The use of interpersonal relationships as a criticism of the westernization of Japan in Yukio Mishima’s The Sound of Waves

The 1950s was a seminal point in Japanese history: the point at which the Japanese populace had to reject or accept the westernization of their country. Yukio Mishima personally rejected this new culture, instead choosing to grasp onto traditional Shinto, the native religion of Japan. The overarching cultural machinations and shifts that occurred would ultimately be reflected in Mishima’s The Sound of Waves. He efficaciously utilized the interpersonal relationships crafted in the novel as a method of better conveying his views against the westernization of Japan. The definition of these characters as cultural symbols carries weight in and of itself, and further interactions between these characters give rise to a near-allegorical level of symbolism. The end result of this is an ingratiation of Mishima’s cultural beliefs with those of the reader.

Before one explores the impact of Mishima’s cultural views on his novel, one must know what these beliefs are. At the most general level, one can label his culture as “militaristic Shinto,” an ultra-nationalist interpretation of traditional Japanese religion. In Shinto, it was accepted that “the Emperor was descended from the [Japanese gods]” (“Divinity of the Emperor”). Further centralization of the shogunate, the emperor’s governmental body, necessarily led to a more direct connection between the sociopolitical realm and the religious one. Mishima’s pastoralist emphasis on nature and religion must, therefore, be connected to his views on politics and government. Additionally, militaristic Shinto’s ultra-nationalist zeal derived from expansionist-era interpretations of traditional religious texts. For many, expansion could be justified with arguments of racial superiority and divine ori...

... middle of paper ...

...their interactions and those of the cultures they represent. Finally, the nature of their relationships is reliant upon Mishima’s own interpretations of the cultures, which are inherently biased and subjective due to his militaristic Shinto cultural background.

Works Cited

Carroll, Beverlee J. "State Shinto." World Religions Professor. World-Religions-Professor.com. Web. 29 May 2014.

"Divinity of the Emperor." BBC News. BBC, 07 Sept. 2009. Web. 29 May 2014.

Mishima, Yukio. The Sound of Waves. Trans. Meredith Weatherby and Yoshinori Kinoshita. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.

Prince, Stephen. "Viewing Kurosawa." The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1999. 24. Print.

Schwartz, Seth et al. American Psychological Association. Communalism, Familism, and Filial

Piety: Are They Birds of a Collectivist Feather? 2010. PDF file.