takes advantage of woman, and as he runs away she asks that either her husband or Tajomaru die (“more trying than death to
have her shame known to two men”)
-taken back by her burning eyes
-unties man and kills him in sword fight; looks up and woman is gone
vi.
Confession of Woman in Temple (wife of murdered man):
-saw husband tied up and knocked down by bandit as she tries to run to him
-struck by look of loathing in husband’s eyes; struck to the ground by bandit and taken advantage of
-comes to and sees husband still tied up; tells him she can’t be with him and that they both must die out of shame
-stabs husband in chest; tries to kill self but cannot, no matter how many ways she tries
vii.
Story of Murdered Man (told thru medium):
-agonized by jealousy when he sees the robber violating his wife and telling her to come away with him
-hears wife say to bandit: “Then take me away with you wherever you go”
-wife also instructs bandit to kill her husband
-in the end, wife disappears into grove, as does bandit; man kills himself but “didn’t feel any pain”
-“enveloped in deep silence”
-someone creeps up and draws dagger out of breast
General Themes: seeing life from a variety of perspectives, Buddhist relativism, honor, greed of man, power of the eyes
“Rashomon”
This story features a servant of a samurai in Kyoto, sitting at the foot of the Rashomon, the largest gate in the city. The story is set in the wake of
WWII.
-a series of natural disasters have just plagued the city; desperate times
-city also torn apart by thieves and robbers
-servant confined to inside quarters by heavy rainfall
-becomes so desperate for food, shelter, and warmth that he decides he must be a thief
-leaves gates wearing a blue kimono and a sword at his hip
-begins to climb tower and comes across several dead bodies
-sees an old woman hovering over the bodies, taking black hair from one of them to make a wig
-the servant is enraged at this sight; begins to scold her and ask what she is doing
-takes her roughly by the arm and forces her to the floor; draws sword and takes her clothes from her
Question: When is it okay to rob? It seems Kyoto has become a city living by the motto “every man for himself”
-servant claims: “It’s right if I rob you. I’d starve if I didn’t.”
General Themes: human greed, the overall devastation of the city of Kyoto, and people’s inability to trust one another; not only is Kyoto
destroyed by WWII and natural disasters, but people have lost all respect for humanity.
Marilyn Ury, Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-Two Stories
SUMMARY ONE:
Story #18: How a Thief Climbed to the Upper Story of Rasho Gate and Saw a Corpse. A thief peers into the upper story of Rasho gate (where
many corpses were brought when they couldn’t be buried) to see a young woman lying dead and an old woman sitting beside the corpse, plucking
out the hairs. He initially thinks they are ghosts and charges in to scare them away. We find out the old woman is taking her mistress’s hair to
make a wig. The thief ends up looting them both, takes their clothes and the hair, and runs away.
Story #23: How a Man Who Was Accompanying His Wife to Tanba Province Got Trussed up at Oeyama. A man is walking with his wife to
Tanba, when they meet a stranger walking in the same direction carrying a magnificent sword. The stranger offers to trade his sword for the
man’s simple bow, and the man is delighted and carelessly agrees. When they stop for lunch, however, the stranger pulls the bow on the couple,
ties up the man, rapes the woman, takes back his sword, and makes off on their horse with their possessions.
SUMMARY TWO:
- How a Thief Climbed to the Upper Story of Rasho Gate and Saw a Corpse
o This short story is about a thief who decides to hide on top of Rasho Gate to avoid being seen. At the top of Rasho Gate, the
thief discovers an old woman and the corpse of a dead woman. After figuring out that the old woman is stealing the hair off the
corpse to make a wig, the thief steals everything from the old woman and the corpse and runs away.
-
How a Man who was Accompanying his Wife to Tanba Province Got Trussed up at Oeyama
o This short story is about a man and his wife who are traveling through the forest when a stranger approaches them. The stranger
trades his sword for the man’s bow and arrows. Once the stranger has the bow and arrows, the stranger threatens the man and
wife, ties up the man, and rapes the wife. After the rape, the stranger disappears, and the man and wife continue on their
journey. Immediately after the rape, the wife criticizes the man for being unable to protect her, and calls him a coward and
untrustworthy.
Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, Kurosawa: Film Studies And Japanese Cinema
SUMMARY ONE:
-Original screenplay by Hashimoto Shinobu, based on Akutagawa ryunosuke’s “In a Grove,” combined with Akutagawa’s “Rashomon,” and
edited by Akira Kurosawa.
-Cinematographer: Miyagawa Kazuo, uxpert use of light and shadow, combined with Haasaka Fumio’s hypnotic score.
-Movie rewrites “Rashomon” story, keeping only setting and sense of social chaos in medieval Japan. Adds man-made disasters to Kyoto: theme
that man’s egotism will destroy him, but so will his compassion and altruism save him.
-Ending overly sentimental? Yes. However, this complements the unrealistcly serious tone of the start of the film. Consistant with the rest of the
movie.
-Use of 3: 3 locations, 3 days between testimony and gate, 3 characters at gate, 3 characters in forest, 3 characters in the word “Rashomon”
(Chinese characters, that is).
-Use of vertical lines at gate, horizontals in ccourt, and a mix in forest (vertical trees plus Kurosawa’s signature swish pans, for instance).
-Priest and woodcutter added to initial story as narrators, with commoner reminding us that film is not only about egotism vs altruism but also
about the problem of storytelling.
-Magistrate should be there (see eye-line of those providing testimony), but is neither seen nor heard. No reverse shot to him. We only see priest
and woodcutter in background: they are mirrors of the films audience.
-Films assistant directors said they “can’t understand it.” Ironic, as that’s a motif in the film.
-No hints in the film as to which part of the testimonies is true. They are all lying just a bit. However, this is beyond the point: Film is not about
how reliable the characters are but how reliable the images are. It’s a movie about moviemaking.
-Made in occupied Japan, 5 years after Japans defeat. Absence of magistrate = censorship. Unused scene of black market at Rashomon gate would
show situation in Japan at that time.
SUMMARY TWO: Albert Chen
A. The Rashomon film was a combination of “In a Grove” and “Rashomon” by Akutagawa
a. “In a Grove” consists of four testimonies at the police and three confessions by the parties concerned, which are simply
juxtaposed to each other as autonomus fragments
b. “In a Grove” emphasizes each character’s egotistic self-defense, but not necessarily the relativity of truth
c. “Rashomon” features a samurai’s former servant trying to decide whether he should become a thief for his own survival, and
upon hearing an old woman’s survival justification for stealing the hairs of the dead, decides to rob the woman
B. Kurosawa combined these two unrelated stories by keeping most of “In a Grove” and eliminating most of “Rashomon”
a. the samurai’s former servant and the old woman is gone
b. he only kept the story’s physical setting (the Rashomon gate), a general social background of chaos and devastation, and the
motif of stealing
i. but even these are a bit different
ii. the chaos and devastation are presented as at least partially man-made in the Rashomon film
C. Film underlines the man-made nature of social chaos
a. what leads humans to destroy themselves is egotism
b. but what saves humans also comes from themselves; they need human compassion, honesty, and altruism
c. the ending is often criticized as too sentimental, although it does not ruin what is achieved by the rest of the film
d. the sentimentality is exaggerated and perhaps unnatural, but so is the seriousness of the rest of the movie
i. the expressions and opinions of the woodcutter and priest are a bit too theatrical and exaggerated, making it
unconvincing
D. The structure, presentation, and narration of the film is of particular interest
a. Kurosawa relies extensively on “geometric abstraction, simplification, and juxtaposition of extreme opposites,” which creates
rhythm and beauty
b. the use of the number three as a structural element
i. narrative unfolds in three locations
ii. in each location there appear three principle characters
iii. a three-day interval passes between the testimony in the courtyard and the recounting of those scenes at the gate
iv. on the gate’s signboard are three Chinese characters that read “Rashomon”
c. juxtaposition of vertical and horizaontal compositions as a dominant visual motif
i. Rashomon/vertical: vertical movement of rain, gate’s vertical structure, vertically tilting camera
ii. testimony scenes/horizontal: surface of the screen divided into six horizontal bands, courtyard wall divided into three
horizontal strips of light and shadow
iii. forest scenes are both horizontal and vertical: vertical trees, horizontal camera movement
E. Narration of the film raises problems
a. Akutagawa’s “Rashomon” was a reflexive sotry
b. the narrators in the film are the woodcutter and the priest
c. there is still some reflexivity, with the introduction of the commoner, whose presence reminds us that the film focuses not only
on the question of human egotism and altruism but also on the problem of narration and story telling
d. the commoner is a surrogate figure for the film’s audience, who are not interested in the priest’s sermons but rather in hearing
an interesting story
e. the woodcutter and priest are also surrogate figures
F. Rashomon was widely regarded as incomprehensible when first produced
a. but this was good, because by performing the role of bewildered spectators they followed in the footsteps of the woodcutter and
priest, are supposed to be just like the audience
b. they “correctly” responded to the film without realizing it
G. Rashomon was not devoid of any connections to the immediate sociopolitical context of its production
a. it was made in Occupied Japan, only five years after Japanese defeat in WWII
b. the tumultuous conditions of wartime and postwar Japan can easily be compared to the chaotic situation surrounding the
Rashomon gate in the late Heian period
c. originally Kurosawa wanted to show a large crowd in a black market at the film’s opening, which would disperse after the rain
starts
i. this would have made much more explicit the connection to postwar Japan
the absence of the magistrate in the courtyard scenes shows the censorship of the Occupation
Week 7
David Pollack, “The Ideology of Science: Kōbō Abé’s Woman in the Dunes”
SUMMARY ONE:
 I apologize for the lack of cohesion to these main points from the reading, but we haven’t gotten to Woman in the Dunes yet and this article
was tedious as hell.
