More than a few enchanted Westerners ahve come to Japan intending to gain a deeper understanding of the country and its people. Their efforts, along with those of native writers, have produced numerous books written to explain various aspects of Japanese culture. What follows is a personal list of my top ten must-reads for any aspiring authority on Japan:
10. Anatomy of Dependence by Takeo Doi – Never mind that the central claim–that amae is a word utterly unique to the Japanese language–is considered bunk. Still, Doi makes many interesting insights into the Japanese psyche and ties these in with the langauge. The word amai refers to the suckling infant’s feeling of dependence and passive love for its mother, but the implications of amae extend into obligations to others, ways to deal with negative emotions, inner and outer circles, and, uh, the uniqueness of the Japanese. Never mind that either. The textbook-like style of writing makes it worthwhile for any gaijin-cum-psychologist.
9. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword by Ruth Benedict – This perhaps most well-known book on Japan postulates the causes of world War II and moves into analyses of psychology, ethics, and personal relatinships. Often noted for her guilt vs. shame culture distinction, Benedict asserts that some cultures like the US have absolute moral standards and rely on the individuals to develop a conscience. Citizens of such a society take great relief in confession–in the modern context read “therapy”. Countries like Japan, conversely, have external sanctions to enforce good behavior. The mere perception of societal disapproval can bring shame. Very interesting stuff for sure, which sometims suffers for stereotyping assertions like, “They (Japanese) sleep with complete relaxation, in any position…” Benedict has also often been criticized for never actually having come to Japan.
8. The Wages of Guilt by Ian Buruma – Buruma assesses how differently Japan and Germany have dealt with World War II. He quotes a typical textbook on the Nanking Masacre: “In December 197, Japanese troops occupied Nanking.” A footnote adds that many Chinese, including civilians, were reported to have been killed. Still, conservative politicans wanted the passage deleted altogether. When Nagasaki Mayor Motoshima held the emperor responsible for the war, conservatives were outraged. Motoshima was later shot. This incident, Buruma notes, lends credibility to Ruth Benedict’s theory about guilt and shame cultures. The Germans needed to confess their sins; the Japanese needed silence.
7. On Familiar Terms by Donald Keene – Japan’s pre-eminent scholar, writer and translator, Donald Keene, takes readers on a personal tour of the Japan he intimately knows. And Keene’s love knows few bounds. Working as a POW transalator during the war, Keene befriended prisoners and once played Beethoven’s Eroica symphony for them. He writes passionately about vintage 1950s Kyoto, and mourns its modernization. Readers encounter some of the many noted figures Keene has had the pleasure of knowing, Abe Kobo and Mishima Yukio among them.
6. Lost Japan by Alex Kerr – Kerr, who recently bolted for Thailand, has entered the world of Japanese arts as few foreigners have. Whether dealing with antiques, kabuki, noh, or an old house in a remote valley, doors seem to open for Kerr. Originally written in Japanese, Kerr’s concern for the vanishing arts and deteriorating environment make the book an important warning.
5. Memories of Silk and Straw by Dr. Junichi Saga – Saga records the experiences of more than 50 of his elderly patients living in the Lake Kosurnigaura region, northeast of Tokyo. The unadorned retellings portray the harshness and dire poverty of an utterly different world that existed just 100 years ago. Master craftsmen and fishermen tell of getting ten potatoes for a sen, parents tell of leaving newborns to die, and beggars tell of a meager existence in the mountains. Short sketches do much to enhance the overall floavor of this book.
4. The Lady and the Monk by Pico Iyer – Iyer seeks to find the “lunar Japan” of delicate poems, impeccible tastes and Zen insights. While allusions to Zen and spirituality serve as a backdrop throughout, foreigner complaints, concerns, and intercultural relationships are also featured. The reader may find him or herself in this book, in more ways than one. The book typifies many a gaijin experience: a passing interest in the arts with the main focus on money and Japanese chicks. Given Iyer’s talent as a storyteller, the book can’t help but succeed.
