JAPAN - PREMODERN MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY 4-6 September 2017 “Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University, Bucharest
BOOK OF ABSTRACTS September 4, day 1 KEYNOTE LECTURE Yoshikazu Suzuki, Kobe University
現代日本語には条件表現のための形式が数多くありますが、この講義では、その 中でも代表的な表現形式である「ば」「と」「たら」「なら」についてお話ししま す。特に日本語学習者が発話するときに、これらの形式のどれを選択するのが適切 であるかを判断するときの助けとなるように、使い分けの基準を示します。その 際、母語話者の使用実態を考慮に入れて、最も一般的でよく使う形式は何かという ことが分かるようにしたいと思います。 前半では、主に「ば」「と」「たら」を取り上げます。ここでは、hypothetical conditions、counterfactual conditions、temporal conditions、generic conditions、habitual conditions、過去の一回的な事実の場合にどの形式を使うべきか、main clauseの speech intentionの違いでどのように使い分けるべきかなどについて検討します。後半 では、特に使い方が難しく、日本語学習にとって習得が困難である「なら」形式を 取り上げます。ここでは、「名詞＋なら」の場合と「動詞＋なら」の場合の違いな どの形態上の問題、conditional clauseの内容とmain clauseの内容の時間的前後関係の 問題、聞き手が言ったことをconditional clauseの内容とする場合、「なら」が topicalizationに使われる場合などについて検討し、なるべく分かりやすい基準を示す よう努めたいと思います。
GUEST LECTURE Ningyô: The Unexpected World of Japanese Dolls Alan Scott Pate
What is a doll? For the majority of cultures around the world, dolls are largely restricted to the ludic world of the child. Playthings. Insignificant. In Japanese, the word for doll is ningyô, which translates directly as “human form.” And herein lies a vast world of difference. In Japan, ningyô have a legacy of 13,000 years of continuous development, extending from the dogû clay figures of the Jômon Period (14,000 to 300 BCE), to the haniwa funerary figures of the Kofun Period (250-537 CE), to the elaborate hina-ningyô of the Girl’s Day display that peaked during the middle of the Edo Period (1615-1868). Over the millennia, the Japanese have developed a “doll” form to meet nearly every social exigency, from protective talisman to diplomatic gift, from parlor trick to substitute child for the barren. So rich and diverse a culture has evolved around ningyô, that treating them casually as mere 1
“dolls” is to grossly underestimate their cultural and artistic puissance. While a complete survey of Japanese ningyô history and form is impossible in this context, a brief foray into three, perhaps unexpected, traditions can serve to illustrate the point. First, we will look at the basal connection of ningyô and health practices, looking at dolls as talismans as well as medical tools. A number of ningyô forms developed over the ages specifically to protect the child, the home, and the nation from malevolent forces, as well as particular forms that meld with traditional medical practices; each evolved with its own attendant set of beliefs and ritual practices. Secondly, we will delve into the world of ningyô as entertainment, where dolls serve as the primary actor; from the celebrated bunraku-ningyô puppet tradition to the lesser known karakuri mechanical dolls and including the shockingly beautiful iki-ningyô (living doll) traditions that delighted both Japanese and
Western audiences as they spread from beyond Japanese entertainment pavilions to private and museum collections around the world. And finally, carrying us into the modern era, we look at ningyô as a high art form. By briefly reviewing the ningyô geijitsu undo (art doll movement) of the early 1930’s we can see how Japanese doll artisans themselves struggled with establishing ningyô within a proper context following Japan’s wholesale adoption of Western cultural rubrics that strictly segregated art from craft. Through such a survey it is my hope that the historical, social and artistic facets of ningyô will draw further attention to this under-explored aspect of Japanese art and culture and inspire further study and admiration.
SESSION 1, ROOM A - Modern Literature
The kitsuneken game in Miyazawa Kenji’s The Bears of Mount Nametoko and the Concept of Environment Adrian BERCEA, Kansai University
Miyazawa Kenji’s story, The Bears of Mount Nametoko, tells the drama of the hunter Kojūrō, who has to kill bears to support his family. Living in the mountains in a time when lumbering was prohibited, he has no other way of living but to go periodically to the village and sell bear fur and liver to a sly merchant. However, he does not feel any pride in that and the bears like him. In the previous literature there was the tendency to stress the relation between Kojūrō and the bears and to focus especially on Kojūrō’s drama and his relation with the nature, but I consider that the triadic relation among the merchant, Kojūrō and the bears makes up the backbone of this story. Kitsuneken is a rather old and more regional version of janken, the most common rock-paper-scissors game in Japan. The word kitsuneken appears only one time in the story in a small fragment used explicitly to reflect the ideal merchant-hunter-hunt relation where no one has pre-eminence or dominance upon the other. Although the narrator reveals himself a few other times throughout the story to express his point of view or sentiments, this fragment has an evident rhetorical character and it is crucial in the economy of the story. In this paper, rather than focusing on Kojūrō and his interior struggle as one destined to live a dual life between ‘nature’ and ‘city’, I will explain that kitsuneken functions as a 2
mise en abyme reflecting the triad relation between Kojūrō, the merchant and the bears, on which the story is built. I will also discuss the triad relation as a recursive pattern to be found in other stories by Miyazawa, such as The Restaurant of Many Orders or Fur of the Glacial Mouse used to express his idea of environmental balance. A Depiction of Japanese Women in a Cultural Translation - Women’s Image in Etsu Sugimoto’s A Daughter of the Samurai Andreea-Larisa AVRAM, University of Bucharest
Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto moved to the United States two decades before World War I, and she published her first novel and best known work, A Daughter of the Samurai, almost one decade after it. It has been argued1 that hers was the first piece of literature to introduce Japanese culture to an American audience, in a manner that was both appealing and easily approachable culturally speaking. This paper aims to extract the instances in Sugimoto’s novel where she depicts Japanese women and their role in society. We will compare these examples to those Sugimoto gives with regards to American women in the same time period and, for a complete overview, we will bring into discussion the depiction of American women by American scholars2. As we will see, women’s role in Japanese society was well established, although it seemed to be lower than that of women in the USA. However, women’s suffrage in the USA only took place at the beginning of the 20th century, so a comparison between the situations in both As countries mayour bring forth more similarities a result, purpose is not only to than showdifferences. the image of Japanese women as promoted by Sugimoto, but also to question if and how she succeeds in translating this delicate aspect of the Japanese culture into a completely different one. Moreover, a comparison between Japan and the USA with respect to women’s position and role in society will make for a complete overview of the situation. We propose an approach based in imagology, applied to Sugimoto’s unique work of cultural translation. Yoshiya Nobuko and the Occidentalism: Focusing on "To the Limit of the Sea" [JP] Kyoko Kinoshita, Kansai University
吉屋信子は大正末期から昭和中期にかけて活躍した、女性作家である。吉屋信子 の小説には、「憧れ」としての西洋が多く描かれる。それは、当時の人々の共通意 識でもあった。 『海の極みまで』は、はじめて日本全国に広く吉屋の名を知らしめた作品であ る。また、この作品は、吉屋にとって初の映画化された作品であり、また、舞台化 もなされた作品でもある。
1 Hirakawa, Setsuko. “Etsu I. Sugimoto's A Daughter of the Samurai in America,” Comparative Literature Studies, Vol. 30, No. 4, East-West Issue, pp. 397-407, 1993. 2 Chafe, William H. "World War II as a Pivotal Experience for American Women." In Women and War: The Changing Status of American Women from the 1930s to the 1940s, edited by Maria Diedrich and Dorothea
Fischer-Hornung, pp. 21-34. New York: Berg, 1990.