- This article looks at the case of Kobo Abe, who has “specialized in systematically subjecting to scrutiny the assumptions of rationality
and logical deduction on which both science fiction and murder mystery are founded.”
- Abe’s black humor, technological fantasies, and absurdist mentality may cast him into an already enshrined genre of writing, and thus
convey him as repetitive and boring, but what this perspective doesn’t take into account is the relevance of “a narrative of the
repetitiveness, boredom, alienation, terror, and pervasive absurdity of everyday life in huge modern megalopolises.”
- Pollack argues you need someone like Abe to account for the “absurd qualities of modern Japanese life”
- With regard to deductive logic, Abe especially concerns himself with the “violent collisions” that occur when the power of cold
rationality is trained on the absurdity of human life.
-
-
-
-
-
The common thread in all of Abe’s work is the idea that rationality, pursued logically to its logical endpoint, turns out to be insanely
irrational
Abe’s narrative voice smoothly lapses into absurdity often without the reader noticing.
o E.g. by the end of one passage, the reader finds himself accepting that children who collect insects for a hobby become adult
candidates for suicide
Abe first encountered this type of logic in the work of Edgar Allan Poe.
He claims science fiction has little to do with either science or ghost stories. Rather, it occupies a world of ‘pseudo-science’ and
represents ghost stories but without the ghosts
Theme of sand: absurd logic; flow of entropy; inhospitable, not because it is dry, but because it is always in motion; people fail because
they cling together, while sand succeeds because it does not
o Though sand initially given a destructive connotation for the water it contains, later becomes constructive for the same reason
 “the change in the sand corresponded to the change in himself”
Jumpei Niki, the protagonist of Woman in the Dunes, is an extremely ordinary man, who is friendless and solitary
o He personifies the very alienation of modern life
o Equates love with disease, disease with death, and death with sand
Another common thread in Abe’s work is that there is no such thing as an innocent victim
o His theory: if you randomly dial a phone number and yell “Run, they’re onto us,” half the people who answer would flee town.
o Everyone feels guilty about something
For this reason, Abe’s narrators cannot be trusted; no one is reliable
The village setting of Woman in the Dunes begins as a dystopia but ends instead as an unexpected utopia
SUMMARY TWO:
The main points of this article were:
- Abe specialized in scrutinizing the assumptions of rationality and logical deduction on which both science fiction and murder mystery
are founded.
o Abe’s works, as if set in a hall of mirrors, subject the ostensibly deductive method of the detective genre itself to a kind of
infinite regression, investigating the idea of investigation by making problematic its conventions, its assumptions, its procedures
and its quandaries.
o What’s exactly at stake in Abe’s work is the validity of deductive logic as a way of arriving at the ultimate truth, and so of the
very underpinning of the scientific method itself.
o Abe’s works share the idea that rationality, pursued logically to its logical endpoint, turns out to be insanely irrational.
- Abe’s black humor, technological fantasies, and absurdist mentality all mark him as belonging to an already enshrined generation of
authors whose time is past and whose visionary dystopic futures have (like Orwell’s in 1984) already come and gone.
- Abe’s work can been seen as mannered, repetitive, and boring by a Western audience.
Jumpei Niki, the main character of Women in the Dunes is described as ordinary by Pollack. Jumpei is also the personification of the alienation of
modern life, as he is friendless, solitary and unmarried.
Dominic Strinati, “Mass Culture and Popular Culture”
SUMMARY ONE: Jeremy Raper
Strinati seeks to do three things in this chapter:
- describe the relationship between “mass culture” and “popular culture”, and how notions of both have changed considerably this
century
- outline the tenets of “mass society theory”, an ideology that tries to explain how mass culture emerged and why that bad for cultural
life
- and finally, provide a strong critique of mass culture theory.
Key questions raised by the introduction: what is popular culture? How is popular culture affected by commercialisation and industrialisation? Is
there an ideological component to popular culture?
Mass culture and mass society
The first section after the intro outlines in detail the major tenets of mass society theory. These are as follows:
- mass society is the result of large-scale industrialisation and urbanisation.
- This new type of society is characterised by “atomisation” – disconnected individuals with little or no sense of community.
- In this atomised state, bereft of the moral order provided by traditional communities, “people turn to surrogate and fake moralities.”
Mass culture, the work of mass media and controlling core institutions, is “one of the major sources of this surrogate and ineffective
morality.”
- The advent of democracy and the philosophy of equality debases and trivializes culture in general and “high” culture (the culture of
the elites) in particular. “Folk” or low culture is swept away by mass culture and the pervading idea that equality implies a common
cultural denominator (ie, there is a low cultural standard that applies to everyone).
- Mass society and the culture it produces is seen as a mechanism for control of the people by mass media, commercial industries,
and/or the state. “Culture…has become an instrument of political domination.”
- Mass culture is inherently commercial: the creation of it is governed by the profit motive and therefore not dissimilar to the other
products of mass production industries (cd Hollywood films vs cars).
- The audience, deprived of a guiding moral compass, is seen as passive and consumptive, susceptible to manipulation. “Mass society
delivers up people to mass exploitation by mass culture.”
Not only this – mass culture does not intellectually stimulate: it is “fantastic” and “escapist.” Thus, as mentioned before, it trivializes
both high and low culture and so is a danger in that it homogenises, it “dumbs down.” Additionally, it undermines the distinctions
established between elite and popular culture, thereby threatening the status of elite culture.
Hence, the major proponents of this theory – MacDonald, Leavis, Hoggart and Orwell – tend to be cultural pessimists. They see high culture, high
art as potential solution to pervasiveness of mass culture.
-
Mass culture and Americanisation
The next section outlines how Americanisation has been aligned with the spread of mass culture and how critiques of American influence have
been linked to critiques of mass culture. Some of the more important points:
- American pop culture seen as example of “all that is wrong with mass culture.”
- Thus, Americanisation is a threat too.
- America is the home of “dumbing down”, of the revolt against “taste.” (Major critics, Arnold and FR Leavis) – also Hoggart and
Orwell).
- For Orwell: Americanisation threatened what he saw as “Englishness”.
- For Hoggart: it threatened the working-class community, bec he saw Americanisation as a “manipulative and exploitative influence”
drawing the working-class away from their communities and being “dissolved into cultural oblivion…”
Americanisation and the critique of mass culture theory
This section begins to provide some counter-arguments as to why Americanisation was not so bad as these critics thought. Strinati’s main points:
- America was about more than mass culture: also about democracy, modernity, rationality and science (Huxley). This was alternative
to the pessimistic view.
- Worpole sees American literature not as manipulative but as “realistic” to the working-class; same with films.
- Hebdige suggests Americanisation “did not result in th greater cultural uniformity and homogeneity which the mass culture critics
had predicted.” Instead American culture offerted a “rich iconography” which offered the young working-class images ans styles as
“forms of resustance…and as a spirted defence against their own subordination.”
- Thus American culture was not manipulative or homogeneous, but in fact diverse and heterogeneous.
A critique of mass culture theory
The final section expands upon the defence of American culture and Americanisation to critique mass society theory and mass culture theory.
Here are the salient points:
- Mass culture theory is elitist: it criticises mass culture from the perspective of “high” culture or theory, thereby implying that culture
can only be understood from this perspective. This is not a fair perspective to take. “On what basis can it be argued that some
groups’ perception of popular culture is better or more valid than that of other groups?” The phenomenon needs to be considered
from alternate vantage points.
- Also, elitism tends to ignore the range and diversity of popular culture and the tensions/contradictions within it. Ie, mass culture is
NOT homogeneous. “It is perfectly possibly to appreciate some forms of popular or mass culture without accepting it all.”
- Another main point of mass culture theory is that mass culture is “bad” or of lesser value than high culture – but how do you define
“good” and “bad” in this context? Is this not a subjective judgement? Is it not largely context-dependent? (eg, 60’s rock music
originally seen as trash, now accorded status as “classic”, etc). This argument is just another vestige of elitism.
- “mass culture theory lacks an adequate understanding of social and cultural change.” The critics of mass culture see it as a threat to
the established cultural hierarchy (with elitist high culture at the top) – once again this is not a valid base for criticism. Critical
standards depend on the critic AND change over time.
- Mass culture critics see the audience largely as “feminine” – characterised by “consumption, passivity and sentiment or emotion” –
this is sexist and incorrect. Can something not be commercially popular and “good”?
- Secondly, is there any such thing as a mass audience anyway? Do people consume culture in the way suggested by its critics?
Answer to both is probably a no.
Hence Strinati concludes mass culture theory is largely flawed. This is the main point of the first chapter.
Exam Questions
What, if anything, does Gojira the Monster represent?
OUTLINE ONE:
Thesis: Gojira represents not just the atomic bomb, but all the destruction that follows with mankind's obsession with warfare
 Gojira's destruction evokes Hiroshima/firebombing
o Images of kids being tested with Geiger counter
o Images of cities evoke destruction of WWII
 Gojira created by tests of a nuclear weapon, an increasingly important weapon in warfare
o Lucky Dragon boat incident (where fishing boat caught in American H-bomb test occurs just at the time of the conception of the
idea of Gojira (Tsutsui reading)
o This incident is almost exactly shown in the beginning of the movie
 The only weapon that can destroy Gojira is the O2 Destroyer, but that is also a weapon of mass destruction
o In the scene showing the O2 Destroyer's first use, is so horrific that Emiko is shocked, suggests that there may be terrible
consequences to Dr. Serizawa's use of the O2 Destroyer, ie. further destruction
o So Gojira not only brings out the danger of nuclear warfare (ie radiation) but other types of scientific warfare as well
 The director of Gojira (Honda Ishiro) was involved in WWII, so saw the effects of warfare first hand
o "was deeply committed to international cooperation and the cause of world peace" (Tsutsui reading)
 The ending of the movie suggests that there may be more of Gojira with continued nuclear test
o Ie. the spirit of destruction that motivates men to create nuclear weapons has not been defeated
Conclusion:
Gojira is associated with the destruction caused by the nuclear bomb because that was what was the greatest danger in the world at the time, but
really he represents mankind's need for destruction, not just with the use of the nuclear bomb but other deadly weapons.