3. Japanese Inn by Oliver Statler – Statler writes with a focus on the Minaguchi-ya, an inn along the old Tokaido Road, weaving historical facts into his own experiences. Statler masterfully captures the flavor of the era (the 1500s), prompting James Michener to call it a minor classic. Like Momories of Silk and Straw, readers get a sense of the vast changes the past centuries have wrought. Statler’s other book, Japanese Pilgrimage, is equally fascinating, retelling the author’s trek to visit the 88 temples of Shikoku.
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden – This novel follows the life of a young girl taken from a poor fishing village to the glamour of Kyoto, and details what it was like to become a geisha–not a pleasant experience. Gripping and informative, the book records a way of life that is rapidly fading into oblivion. Based on the actual experiences of the famous geisha Nitta Sayuri, Memoirs of a Geisha invokes an empathy usually reserved for non-fiction works. A “can’t-put-down” classic.
1. The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth – This was an easy call for number one. Booth exemplifies much of what I aspire to as a traveler, a writer, and a human being. His big heart and integrity come through page after page. He describes his walking adventure from northern Hokkaido to southern Kyushu with candor, insight and humor. Although he makes more than a few criticisms, it is always clear that he is in love with Japan. Along the way he gamely (and drunkenly) wrestles with a sumo, gets harassed for “his” country’s awful deed at Hiroshima’s Peace Park (unfairly because Booth is British) and has comical encounters with Japanese who cannot accept that he speaks Japanese fluently. One reviewer called his walk a “1,000-mile pub crawl” and it is true that readers get the keenest sense of the Japan Booth went out in search of at the drinking establishments he visits along the way. With Booth’s death, Japan and the world lost a great writer.
Archive for the 'culture' Category
Builders in Nagasaki discovered the remains of a prison next to Peace Park in 1992. Many Chinese and Korean POWs died there, both at the hands of their Japanese captors, and in the atomic bomb. A group of individuals wanted to preserve the prison ruins to illustrate Japan’s responsibility for the bomb and for the war. Conservatives, however, argued that Peace Park was a “happy place. Why would tourists want to see a prison?” This opinion prevailed; the prison site was reburied, as was the history surrounding it.
Nagasaki’s Peace Park is one of the greener places along the otherwise busy, noisy tram street. Lined with trees, the part has bricks laid in concentric circles extending outward from the bomb’s epicenter. Although the benchers and surrounding area make the park welcoming, walking towards the epicenter is a sobering experience. A sign notes that “Bocksca,” a B-29 plane, chose Nagasaki’s Mitsubishi Arms Factory as a secondary target on that cloudy day, a decision led to the deaths of 73,884 people, mostly citizens.
Stairs lead to another part of the park where statues from several countries appeal for peace. The main statue depicts Atlas, erected as “a signpost in the cause of global harmony… the highest hope of mankind.” Atlas is flanked by colorful paper cranes.
Several cablecar stops from the park, a new peace museum opened in 1995. It is a museum that aims to balance the depiction of Japan only being victimized by the horror of the atomic bomb.
The museum was founded by a Protestant minister and peace activist, Reverend Oka Masaharu. Oka was determined to make Japan take responbility for its role in the war, the bomb, and the untold suffering caused by its aggression. This history, Ian Buruma points out in his informative book, “The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan”, has sometimes been glossed over or completely ignored by a generation of Japanese.
One example is school textbooks. Ienaga Saboro, a Japanese history professor and textbook writer, was forced to delete passages about, among other things, the Nanking Massacre, the rape of civilians by Japanese soldiers, and Japanese medical experiments in Manchuria. As recently as 1984 he has sued the government for acting unconstitutionally. Buruma notes, “Japanese school textbooks are the result of so many compromises that they hardly reflect any opinion at all.”
A visitor to Oka’s museum will find photos and explanations (all in Japanese and Korean, save for a brochure with English translations) of the approximately 10,000 Korean atomic bomb casualties. These individuals had been taken to Japan against their will and after the war, survivors were subjected to further discrimination. The exhibition provide evidence of their this discriminatory treatment.