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しかし先行研究では、「海の極みまで」の連載後、吉屋が継続して連載をもつ媒 体を得られなかったことから「失敗作」とされている。けれども、『海の極みま で』は当時の様々な問題意識が内包されている興味深い作品なのである。 本発表では、主人公環と友人の満智子がそれぞれ庇護する少女との関係に、東洋 から西洋へのオクシデンタリズムをみる。それは、敬虔なクリスチャンの環が庇護 する家庭教師先の女中ふさと、ユダヤ人の内縁の妻となった満智子が庇護するアイ ヌの少女メノコの関係である。両者の関係は、西洋的な女性が東洋的な少女を導く という形である。ここに、東洋が西洋を導き手であり、憧れをもって見ていたこと が明らかになるのである。
SESSION 2, ROOM B - Philosophy, Architecture, Aesthetics ― ― [JP] Anna Kato, Tokyo University
村上隆は、海外で最も知名度の高い日本人現代美術家である。村上は、アニメ文 化やオタクカルチャーなど日本独自の文化的展開に着想を得て、それを自覚的に 「西洋のアートルール」に則り表現する作品を制作してきた。こういった中、明治 時代の洋画家、黒田清輝の「智・感・情」をアニメ調に書き換えた作品、「黒田清 輝へのオマージュ」(2011年)の位置づけは難しい。オマージュされた原作は日本以 外では評価されているとは言い難く、話題性も乏しく、日本の文化を「西洋のアー トルール」で表現する際の引用元としては若干、役不足であることは否めない。ま た、最近発表された村上の「五百羅漢図」などに比べると、テーマ性も希薄で、迫 力にも欠ける。しかし、実際には、背景には日本画の金屏風を連想させる、金箔な どの高級素材がふんだんに使われた力作であり、自身の作品を展示することが少な い自らのギャラリーで発表したことからも、単なる思い付きで制作されたものでは ないといえる。本発表では、この作品において、従来の制作姿勢を越えた、日本現 代美術が西欧近代から脱却する糸口が見出せることを明らかにする。 The anatomy of the place where children play Dana Milea, “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning, Bucharest
The idea for this research topic began to form when I came into contact with the recollections of childhood play experiences pertaining to a young Japanese architect. She captivatingly recounted how she conceived of the limits within and the boundaries of the places where she played as a child and how these places and their possibilities used to expand with time. Both the spaces and their limits seemed to be constantly subjected to two types of constraints: physical (i.e. a reflection of the functionality of the space as play recipient) and mental (strongly influenced by the voice of the authority of a responsible adult or, later, by her own or by the group consciousness). This made me explore to what extent her experience is similar to that of other Japanese and what are the forms that a play territory and its limits can take. Having a strong grip of what makes a child know where, through where and how far he can go, how much he can explore and expand his playing territory is an important aspect 4
for an urban planner. Even though children seem to be able to play “no matter where”, the fact that cities as we know them are less and less friendly playgrounds for kids is a threat to the mere existence of a society, a threat that must be addressed. This study doesn’t aspire to present itself as a synthesis for the topic it engages, but rather as one of the first stepping stones towards a more comprehensive research investigating the relation between children and the places where they play and its reflections in architecture and urban planning related design processes.
Philosophy as a Method of Spiritual Progress Roman Pa ca, Kanda University of International Studies
Many Japanese scholars seem to make a clear-cut distinction between “thought” and “philosophy”; for example, when talking about Tokugawa intellectual history they use the term shisō 思想 (usually translated as “thought”), and when talking about Nishida and the Kyōto school they use the term tetsugaku 哲学 (“philosophy”), which was coined by Nishi Amane in the Meiji period. But why does this happen, and what is the difference between shisō and tetsugaku? On the other hand, many researchers in the field of Japanese Studies have typically used Western ideas, notions and concepts as a lens to examine Japanese texts, and there have been very few attempts to turn the tables. There seems to exist a tacit understanding that “Western philosophy” is different from “Japanese philosophy” (or from “East-Asian philosophy”, for that matter), yet it is not always clear whether the attribute “Japanese” refers to the geographical location, Iortouch to a cluster of embedded that sets it apart.the question In my presentation, upon these issues infeatures an attempt to answer whether there is such a thing as “Japanese philosophy”. Drawing on Hadot (1995) and Smith (2016), I discuss the possibility of viewing the philosophical discourse not as an end in itself, but rather as a forma mentis where reason (the “mind”, or the “heart”) actually serves the purpose of spiritual advancement. Hadot, Pierre. 1995. Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault. Oxford: Blackwell Smith, J. 2016. The Philosopher: A History in Six Types. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press
SESSION 3, ROOM A - Manga, Anime, Visual Kei Behind the Curtains of the Visual Kei Music Industry Laura Paszkowsky (Heidelberg University) Arisa Prestat (Copenhagen University)
Although Visual Kei has gained a lot of attention in the recent years across western countries and therefore is no longer limited only to Japan, there is still, at least from an academic perspective, not a lot of research done on crowd behaviour and the relationship between the fans and band members at smaller visual kei concerts. 5
At first glance, one might presume that the popularity of the bands depends mostly upon the quality of their music. However, networking with fans is another, perhaps even more vitally important factor for bands to attain success. By making the fans feel as though they have an essential relation to the band, they are able to make the customers come back for more. In a lot of ways, Visual Kei can be compared to host clubs. However, compared to host clubs, where both parties involved are made aware of the general conduct in such an environment, it is much less transparent in the Visual Kei industry. While it is possible for musicians to refuse such a lifestyle, many artists chose to accept since the concerts themselves often lead to low profits. As an additional gain, the popularity of the band will frequently increase if they accept the conditions of the system. The consequences of this system are numerous. The system creates an environment of competition between fans, resulting in additional conflicts. Furthermore, concert participants who are not aware of the system will often clash with fans who regularly attend these concerts. The musical quality of visual kei music is lowered as a whole due to the fact that other factors play such an important part of the Visual Kei scene. Due to lack of academic resources we will mainly depend on data collection through participant observation at the Visual Kei concerts and surveys. — — [JP] Olga Ilina, Tsukuba University
年代のロシアの若者にとっては、現代の日本のポップ・カルチャーは全 1990−2000 てオリジナルで・エクゾチックなものであった。 2000年代に至って、ロシア語系の 観衆はハリウッドの映画に飽き、ミュージカルのような深い筋立てのないディズ ニー製作のアニメーションにも失望した。しかし日本のポップ・カルチャーの作品 を見ることを選んだ若者たちはそうした自分に対すてある種の「特別さ」を深く感 じていた。日本の日常生活を描いたアニメがロシアの観衆にとってリアルに感じら れないものだとしても、アニメによって描写された暗く厳しいサイバーパンクの世 界、さらに世界が滅びるというディストピア的な作品はロシアにおいて、非常に強 い関心を引いた。このようなディストピア的なイメージにおいては次のような日本 のポップ・カルチャーの作品を挙げることができる。 ● 科学技術による人間身体、または社会の機械化、機械のもとでもっとより理 想的な社会の創造（『攻殻機動隊』、1995年、『サイコパス』、2012年−2013 年、2014年のアニメ・シリーズ）； ● 現存社会に対する不満、人の孤独のモチーフ（Serial Experiments Lain、1998 年のアニメ・シリーズ）； ● 東京・全国の日本および全世界の破壊（『魔界都市』、1988年のアニメ）； 人種の問題、人間とは何かという問題（『ナンバー・シックス』、2011年、 『新世界より』）； ● 宇宙に出た人類が逢着する困難（『ジーンシャフト』、2001年のアニメ） ● 環境汚染、エコロジー的な問題（ガンダム・シリーズ、『銃夢』、1993年の アニメ、『プラネテス』、2003−2004年）。 6
『AnimemaniacsMagazine』は2002年から2012年に至るまで、インターネット上の 雑誌として存在した。日本・漫画に関する知識があれば誰でも著者になれるという リベラル的なポリシーのために、雑誌のテーマ、ページ数、著者の人数が大幅に拡 大した。2012年4月1日には、『AnimemaniacsMagazine』はオンラインの月刊雑誌か ら『AniMag』3というオンラインのアニメの書評のデータベースになった。 『AnimeGuide』は2003年から2011年に至るまで出版された雑誌である。同時にオ ンライン雑誌とDVD付きの雑誌として出版された。この雑誌の編集主任、バレリ イ・コルネエフは以前『ゲームの国』、『ロシアのOfficial PlayStation』といった雑 誌を刊行する出版社に勤めた。この雑誌の著者は、上述したボリース・イワノフ及 びロシアの最初のアニメ・クラブ『R．An．Ma．』を組織したアレクセイ・ラプシ ン、日本に移動した声優になったジェニャ（エヴゲニア・ダヴィデュク）といった 日本に直接的な関係のある人びとであった。『AnimeGuide』は、大衆向けの『 AnimemaniacsMagazine』のアマチュアの著者とは異なり、よりアカデミック的な立 場を目指した。 その二つの雑誌を比較し、ロシア語系のファンの一般的なイメージを示すことを 目的とする。 The New Generation of Doujin: Changes in Doujin Distribution and Fan Culture Tau Prestat, Copenhagen University
Doujin culture has undergone great changes over the last decades. Not only are the three most popular derivative doujin series based on video games, but doujin fan culture and the distribution of For major conventions Comic Market are game also experiencing majorpossibilities developments. instance, fan-madesuch musicasarrangements of video soundtracks have become increasingly important in spreading attention to franchises through internet memes and live concerts. Furthermore, doujin games are even beginning to create more international awareness by being ported to the Playstation 4 and exported to the west. Since events such as Comic Market reach above half a million participants bi-annually, the size and influence of doujin culture should not be overlooked academically. Touhou Project has acted as a catalyst for many of the changes in doujin distribution and fan culture, and as such the primary focus of this research will be to examine the contemporary fan culture of this particular franchise. Due to the lack of academic resources relating to contemporary doujin culture, the majority of the research will be conducted through participant observation at doujin distribution events, as well as doujin stores. Furthermore, doujin circles and participants will be surveyed and interviewed. Additionally, major internet phenomenon related to the success of Touhou project will similarly be examined.