OUTLINE TWO:
I.
Introduction
a. Thesis: In the 1954 film Gojira, the monster represents the traumatic and devastating effect of World War II on the Japanese
people. It gives physical form to nuclear power and echoes the suffering and anger of their society in the wake of the Bomb.
II.
Man-made destruction and nuclear power - This is evident in both his origin and his physical characteristics.
a. Gojira is a monster that, after living deep in the ocean since the Jurassic period, has been disrupted by nuclear testing.
b. The same nuclear testing that has caused him to emerge from his normal habitat has also been absorbed by his body, making
him a physical representation of the Bomb.
III.
Echoes the suffering of innocents from the Bomb
a. Instead of focusing on the actual acts of destruction as does the Americanized film, the film Gojira treats the suffering of
innocents and casualties with great seriousness and emotion, reflecting the still vivid images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
i. Various women and children in the hospital with radiation poisoning.
ii. Mother on the street explaining to her children that they will be with their father soon.
b. These are intentional allusions to the human suffering and casualties that followed the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
IV.
Anger – Gojira also represents the emotional response, specifically anger, of the Japanese people after the war.
a. Anger at the Japanese government: for involving them in the war in the first place and subjecting them to the suffering that
followed.
b. Anger at the American occupation: because the Americans were forcing nuclear power and testing on a society that had
denounced it. The monster Gojira represents the American nuclear testing and unethical use of nuclear power.
Conclusion – The film Gojira came at a vulnerable time in Japanese history, following the devastation and suffering from their defeat in World
War II. As a result, Gojira the monster has come to represent the destructive nature of nuclear power and the suffering and anger it caused in the
Japanese people.
Why do giant monsters keep attacking Japan?
OUTLINE ONE:
- Basically summarized from class notes from 9/26 and 9/28
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-
-
Professor Kern introduced the idea of “giant monsters attacking Japan in terms of Dave Berry’s critique of the Japanese people
o When Dave Barry “does Japan” he says that his initial impression of the Japanese was unfavorable. From watching horror movies
he found that Japan was always under attack from large monsters.
The icon for Japanese being under attack is Gojira, so what does he allegorize?
o Psychological approach – depends on understanding of melancholy
 Freud describes it as internalized anger at others
o Sociologists say that there are two kinds of societies
 Those, like ours, that take their aggression out on others (high homicide rate, low suicide rate)
 And those, like the Japanese, that internalize their anger (high suicide rate – 30,000 people a year, low suicide rate)
He could allegorize:
o Japanese melancholy
o Japanese soldiers who died in the war
o Saigo Takamori, great Japanese warrior said to represent angst of Japanese people
o Japanese reaction against cold war
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Japanese reaction to America
Dharma winding down, end of the world stuff
Multipurpose symbol for destruction incarnate
Cry from the heart against pollution and nuclear energy
All the horrors of the war and the general post war malaise
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Or maybe it was just a creature feature!
-
Prof Kern says Godzilla is poly-valent, he means many things, but if you try to argue that he is any ONE thing, it must be truly grounded in
the text
- Kern also introduces idea of “Secure horror”
“Secure horror” – Susan Sontag – people like seeing shit get wrecked, especially cities because they represent where our culture has gone wrong.
And although there’s a certain amount of horror, but in the end the majority of people are safe. So Godzilla is dead and the genius doctor is dead,
but the rest of Japan marches on.
OUTLINE TWO:
I.
Introduction
a. It is tempting to say that giant monsters keep attacking Japan merely because it fulfills audience expectations for a certain genre,
but as Gojira clearly shows, horror films give important insight into a society’s emotions, fears and hopes.
II.
“Secure Horror” – It might be that it is not specific to Japan.
a. Giant monsters specifically keep attacking Tokyo and other Japanese cities because society has a built-in aggression towards the
city in general. It is thrilling to see giant monsters wreck cities. However, it would be terrifying if it were real. The horror is
“secure” because although the city has been destroyed and some people have died, civilization and mankind prevail.
b. Secure horror films are present across cultures.
III.
Melancholy - However there are cultural differences in how individuals express rage, and the trend of giant monster attacks may have
something to do with unique aspects of Japanese society.
a. Melancholy = anger at someone or something that is turned inwards because you cannot express it at the object of your rage.
This should resonate with what we already know about the Japanese.
b. Giant monsters provide an acceptable target for this anger.
c. For example, after WWII, the Japanese people were angry over the outcome of the war, as well as angry that the government
led them into WWII in the first place.
i. Since they cannot express this anger at the occupying Americans, the Japanese government or Japanese citizens, who
did not fight until the death, Gojira allows them an outlet for these emotions.
IV.
Reflects societal fears and hopes
a. Horror films allow a culture to express, face and overcome their fears.
b. Gojira displayed the social fears of vulnerability, the growing nuclear threat and environmental destruction. However, the
Japanese are allowed to rewrite the end of World War II, painting themselves as the victors in the end.
V.
Conclusion
a. As shown through the relationship between the film Gojira and World War II, horror films provide insight into the emotional
and psychological state of a society, allowing them to express their anger and confront their fears. For this reason, Japan has
been especially susceptible to giant monster attacks.
How does Kuheiji know to ask Tokubei for the exact amount of money that Tokubei needs to return to his uncle?
OUTLINE ONE:
Kuheiji knows to ask Tokubei for the exact amount of money because the author means to use this event as a plot device that contributes to
essence of the drama unfolding in the play.
1) According to usual conventions, kabuki and puppet theater involves a member of a lower social class, such as low-ranking samurais and
merchants, in a dilemma. He must choose between duty and personal feelings. Conflicts arising from this situation often leads to a “demonstration
of one’s sincerity” in the form of suicide
- in Sonezaki, Tokubei is the merchant protagonist who is faced with the choice between love for Ohatsu and arranged marriage to his uncle’s
niece/paying the dowry back.
- to deepen this central conflict, the money must be embezzled from Tokubei. Thus, Kuheiji serves as the necessary villain by taking away
Tokubei’s money, propelling the story forward.
2) Chikamatsu speaks against realistic representation in the arts and against realism on stage. Thus, the fact that Kuheiji asks for the exact amount
is a point of little interest/importance. It may be a little unrealistic in its exactness and timing, but it heightens the conflict so the unrealism is
overlooked.
In essence, the author wrote the play so Kuheiji knows to ask Tokubei for the exact amount of money because he knew it would deepen the
tension between Tokubei’s duty and personal feelings and because to him, realism is not a priority.
Discuss the lack of naturalistic or realistic aesthetics in the puppet theater and its relationship to other Japanese aesthetics.
OUTLINE ONE:
Thesis: The lack of realism in the puppet theater reflects a feeling shared in other Japanese aesthetics. Rather than overwhelming an audience
with a perfectly natural or flawless piece of art, the Japanese aesthetic emphasizes appreciation through imagination and individual interpretation.
Points and Evidence







In puppet theater, certain essential characteristics of a character are used as his general representation. Thus ‘an old man is created not
by directly imitating all the details of his decrepitude, but by selecting the essential characteristics of age and presenting them in a
stylized and aesthetically pleasing manner’ (Brazell, sourcebook 43). This attention to specific detail results in certain traits being
exaggerated, and others ignored – lending itself to an unrealistic interpretation of the character.
Likewise, in traditional Japanese arts, the emphasis is on using simple strokes to gesture towards something in a higher realm (Kern,
10/5).
Both the puppet theater and other art forms use small pieces to represent something greater. This style allows one to extrapolate about
the larger purpose, effectively allowing a lack of realism to give way to an interpretation of reality.
Chikamatsu said, “art is something that lies in the thin margin between truth and falsehood” (in Ueda, sourcebook 68). He also thought
that without a certain amount of detachment between reality and the work of art, [Story of woman lover and DOLL] there is no pleasure,
and thus, no work of art. Building on this, art it essentially defined by people’s enjoyment of it. If art completely duplicated reality,
there couldn’t possibly be as much enjoyment.
Puppet theater is essentially defined by its lack of realism. The audience has to take a huge leap of faith in believing that puppets are
actually human beings. But it is this lack of naturalistic aesthetics, which serves to entertain (Ueda, sourcebook 69).
Similarly, the Japanese tend to reject perfection – they like pottery that doesn’t actually look like someone set out to create something
flawless (Kern, 10/5).
Both aesthetics lend themselves to using one’s imagination.[BROCADE in sunlight, in darkness] An audience wants perfection, but
they don’t want it thrown in their faces. The Japanese aesthetic is about an understated form of perfection. Likewise, the puppet theater
provides only a tiny dose of reality, forcing the audience to extrapolate about the rest.
Conclusion: The puppet theater is an example of the Japanese aesthetic in action. By rejecting realism, the puppet theater emphasizes perfection,
attention to small details, and the need for the audience to imagine and interpret, three features of the broader Japanese aesthetic.
SUMMARY TWO:
I.
Thesis: Japanese puppet plays were purposely made to seem unrealistic because the way to represent reality was to not try to represent
reality.
II.
Evidence:
- Chikamatsu, greatest Japanese playwright, was against realism and naturalistic tendencies in puppet plays
- The purpose of theater was not to represent reality as it is, but to get at the essence of characters.
- Chikamatsu defined art as something that lies in the thin margin between truth and falsehood – there must be a distance between life
and art.
- Puppet plays described facts as they are, but they also contained things that exist only in the sphere of art.