Another room shows the grim circumstances that Korean laborers faced. Forced to labor making oil from rice and beans, they subsisted on a scant two bowls of rice and bean byproducts, along with a small bowl of soup. Another area shows the tiny space where Korean miners were forced to work 12 hours a day. These Koreans predictably contracted terrible illnesses. Others were forced to do the dangerous job of laying railroad tracks. Countless Koreans perished as a result.
Photos show Japanese soldiers bayoneting children, apparently for “sport.” One section explains how experimental surgery, much like the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele’s experiments, was carried out in China, along with poison gas experiments. The plight of Korean and many other Asian sex slaves is explained. Indeed, the suffering of all the victimzed countries in Asia is depicted. A photo shows an armless Korean man; one arm was cut off for raising the Korean flag (in his own country); his remaining arm was later cut off for the same offense.
A main point of Buruma’s book is, “Why has Germany admitted and done so much, while Japan remains relatively blind to the suffering it caused?” To illustrate this pont, Buruma gives two striking examples. In Germany, the politician Philipp Jenniger outraged press and politicans in and out of Germany for a speech that seemed to justify Germany’s ations. Coincidentally, one month later–on December 7, 1988–the opposite situation occurred in Nagasaki. Mayor Motohshim Hitoshi stated, “I do believe the emperor bore responsibility for the war.” The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) demanded retraction of these words. Motoshima said he could not “betray his own heart.” In response, 24 right-wing gropus rode through Nagasaki on 30 loudspeaker trucks, screaming for Motoshima’s death as “divine retribution.” A month later Motoshima was shot in the back by a right-wing extremist. He survived, but just barely.
The presence of the Oka Peace Museum in no way conlficts with the concept behind the Peace Park and the noble messages of the museum near it. A sign at the park’s Atlas statue explains that the figure’s pose is meant to be both meditative (a solemn prayer for world peace) and a call to action (to prevent further wars). The museum is especially vital as the manifestation of the latter.
The Oka Masaharu Peace Museum is located a short walk from the JR Nagasai Station. It is open daily, except Monday, from 9:00-17:00. For more information, call: 0958-20-5600.
Nagasaki’s Peace Park is one of the greener places along the otherwise busy, noisy tram street. Lined with trees, the part has bricks laid in concentric circles extending outward from the bomb’s epicenter. Although the benchers and surrounding area make the park welcoming, walking towards the epicenter is a sobering experience. A sign notes that “Bocksca,” a B-29 plane, chose Nagasaki’s Mitsubishi Arms Factory as a secondary target on that cloudy day, a decision led to the deaths of 73,884 people, mostly citizens.
Stairs lead to another part of the park where statues from several countries appeal for peace. The main statue depicts Atlas, erected as “a signpost in the cause of global harmony… the highest hope of mankind.” Atlas is flanked by colorful paper cranes.
Several cablecar stops from the park, a new peace museum opened in 1995. It is a museum that aims to balance the depiction of Japan only being victimized by the horror of the atomic bomb.
The museum was founded by a Protestant minister and peace activist, Reverend Oka Masaharu. Oka was determined to make Japan take responbility for its role in the war, the bomb, and the untold suffering caused by its aggression. This history, Ian Buruma points out in his informative book, “The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan”, has sometimes been glossed over or completely ignored by a generation of Japanese.
One example is school textbooks. Ienaga Saboro, a Japanese history professor and textbook writer, was forced to delete passages about, among other things, the Nanking Massacre, the rape of civilians by Japanese soldiers, and Japanese medical experiments in Manchuria. As recently as 1984 he has sued the government for acting unconstitutionally. Buruma notes, “Japanese school textbooks are the result of so many compromises that they hardly reflect any opinion at all.”
A visitor to Oka’s museum will find photos and explanations (all in Japanese and Korean, save for a brochure with English translations) of the approximately 10,000 Korean atomic bomb casualties. These individuals had been taken to Japan against their will and after the war, survivors were subjected to further discrimination. The exhibition provide evidence of their this discriminatory treatment.
Another room shows the grim circumstances that Korean laborers faced. Forced to labor making oil from rice and beans, they subsisted on a scant two bowls of rice and bean byproducts, along with a small bowl of soup. Another area shows the tiny space where Korean miners were forced to work 12 hours a day. These Koreans predictably contracted terrible illnesses. Others were forced to do the dangerous job of laying railroad tracks. Countless Koreans perished as a result.