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www.animag.ru
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SESSION 4, ROOM B - Romania and Japan Discovering Japan in 1915’s Universul literar Romanian Magazine Angela Drăgan, Dimitrie Cantemir University
Japan has been present in Romanian media for a long time. In recent years, technological advancement and entertainment industry products, such as anime or manga, have been discussed most frequently in the news, on Japan. Political or economic news can also be found but they are rather scarce. This was obviously not the case at the turn of the 20th century when most of the information on Japan revolved on its political and military involvement in the world. Nevertheless, after the Russo-Japanese war, that took place from 1904 to 1905, one can observe that Romanian readers were more interested in gaining knowledge about this nation. Discovering Japan’s culture and understanding it were more often present in Romanian magazines and newspapers. My paper will focus on Universul literar magazine issued in 1915 and the article O scrisoare din Japonia. Calea zeilor (“A letter from Japan. The way of the Gods”) that explains Shintoism to Romanian readers. As in my previous presentations concerning Japan’s image in the Romanian mass-media in the first half of the 20th century, my main concern is the type of information, in this case religion, and its source, acquired directly or indirectly. Book covers of James Clavell’s Shōgun: A Case Study for the History of Japonisme in Romania Radu Leca, Affiliated Fellow, IIAS Leiden
The Romanian translation of the novel Shōgun by James Clavell was first published in 1988 and then reprinted in 1992, 1994, 2007 and 2008. By analysing the covers of the various editions, I show how their visual elements engaged with the cultural imaginary of communist and post-communist Romania. Thus, the cover of the 1988 edition reproduced a historically accurate folding screen. In doing so, it defined the novel as a historical saga that made present a foreign reality as a form of respite from the mundaneness of the communist regime. In contrast, the covers of the post-communist editions employed visual collages that included stills from the TV series along with incongruous elements such as count Dracula, thereby interfacing the text with visual and cinematic stereotypes. This change in iconography is representative of the changing significance of the novel: from escapist history to a celebration of unrestricted access to foreign media. This study case unpacks the metonymic role of book covers in constructing the imaginative space of the narrative. It exemplifies how the materiality and paratexts of a book were just as important as its textual content when considering its cultural impact. The iconography of book covers resonated with a wider field of exotic cultural tropes, forming a part of the under-researched history of the influence of Japonisme in Romania.
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Friendship Societies and Cultural Diplomacy during the Cold War: The Romanian Japanese Case Viviana Iacob, New Europe College, Bucharest
Friendship societies with western countries had a seminal role in pre-détente Cold War cultural diplomacy. In the absence of diplomatic relations, these associations initiated the first contact with the West and paved the way to blooming cultural exchanges during the détente (from mid-sixties onward). Their activity was unidirectional in the early fifties, as it entailed the circulation of publications and the organization of events with a rather reduced impact such as exhibitions or conferences. Nevertheless, their main role was to gather contacts and enlarge the network of individuals that could better serve the dissemination of a socialist country’s culture beyond the Iron Curtain divide in the late fifties and early sixties. My paper will focus on the work carried out by the Japan-Romania Friendship Association (JRFA) founded in 1955 by a group of Japanese fellow travelers. By focusing on the cultural exports that were characteristic to this association in the larger context of East-West cultural relations between 1955 and 1965, I intend to underline what type of cultural heritage was favored by Romanian cultural officials in exchanges outside the socialist camp. My paper reveals a new genealogy to the internationalization of a Southeast European culture during the Cold War. It points to specific institutionalizations of encounters that constituted the basis for later transnational circulations of ideas and people from Southeast Europe to multiple corners of the globe.
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September 5, day 2 KEYNOTE LECTURE The Battle of Imphal and Hino Ashihei’s Literature Chikako Masuda, Kansai University
火野は39歳でインパール作戦に志願し、陸軍報道班員として従軍した。インパ― ル作戦とは、援蒋ルート遮断のために連合国軍の拠点、インド北東部の都市イン パール攻略を目指した作戦である。この作戦では、第15軍司令官牟田口廉也のもと に、「烈」(第31師団)「祭」(第15師団)「弓」(第33師団)の３兵団が編成され、１９ ４４年３月８日～７月３日まで遂行された。結果として、インパ―ル攻略には至ら ず、戦争が長引くにつれ、食料、物資が欠乏し、多くの犠牲を出して敗北を喫し た。火野はこの作戦の『従軍手帖』を６冊残している。火野は途中からは、「弓」 師団と行動を共にするため、手帖には「弓」師団の人物が数多く登場し、その実態 が綴られる。火野は、この手帖をもとに、「青春と泥濘」という作品を描いた。こ の作品には、手帖と関連する部分もある。本講演では、火野のインパール作戦従軍 の実態と、作品「青春と泥濘」について考察したい。
SESSION 5, ROOM A - Postwar Literature Learning from Japan- Haruki Murakami’s Closed Circuit Terrorism Alexandra Bănică, University of Bucharest
The paper is set to illustrate and analyse Haruki Murakami’s perspective over terrorism and how the event of March 20 1995, the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo underground, transformed his notion of the narrative, and to put forward the research topic of a Haruki Murakami terrorist novel: 1Q84 (2009-2010). Haruki Murakami discusses terrorism in terms of closed and open circuits, in an interview given in October 2001, he declared: ‘The open circuit is this society, and the closed circuit is the world of religious fanatics: Islamic fundamentalists or groups like Aum Shinrikyo. I think they are all the same in a way. Their worlds are perfect, because they are closed off (…) In Japan most people think that terrorism is the US’ own problem. But that isn’t right. The same thing can happen at any moment, in Tokyo, Berlin or Paris, because this is a war between closed and open circuits, different states of mind’ (qtd in W French). He deals with the topic of terrorism in nonfiction and fiction alike, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche (2003, English translation) and 1Q84 (2009-2010), and in the two mentioned works he ‘sails’ from real life terrorists attack to literary made ones. The outcome is a distinctive perspective over the ‘event’ of terrorism in the contemporary society. Yukio Mishima's "Bishin" and His Encounter with European Sculpture Makiko Kitani, Doshisha University
Yukio Mishima has stayed abroad five times for several months over the course of his life. He made the first trip as a special correspondent from the Asahi Shimbun Company, travelling around the world from December 25, 1951 to May 10, 1952. 10