- People are not entertained by exact copies of reality.
III.
Conclusion: Because of Chikamatsu’s theories of representing reality in art and for the purposes of entertainment, Japanese puppet
theater was intentionally not realistic.
Compare/contrast poetry of Tawara Machi with those of the classical poets.
SUMMARY ONE:
Thesis: Although Basho and Machi both revived poetry and gave it to the masses, their styles – tone, imagery, and range of emotion –
categorically divide the work of these two poets.
Points and Evidence:
 Basho went around the country gathering disciples, offering people a type of poetry that was a departure from the conventional and
restrictive Tanka -- haiku. He took poetry out of the court aristocracy and gave it to the people (Kern 10/19). In addition, he started
using new words – incorporating the vernacular that was never seen in Tanka (Kern 10/19).
 Similarly, Machi injected new words and new life into the old Tanka (Kern 10/19). She sold millions of copies of ‘Salad
Anniversary’ – a collection of poems about mundane things like peas and toothpaste.
 Both poets revitalized poetry, and made it accessible to commoners. By using the vernacular, and departing from the old, tired
subjects, both poets provided a surge of life into a dying field.
Stylistically, though, we see a big difference.
1. TONE
 Basho’s writing is all very somber and serious – it’s about withered branches, old ponds, etc…
 Machi’s writing is light-hearted, even facetious and humorous. She mentions the song “Hotel California,” and ketchup. She
even makes use of quotations within her poems, as if she is talking to readers, relaying anecdotes from her life. Her style is
conversational with an irreverent quality.
2. IMAGERY
 Basho sticks to nature – grass, trees, frogs – conveying emotion through the scenery.
 For Machi, any subject could make its way into a poem. She uses mundane, trivial topics, conveying her points through actions
and not just through natural imagery.
3. RANGE OF EMOTION
 Basho’s are incredibly emotionally involved – they are serious, contemplative, and sometimes sad. But this is the full range –
so in this aspect, his work is somewhat one-dimensional.

Machi’ poems range from light-hearted and humorous, to sorrowful and mournful. She covers a gamut of subjects, and thus, a
gamut of emotions.
Conclusion: Machi and Basho offer a much needed escape from the poetry of their times. By using the vernacular, and refusing to follow the
restrictive conventions usually associated with poetry, the succeeded in revolutionizing poetry in unique ways. However, in spite of their
similarly radical departures, the two poets differ in their stylistic approaches, which suggests that Basho remained somewhat shackled by the
poetic rules of his time.
SUMMARY TWO:
 Thesis: her poetry explores a wider range of topics, combines old and new language, but in the end has the same effect of creating a complex
world within a simple/constrained form.
 Evidence
Wider range of topics:
 Classical tanka = very small lexicon that people could use in these poems, such as had to refer to very natural imagery
(warbler, cherry blossoms, the seasons, the moon) (Lecture).
 One of the favorite themes of classical tanka is the lover longing/awaiting the arrival of their loved one. Also, many
references to burning desire, hidden love, affairs, and unrequited love.
o Ex 1: Tanka by Izumi Shikibu
Don’t blush!
People will guess
That we slept beneath the folds
Of this purple-root rubbed cloth
o Ex 2: Tanka by Ono no Komachi
Since this body
Was forgotten
By the one who promised to come,
My only thought is wondering
Whether it even exists
 Tawara Machi = uses tanka to express very modern topics but same time to explore very “formal experiments in color and
imagery” (Cranston 3). Still follows traditional 5-7-5-7-7 form
 Talks about female sexuality and liberation in a way that is different from the tanka. She is no longer the woman dying
over her lover, but is one that is demanding satisfaction. Very keen awareness of her own body.
o Ex 1:
All in one motion
I peel off my T-shirt
A process
Followed very carefully
By my mother’s gaze.
o Ex 2
From opening up
These oyster shells for me
Your fingertips
Have started to seep blood:
The color turns me on
 so although the form is the same constrained one, her subject isn’t (talks about modern technology and simple things in life
like opening a can of peas), it is free to be about anything
Combines old and new language
 Classical tanka = “The Japanese literary language was formulated by the 10 th C and remained crystallized in its purest form
in classical poetry until modern times.” (Cranston 6)
 Used very traditional language that was once reserved for the elite
 Tawara Machi blends and juxtaposes modern (Western or foreign words), colloquial, and traditional words. (can discuss
what effect this has in the interpretation of her poetry, what message does this send out).
o Ex 1
At twelve
Sweet numeral
Midnight
I’m alive
To hear your voice
 here, the word she uses for sweet is very classical (yasashiki), but the word for I’m alive/am living is very colloquial
 she also tends to write about a very modern topic, but with very classical words (or vice versa)
Same effect of complexity within simplicity
 In classical tanka, there is a great deal occurring between and outside the lines. The words are meant to sketch the main
idea and invite the reader to complete/add to the story. Is able to do this b/c the poems are so short/compact. Therefore,
can’t be verbose, has to leave a lot to the imagination

Tawara Machi achieves the same thing. Very simple poems call the reader in to fill the gaps.
o Ex:
Blue of sky
Blueness of sea
Surfboard
Riding between: you
Only in my gaze
 we are not given specifics, but rather told to fill in the blanks. Starts the story of romance (are they already together, if not,
will there be a relationship happening from her interest in him) and we are left to complete it.
 Conclusion: an ancient form can be used to explore very modern topics
Discuss satirical role of senryu in Japanese public life.
SUMMARY ONE:
 Thesis: b/c of its anonymity and comic pretext allows Japanese people to more openly criticize the government, society, and other aspects of
life that they would normally not have a chance to do. It is a form of release.
 Evidence:


after Aum sarin gas attacks, large out pouring of senryu written by the public was sent in to newspapers
the topics can range from silly to extreme sarcasm and satire. b/c of this quality (i.e. sarcasm can be misinterpreted as
meaning the opposite of what it is trying to say), senryu gives its author even more freedom to write about anything he/she
wants
 through this comic relief of senryu, the Japanese are able to come to terms with tragedy (Lecture). Is a way of at least
acknowledging that it happened (sarin gas attacks) dealing with the repercussions
o Ex: Quarreling about which one of us will go rent the car
o At first this senryu may seem as though it is not related to the sarin attacks at all. Can be very evasive, allowing
the author to be very caustic, but at the same time he/she is protected. Is being critical of the fact that now they
can’t even ride the subways, b/c of the attacks, and feel safe. Is criticizing the society that allowed this to occur.
 not a part of the Japanese society to openly criticize society, senryu gives them that vehicle to do so. There are very few
restrictions in the composition of a senruy (unlike the classical tanka, for example), so is something that anyone can
practice.
 Tend to reference personal experiences, is the authors’ actual response to the attacks (how it has affected them, what they
think), rather than general guidelines for/events in life (this could be seen as topics more in haikus or tanka)
o Ex: The only self-defense strategy I have is to check out the people in the seats around me
o The author could have said that a as a self- defense strategy, you should look at those around you. Instead, she
writes it in first person format, adding to the idea of senryu functioning as a release for its author.
 Conclusion: this almost 200 year old poetry form, b/c of its anonymity and comic flavor, allows current Japanese society to confront very
modern issues today
Who killed the samurai in Rashomon, and how do you know?
OUTLINE ONE:
Thesis:
Every character is responsible for the death of the samurai
o The theory of radical subjectivity which says that truth is dependent on your "subject position" suggests that for each of the characters,
their belief that they are responsible for the samurai's death is actually the truth that they believe (lecture 10/26)
o Also according to Buddhist philosophy, the "dust of egotism" gets into one's eyes, so all characters have egotism to believe that
they are responsible
o The interest in power as a part of the events leading to the samurai's death, each character is responsible for some part of the escalation of
the violence
o Tajomaru wants to "have" the woman, causes him to accost the couple
o Wife (according to some accounts) though powerless in rape, has power to cause the fight
o Samurai wants more/better weapons, causes him to fall into Tajomaru's trap
o Woodcutter wants dagger (weapon as symbol of power) so pulls out dagger may have killed samurai
o Background story "Rashomon" shows all humans to be culpable in some way in order to survive, this idea may have persisted in
Rashomon movie
o Must choose to starve or thievery, all in "Rashomon" short story (hag, dead woman and servant) choose guilt and survival
Conclusion:
All the characters share guilt for the samurai's death for forwarding the violence that ultimately killed the samurai, which is reflected in the
subjectivity of the truth of their narratives.
OUTLINE TWO:
Below is a summary of each role in Roshomon, the account which is shameless stolen and copied from wikipedia. I have put relative “facts” and
what each narrator stands to gain in each. Finally, included below is the summary of what I believe could have happened.
Role
Account
Fact
Woodcutter
The unnamed Woodcutter (木樵り Kikori)
claims he found the body of the victim (the
Samurai) three days ago while looking for wood
in the forest.
-Woodcutter was the
first non-triangle
(bandit, samurai,
woman) to find the
body
Priest
The traveling Buddhist priest (旅法師 Tabi
Hōshi) claims that he saw the Samurai and the
Woman the same day the murder happened.
(Since his report does not tell anything about the
murder, and does not contradict the other
reports, he is presumably telling the truth.)
Tajōmaru (多襄丸), a notorious brigand (盗人
nusubito), claims that he tricked the Samurai and
his wife to step off the mountain trail with him
and look at some swords he was selling. When
he had them far off the trail, he separated them,
and tied the Samurai to a tree. He planned to
rape the woman, but she willingly gave in to him
instead. The woman, filled with shame, then
begged him to duel to the death with her
husband, to save her from the guilt and shame of
knowing two men. He honorably set the Samurai
free so they could duel. In Tajōmaru's
recollection they fight skillfully and fiercely, but
in the end Tajōmaru is the victor and the woman
runs away. At the end of the story he is asked
about an expensive dagger owned by the
samurai's wife: he says that, in the confusion, he
forgot all about it, and that it was foolish of him
to leave behind such a valuable object.
