History is not necessarily a finite account. Sometimes the ability to understand and fully appreciate the events and relationships of the past require a bit of storytelling. The ability to communicate the past as effectively as possible to the people of the present can be difficult. In the case of having fiction tie-in closely with fact, a person and easily relate to history by feeling an emotional connection. For this paper I will be using the story Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki to the historical accounts of A Modern History of Japan by Andrew Gordon. I will use Tanizaki’s story to personalize the factual history of Gordon’s book.
A few aspects of Japan’s industrializing gave insight to the hectic political theater in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: imperialism, industrial capitalism, and growth of the national image. Imperialism molded politics in Japan due to the ability for it to convince the population to believe that the Empire was doing the will of the people, and that the Empire answered to the people and not their own interests. Industrial capitalism at the end of the nineteenth-century brought important political changes. The industrialization of Japan gave birth to a larger class of laborers who gathered in cities such as Osaka and Tokyo. These people would later develop a new view of the future for a modern Japan. The growth of national image was encouraged by the political electoral process. Demonstrations and political rallies became sort of a normal occurrence, this is unprecedented for Japan.
A major aspect in Gordon’s book is the spike in Japanese nationalism. This is evident throughout Tanizaki’s story and Kaname’s fascination with the old ways of the Japanese. Gordon creates a visu...
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...ich personifies the difficulty of change.
Tanizaki’s story is a very unique read. That seems to be the point though. It begins with such a mundane aspect of life, and then finishes as if halfway through a thought. Maybe that’s a good way to look at Gordon’s book, something (modernization) that almost came in as if it were just a normal thing and then just progressed to where it was nothing special. Either way, both books point out how drastic of a change Japan went under once “Westernization” took place. While Tanizaki’s book is fictional, it is presented in a way that allows you to think that it is a direct narration of something that actually took place. It is as if there was a family that dealt with these exact issues. Some Prefer Nettles allows itself to be a way to personalize, thus establishing a connection, with the actual counts of A Modern History of Japan.
Much of what is considered modern Japan has been fundamentally shaped by its involvement in various wars throughout history. In particular, the events of World War II led to radical changes in Japanese society, both politically and socially. While much focus has been placed on the broad, overarching impacts of war on Japan, it is through careful inspection of literature and art that we can understand war’s impact on the lives of everyday people. The Go Masters, the first collaborative film between China and Japan post-WWII, and “Turtleback Tombs,” a short story by Okinawan author Oshiro Tatsuhiro, both give insight to how war can fundamentally change how a place is perceived, on both an abstract and concrete level.
'Even with all the mental anguish and struggle, an elemental instinct bound us to this soil. Here we were born; here we wanted to live. We had tasted of its freedom and learned of its brave hopes for democracy. It was too late, much too late for us to turn back.' (Sone 124). This statement is key to understanding much of the novel, Nisei Daughter, written by Monica Sone. From one perspective, this novel is an autobiographical account of a Japanese American girl and the ways in which she constructed her own self-identity. On the other hand, the novel depicts the distinct differences and tension that formed between the Issei and Nisei generations. Moreover, it can be seen as an attempt to describe the confusion experienced by Japanese Americans torn between two cultures.
Being a relative neophyte to medieval Japanese history I found Conlan’s State of War to be an enlightening series of chapters about the changes that developed out of the Nanbokucho experience. With the requirement for compensation, rewards being imperative for service, and the often times capricious nature of loyalty; Conlan demystifies the Japanese warrior, revealing them to be no gods or buddhas, rather by and large merely pragmatists.
Christopher Benfey’s work The Great Wave is a narrative driven by a collection of accounts, stories and curious coincidences tying together The Gilded Age of New England in particular with interactions and connections to the Japan of old and new. In the context of The Great Wave, Benfey's own personal journey to Japan at the age of sixteen should be understood. Embarking on this voyage to learn traditional writing, language and Judo, his story can also be seen as a not only a historical continuation, but also a personal precursor to the vignettes he discovers and presents to the reader.