As the public was unable to travel overseas due to the American occupation back then this first passage Mishima took seemed to receive a huge attention from the public. He published essays and critics on foreign culture while traveling and had a dialogue with Keisuke Kinoshita in Paris. In a travel journal he published, Apollo no Sakazuki (“The cup of Apollo”, Oct 1952), one of the most focused topic with the large amount of pages devoted was on European art that he investigated in art galleries, especially on sculptures. The first novel after his return to Japan, Manatsu no shi ("The death of Midsummer", Oct 1952), was written as “genuine Japanese novel ". According to Mishima, the novelists who had been abroad are supposed to write some works on the foreign countries. But he thought he would never write that kind of novels. However, he wrote the novel regarding to Venus and the play, Antinous. Despite Mishima could not finish writing the later one, in the work, Bishin ("The Venus", Dec 1952), he described the inviolable Beauty of the Venus. In this presentation, I will analyze the relation between the Sculptures in Apollo no Sakazuki and previous literary works. Then, through Bishin, I aim to discover how Mishima sublimated European experiences into the his literature. SESSION 6, ROOM B - Anthropology and Religion Saikoku Pilgrimage and the Tradition of Omiyage Mihaela Sighina , Kobe University
Like other Japanese pilgrimages such as Shikoku, the Saikoku route involves the pilgrim visiting a number of linked centresabound of power. Thetales 33 Saikoku all enshrine Kannon.inTheir engi and oral traditions with of her temples great compassion, mercy and intercession, while images of Kannon are widely venerated as sources and embodiments of her infinitely compassionate power. The route itself takes the pilgrim on what is virtually a cultural and historical tour around western Japan, incorporating also many of its most famous touristic sites as well. According to James Foard, there is some evidence to suggest that the feudal authorities in Tokugawa Japan encouraged people from Edo and its environs to go on pilgrimages to Saikoku because this helped develop a sense of national identity, opening their eyes to the cultural and historical landmarks of Japan. In response to the needs of ordinary pilgrims, individual temples as well as commercial publishing houses began to publish pilgrimage-related books. Among these were road guides (junrei annaiki, dōchuki), lavish pictorial guides to famous places (meisho zue), and pocket prayer-books (goeikashū). Such works provided pilgrims with a common matrix of stories, images, ritual incantations, and directions to help them on the road. In this presentation, I will focus on such road guides, that serve not only as maps, but also provide the traveler with the necessary information regarding the things needed on the road and those that could be bought and taken home as souvenirs (omiyage). Although some of them have disappeared, a significant number still exist today. By discussing the history and tradition of such local products I intend to show that these cultural perceptions of pilgrimage continue to be a very major element in the pilgrimage today. 11
A Consideration of Japanese Festivals in Urban Areas: From Historical Changes in the Toka-Ebisu "Open Gate" Ceremony at Nishinomiya Shrine Hironori Arakawa, National Institute of Technology, Akashi College
十日戎開門神事とは1月10日の午前6時に西宮神社の表大門が開き、参詣客が約230 メートルの参道を一気に走り抜けるものである。その中で一番早くに拝殿にたどり 着いた参加者を「一番福」と呼称し、3着までを「福男」として昇殿させ、神社が彼 らを認定するものである。 神事自体は30秒足らずのものではあるが、現在関西圏においては様々な媒体で取
6000名が走り抜けるイベントとなってい り上げられる神事となっており、現在では る。 本発表では、史料、参加者へのインタビュー、更に発表者自身が8回「走り参り」 に参加し、現在までも開門神事講社の理事として当神事に携わるといった、参与観 察をもとに「十日戎開門神事」の歴史的変遷並びに現代的な変容を詳述する。当神 事の歴史的特徴としては、西宮神社の門開け行事が「忌籠祭り」を起源としながら も、西宮地域の産業都市化、時代の変化に伴って変容を遂げていったことである。 特に「改暦」・「産業都市化」・「太平洋戦争」・「高度経済成長」・「改 元」・「阪神大震災」・「マスメディアの報道」がいかに当神事に対して変容を及 ぼしたのかを紹介し、更に現在のように祭礼が巨大化していった要因についても、 神事の再評価の側面、そして当神事の特性などを挙げた上で考察を行う。 Our Daily Rice and the Body of Christ: Staple and Ritual Foods in Japan and Romania Carmen Săpunaru Tămaş, Kobe University
In our highly advanced technology-oriented society, religion and religious beliefs play a role as important as ever. Within these religious practices, food and eating have remained constant in that they continue to be both a physiological necessity and an act ritually performed. My paper aims to be an analysis of food that is offered to the gods or ancestors in Japanese and Romanian cultures, as well as the customs of sharing said offerings with the divine beings thought to be present during specific events, and among the participants, in rituals that create new and strengthen pre-existing community bonds. The current paper is part of a larger research project focusing on the specific meaning of offerings made on various occasions, starting from daily occurrences (centered more on the individual), such as placing a cup of sake on the house altar or on a grave in Japan, or the offering of a cake to a friend, in the memory of somebody who had passed away and recently appeared in a dream, in Romania, to bigger events that involve the entire community, such as annual festivals in Japan, the consecrating of a new church or the performing of a rain charm in Romania. As a case study, I intend to discuss the Tenjin Festival that takes place every July in Osaka, and the meaning and role of rice, both as a staple food and something to be offered to the gods, in an analysis that will touch upon eating as a social act, commensality with the gods, reunion with deceased ancestors, or the simple act of survival.
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SESSION 7, ROOM A - Gender, Identity, Sexuality Trendsetters and Masculine Beauty Standards in Contemporary Japan Adrian Tămaş, Kobe University
One of the social aspects influenced by the drastic changes taking place in postwar Japan is the aesthetics of the human body. My current research is concerned with masculinity and how it is represented (and re-defined in contemporary Japanese society), and in this paper I intend to focus on facial hair. Facial hair, a marker of masculinity in many cultures, is less present in the Japanese society. For the past three decades, strong looking men represented a minority, a part of a subculture centered around raw physicality (such as bodybuilding or wrestling), while the aesthetic ideal was represented by androgynous men to whom the term “kawaii” could be (and was) easily applied. The present paper will look into the role that the media and other trendsetters played in the transformation of the male body. What triggered the return to the ideal of the “beautiful youth” of pre-modern Japan, and how have the standards changed to re-incorporate a moustache or a beard in recent years? What caused the transition from the idea that facial hair is “dirty” (and thus most Japanese companies still require their male employees to keep their faces clean-shaven) to the concept of an elegantly bearded gentleman widely promoted by fashion magazines nowadays? By answering these questions, my research attempts to offer a better understanding of men’s role in contemporary Japanese society, as well as the new structure of aesthetic standards for masculinity.