Photos show Japanese soldiers bayoneting children, apparently for “sport.” One section explains how experimental surgery, much like the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele’s experiments, was carried out in China, along with poison gas experiments. The plight of Korean and many other Asian sex slaves is explained. Indeed, the suffering of all the victimzed countries in Asia is depicted. A photo shows an armless Korean man; one arm was cut off for raising the Korean flag (in his own country); his remaining arm was later cut off for the same offense.
A main point of Buruma’s book is, “Why has Germany admitted and done so much, while Japan remains relatively blind to the suffering it caused?” To illustrate this pont, Buruma gives two striking examples. In Germany, the politician Philipp Jenniger outraged press and politicans in and out of Germany for a speech that seemed to justify Germany’s ations. Coincidentally, one month later–on December 7, 1988–the opposite situation occurred in Nagasaki. Mayor Motohshim Hitoshi stated, “I do believe the emperor bore responsibility for the war.” The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) demanded retraction of these words. Motoshima said he could not “betray his own heart.” In response, 24 right-wing gropus rode through Nagasaki on 30 loudspeaker trucks, screaming for Motoshima’s death as “divine retribution.” A month later Motoshima was shot in the back by a right-wing extremist. He survived, but just barely.
The presence of the Oka Peace Museum in no way conlficts with the concept behind the Peace Park and the noble messages of the museum near it. A sign at the park’s Atlas statue explains that the figure’s pose is meant to be both meditative (a solemn prayer for world peace) and a call to action (to prevent further wars). The museum is especially vital as the manifestation of the latter.
The Oka Masaharu Peace Museum is located a short walk from the JR Nagasai Station. It is open daily, except Monday, from 9:00-17:00. For more information, call: 0958-20-5600.
Some 4,000 years ago a simple game developed in China, pitting black stones against white. One legend has an emperor inventing the game for his weak-minded son; another has a musician-sorcerer sprouting insect wings, ascending a mountain-top and miraculously discovering the game. Introduced to Japan about 1,500 years ago, the Japanese studied, systematized and eventually became masters of the game go, valuing it as much for its artistry and grace as for its intellectual challenges.
Go, unlike other brute-intellect games, values decorum and etiquette. Small details matter, like grasping the stone in the proper manner, and placing handicap stones down in the right order. And, if one really wants to be considered a go player, one cultivates a proper fighting spirit without attachment to winning.
Computer programs struggle to keep up with even an average go player, further evidencing the game’s complexities and endless combinations. In chess, Deep Blue II has upset the world grandmaster; in go, I am told that the best computer program can’t beat me, conclusive evidence that computers can’t handle a game that demands the flexibility that a human way of thinking provides.
Go is more strategic than chess, which tends to be more tactical. With a smaller board, chess has constant conflict. Not so with go. The 361 squares of the game’s grid provide numerous opportunities for small skirmishes. Players may, with greater effectiveness, avoid a battle in favor of building position elsewhere. Yielding is not only the way of the universe, as the Chinese sage Lao Tze expounded 4,000 years ago, but very often the way of the skilled go player.
The weaker player, who always plays black, enjoys the advantage of a handicapping system. Thus, nearly any two players, regardless of skill levels, can play a competitive game. Some players may receive nine or more stones before the level of competition becomes balanced.
In chess, the objective is very clear: kill the king. The objective of go is not always as clear: One strives to gain territory, the securing of which is often uncertain. With the multitude of options, players often mutally assume territory, or stones, lost even while they still have some life. An amateur go game ends when both players mutually agree that there are no more good tones to play. For a beginner, that’s not so easy to know.
From a sociological perspective, chess, with its king, queen, knights and pawns, mimics a feudal system. Go is based on more of an egalitarian model–all go stones have equal value. The go board is slightly asymmetrical, which is said to reveal the Japanese distaste for symmetry. The squares are slightly rectangular; black stones are actually a little bigger than white ones.