Although the term “revolution from above” is often used to explain the GHQ’s method of postwar reform in Japan (Dower, 1999: p.69), I argue that a similar motivation was in effect in the U.S.’s efforts to isolate all Japanese descendants in America and subject them to coerced American soci...
In 1900 Britain was in many respects the world’s leading nation, enjoying a large share of world trade, a dominant position in the international money market, and possessing a far flung empire supported by the world’s most powerful navy. Japan was a complete contrast, sharing with Britain only the fact that it too was a nation of Islands lying off the shore of a major continent. Until the 1860s it had possessed a social and economic structure more akin to that of feudal, rather than twentieth century, Europe. By the 1990s, the positions were almost reversed. This paper sets out to examine the contrasting democratic political systems of the two nations and to explore the social and democratic consequences of the changes that have occurred.
Sayle, Murray. “Japan Goes Dutch”. London Review of Books. Vol. 23 No. 7 (5 April
John Dower's "Embracing Defeat" truly conveys the Japanese experience of American occupation from within by focusing on the social, cultural, and philosophical aspects of a country devastated by World War II. His capturing of the Japanese peoples' voice let us, as readers, empathize with those who had to start over in a "new nation."
Much about Kogawa's novel makes it difficult not only to read but also to classify or categorize. First, Obasan blurs the line between nonfiction and fiction. Kogawa draws from actual letters and newspaper accounts, autobiographical details, and historical facts throughout the novel, but she artistically incorporates this material into a clearly fictional work. In addition, Kogawa's narrative operates on multiple levels, from the individual and familial to the communal, national, political, and spiritual. Stylistically, the novel moves easily between the language of documentary reportage and a richly metaphorical language, and between straightforward narrative and stream-ofconsciousness exposition. This astonishing variety in Kogawa's novel can, at times, become bewildering and unsettling to the reader. But as many readers and critics have noted, Kogawa's style and method in Obasan also constitute the novel's unique strength. Kogawa writes in such a way that ambiguity, uncertainty, irony, and paradox do not weaken her story but instead paradoxically become the keys to understanding it.
Therefore, the younger generations obtain some sense of sympathy toward their ancestors and dreams that were to be fulfilled in The United States. American-born children, ostensibly, are liberated from their parents‟ past. Still, they are obsessed dramatically about their ancestral land. They are haunted by past, and the mystery associated with it; a mysterious past that existed only in the memories of their parents. Intelligently, Tan has used this strategy to narrate her stories. All of Tan‟s novels have parallel narratives, one related to the past which is retold by mothers, and in one case a step sister who has come back from China; and the other is associated with the present stories of daughters about the cultural conflicts and alienation, they feel regarding the ancestral heritage of their home which has been transmitted to them by means of past memories. The point is that storytelling plays an essential position in creation of a new, more Chinese identity, in contrast to the previous American one, McDaniels (2004) states that, Basically, both versions of the stories, mother‟s and daughter‟s are necessary for revealing the complete story, including the painful secrets, whether the pain is alleviated or just changes its context. Both mothers and daughters need to tell their versions and listen to the others‟ versions in order to have all the information necessary to arrange their
I will first begin by summarizing the plot of Family by Pa Chin and the plot of Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki and summarizing the characters as I go along. I will then explain how the two authors constructed their characters on modernity and tradition and conclude this paper by explaining the themes of the novels and how I would compare the two novels.
Suzuki, Tomi. Narrating the Self: Fictions of Japanese Modernity. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1996.
...high power status, Japan had to have a self-reliant industrial common ground and be able to move all human and material resources (S,195). Through the Shogun Revolution of 1868, the abolition of Feudalism in 1871, the activation of the national army in 1873, and the assembly of parliament in 1889, the political system of Japan became westernized (Q,3). Local Labor and commercial assistance from the United States and Europe allowed Japan’s industry to bloom into a developed, modern, industrial nation (Q,3). As a consequence production surplus, and food shortage followed (Q,3). Because of how much it relied on aid of western powers, Japan’s strategic position became especially weak. In an attempt to break off slightly from the aid of the west Japanese leaders believed that it would be essential for Japan to expand beyond its borders to obtain necessary raw materials.
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 ...