Negotiating Discourse and Identities in the Japanese LGBT Boom Ioana Fotache, Nagoya University
This presentation concerns current LGBT terminology and discourse within the Japanese queer community, comparing and contrasting indigenous terms with adopted Western loanwords, and introducing the attitudes that current LGBT people and activists have towards them, based on current literature and participant observation techniques. After decades of being restricted to underground magazines, cruising spots, gay bar areas, and the entertainment sector, Japanese queer identity politics were pushed forward in the 1990s Gay Boom by grassroots activists. The 2010s have seen a new era in Japanese LGBT activism—informally referred to as the LGBT Boom—, which has brought about a proliferation of LGBT events and NPOs, as well as increased representation and discussion in the public sphere. With 11 annual parades, 4 elected politicians, 6 wards recognising same-sex partnerships to some extent, and an increasing number of advocates, dedicated spaces, organisations, and awareness campaigns in every prefecture, the LGBT movement seems to have established itself as a social force in contemporary Japan. The LGBT Boom has not come without its backlash, as locals struggle to negotiate their identities in a rapidly changing social climate. Critics point out that the contemporary Japanese LGBT movement has become ensnared in the phenomenon of ‘global queering’, wherein the terminology, references, and understanding of sexuality are redefined according to a modern Western model, which can alienate the general population by using inaccessible terminology or constructed identities that locals do not fully identify with. However, a 13
transnational approach can recognise the ongoing process of identity negotiation and collective identity formation that is creating a hybrid culture between the indigenous queer tradition and the Western model. Shouts from Hell: Countermoves from Inside Brothels Yuhei Yambe, Kyoto University of Art and Design
The rapid development of mass media in the 1920s influenced various classes of people in Japan. Even in the red-light district, many shōgi (sex-workers) became able to obtain lots of information by reading magazines and newspapers. Even though their freedom was restricted by the police and the owners of the brothels, many shōgi started to reform their brothels through strikes like other women workers who were trying to get better working conditions. At the same time, many shōgi also escaped from brothels, and some even became writers. One of the most famous writers was Mori Mitsuko (1905-?). Mori escaped from Yoshiwara Yūkaku in April 1926, and she published her personal notes in a magazine called Fujokai on August 1926. Mori clearly showed that it was possible to retire freely as well as how she escaped. According to these personal notes, Mori wrote a letter to Yanagihara Byakuren (1885-1967), a famous female poet, and asked for her help before escaping. Mori's personal notes also strongly inspired another shōgi, Matsumura Kyōko (1900-?). Matsumura read Mori’s work in a brothel, and used the same method to escape from the brothel. After escaping, Matsumura wrote of an impressive moment when she read Mori's 'There is still some hope forKyōko us. There is a place to go for help (…) How can we Nyonin Geijutsu, give upwords without fighting?' (Matsumura "Jigoku no Hangyakusha" August 1929). Mori's message gave hope to Matsumura for survival in the brothel which she called 'hell'. In this presentation, focusing on writings by escaped shōgi, I will explore how they expressed their feelings through writing. I will also consider how their writings inspired other shōgi working at brothels. SESSION 8, ROOM B - Travels and Travelogues Ainu People of Japan in 1910s Travelogues Marcos Centeno Martin, SOAS, London
The discrimination suffered by the Ainu people in Japan contrasted with the European fascination for the Ainu culture between the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, the Ainu were featured among the earliest thirty-three films shot in Japan by European and North American explorers. This text deals with some these earliest film representations of the Ainu people: the travelogues or “travel documentaries” featuring journeys from the West to the East made by western explorers, such as Frederick Starr and Benjamin Brodsky in the 1910s. These films are framed within their historical context and are interrogated in two different ways: understanding film as a tool for ethnographic study; and tackling the study of ethnographic film as such. A comparison between the film reality and the social reality of the Ainu people reveals how these images projected a deceptive 14
ethnicity. They were aimed to appeal to the Western audience by means of an exotic view belonging to a time prior to the moment they were filmed. This analysis assesses the validity of ethnographic documentary as historical testimony, exploring the limits of the mise-en-scène and the premeditated mechanisms of codification on Ainu identity. Hino Ashihei, the Troubled Traveler: Journeys to China and America Stefano Romagnoli, Sapienza University, Rome
Hino Ashihei (1907-1960) is probably best known for his prewar novel Mugi to heitai (Wheat and soldiers, 1938), which has been translated into several languages. However, in the fifteen years that followed Japan’s defeat, Hino wrote a great number of works including some travelogues. While these travelogues might be dismissed as minor literature, Hino himself tells us that he considered his travelogues as a significant part of his work, no less than his novels. In this paper, I will focus two of such travelogues: Akai kuni no tabibito (Traveler in the red country, 1955) and Amerika tankenki (A record of an expedition to America, 1959). These are related respectively to two journeys Hino made to communist China, in 1955, and to United States in 1958. While obvious differences existed both in the context and in the dynamics of the journeys, nevertheless common themes and attitude can be traced in both works. For instance, the issue of war responsibility, which arises on both a personal and national level, and the problem of freedom – whether denied or tainted by contradictions – that is addressed at various times. Moreover, andarmy concern permeatesource Hino’s In China, his past as afeelings memberofofuneasiness the invader’s is a constant of travel worry.experience. In the United States, his present works about Okinawa – openly critical of American policy – and his past as “the enemy” causes a fitful feeling of anxiety. I will thus show how both travelogues stand at the intersection between Hino’s anticipations and actual impressions of the two foreign countries, and his experience as a member of the Japanese army as well as his position as a postwar Japanese intellectual. Echo of Michał Boym’s Medical-Scientific Works (1612-1659) in Japan Giovanni Borriello, University of Tuscia, Italy
There are many studies that focused on the Polish-Hungarian Jesuit missionary Michał Boym (1612-1659) in China at the Ming court and on his medical-scientific activity, which will lead him to the writing of works such as Clavis Medica ad Chinarum Doctrinam de Pulsibus and Flora Sinensis. However, little emphasis has been given to the influences that his medical and botanical works have had on the spread of his sphygmological and phytotherapeutic knowledge in the nearby Japanese Archipelago, where his in-depth studies will be made known through the mediation of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) on Deshima and, in particular, through the figure of the German doctor and botanist Andreas Cleyer (1634-1697/98) at the service of the Company. Cleyer read Boym’s writings and after returning to Europe, he will be widely known in the West. 15
In this article, I will seek to shed light on the spread of Boym's writings in Japan and on the influence his study has exerted on the medical developments in the Archipelago, and subsequently on how Boym's medical-scientific works thanks to the mediation of certain doctors of the VOC, on all the aforementioned Cleyer, have managed to have great gloss and diffusion in the same Europe.
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September 6, day 3 SESSION 9, ROOM A - Japanese Literature in the World Japonism in Polish Literature at the Beginning of 20th Century Katarzyna Deja (Jagellonian University)
At the end of 19th century European culture faced its greatest crisis and looked to the Far East in attempt to find a solution. From Vedas and Buddhism to ukiyo-e paintings, Orient promised new solutions and new aesthetics. The great wave of japanism that swept across Europe was a part of that search for new inspiration and it indeed played important part in development of modernism aesthetics, however, only recently we have discovered, through work of researchers such as Jan Walsh Hokenson, how modernist fascination with Japan changed European art and literature. Following the footsteps of such researchers I am trying to analyze forms of Japanese aesthetics in Polish literature of the beginning of 20th century, when Polish writers discovered Japanese woodblock paintings, literature and theatre. What I am particularly interested in is not simply Japanese “prompts” or exotic novels set in a distant and clearly very different country, but literary works that were influenced by forms of poetry or certain aesthetic categories that required a level of knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture. Through analyzing what features of Japanese culture were incorporated into Polish literature I hope to present that the interest in Japan was not only a new wave of orientalism or exoticism, but a search for new forms of artistic expression, one that perhaps forged Polish modernism into its shape. On the Formation of the Tale about “Homecoming Husband” Saida Khalmirzaeva (Hosei University)
The Odyssey, Central Asian Alpomish and Japanese Yuriwaka Daijin share remarkable motif similarities. In all three of these stories the hero who leaves his land to fight an enemy returns home after years of seclusion only to find his family being harassed by traitors. The hero’s appearance has changed beyond recognition, which is why no one, even his loyal servant, can recognize him. For a time the hero observes what has occurred during his absence, finally revealing his identity by stringing his distinctive bow, punishing the traitors and reuniting with his family. Motifs, such as “the hero saves his beloved,” ”the hero returns on the day of his wife’s wedding” or ”the hero strings his distinctive bow,” are not peculiar only to the Odyssey, Alpomish and Yuriwaka Daijin. We can find many various tales with similar motifs in
different parts of the world. They all can be identified as a tale-type “Homecoming husband (Returning husband)” (ATU 974). However, a thorough research and analysis of tales and the historical and cultural background of their dissemination areas suggests that the original story could have been born in one place and then transmitted to other regions. In my previous presentation on this topic I focused on the origin of Alpomish that was supposedly born as a result of combination of the Odyssey and the Buddhist tale, the Tale about Good Prince and Bad Prince. This time, firstly, I will present some other material and 17