The Samurai's wife, Masago (真砂), claims that
after she was raped by Tajōmaru, who left her to
weep, she begged her husband to forgive her;
but he simply looked at her coldly. She then
freed him and begged him to kill her so that she
would be at peace. He continued to stare at her
coldly, and then she fainted with dagger in hand.
She awakens to find her husband dead with the
dagger in his chest, supposedly an accident that
happened when she fell over. She recalls
attempting to drown herself some time later by a
nearby lake.
-Verifies that samurai
and his wife were
together the first day.
Not much.
-Tajomaru had sex with
the woman, whether she
gave her consent or not.
-Tajomaru most likely
led the Samurai and his
wife astray through
some trickery
-Woman runs away at
the end
-In this account, the
samurai dies of a sword
wound.
-Bandit makes
himself look
honorable
through the
details of
consensual sex
and giving the
samurai a
chance to fight
for himself
-He also claims
he is the better
swordsman and
wins at the end
-In this account, the
samurai dies with a
dagger by the woman’s
hand.
-Also confirms the fact
that she ran away.
Through a medium (巫女 miko), the deceased
Samurai, Kanazawa-no-Takehiro (金沢の武弘),
claims that after he was captured by Tajōmaru,
and after the bandit raped his wife, Tajōmaru
asked her to travel with him. She accepted and
asked Tajōmaru to kill her husband so that she
wouldn't feel the guilt of knowing two men.
Tajōmaru, shocked by this request, grabbed her,
and gave the Samurai a choice of letting the
woman go or killing her ("At this", the dead
samurai recounted, "I almost forgave the
bandit."). The woman fled, and Tajōmaru, after
attempting to recapture her, gave up and set the
Samurai free. The Samurai then killed himself
-In this account,
samurai dies with his
own hand by his own
dagger.
-She makes
herself an object
of pity as both
men have done
wrong by her
-She makes
herself seem
honorable by
trying to kill
herself?
-No mention is
given to the
bandit’s role
when she faints?
(is it plausible
that he just
leaves?)
-What does a
medium stand to
gain? How
reliable is a
medium?
-Samurai makes
himself and the
bandit seem
honorable
enough
-Samurai kills
himself which is
an act of
redeeming
himself for the
Bandit
Samurai's Wife
Samurai
What does the
narrator stand to
gain?
-What does he
not mention?
with his own dagger. The ghost then mentions
that somebody removed the dagger from his
chest; upon hearing this (or more precisely, in
the frame sequence after this part of the trial
flashback is recounted), the woodcutter is
startled, and claims that the dead man must be
lying, because he was killed by a sword.
Woodcutter
(again)
The woodcutter then confesses that his earlier
view was a lie and that he did in fact witness the
murder. He says that Tajōmaru raped the
Samurai's wife, and then begged the weeping
woman to marry him. She instead freed her
husband, then continued weeping. Tajōmaru
began advancing upon her husband, with her
encouragement. Upon realizing he was about to
be attacked, the Samurai said that he was
unwilling to die for a woman such as her, and
that he would mourn the loss of his horse more
than the loss of his wife. At this, the woman was
provoked into a rage, demanding that the two
men duel in order to win her (that "a woman's
love is won by swords"), and expressing her
exhaustion at the role she was asked to play. At
her speech, Tajōmaru and the Samurai began to
fight, but in the Woodcutter's recollection the
struggle only showed how clumsy and
frightened they were, each man leaving much to
be desired by way of both courage and combat
skill. After an extended sequence of fighting,
The Samurai was disarmed with his sword being
flung into the bushes. The Samurai quickly
scrambled for his sword but accidentally
impaled himself. After the Samurai died,
Tajōmaru advanced on the woman, attempting
to grab her. The woman fled as he chased her,
and the recollection closed.
shame of...what?
-In this account, the
samurai dies
(accidentally) by his
own hand via a sword.
-The woodcutter
has potentially
stolen the
dagger, and
hence, has a
stake in wanting
to make it seem
as though the
sword killed the
samurai.
At the temple, the woodcutter, priest, and
commoner are interrupted from their discussion
of the woodcutter's account by the sound of a
crying baby. They find the baby abandoned, and
the commoner takes the clothes protecting the
baby as it lay in a basket. The woodcutter
reproaches the commoner for stealing from the
abandoned baby, but the commoner retorts that
he knows the truth: that the woodcutter, too, is a
thief, having stolen the dagger used in the
murder of the samurai. The commoner claims
that all men are selfish, and all men are looking
out for themselves in the end.
The truth in Rashomon is difficult, if not impossible to gain. Each character portrays themselves in the best light possible. It is difficult enough
to ascertain the murder weapon itself. The murder weapon was either the sword or the dagger, and depending on which, we can trace it back to
who. Either way, we have to start with some sort of assumption. The movie takes on the assumption that the woodcutter has stolen the dagger.
Hence, if we assume the woodcutter lied about the sword killing the samurai in order to obtain the valuable dagger, we can gain one version of
what “truly” happened. Again, assuming the woodcutter has only lied about the role of the dagger, and nothing else (as he stands to gain nothing
from stating the woman’s rape), then we can assume the samurai dies due to a dagger. We can also assume that a duel did not really occur, as one
wouldn’t use a dagger, presumably in a duel, (hence, negating the role of a sword that the woodcutter claims in order to make it seem as though
the sword is what ended the samurai’s life). This negates the bandit’s story of a duel, which as one knows, the bandit’s account is also
exaggerated to make himself seem noble. The bandit is also portrayed as manically crazy in the film, giving us further doubt as to the verity of
his story. Hence, that leaves us with the account of the woman and the samurai. Given that the woman fainted during the scene where she
supposedly kills him with a dagger, we can assume that the samurai’s ghost (assuming the medium has nothing to gain) is lying about killing
himself in order to make it seem better that he was not killed by a woman, or by accident. Either account is plausible here without making further
assumptions. Although the woodcutter’s account denies the woman killing the samurai, the woman herself doesn’t stand to gain from her own
account of killing her husband. However, she fainted during the scene, which may leave the reader to believe that the samurai has accidentally or
purposefully impaled himself on the dagger, the former of which supports the woodcutter’s last part of his account. I think it’s up to the reader to
determine further from here.
Lectures
WEEK ONE
Thursday, September 21, 2006
The course is about Japanese Popular Culture; what does that mean?
Japan is entirely different from a Japanese woman, a Chinese immigrant, a 3 rd-generation Korean immigrant, or even a Harvard student.
This goes back to a Bhuddist parable (the blind men and the elephant; different vantage points, etc.).
As Westerners, we want to see ourselves reflected in Japan; we’ll see a lot of places where Western commentators project themselves
onto Japan culture. In this course, we’ll see what we consider “popular” Japan.
Well then, how can we study something that’s so difficult to pin down?
Close readings – understanding who we are as receivers of popular culture, being aware of our own feelings, and then placing them
partially aside to see the readings as objectively as possible, and only then perhaps using our own biases to further our own arguments.
He wants everyone to have their own particular readings of this stuff, and then argue for their own feelings. There’s not a right and
wrong.
This course will teach you about Japan, (pop culture is 10% of their GNP; $600,000,000,000/year). Why shouldn’t we study things if they’re fun?
Why should we study things that aren’t fun? We should have fun! We can also explore these things from personal perspectives.
Prof: Spent time in Japan; 1st book is coming out this fall; Manga from the floating world; most interesting experience in Japan – student radicals
set fire to his roof.
WEEK TWO
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
I.
Fact that Dr. Sakizawa commits suicide at the end asserts Japanese cultural supremacy over U.S. culture?
a. No political resolution about Godzilla and the political stance of the moviemakers.
b. Moral issue of Science vs. Military?
i. We’ll be talking about it a lot more
ii. Akira has this same conflict (humanity vs. military)
iii. There are a lot of places where this conflict can be seen (King Kong, etc)
I.
Plan for this week:
a. Three Questions
i. Why start with Godzilla?
ii. What does Godzilla symbolize, if anything?
1. Whatever you want it to symbolize, as long as you’re arguing based upon a good reading of the movie
2. A lot of people argue that Godzilla represents the atomic (they mean hydrogen) bomb
3. Likely response paper (or exam) question
iii. Why do giant monsters keep attacking Japan?
1. Horror movies provide a very good insight into a culture’s fears and fantasies.
b. Question 1: Why Godzilla?
i. Godzilla is the obvious cultural icon for Japan for many years. (starting in 1954)
ii. We all think that we know Godzilla, but when we see the original movie, it’s very different form what we expected.
1. For about 80% of people who see the movie, he represents nuclear destruction.
iii. We can start with this, and make an effort to articulate what and why we have our own individual, particular reactions.
1. moving beyond instantaneous reactions (I hated that movie) to get into the deeper issues.
c. Question 2: What does Godzilla represent?
i. The Situation: it’s 1954, your father in the navy has been MIA for 12 years, your relatives in Hiroshima were
incinerated by the Americans’ bomb, you’ve been hungry for about 9 years, you’re malnourished, don’t know how to
take care of your children. The Americans only left Japan 2 years ago, and forced the Emperor to go on the radio and
say, “I’m no longer a God.” There’s a new constitution, women now have a vote, and, for the first time in decades, a
movie came out that was able to openly and freely show images of something like what had happened at Hiroshima
and Nagisaki… perhaps even be critical of the Japanese government. Godzilla was that movie. It was an immediate
blockbuster in Japan (top 10) – no matter where you go, people see the Godzilla posters, and see this movie.
