While the western definition of “monster” is not entirely synonymous with Japanese yokai, they both do share what “Monsterologists” like Komatsu Kazuhiko and Susan Sontag note as a profound connection between their appearance and “times of crisis.” While perhaps this connection is more prominent in the relationship between Godzilla and Japan’s “nuclear dialectic,” there is evidence that folktales of yokai nevertheless emerged during different times of crisis in Japanese history. This essay will explore the appearance of yokai in Yanagita Kunio’s The Legends of Tono in relation to anxieties of protecting local society and identity in “pre-modern” Japan, as well as the connection between Japan’s struggle with modernity and an increased exposure …show more content…
The folktale of the mayoi-ga (a house found when one loses his way) says that anyone who finds this house is able to take anything they like. In other words, this kami appears when one is in a literal crisis (being lost) to test their moral virtue. A woman who found the house, but did not take anything, later found a bowl that never decreased the volume of her rice. In contrast, a man who also stumbled across the mayoi-ga, but decided to return with others to take its possessions, was never able to find the house again. A similar moral can found in the story of the Stone Grain Mill These stories were likely directed to the villagers of Tono to not only constrain them to their social position, but to also show that people should be humble, otherwise bad things will occur. For example, the curse of a kami is seen in a story about Kahei the hunter who decided to kill a white deer kami out of self-importance, but instead shot a rock and ended up crippling his pride: “Being a famous hunter and disliking criticism from society, he resolved to shoot the deer…He found that what he had shot at was a white rock that closely resembled the shape of a deer…It is said that this was the one time he considered giving up hunting.” The phenomena of kami who appear and bestow good fortune among the …show more content…
The song has many phrases that praise various things like the bridge, the gate, or the stable, telling people to “come see this bridge,” or “come see this gate,” while remarking “Oh, What a wonderful era!” Even foreigners were given their own section in the collection, as if denoting they were part of the yokai experience. Therefore, a crisis in protecting or creating this important local identity can result in the creation of yokai. Examples of this can be seen in the stories about the kami of nature, which were created to explain everyday phenomena like birdcalls, or local aphorisms. On the section of “The Birds of Tono,” Yanagita tells one story of a daughter of a choja who lost her husband became the “otto bird,” whose cries sound like she is calling out for her husband. In another tale, it is said that the kakko and cuckoo were once sisters, and became birds due to a misunderstanding when they were
Across different works like Virgil’s Aeneid and Aeschylus’ Eumenides, In these representations of monsters, the initial relationship between gods and monsters is simple: all monsters derived from the gods. However, as soon as distinguishing features set the monsters apart, they prove Clay’s point that monsters are seen as threats who need to be contained and whose powers need to be exploited by the gods. The close reading of both texts reveal the relationship between gods and monsters along with the power structures between
Joseph Conlans “State of War; The Violent Order of Fourteenth Century Japan” is an depth look at Japans emerging warrior class during a time period of constant warfare in Medieval Japan. His work however doesn’t revolve around the re-fabrication and in-depth analysis of battles sieged like many contemporary examinations of wars and battles won and lost. Instead the author vies to navigate the reader on journey into the warrior class’s lives and how they evolved through a statistical analysis of records. This illustrates how warfare changed and transformed with the constant evolving of the Samurai, but it also includes how their actions affected their Political environment as well as the society in which they dwelled from the bottom up. Through his survey of records and documents, Conlan is able to give readers a compelling look into the Warrior class and at times shatters in the process many of the pre-conceived general notions that one may hold about this ancient class of professional warriors. Many of the notions & common misconceptions debunked in this scholarly piece include the idea that the Samurai was a male only fraternity, reserved for those of impeccable candor and loyalty. When truth be known, woman and young men (boys) were also trained in the art of war and thus were as likely to be found on the battle fields as men when times were tough and solider numbers were depleted. Further, another misconception (Generally thought to be caused by the popular and well known; “The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai”) of the warrior class is that all of these men were truly Samurai which translated to “one who serves” when really, loyalty for the warrior class as Conlan points out only went as far as ones right to ...
In 1954, Japan debuted the world’s first radioactive “king of all monsters”, Gojira. Gojira director, Ishiro Honda, sets the first scene with a destructive power emerging from the sea that would ignite a burning panic throughout Japan and force catastrophe in its wake—much like the atomic bomb it was birthed from. Gojira had a single purpose, to rampage across Japan and decimate everything in its path. As much as they tried to stop the monster, Japan’s defenses fell victim to Gojira’s indestructibility. As Japan’s last resort, they found hope in Dr. Serizawa’s emergence of new science and technology to dismantle Gojira. In the end, the bittersweet success of defeating Gojira with Dr. Serizawa’s Oxygen Destroyer was not dared to be forgotten or thought of lightly. Because if placed in the wrong hands, nuclear weapons testing may continue and another monster might appear again.
Peter H. Brothers’ “Japans Nuclear Nightmare” compares the movie Godzilla to a devastating period in Japan’s history: The Atomic Age. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States destroyed Japan. In this article, Brothers wants to educate the audience and accomplishes this by using ethos and pathos. He uses ethos by appealing to ethics and to show right and wrong to the Japanese culture and community. He also uses the rhetoric of pathos to appeal to the audience’s emotions. Pathos is one of the easier ways to capture the audience and the author does that by using imagery and symbols. Brothers’ connects
Musui’s Story is the exciting tale of a low class samurai’s life towards the end of the Tokugawa era. Although one would normally imagine a samurai to be a noble illustrious figure, Musui’s Story portrays the rather ignominious life of an unemployed samurai. Nonetheless, this primary account demonstrates the tenacity of samurai values and privileges present at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The social status of samurai had been elevated to such a state that even someone like Musui was easily able to gain influence in everyday affairs with his privileges. Not only that, but he had retained his values as a warrior and still kept great pride for his arts in weaponry.