research on the role of the Odyssey in the ancient world that should support my hypothesis. Secondly, I will introduce some tales from the regions between Central Asia and Japan that could become a link in the “tale-type’s transmission” chain. Finally, I will discuss some factors that could have contributed to the dissemination of the tale-type and its vitality. Why Literature? Shimazaki Tōson's Works and National Language Education Irina Holca (Kyoto University)
After starting his literary career as a Romantic poet in the late 1890s, Shimazaki Tōson turned to realistic prose soon after the beginning of the 20th century. His new style poetry (新体詩) collections (『若菜集』, 1897; 『一葉舟』, 1898; 『夏草』 , 1898; 『落 梅集』 , 1901) were extremely popular among the Meiji youth, who did not stop at reading them (quietly or aloud), but were also very keen on imitating the so-called Tōson-chō to create poems of their own. Later, in the early 1900s, as a judge in the reader contribution competitions organised by magazines such as 『太陽』 or 『文章世界』, Tōson influenced the prose style of young wannabe writers, preaching for clear observation and description, along with simplicity and sincerity. On the other hand, his poems and prose have been included in national language readers for middle school education since the turn of the century-- and some of them still are, even today. In this presentation, I intend to look at how Tōson's image as "educator" was created, and how his literature was integrated in the national language education during the Taishō period, when modern literature was finally deemed worthy of young readers' eyes. To 教授参考書 this end, I will focus on used the during discourse of several teachers' guides ( by language) accompanying the textbooks this period, various articles published instructors, linguists, etc in the magazine 『国語教育』, as well as books on language and literature education influential at the time. By analysing these materials aimed directly at school teachers I am hoping to shed light on the way educational value was assigned to Tōson's work, but also on how literature was defined, used, and reshaped in order to meet the needs of the national language classroom. SESSION 10, ROOM B - Pop Culture and Performing Arts Beyond Borders of Meaning: The Transcultural Vampire in Japanese Animation Alice Teodorescu (Independent researcher)
As Susan Napier, Japanese popular culture researcher, states, anime can be considered “the Other of animation” that offers “an exhilarating vision of difference in which identity can be technological, mythological, or simply an ecstatic process of constant metamorphosis” and that can be defined as a strong form of expression “in the new transnational culture” (p.292, 2005). Part of this universe of Otherness is the vampire myth with its many personifications, from the monstruos to the beautiful bishōnen, as a sign of shifting cultural contexts or an integral part of the popular culture database (Azuma, 2009) that pinpoints the hybridity of Japanese animation. As myths draw on familiarity, beyond national, cultural or symbolic borders, their reinterpretation in the animated medium develops a new form of critique or 18
reinforcement of the world in relation to globalization, shared meanings and cosmopolitanism. What is the new place of the vampire in Japanese animation? How does it relate to the current kawaii aesthetics of the "beautiful boy"? Drawing on Hiroki Azuma's concept of the database and on the foucaldian meaning of heterotopia (Foucault, 1984), the current status of the vampire will be addressed, so as to highlight a transcultural space of meaning developed through anime: the affective heterotopia. Works cited Mechademia, 2, 175-188 Azuma,M. H.D. (2007) ThePAnimalization of Otaku Culture. Foster, (2009). andemonium and parade: Japanese monsters and the culture of yōkai. Berkeley: University of California Press. Foucault, M. (1984). ”Of other spaces”. Architecture /Mouvement/ Continuité, 1-9. Napier, S. (2005). Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. Experiencing contemporary Japanese animation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Revue as a Liminal Theatre Genre: Its Characteristics and Socio-cultural Meanings Makiko Yamanashi (Hosei University)
Revue is known as a modern visual spectacle consisting of vibrant dancing and singing, lavishing costume and mechanically advanced stage set. This theatre genre matured in Europe and America by the 1930s, and its popularity generated an international trend. In Japan, the all-female Takarazuka Revue staged Mon Paris in 1927, which is commonly known as Japan’s first revue. It was indeed the first nation-wide hit of European style revue production, but a number of other minor productions laid the ground for the genre to thrive for a century in Japan while revue is almost begone abroad. My approach regards revue as ‘a composition of betweenness’ build between seemingly opposing elements such as the classic and the innovative, the analog and the scientific, the occidental and the oriental, the professional and the amateur, the feminine and the masculine. This is to re-define revue as an inter-national, inter-cultural, inter-medial namely as a liminal genre. For Japan in the process of westernisation, revue functioned as a modern icon that would challenge preexisting socio-cultural norms and project new criteria on stage. This presentation will investigate the ways in which revue has established its prominent position in Japan both in Japanese theatre history and women’s history. There are two significant merits in this discussion. Firstly, revue is a hybrid theatrical form that reflects a dynamic integration and assimilation of the foreign culture in Japan. Secondly, revue can be seen as the progressive genre that has provided Japanese women a springboard to perform in public and to nature acknowledged actresses. In these perspectives, the reason why revue is still a strong force in today’s Japanese theatre industry will be revealed, and further its social meaning will be suggested. Modernity Revisited: The Dialectics of Revolution and the Nostalgia for Intellectual Activism in Takarazuka Revue’s 1789: "The Lovers of Bastille"
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Maria Grăjdian (Nagasaki University)
This presentation focuses on Takarazuka Revue’s strategies to re-invent the concept of “modernity” specifically in the context of the French Revolution of 1789 by means of re-contextualizing history in the performance 1789 – The Lovers of Bastille (originally a French rock-opera premiered in 2012). Founded in 1913 by Kobayashi Ichizô, one of the most significant entrepreneurs in prewar Japan, the all-female popular musical theatre Takarazuka Revue proved itself along its centennial existence both a faithful mirror of and an influential model for the Japanese society. Simultaneously conservative in its gender representation and progressive in its performance practice, a contradictory symbol of the Japanese modernity and Japan’s leading figure in entertainment industry, emerged from the syncretic, cross-gender tradition of the centuries-old classical Japanese stage arts and challenging that very tradition through the creative employment of Western music and dramatic plots, Takarazuka Revue reconstructs in a specific way asymmetric interactions between identity and alterity, model and copy, history and geography, obtrusively displayed in sparkling tunes, fairy-tale-like sceneries and gorgeous costumes. Especially since 1974 – the year in which the world premiere of the blockbuster The Rose of Versailles took place – marked an unexpected tendency in Takarazuka Revue’s public appearance, visible both in the increasing lavishness of its performances and in the intensified commercialization of the increasingly androgynous otokoyaku figures (female impersonators of male roles). This presentation takes into account the multiple layers in Takarazuka Revue’s administration and self-orchestration (performance politics, the economical supervision of brand-related consumption, the the socio-cultural management of actresses and fandom fan communities) as well as performances themselves. The transition from (fans ethicsand to aesthetics and from imagination to ideology in Takarazuka Revue's marketing of historical-geographical spaces, reflects and condenses its metamorphose from an insignificant socio-cultural medium to a powerful political-economic message in postwar Japan as well as Japan's emerging awareness from being an "outsider" to the Western world to gradually becoming an "insider" of the Asian community. SESSION 11, ROOM A - Visual Arts, Aesthetics Mitate and Quotation in Japanese Visual Arts: The Spread of Imagination in Art History Deborah Levy (University of Vincennes-Saint-Denis Paris 8)
Based on several years of research at Tokyo University, this communication presents result of the thesis, “Mitate and Quotation in the Morimura Yasumasa’s Artworks – Self-portrait of History of Art”, defended the 30th of May 2017. Indeed, this presentation will testify about the presence of mitate in the Japanese postmodern art from the eighties. Fukuda Miran, Morimura Yasumasa, Ogawa Shinji, Ozawa Tsuyoshi and Sumi Maro’s productions quote the most famous European paintings and iconography to signify the ambiguity between Eastern and Western notions of art, srcinality, copy and imitation. However, we will certify that artists make another type of quotations. Although Japanese contemporary arts are considered in the Postmodernism and Simulation’s 20
movements, this communication will show that the reading of the mitate allow a specific and an exclusive re-examination of Japanese art history. After comparing mitate-e from the Edo period and contemporary artworks, we ascertain a clear definition of mitate as an analogical “transposition” based on outward forms to create a new image. Through the “postmodern” productions, we will understand that mitate is incorporated within a traditional framework, whose contacts with a foreign culture seem essential to develop an imaginary and a figurative representation. Consequently, the demonstration of the playful mitate in the Japanese contemporary visual wakagumi attests that artists bring into play the vision of the image, rather than its signification. Artists and contemporary mitate-e testify the exchanges, influences and impacts between Western and Japanese arts to introduce a first gap with European art history and its conceptions. The Influence of the English Landscape Garden on the Meiji Stroll Garden: Fact or Speculation? Oana Loredana Scoruş (Kyoto University)