1. American culture thinks Godzilla is purely cheesy (enjoyed because it’s bad); but it’s actually impossible for
us to think like the Japanese were thinking… this giant lizard was actually representing the horrors of War!
ii. The U.S. began testing nuclear radiation in the Marshal Islands a few years after the war. The U.S. detonated 68
Nuclear Bombs in the following years in the Marshall Islands. These bombs had huge repercussions – aside from
actual deaths, etc., radioactive contamination was widespread; the Japanese gov’t had to take 500 tons of tuna off the
market. These reports won’t be found in public records in the U.S.
Thursday, September 27, 2006
I.
Comments from last time
a. Godzilla has a lot of funny, fun parts too.
b. It’s not all serious – the rest of the series can get really bizarre
II.
Points for this class:
a. Why do giant monsters keep attacking Japan?
b. How do our backgrounds, etc., contribute to how we view what Godzilla symbolizes? (cultural politics)
III.
Why do giant monsters keep attacking Japan?
a. Psychological approach
i. An understanding of melancholy – anger towards someone or something that’s turned inwards.
1. You can’t be angry at dog, cat, parents, etc., so you internalize
2. 2 kinds of societies:
a. American, get rid of anger by killing each other.
i. U.S.  high homicide, low suicide
b. Eastern, internalizing anger, etc.
i. Japan  high suicide rate, low homicide
ii. 30,000 suicides per year!!!!
3. Japan has a melancholy society
ii. Thus, these movies are an illustration of Japan’s melancholy
1. angry b/c Japan lost the war, and
a. was betrayed by its citizens who didn’t sacrifice themselves like the soldiers
i. Godzilla represents the souls of the Japanese warriors who died, and were betrayed because
the people “gave up”
ii. He sacks the city, but turns around and leaves when he reaches the imperial palace, b/c the
soldiers respect the emperor.
b. Or because the government took the country to war in the first place.
i. Godzilla takes the route of a famous warrior in Japan during the Meiji Restoration (Saigo
Takamori)
ii. Saigo Takamori embodied the will of the people
iii. Thus, Godzilla is embracing the anger of the people about having been misled by the
government and taken to war.
2. It’s a matter of politics – right, conservative views = a, left, conservative views = b
b. This has nothing to do with politics, but has everything to do with genre movies
i. movies that people go to expecting to see certain things.
ii. Godzilla participates in the “Creature Feature” genre
1. i.e., kaiju eiga, the three-headed dragon
2. Godzilla wasn’t the first movie about a giant animal attacking cities.
a. 1925 – the Lost World, dinosaurs (Arthur Conan Doyle)
b. 1933 – King Kong
c. 1950s – The Beast from Twenty Thousand Fathoms
i. This movie has the same romance, the same iconic destruction, heck – even the beast that’s
coming from the ocean!
ii. an INCREDIBLE amount of similarity between these two movies
iii. Released a couple years before Godzilla was developed
iv. Obvious that the Japanese had seen this movie, and were following it very, very closely.
3. At the same time, this last argument presents the Japanese as deceitful borrowers; which isn’t all true. The
Japanese, for instance, used a man in a rubberized suit, instead of stop-motion technology.
a. Suitmation! – 200lb. rubber suit.
b. This also shows up in future anime – people in giant suits, robots, etc., controlling them from the
inside.
IV.
What, if anything, does Gojira symbolize or allegorize?
a. Most people would say that it symbolizes Nagisaki or Hiroshima.
i. Most common theory, both among critics and general public
ii. There is some evidence that this is the case.
1. Geiger counter (sp?) – screening for radiation
2. The director, Honda Ishiro, said that Gojira represents the atomic bombing.
a. However, even though this is true, that’s not necessarily the way the movie is perceived by everyone.
b. Some other theories:
i. You could also say that the hospital represents any one of the cities which were leveled by U.S. firebombs
1. thus, generalize and say that it’s about all of the general cities which were affected.
ii. You could generalize even further, and say that it represents the post-war country in general!
iii. Some people say that the series speaks against pollution (Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster)
iv. It could also represent a hamstrung Japan, forced to ally with the U.S. during the Cold War when they’re right next to
Russia
v. Some people say that it’s actually an anti-American movie
c.
d.
e.
vi. Millenialism – in Buddhism, there’s an idea that the universal law (dharma) is winding down, and when it does,
everything will come to an end.
1. Thus, perhaps Gojira represents natural disasters which are portents to the end of the world.
However, if we accept/look into these theories, it gets very difficult to say that Gojira represents anything!
i. Perhaps it’s so popular because it represents pretty much anything people want it to!
All he asks is that we read the details carefully, and fully back up our own arguments!
Another idea – Secure Horror. The theory that people like seeing shit destroyed, and people focus this idea on cities, in which so
many things have gone wrong. The movies conclude with a resolution (threat is destroyed and civilization is saved) so that we
aren’t all totally destroyed. This is why it’s secure horror: civilization, in the end, marches on and is saved. The little players
don’t really count!
i. Maybe Godzilla helps us feel a bit more secure.
Week 3: Popular Theater and Puppets
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
I. Clarification from Last Week:
a. Last week, he said that he didn’t agree with the stereotype that the Japanese people are derivative;
b. Instead they are innovative – they take something that’s ours, and they innovate and improve upon things.
i. i.e., Godzilla came out during the nighttime
ii. Godzilla was suit-mation
II. This week, we’ll look at the Japanese puppetization of the theater. Today, we’ll contextualize. Thursday, we’ll do a close reading of the
play.
a. History of Japanese Theater in a nutshell.
i. Records of Ancient Matters (Kojiki, 712)
ii. Chronicles of Japan (Nihon shoki, 720)
1. Sun goddess Ameterasu
a. withdraws into a cave, so no one on earth can see.
2. Uzume – another Goddess
a. Performs a striptease, causes the male Gods to laugh
i. laughing, in the Japanese context, can be many things
1. sacred
2. removal of evil spirits
3. humor
4. joy
b. This causes the Sun goddess a lot of jealousy, and she decides to take a peek
c. Ameterasu’s sun rays cause Uzume to be white-faced
i. white-faced, in Japanese, = entertaining
III. Noh = first true dramatic art in Japanese history
a. Noh (“ability”) – A kind of masked, elegant, poetically rich drama, sponsored by the aristocracy with ties to Buddhism
i. Actors in Noh wear masks
b. Zeami (“Zay-AH-mee”) (1363-1443)
i. Important person in Noh
ii. a monk who had the notion of infusing the Noh plays with Buddhist ideals.
iii. Best way of acting  becoming!!
1. Instead of acting like someone, you LIVE like someone, and try to become that person.
2. Stanislowsky’s “Method Acting”
a. Modern Acting Idea
b. Springs from this same idea
iv. Mystern and depth or the sublime
1. Every character has an “essence”; sadness, happiness, humor, etc.
2. If the actor can understand this, and become this, then he can play a subdued version that will transfer through
the mask and get this essence to the audience.
3. People using their imaginations for something make it even stronger and more dazzling
a. i.e., brocade in the sunlight – too dazzling; brocade in the nighttime – leaves stuff to the imagination,
therefore more elegant.
IV. Kyogen = “madcap words”
a. A kind of comic relief theater
b. Originally, a kind of play shown during the intermission between acts of Noh, that recapped the Noh play in simple,
straightforward language.
c. Eventually became a bona fide theater in its own right, with a heavy emphasis on comic action.
i. Although it was an outcrop of the other theater, it was still very much performed for the aristocracy, etc.
V. Kabuki
a. Theater for the masses!!
b. Edo period (1600-1868)
i. Basho, the poet, lived during this period.
ii. The beginning of “pop culture” in Japan
c. Four Major Classes (in descending order):
Samurai – served nobility
Peasants – created food
Artisans – created arts, etc.
Merchants – making money off of others (social parasites)
Fifth class of “non humans”
1. Actors
2. Courtesans and Prostitutes
a. two different things:
i. prostitutes – furnish sex for money
ii. courtesans – provide other entertainments; impresses with beauty, grace, ability to sing and
dance
3. Untouchables (Burakumin, Eta)
Main Features of Kabuki
i. Theater for the masses in urban centers like Kyoto, Osaka, Edo (Tokyo)
1. Edo benefits in 18th century Japan
a. relative equality
b. economically sound
c. great nutrition
d. flourishing of the arts
e. good transportation and “nightsoil” (poop) removal systems – built transportation to remove this by
hand; thus, cleaner
f. All in all, a better city than London or Paris at the time.
ii. People wanted a Spectacle – Flashy, action-packed, dynamic.
1. They got it!
iii. Action focuses on commoners, especially merchants and the non-human classes.
1. The first time in Japanese literary and dramatic history that an art form concentrated on the ordinary people.
iv. Central Conflict is often between duty (giri) and personal feelings (ninjo) – and this leads to a “demonstration of one’s
sincerity” (shinju), the most extreme form of which is a double suicide,
v. Female Role Specialists (onnangata)
1. Men portraying women
2. Gay/Queer studies – a figure of sexual tension
3. Because you can tell that they’re not actually women, it creates a physical tension between the male body and
the female character
vi. A Kabuki Star is born…
1. This was the Japanese’s first instance of “star culture”
a. Until this time, the famous people were famous because they were political, or dead heroes, etc.
2. However, these actors were the first ones who were famous because of their talents, and while they were
alive.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
d.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
I.
Puppet Theater – The fourth and final form of Japanese Theater
a. What should we call it?
i. old puppet theater – mid 15th century—“puppets”
ii. New Puppet theater – Ningyo joruri – began with the collaboration of:
1. Playwright CHikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724)
2. Chanter Takemoto Gidayu (1651-1714)
3. Created a revolutionary new type of theater
a. It is impossible to understand puppet theater without understanding Kabuki
b. Their histories are entwined, and they are similar;
i. Kabuki is live-action puppet
ii. Puppet is puppetized Kabuki
iii. Although the great playwrights each began writing for both, they eventually ended up
specializing.