From the years of 1853 to 1868, the people of Japan experienced major changes in all aspects of their lives. This era, known as the Bakumatsu signified Japan’s change from the traditional Edo period to a modernized Meiji dynasty. This change can be attributed to an American naval officer by the name Matthew Calbrath Perry whom ultimately changed the complexity of Japanese culture. In the eyes of an American, Commodore Perry is seen as one of the greatest influential figures in international history. However, what most people don’t understand is how the very own citizens of Japan perceived Commodore Perry. There are many ways in which, the Japanese may have perceived Perry. However, a fascinating aspect to think about is if he was perceived as a hero or a villain.
Monsters have been depicted in different ways throughout history, but scholars like Jeffrey Jerome Cohen have been able to dissect how monsters are viewed by culture along with examining the various functions that monsters serve in horror fiction and films. His theses cover a broad expanse of interpretations, ranging from topics as different as how monsters represent cultural and societal conflicts to how they fascinate us. Stories like Peter Crowther’s “Ghosts with Teeth” make the reader reflect on a different type of monster, one that constantly undermines our societal and cultural expectations through taking the form of a human. Crowther’s story is profitably interpreted through Jerome Cohen’s “Seven Theses” about monsters, suggesting that “Ghosts with Teeth” is more than the horror story seen at face value.
Imagine waking one day to witness the tragic state of hundreds of thousands of homes being left in ruins, along with the ashes and rubble of major cities, and the casualties of millions of citizens. This was evident on August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan when the first ever atomic bomb dropped. A mere three days later, and Nagasaki, Japan was also bombed, and the world was taken by storm. Even though WWII is in the past, the long-term effects on Japanese citizens and the debate on possible outcomes of the war is still discussed decades after the events. According to Peter H. Brothers in “Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: How the Bomb Became a Beast Called Godzilla,” these events inspired film director, Ishiro Honda, to create the monster movie Godzilla,
Known for her work as a historian and rather outspoken political activist, Yamakawa Kikue was also the author of her book titled Women of the Mito Domain (p. xix). At the time she was writing this work, Yamakawa was under the surveillance of the Japanese government as the result of her and her husband’s work for the socialist and feminist movements in Japan (p. xx-xxi). But despite the restrictions she was undoubtedly required to abide by in order to produce this book, her work contains an air of commentary on the past and present political, social, and economic issues that had been plaguing the nation (p. xxi). This work is a piece that comments on the significance of women’s roles in history through the example of Yamakawa’s own family and
Monsters have always been depicted as some atrocious beings that were created to inflict fear into whoever it could, in anyway possible. Monsters vary from culture to culture but never do they vary in the havoc they wreak and the fear they inflict in some. Three authors have shown a more advanced definition of what society sees as a monster.Three greatly written novels “Parasites and Perverts: An Introduction to Gothic Monstrosity” “Gothic Realities: The Impact of Horror Fiction on Modern Culture” “Civilized Vampires versus Savage Werewolves: Race and Ethnicity in the Twilight series” show clearly the theories in novels that depict others as the monster.
For instance take Godzilla, in “Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: How the Bomb Became a Beast Called Godzilla” author, Peter H Brothers tells us some history behind the making of the monster. “Godzilla was made in Japan less then a decade after atomic bombs devastated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Still reeling from the trauma of atomic annihilation and the subsequent effects of radioactive poisoning, a team of Japanese filmmakers created a monster that embodied the fears and anxieties in Japan resulting from Nuclear Warfare” (51). Godzilla is a prime example of monsters symbolizing a societies fears. “We create monsters as a reaction to the fears we experience and our inability to control the world around us” (Asma 61). Our inability to not have control of our fate and what other people are going to do will never change, but creating Godzilla gave the people of these
In the poem by Joy Harjo called “Eagle Poem,” Harjo talks about prayer and life and how they revolve around mother-nature. She suggests that while being one with nature, we feel we are in a place in which we haven’t imagined and the things in which we would love to do in that magnificent and calming place. After one reads the poem, he/she enjoys the lyrical type of it. This is because “Eagle Poem” sticks to one idea and extends it throughout the entire poem. For instance, it talks about prayer, nature, and animals from start to finish.
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
Asma, Stephen. On Monsters :An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
Our preliminary class gave a brief, yet detailed outline of major events affecting the East Asian region. Within that class, prompted by our limited geographical knowledge of Asia, we were given a fundamental explanation of the geographical locations of the various events taking place in the region. In subsequent classes, we were introduced to the major wars, political shifts, and economic interests which shaped Japan, China and Korea to what they are today. We examined the paradigm of pre-modern Japanese governance, the Shogunate, and the trained warriors which defended lord and land, Samurai. In addition, we examined the socio-economic classes of Medieval Japan, which included the Samurai, peasants, craftsmen, and the merchants. We also examined pre-1945 Japan’s policies toward foreign entities, notably the Sakoku Policy, which sought to expunge all foreign presence and commerce in an effort to protect its borders and culture. 1945, however, saw ...