The stroll gardens built in the Meiji period (1868-1912) fall into two categories: the Japanese style garden, and the Western style garden. This presentation will focus on the former type. The first of its kind is considered to be Murinan Garden (1894-1898) made by Ogawa Jihei VII, also known as Ueji, for the prince Yamagata Aritomo. On the one hand, the overall structure of these gardens is similar to the typical stroll gardens of the Edo period (1603-1868), such as Katsura Rikyū Garden, or Koishikawa Kōrakuen Garden. On the other hand, new techniques replace the techniques, such). as thelandscape miniaturearchitecture landscapes (shukkei ) and the reproduction of traditional famous landscapes (mitate The researcher Amasaki Hiromasa and the garden historian Ono Kenkichi, who analyze in detail the new elements of the Japanese style stroll gardens of the Meiji period, mention the possibility of an influence from the English landscape garden, without however making further inquiries into this issue. My paper will explore the possible influence that English landscape gardens could have had on the changes of the Japanese style stroll garden. I will first analyze the new elements of this style, focusing on Murinan Garden, Isuien's East Garden, and Sankeien Garden. Then I will inquire into the possible relation between these elements and the characteristics of the English landscape garden, a style that took shape in the 18th century and is represented by gardens such as the Garden of Rousham House or Croome Court. Thus, while agreeing with Amasaki and Ono that a direct influence is rather difficult to assert, I will discuss the possibility of the existence of an indirect influence, by means of new ideas that entered from the West, and created a new background for the design of Japanese style stroll gardens. Esoteric Iconography as Curiosum: What Sells a Buddhist Art Exhibition Today? Monika Kiss (ELTE University, Budapest)
In my presentation I am inquiring into the process of exhibiting Buddhist images. It is an often repeated notion that modern world brought with itself the decline of religions. It 21
seems that since science invaded and resolved the everyday life of ordinary people, the gods, to whom the had turned to in order to have good crop, good health or long life, are not needed anymore. The need for religion today becomes distant, and all its agents become curiosities. This is true for Buddhist images that were used for hundreds of years: most of them are stashed away in private or public collections, waiting to be displayed from time to time. We can see the magnificent paintings of serene Buddhas, or the compositions of wrathful myōō king statues in great museums all around the world, but how do we comprehend them in their new “environment?” All images of especially esoteric Buddhist deities share not just a religious but a ritualistic characteristic that can be fully understood in their most natural environment: during a ritual inside a temple hall. Most people today go to museums to see and experience things they have not before, so the jobs of curators becomes gradually more difficult to show something new to the modern audience equipped with gadgets which give them information in an instant. (Respectively, sometimes their effect is not more than instantaneous.) Do the hundreds of different iconographies of esoteric Buddhism still have their former effect on audiences or are they just the kind of curiosum that lures people into the museums? And if they are used as attraction tools, is it something that we should regret or cherish? SESSION 12, ROOM B - War, Peace and Nuclear Energy Depiction of the National Self and the Asian Other in Postwar Japanese War Films, 1945-1965 Dick Stegewerns (University of Oslo)
Cinema was one of the most popular and influential formats of popular culture in the postwar period. The forces implementing the Allied occupation of Japan were keenly aware of the power of the medium of film and enforced a policy of strict censure on the one hand and endorsed subjects on the other. During the occupation period the recent war was in general underexposed and many facets of the war were completely hidden. However, once the occupation was lifted the silver screen became one of the major venues for the competition for Japan’s collective war memory. The genre of the war movie was firmly re-instated within most big studios and all war film subgenres were created or re-created during the 1950s. Since Japan to a large extent was cut off from the Asian continent during the first two decades after the Second World War, the many films dealing with this war were the major genre to project the East Asian neighbours on the cinema screen. In various subgenres the venue of the East Asian continent was re-introduced and Japanese relations with its inhabitants were re-enacted. On the basis of the competing interpretations of ‘the war’ by the filmmakers these representations could be vastly different. This paper will analyze Japanese war films from the period 1945-1965 that depict the countries and regions formerly included in Japan’s colonial or wartime empire. It will trace continuities and changes in the depiction of the national self and the Asian other in this body of films, and aims to provide explanations for these continuities and changes.
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Japan and Cinematic Peace Propaganda in UNESCO’s Orient Project 1957-1959 Miia Huttunen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
During the early decades of the Cold War, film became a significant tool for constructing meaning for the general public. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) reacted by promoting the role of film as a means to maintaining peace. In 1959, UNESCO and the British Film Institute published a catalogue of Eastern films titled “Orient. A Survey of Films Produced in Countries of Arab and Asian Culture”, with the aim of familiarising Western audiences with Eastern cultures. Out of the 139 feature films included in the catalogue, 37 were Japanese. Approaching the project as an example of peace propaganda, I analyse the plot summaries of the Japanese films included in the catalogue in order to address the question of how was the catalogue utilised to send a message of peace and to shape opinions accordingly. With a focus on sympathetic characters, the films are described as stories of people’s struggles towards a better future. The plot summaries emphasise the universal themes of humanism and hope everyone despite their national and cultural background can relate to. The message constructed through the plot summaries in the catalogue thus contributes to UNESCO’s aims ”to build the defenses of peace in the minds of men” through its emphasis on maintaining sustainable peace built on intercultural understanding. A Comparative Study about Literature and “Nuclear Energy” in Japan and Germany Ryuji Yorioka (Tokushima University)
Germany, which hasthe vowed to shut down all its isnuclear powerdependent plants in the wake ofUnlike the Fukushima disaster, Japanese administration still much on “nuclear energy” even today. Thus, the aim of this study is to compare and examine how the issue of “nuclear energy” is treated by writers in these two countries that have shown such staunchly different approaches. This study focuses on discussions and discourses regarding “nuclear energy” found in post-World War II literatures in Japan and Germany. In particular, differences are drawn and further analysed from discourses between prominent German and Japanese writers such as Günter Grass, Shohei Ooka, Kenzaburo Oe and Makoto Oda. By doing so, the study hopes to find a possible solution to this global crisis within the realm of literature. The result indicates that, when compared with their German counterparts, Japanese writers were more introversive and prudent in nature, possibly weighted down by a deep sense of victimisation and a strong accountability toward the war, which then prevented them from sufficiently taking into consideration the cross-boundary and bipartisan nature that characterises the nuclear issue. SESSION 13, ROOM A - Society and Economy Socioeconomic Views on Japan’s ‘80s Boom and Subsequent Recession Irina Grigorovici (Kyushu University)
Most of the countries around the world have been influenced, up to a certain extent, by a different culture and civilization, whether because of geographical proximity, historical 23
evolution or globalization. Japan has been no exception. Most recently, after WWII, Japan has been exposed to the U.S. influence, from which it has adopted and adapted a lot. Authors then began observing how the Japanese society tried to find answers to questions regarding its identity and what features embody the Japanese self. Yet, the economic growth seemed to have erased that stage, a similar kind of confusion returning at the time of the ‘90s recession. As sociology specialists have pointed out, while globalization can indeed favour homogeneity, there is another evolution that can occur as naturally. A nation, by comparing itself with a different culture, can also start defining its own identity more clearly, by emphasizing its own ethnical features, up to the point where it creates a stronger sense of its national self. This paper’s hypothesis suggests that the confusion stage was a result of the rapid and intense incorporation of many opposite values during the post-WWII period and that the nationalistic trend beginning with the ‘70s, until late ‘80s, was only a different side of the same identity issue. The paper raises the question of a possible layer of induced economic carelessness during the economic boom, maybe pushed by a historic sense of inferiority towards the West, with consequences on the subsequent recession. This reflects Japan’s continuous focus on the U.S. during the post-WWII growth period, as the country, to give some examples, bought US banks, golf lands and entire resorts, or ended up financing up to 30% of the U.S. debts. While solutions can retrospectively be found in terms of economic policies that could have made a difference, the paper will try to focus more on a socioeconomic perspective, taking into also account thetospiraling relationship between and economy, as antoeconomic imbalance leads uncertainty within the societysociety and uncertainty, in turn, political imbalance that adopts disrupted/frail policies within an increasingly pessimistic environment, while, respectively, economic optimism leads to euphoria, and that, to a more nation-aware political rule, trending towards an inflationary economy. The March Forward: The Mechanization of Shoe Production in Meiji Japan Martha Chaiklin (Independent scholar)
One of the most iconic images of modernization in Japan is the photograph of Sakamoto yoma in full samurai regalia, except for his feet, which were shod in brogans. Nevertheless, Ryoma’s boots were not a symbol of modern production, but instead were probably custom-made by hand using time-honed techniques. Images of Japanese people dressed in Western clothing are commonly used to exemplify modernization, yet the shift from traditional dress forms was neither immediate or linear. Shoes represent one important aspect of this change and in terms of technological development are a more interesting case study than clothing. Specifically, weaving and sewing are some of the earliest mechanized technologies, but shoe construction is complex and requires a number of steps that require different technologies. This paper will examine how western footwear was adopted and produced in nineteenth century Japan. Contemporary newspapers, magazines, company histories and fiction will be utilized to place mechanization within a social, political and economic context. 24