4. Differences in Kabuki and Puppet Theaters
a. Chief advantage of a puppet:
i. the puppets don’t ad-lib lines
ii. this action can change the nature of the play, etc.
b. More effects in Puppet Theater
i. heads flying around onstage,etc.
b. Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Film, 1981)
i. Head Puppeteer: National Living Treasure YOSHIDA TAMAO
1. No longer living; he just died last week
2. English equivalent of a knight (“Sir”)
ii. Director: KURISAKI MIDORI
iii. Cinematography: MIYAGAWA KAZUO
c. Writer: Chikamatsu
d.
e.
i. Incredibly Japanese playwright (“the Japanese Shakespeare?”)
1. Not too much of a comparison between Chikamatsu and Shakespeare
a. geniuses and backgrounds are unrelated
b. However, this shows us how Chikamatsu is revered in Japan as a literary figure.
ii. Primarily known for puppet plays
1. Also wrote many kabuki plays
iii. Samurai stock, born in the 1930s
iv. Career had 3 major phases
1. dabbled in both kabuki and puppet plays
2. began specializing only in kabuki
a. Sonezaki was written as kabuki, and crossed over to puppet
3. exclusively puppet plays
a. last 20 years of his life
b. legend that he was angry at the actors for changing his lines.
v. Chikamatsu on art: Page 188
1. Argues against realism, and against naturalistic representation of the arts
a. explains why Miss Piggy only has four fingers.
2. Also goes to a larger principle of Japanese aesthetics: Perfectionism
a. Chinese like this
b. Japanese have rejected this
i. Also the notion of brocade by night again.
c. Also, the sublime in Noh theater
i. doesn’t try to present reality in a 1:1 ratio
3. This is essential for the puppet theater, because of the manipulators onstage
a. In essence, “the way to be real is by not trying to be real”
Mechanized puppet serving tea
i. 18th century
ii. Walks across the floor, gives you your tea, turns around and comes back.
iii. Mechanism
1. Complex series of levers, etc.
iv. Blueprints date to the 18th century
v. Chikamatsu could have developed technologically advanced puppets for use on his stage
1. However, chose not to.
vi. Also, parts of puppets are interchangeable.
Contemporary Life Play – sewamono
i. There was a pretty common “template” for writing these plays.
ii. In both kabuki and puppet theaters
1. Love triangle – often involving a hero merchant, heroine courtesan, and dastardly villain
2. Merchant in a dilemma -- must choose between duty (giri) and personal feelings (ninjo)
3. Surprising revelation about identity
4. Courtesan forced to take the villain as her client
5. Malicious gossip
6. Merchant usually gets beaten up
7. Merchant and courtesan elope
8. Lover’s Suicide Poem (michiyuki)
9. Double Suicide so that the lovers can be reborn in Nirvana together
a. This is more of a mutually-assisted suicide, or a homicide-suicide.
10. Ironic/Self-Reflexive play
a. Self-mocking
Week 4: The First Manga – Kibyoshi
Lecture 1:
- Why all the old stuff?
o Edo Period (1600-1868)
o Does jap pop begin in edo period and continue uninterrupted to present day japan?
o Does it begin in the edo period and jump around?
o Did it begin in the edo period and now its just completely different?
- Prolepsis – speciously characterizing an historical epoch in terms of how it anticipates the qualities that distinguish a later age
- Centralization of the political state:
o Supreme military commander = shogun
o First time in Japanese history that the people of Japan thought of themselves as a unified country
o The tokagawa shogun got leaders of 200+ territories to come live in the capital to quell uprisings
o This led to the rise of the urban centers in Japan
 Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Kanazawa, Edo(later Tokyo), etc
 Cities allowed people from different areas to intermingle – BIG DEAL
o Standardization of language through linguistic leveling in Edo especially in the Mikawa dialect
o
o
-
Rise of Mass print culture as seen through Japanese literary history
Classical period – 9-12th century) – The Tale of Genji - 1000
 Tremendous literary work with no influence outside of the court
o Medieval period – The Tale of the Heike, ca 13th, performed by blind minstrels for warrior elites
 Reached more people because they performed outside of court
o Edo period – Playboy, Roasted a la Edo, 1785
 30,000 copies for commoners as well as samurai
 3% could own it, but roughly 10% probably read it
Kamigata area in Kyoto had been seat of imperial court for 1000 years, but was usurped by Edo, essentially a swamp town, in 1600
o It opened to the ocean, thus it could serve as a harbor
o Later renamed Tokyo
o Shift in location brought about cultural changes too
 Created unique national culture which is coalescing because the people there write about their own lives to
differentiate themselves from the people of Kamigata
 Led to new form of literature “Gesaku” – edo’s popular literature, which playfully dismisses itself as “frivolous works”
or “silly pulp fiction”
 Not always silly, sometimes satirical
 Fashionbook – talks about different fashions in city of Edo, haircuts, kimono styles, little like US Weekly
 Funnybook – “bath house to the floating world” – everyone has to get naked in a bathhouse, thus they’re socially equal
 Comicbook
 Comc haiku – poetry used to belong to aristocracy, but after Edo period anyone could write poetry, Basho helped to
open it up
 Got thousands of satirical verses from commoners
Lecture 2:
Kiboyoshi is a negative basis of comparison with modern manga
- kibiyoshi is most popular form of Japanese literature in edo, like playboy roasted a la edo
- one of the first genres in japan to delve into socio-political satire
- many authors of kibyoshi were exiled or killed during tokugawa reign because they didn’t like being criticized.
- Provides unfettered look into the mental state of the people during the era
- kibyoshi, allows us to find out about the trivial matters of the day
- Myth of the bedwetting geisha (didn’t quite catch it, sorry!)
- World’s first adult comic book
o A medium of entertaining sustained visual-verbal narrative, often with an emphasis on topical humor and/or social issues, massproduced and sold on the cheap to a broad segment of the general population and not just a narrow segment of the privileged
elite
- Redbook peach boy – simple Japanese literature for children
- Blackbook – children’s book with adult audience; feud of two factions – tobacco leaves vs pipes = storyline of popular blackbook
- Kabuki playbook – limited reach because they were circulated at kabuki theaters
- 1st kibyoshi – Master Flash gold’s Splendiferous Dream – parody of noh play
Relationship to kibyoshi to modern manga –
- kibyoshi is not direct progenitor to modern manga
- similarities
o comic books for adults
o mass produced
o wide-spread appeal
o both most popular form of Japanese literature in their day
o manga is fastest growing segment of American publishing industry
o commercial tie-ins – manga to anime and jap commercial products, like cell phone dangles and kibyoshi tied to netsuke (ivory
figurines) that people would attach to tobacco pouches or belts – hello kitty of today was tofu boy of kibyoshi period
o both are doubly recyclable – story lines are recycled by competitors and the paper is also recycled
o both black and white on recycled paper with LOUD covers
o appeared during crucial turning points of Japan, foreigners living in Nagasaki exposed to eyeglasses, telescopes, etc. they were
very interested in visual effects
o kibyoshi probably felt radically new, just like internet or manga
“manga culture theory”
- notion that there is a such a thing as a monolithic, trans-historical comic book culture that originated in the Edo period and has continued
unchanged to the present day
- manga in japan is often derided because it isn’t high brow – so to defend itself, critics, Japanese and American alike, say that it goes back
to Edo period. It may be garbage, but it’s traditional garbage
- ploy for respect
- hey-day of kibyoshi was 1806, whereas manga first appeared in 1920s, but if you define comic strips more generously it could be said
that mangas first appeared in 1880. Thus, atleast 75 years separate kibyoshi and manga
porn, ballons, and motion lines prove that modern manga and kibyoshi are not as related as people like to think
- proponents of manga theory have flattened out the Edo period just to justify their theory so they put down the history of Edo period
- the word manga itself shows how the edo period is beingdistorted
- Hokusai manga circa 1820s – has elements of satire, but not full on, hardcore, manga
- Thus, manga doesn’t date from the 1820s, but the author of playboy roasted a la edo uses it in 1798 in Seasonal Passerby with respect to
the picture books. Need to look at the Edo period with fresh eyes
o PORN – erotic manga
 There is no porn in kibyoshi,, so people who claim pornographic manga dates to edo period are mistaken
o Balloons!
 Manga gets its thought and speech balloons from the kibyoshi, but these are not speech or thought balloons but they
are balloons that are thought to be some kind of transportation to people of some other world. From pillowbook of the
author.
 The content and substance of balloons in modern manga look similar but have very different content
o Motion lines
 Motion lines in modern manga don’t actually resemble lines in kibyoshi, they do look like things from medieval period
and from western comic books
Week Five: Popular Verse
Lecture Notes 10/17/06
Types of popular poetry:
waka – Japanese poetry
chōka – 5-7 syllable phrases repeated at least twice, and concludes with 5-7-7 ending. Usually very long.
tanka – 5-7-5 / 7-7 much older than haiku
haiku – 5-7-5. usually about nature. Serious tone.
senryū – similar to haiku in structure. Darkly humorous, cynical.
Japanese poetry thought to be classical, traditional – however, at a point in history, poetry moved from the aristocratic court to the popular
masses.
Poetry in Japan is essential to Japanese drama and cultural life – forms majority of dramatic forms (noh, kabūki, kibyôshi). Found in everyday
life.
What does it mean to be reading translated Japanese poetry? gives a distorted view, differing in style, view, perspective, interpretation depending
on who translated them.
Bashō – now considered traditional and classical, but during his time it was something new and exciting and unconventional – lighthearted
poetry.
Tawara Machi - popular, contemporary, bestselling poet
“The zen philosopher Basho once wrote, a flute with no holes is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish.”