Go, which is referred to as igo in Japanese, involves the subtle, strategic maneuvers and decisions that general may make. In fact, at various times in history, Chinese and Japanese military men sought to enhance military strategy by understanding go. At the time of the Korean War, an American received a grant to study the game and provide the U.S. military with insights into the Chinese military mind.
Utilizing the standard Japanese ranking system, a weak player starts with a high kyu rank–perhaps 20 kyu or more–and as he gets stronger his kyu number gets smaller, until he reaches the strongest kyu rank of one. From there, he would move to shodan, or one dan, then two dan, on up. An 8 dan amateur is the approximate strength of a shodan pro. For go players at a low kyu level (meaning a strong kyu player), go clubs are always an option, although some say you should be shodan before going. Club sensei have always made me feel welcome even while I hovered at the shodan rank. Some club members, who tend to be of ojisan (older) age, enjoy the novelty of a comparatively young foreign player, and are very kind–but not particularly easy to understand.
The game go has simple rules and in fact deceives players into feeling they understand things deeper than they actually do–a lot like life. Players tend to wait for a go revelation to result in a large leap of strength. “If I could just find that flaw in my game…” a friend always said. After 15 years I still wait for my revelation.
Go, unlike other brute-intellect games, values decorum and etiquette. Small details matter, like grasping the stone in the proper manner, and placing handicap stones down in the right order. And, if one really wants to be considered a go player, one cultivates a proper fighting spirit without attachment to winning.
Computer programs struggle to keep up with even an average go player, further evidencing the game’s complexities and endless combinations. In chess, Deep Blue II has upset the world grandmaster; in go, I am told that the best computer program can’t beat me, conclusive evidence that computers can’t handle a game that demands the flexibility that a human way of thinking provides.
Go is more strategic than chess, which tends to be more tactical. With a smaller board, chess has constant conflict. Not so with go. The 361 squares of the game’s grid provide numerous opportunities for small skirmishes. Players may, with greater effectiveness, avoid a battle in favor of building position elsewhere. Yielding is not only the way of the universe, as the Chinese sage Lao Tze expounded 4,000 years ago, but very often the way of the skilled go player.
The weaker player, who always plays black, enjoys the advantage of a handicapping system. Thus, nearly any two players, regardless of skill levels, can play a competitive game. Some players may receive nine or more stones before the level of competition becomes balanced.
In chess, the objective is very clear: kill the king. The objective of go is not always as clear: One strives to gain territory, the securing of which is often uncertain. With the multitude of options, players often mutally assume territory, or stones, lost even while they still have some life. An amateur go game ends when both players mutually agree that there are no more good tones to play. For a beginner, that’s not so easy to know.
From a sociological perspective, chess, with its king, queen, knights and pawns, mimics a feudal system. Go is based on more of an egalitarian model–all go stones have equal value. The go board is slightly asymmetrical, which is said to reveal the Japanese distaste for symmetry. The squares are slightly rectangular; black stones are actually a little bigger than white ones.
Go, which is referred to as igo in Japanese, involves the subtle, strategic maneuvers and decisions that general may make. In fact, at various times in history, Chinese and Japanese military men sought to enhance military strategy by understanding go. At the time of the Korean War, an American received a grant to study the game and provide the U.S. military with insights into the Chinese military mind.
Utilizing the standard Japanese ranking system, a weak player starts with a high kyu rank–perhaps 20 kyu or more–and as he gets stronger his kyu number gets smaller, until he reaches the strongest kyu rank of one. From there, he would move to shodan, or one dan, then two dan, on up. An 8 dan amateur is the approximate strength of a shodan pro. For go players at a low kyu level (meaning a strong kyu player), go clubs are always an option, although some say you should be shodan before going. Club sensei have always made me feel welcome even while I hovered at the shodan rank. Some club members, who tend to be of ojisan (older) age, enjoy the novelty of a comparatively young foreign player, and are very kind–but not particularly easy to understand.
The game go has simple rules and in fact deceives players into feeling they understand things deeper than they actually do–a lot like life. Players tend to wait for a go revelation to result in a large leap of strength. “If I could just find that flaw in my game…” a friend always said. After 15 years I still wait for my revelation.