It will discuss the interaction between the Meiji government, especially the Ministries of the Army and Navy, and the private sector and the introduction of technologies that led to a from traditional footwear produced by burakumin or as a by-industry on farms to cordwainers, cottage industry and ultimately mechanized mass production. SESSION 14, ROOM B - Teaching and Education Focusing on Japanese Culture in English Classes for Japanese Students John Rucynski (Okayama University)
Government initiatives such as the “Global 30” and “Top Global University” programs illustrate a growing emphasis on the need for deeper global awareness in higher education in Japan. This is a welcome change for English language teachers who have always seen the English classroom as a place for integrating language education and cross-cultural awareness. It is an opportunity to implement Cates’ (2004) vision to teach English not only as a subject to memorize for exams or standardized tests, but rather to “help students learn about the rich variety of people in our multicultural world” (p. 31). Unfortunately, ELT materials have not completely kept pace with this shift. Although many English language teachers endeavor to integrate language and culture teaching, finding suitable materials can be a huge challenge. A growing number of ELT course books do include rich cross-cultural content, but it is impossible to cater to the needs and interests of all students in a class, especially if different students have aspirations to study or live in a specific foreign country. In addition, many course books are designed to be used by students in a wide range of countries, making it difficult to focus on individual cultures and their place in the world. Regardless of which foreign countries students are particularly interested in, however, there is one common cross-cultural skill which all students need—the ability to explain their own culture in English. In this session, practical classroom ideas for helping students describe Japanese culture in English will be introduced. The presenter will demonstrate how to modify traditional language learning classroom activities such as presentations and speaking tasks to place a greater emphasis on cultural identity. Additionally, ELT materials which make use of foreign perspectives of Japanese culture will be introduced. On Constructing Models of Japanese Teaching Training Programmes: Cooperation among Universities Manami Fujihira (Osaka University)
On 22 August 2016, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced the new standard for Japanese language teacher training courses. The new standard explained that Japanese language teacher training courses must include at least one credit for the ‘practicum’ class. Before the new standard, practicums were not obligatory in these courses. Consequently, each university developed its own type of practicum or its training courses with no practicums. This was revealed in previous studies on practicums focussing mostly on case studies. To comply with the new standard, we believe that the primary task is to construct and exhibit the model framework of practicums and to develop cooperative relationships among 25
universities. The current problems of the practicums in the training courses offered at universities in Japan are as follows: 1) It is difficult for some universities to arrange training schools or classes. 2) It is difficult to track trainees’ practice if practicums are outsourced to overseas or domestic universities/schools. 3) The types of training schools that universities of trainees arrange may not match the trainees’ career plan. 4) Problems have not been shared among universities and there has not been an overview of training programmes. Center for Japanese Language and Culture (CJLC), Osaka University has been certified as the Joint Usage Center for education in Japanese language and culture. This allows us to cooperate with several universities in Japan and to share our human and educational resources. The aim of this study is to examine what CJLC can offer Japanese language teacher training courses and their practicums at the Joint Usage Center to solve the problems outlined above and to discuss the remaining issues. SESSION 15, ROOM A - Japan and Europe Japan Meets the West: New Documents about the First Japanese Embassy to Italy (1585) Carlo Pelliccia (CLEPUL- Universidade de Lisboa)
the Modern most significant events that marks theembassy encounter between Japanshisetsu and the, shōnen West inOne the of Early age is the organization of an (Tenshō 1582-1590) of 4 young aristocrats, chosen by Arima Seminary, who were sent to Europe to show loyalty and respect to Pope Gregory XIII (Ugo Boncompagni, 1572-1585) and Philip II (1527-1598), king of Spain and Portugal. This mission was promoted by the Jesuit visitor Alessandro Valignano (1539-1606) and supported by three daimyōs of the Kyūshū. Apart from its economic and missionary aspects, this mission constituted an opportunity to engage in dialogue and gain knowledge about the ‘Other’; it was a moment for exchange and communication between two different socio-cultural systems. This paper, through the analysis of unpublished documents in Italian archives, discusses events, cities, characters, and new questions about the legation and this journey to Italy (from 1 March to 9 August 1585). The reports and travel letters under consideration are aimed at presenting, on the one hand, the concern that various Jesuits, religious, and civil authorities have for Japanese young people, and on the other hand, the description of some of the characteristics of Japanese people, who were still greatly unknown to Europeans at the end of the sixteenth century. Urashima Tarō and the School of Archetypal Criticism Maria Cărbune (University of Tübingen)
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The Japanese legend of Urashima Tarō provides us with a unique opportunity to gaze upon the development of literary genres in Japanese literature across centuries. Starting in the Nara period, through the Heian, Kamakura, Edo periods and up until the Meiji period and the present, countless versions of the tale have been written, including those by some of Japan’s best-known writers, Mori Ōgai, Kōda Rohan, Shimazaki Tōson and Dazai Osamu. The tale’s rich and complex history may be analyzed from the perspective of archetypal literary criticism, as grounded by Northrop Frye’s work “Anatomy of Criticism”, in 1957. In this book the literary critic attempts to extend the comparative, morphological method used in the analysis of fairytales and folktales (in the tradition of Wladimir Propp) to the rest of literary genres, bringing about a structuralistic view of literature. It is my belief that one can trace the different versions of the tale of Urashima, with the cultural background of Shinto, Buddhism and Taoism, against Northrop Frye’s classification of fictional modes, from the mythical mode, the mode of romance (consisting of ballads, legends, fairytales and folktales), to the high mimetic mode, the low mimetic mode and ironic mode. Thus one may gain insight into the story’s development and enrich its analysis, as of late based on the thematic pattern followed by most versions, with an analysis of the literary style reflecting characteristics not only of different historical periods, but also of different fictional modes. SESSION 16, ROOM B - Premodern interactions Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Diplomacy with Manila in Castilian Documents (1592-1598) Jonathan Lopez-Vera (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)
In 2013 2014, because of the anniversary the“400 visityears of a Japanese embassy to king Philip III inand 1614 there were constant mentions toofthe of relations between Spain and Japan”. Did these relations really exist? In this presentation we analyze the first official relations between Japan and Castile, or more specifically, between the government of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the one in Manila, through Castilian documents between 1592 and 1598. We analyze original documents from the Archivo General de Indias, in Seville, consisting mainly of letters and reports to the court of Philip II. Through them, we witness how the timid official relations between the two countries were marked by mistrust and fear on the part of the Castilians, and how the evangelical cause –represented in this case by the order of the Franciscans – was instrumental in the course of events. In this documentation we see some episodes that were particularly significant in this period, such as the wreck of the galleon San Felipe in the Japanese coasts and the subsequent execution of the so-called “26 martyrs of Nagasaki”. Lacking an analysis of the relations between the two countries during the subsequent period, the Tokugawa government, we can conclude by stating that the official relations between Japan and Castile during the rule of Toyotomi Hideyoshi were clearly poor: both in terms of quantity and quality. Japan was only interested in trade and possibly in Castilian-Filipino vassalage; and Castile was only moved by the evangelization of the Japanese and preventing an invasion of the Philippines. With the exception of the latter, nobody achieved any of these goals, so we can consider these relations as a failure. 27
Chinese Anecdotes in the Môgyû-shô (the Commentaries Written in Kana on Meng-qui (Beginner's Guide) Kiyoyuki Tsuta (Osaka University)
Classical Chinese culture or literature has widely influenced Japanese culture and literature. In this research, anecdotes in Chinese historical texts are focused on. A wide variety of anecdotes has been adopted into pre-modern Japanese literary works, or it has impacted on Japanese thought and culture. In this situation, however, the images of anecdotes were not as original as they had been. Japanese own contents have often introduced into adopted anecdotes. In former research, these adoptions are studied mainly based on Japanese literary works. But the import of Chinese anecdotes into Japanese literary works varies from one work to another because of their characters, therefore we cannot consider pure influence of adoption of Chinese anecdotes. This research focuses on the shômono (the commentaries written in kana on Chinese classic books). Since the shômono is compiled for lectures, it hardly contains editors' rhetorical features. Therefore, modifications in the shômono mean that the editors of the literature consider cited anecdotes in Chinese historical texts as shown in modified versions. In this research, anecdotes in Chinese historical texts are extracted from Môgyû-shô (a shômono on Meng-qui (Beginner's Guide)). I point out there are some anecdotes which are modified from originals, and I suggest that these modifications often occur in romance relationships. It is concluded that there are differences in cultures and thoughts between Japan and China on the background to this phenomenon.
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