-Chevy Chase, Caddyshack
Japanese poetry (waka) – began as folk songs sung by common people
Chōka “long song” – in 8th c. ruling class took folk songs and gave form to them. Very set meter. 5-7-5-7-7……
Ends with a “coda” (hanka) 5-7-5-7-7
Then moved to “short verse” (tanka) – 5-7-5-7-7. The major form of poetry for a long time. Over its history, it gets boring and repetitive – limited
lexicon. Basho breaks this tradition. Tawara Machi wrote in tanka.
Major depository of tanka – “Collection of Japanese Verse Old & New” (Kokin wakashû) ca 920.
Opening lines – in the handout. All about what’s heartfelt by the author – author-centered approach through images based on nature – reflects
Japanese love of nature based on Shinto religion, which deifies elements of nature. Expresses feelings based on events in lives. Poetry serves as
vehicle to convey emotions. Each being has its own way of saying things – thus set conventions, narrow things down. Cherry blossom – the
quintessential waka symbolism for evanescence – beauty cut short. Poetry has an effect, functions for more than expressing author’s feelings – ex.
Poetry used as vehicles to carry out romance, used to appease the gods in religious rituals. Poetry – spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.
No way to see him
on this moonless night –
I lie awake longing, burning,
Breasts racing fire,
Heart in flames
- Ono no Komachi
The moon is traditional symbol for lover.
How invisibly
it changes color
in this world
the flower
of the human heart
- Ono no Komachi
Invisibility – abstract, then narrows down to the human heart
Most of the poets in 10th c. were women
No bone-Chilling
Autumn wind
Could pierce me
Like this spring storm
Scattering blossoms
- Izumi Shikibuki
Can’t believe the affair is over, lover is now cold
Cherry blossoms – very prevalent, important symbol in Japanese poetry. Represents transient beauty/life.
Is there no moon?
And is this springtime not the spring
Of times gone by?
Myself alone remaining
Still the self it was before…
- Narihira (male, one of Enjiro’s heroes in Playboy)
Passionate confusion caused by departure of lover.
From long gazing
On the cherry blossoms I have come
To know them well,
And this is why the parting
Of their scattering is sad
- Saigyô (1118-1190) a priest
Then haiku
17 syllable poem
Alternating lines of 5-7-5 syllables (arose from games that broke up the tanka)
Bashô is the most famous haiku poet
Modified a lot of rules of tanka, completely opens up the lexicon
old pond
frog jumps in
sound of water
-Bashô
The most famous work of Basho.
Disruption of eternal stillness – leads some people to believe he’s a zen philosopher – he is not.
Defies tradition by having frog make a sound by jumping into water rather than croaking.
Lecture Notes 10/19/06
Question: If a temple bell was cast in 1606, how old is it?
Haiku:
- Short Poem of 17 syllables (5-7-5)
- No room for excess verbosity.
- Tends to the imagination (“sketchy” – kind of like ink paintings)
- Sense of immediacy to the subject
What is Zen?
A Buddhist sect that holds that enlightenment can be attained through the practice of “seated meditation” (zazen)
Haiku poetry does not equal Zen, although they share a lot of elements (ex. Frog poem).
Zen riddle – Kôan
Past and future is illusion. Only right now is true reality. Reality is not language. Reality supercedes language.
Right and Left are relative.
In Zen meditation, a logical conundrum designed to shock one into realizing the gaping chasm between language and reality
- What is the sound of one hand clapping?
- If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to hear it, is there a sound? Zen says no, sound is a concept – someone has to be there to hear a
sound for it to exist.
- Temple bell question – metal is 400 years old, the emptiness is eternal
Zen tries to get people to see reality in a fresh way. Promotes the idea that things that seem unrelated are related in some way, they are not
separate/different things.
Bashō is very “zeny”
But not a zen priest – zen priests were a dime a dozen. He is a POET.
Masuo Bashō:
Born Matsuo Kinsaku. Made himself a pen name: Bashō = Plantain
Born in Ueno in Iga Province. Moved to Tokyo. Eventually moved to Edo.
Traveled and tried to open up poetry to anyone, took it out of the aristocracy. Compared to existing convention of the tanka, haikus were much
more free-form. Bashō used very vernacular words.
Anyone can write haikus.
Natsugusa ya
Tsuwamonodomo ga
Yume no ato
Yoshitsune (1159-1189) famous young general.
Basho visited side of his death then composed a poem about the lawn.
Du Fu – Famous 8th c. Chinese poet.
Basho recasts himself as Du Fu when writing this poem about the death site.
Going back to the past, classical style to bring it back to the people of the present.
Basho widely considered classical, not popular, poet.
Different Translations:
Summer grass
Warrior’s
Dreams’ ruins
A mound of summer grass
Are warriors’ heroic deeds
Only dreams that pass?
-rhyme sounds too forced
Summer grasses
Where stalwart soldiers
Once dreamed a dream
Ueda
-too much repetition uncharacteristic of haiku
Summer grass
Of warriors’ dreams
All that remains
Cranston
Senryû – Satiric, short poems
Nakazu – A pleasure quarter in 18th c very popular, was leveled
Nakazu Today
Of silly fool’s dremas
All that remains
Haikus for Jews
- silly kinds of English “comic haiku”
- Not really haikus
Salaryman Senryû
- major form of satire
- Appear in major newspapers
- Anything is game
Sarin Gas Attack by Aum Shinri – public reaction to it showed up in salaryman senryus
Tawara machi – popular poet, wrote Salad Anniversary, revitalized the tanka
Week 6: Rashōmon
10/24/06
 Question: How can we understand the transition from “traditional” Japanese culture (as of the Edo period) to 20 th century Japanese
cinema?
 To begin with, it is important to understand the history of Japan from the end of the Edo period to the 1950s.
 Normally, Japan is viewed as having undergone a transition characterized by great “modernization” during the Meiji
Restoration and subsequent militaristic period.
 But there is a danger in understanding the history that way: for as we have seen, pre-Meiji Edo was arguably, in
addition to being culturally sophisticated, one of the most advanced cities of its time.
o In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry convinced the Japanese to take a letter from the American president, which asked Japan to
open itself to trade with the west.
 (Perry was not the first westerner to have contact with Japan – the Dutch were there earlier.)
o Subsequently, the Shogun was ousted from power in Edo. A new military dictatorship, “not much better than the old one,” took
control of Japan.
o As part of a larger program of westernization, Japan modernized its military.
o The rest of the history presented by Prof. Kern detailed Japan’s military conflicts:
 Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) Japan vs China over Manchurian territory
 Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) Japan eliminates Russian fleet (!)
 Japan invades Manchuria (1930s)
 2nd Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
 Rape of Nanking (1937) conservative estimates place the death toll at 150k
 Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941)
 Hiroshima & Nagasaki (Aug 1945)
 U.S. Occupation (1945-1952)
o There was also a large push forward in the arts. Which leads to the next point:
 Different traditional Japanese art forms became “modernized” largely thanks to new technological capabilities in the creation of different
media forms. Japanese early cinema can be thought of as the application of modern western technology to tried-and-true media forms.
o The earliest known Japanese film was produced in 1899.
o “Swashbuckler” (chanbara) ethos derived from kabuki.
o The shamusen still supplied the music for these films, only now it was playing distinctively western melodies and rhythms.
o A live voice actor, called a benshi, supplied the narration and voices for all of the film’s characters. This also derived from
kabuki conventions.
o The use of female impersonators – onnagata – was yet another idea straight from kabuki.
 In general, the “old school” of Japanese cinema had its roots strongly in the kabuki tradition.
o Often, such cinema was preoccupied with historical pieces (jidageiki), such as Treasury of Loyal Retainers, 1910, one of the
earliest extant Japanese films.
 The “new school” of Japanese cinema was called shinpa.
o It broke away from the kabuki-inspired treatment of the subject. Indeed, it was a conscious reaction against kabuki form.
o It was more naturalistic acting, depending far less on unrealism as with kabuki.
o There were also sophisticated narrative techniques like flashback sequences.
o In general, there was a great range of content in terms of subject matter. Things branched beyond simple kabuki-appropriate
action-drama.
10/26/06
 The topic for today is Rashōmon. The question is … whodunit? Was it Tajomaru? The wife? The husband? The woodcutter? All of the
above? None of the above? Kurosawa? The Japanese people? The Americans? Both none and some of the above?
 One can’t really say, at least not in the most satisfactory sense. A sort of postmodern un-meaning falls out from this kind of examination
of the film. Perhaps there was such a thing as an objective reality to the case, but there is certainly an epistemic gap.
 This leads us to the “Rashōmon Effect”: the notion that truth is subjective, relative, depends on where you’re coming from, on your
“subject position.” Subjectivity affects perception, and so the Rashōmon Effect leads to different accounts of the same event as in the
film.
 The notion of truth as subjectivity leads us to modernism. Prof. Kern’s brief and cursory definition of modernism (we might call it
“modernism as useful to our understanding of this course”):
o Can be seen as beginning with Sigmund Freud, who introduced the notion that a fact about human psychology such as a dream can
have meanings beyond their surface meaning and other than their surface meaning.
o Continued with Albert Einstein, who introduced relative meaning to science in a useful way with his theories of relativity
o It also continued in Picasso, who incorporated the power of multiple perspectives into his art.
o Modernism has a common thematic origin with Buddhism: Buddhist tradition tells us that the dust of egotism gets in a person’s eyes
and causes the world to appear differently – perhaps in the way we would like it to appear.
 So, we can view Rashōmon as a film about relativism and radical subjectivity in a Buddhist context, presented in order to absorb western
notions of objectivity even as it employs a western filmic medium.
 Prof. Kern also recapitulated the differences between old and new school Japanese cinema, as outlined above.