A Cultural History of Postwar Japan Page 14

  On 26 July 1982, the Chinese Foreign Ministry protested against the replacing in Japanese history textbooks of the word ‘invasion’ of China with the vaguer ‘advance’. South Korean, Thai and Hong Kong newspapers all published protests about Japanese textbooks. After a long time, the offensive term was changed back to what it had been before, but the basic system of authorization together with its policy have remained unchanged.

  22 Shiroyama Sabur, War Criminal, the Life and Death of Hirota Kki, tr. by John Bester, Kdansha International, 1977.

  The Dutch judge Bernard Röling, who took part in the Tokyo Trials, made a speech entitled ‘Aspects of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials’ in the Dutch Academic Council in 1978, in which he reaffirmed his judgment that Hirota was innocent, which he had expressed as a minority opinion at the time of the Trials. He also maintained that ‘his policies should not be called criminal in the light of the legal concepts current at the time’, and expressed the opinion that he had adopted dangerous policies whose methods were not those of military aggression but of indirect aggression; once these policies were connected with the build-up of armaments, they increased the strength of the military, and in due course enabled the military to wrest the leadership from Hirota. This article appeared in Japanese as ‘Hirota Kki o saishin suru’ (Retrial of Hirota Kki) in Ch Kron, July 1983. Röling took part in the International Symposium on the “Tokyo Trials”’ which was held in Tokyo on 28 and 29 May 1983. This symposium made possible, 35 years after the event, a wider perspective on the Tokyo Trials. numa Yasuaki writes that the Trials ‘are related to the responsibility of leadership and to the noteworthy concept of obligatory civil disobedience towards illegal commands by the state’, in ‘“Bunmei no sabaki” “shsha no sabaki” o koete’ (Beyond the ‘trials by civilization’ and ‘trials by the victors’), Ch Kron, August 1983.

  23 Takeda Taijun, Luminous Moss, tr. by Shibuya Yasabur and Sanford Goldstein, in This Outcast Generation and Luminous Moss, Tuttle, 1967.

  24 Kinoshita Junji, Between God and Man, a Judgement on War Crimes, tr. by Eric J.Gangloff, University of Tokyo Press, 1979.

  25 Included in the previously mentioned Testaments of the Century.

  26 See reference 25.

  27 Inoue Kiyoshi, Tenn no Sens Sekinin (The Emperor’s Responsibility in the War), Gendai Hyronsha, 1975.

  Kojima Noboru, in Tenn (Emperor), Bungei Shunjsha, 5 vols., 1974, weaves in episodes such as the Emperor’s rejection by his own decision of a peace initiative when the Army General Staff desired peace with China (just before Konoe’s statement that he would not deal with Chang Kai Shek’s government), but on the whole he presents an image of an upright Emperor trying to be a constitutional monarch.

  28 Postwar opinion polls on the issue are as follows:

  See Table

  NHK Hs Yoron Chsajo (ed.) Zusetsu Sengo Yoronshi (Illustrated History of Postwar Public Opinion Polls).

  29 Sasaki Gen, ‘Orokamono no hi’ (The Monument to the Stupid), in Shis no Kagaku Kenkykai (ed.), Kyd Kenky—Shdan (Joint Research: Groups), Heibonsha, 1976.

  3

  Comics in Postwar Japan

  30 Coulton Waugh, The Comics, The Macmillan Co., New York, 1947.

  31 George McManus, Bringing Up Father, Herb Galewitz (ed.), Bonanza Books, 1973. Looking back through this book at Bringing Up Father, one can understand how it was received in Japan as a guide to styles of living after the First World War. One look at this comic must have immediately made clear what a flapper, for example, was. A revolution in sex and marriage, a weakening of parental authority, a challenge to masculine culture through the feminization of culture: all these themes were found in visible form in this comic strip.

  32 Asahi Graph, January 1925.

  33 Niijima J, Hakodate Kik (Journey to Hakodate); Hakodate Dasshutsu no Ki (Escape from Hakodate); Hakodate yori no Ryakki (Brief Note from Hakodate). Unpublished journals.

  34 Kishida Gink, Usun Nikki (Wusung Diary). Unpublished journal.

  35 Miyao Shigeo, Nippon no Giga: Rekishi to Fzoku (Japanese Cartoons—their history and social background), Daiichi Hki Shuppan, 1967. The following books deal in detail with the cartoons in the Hryji ceiling: Kuno Takeshi, Hryji kond tenjita rakugaki (Ceiling cartoons on the ceiling of Hryji Golden Pavilion), in Bijutsu Kenky . No. 140, 1947; Nara Rokudaiji Taikan (The Six Major Temples of Nara), Vol. I, Hryji (1), Iwanami Shoten, 1972.

  36 See reference 35.

  37 Yashiro Yukio, Watashi no Bijutsu Henreki (My Pilgrimage in Art), Iwanami Shoten, 1972.

  38 Ichikawa Hakugen, Ikky, NHK Bukkusu, Nihon Hs Shuppan Kykai, 1970.

  39 Tominaga Ken’ichi (ed.), Nippon no Kais Kz (The Class Structure of Japan), Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1979, where he writes: ‘One reason for the difficulty in drawing a sketch map to illustrate contemporary Japanese society is that people have practically no concept of “boundary” between the different strata…. Even when discussing the question of nearly all Japanese thinking of themselves as middle class, the above-mentioned awareness is vital.’ For this reason, Tominaga described Japanese class structure using the multiple variables of occupational status, education, income, assets, life style and power, without combining them into one variable. This means that it is more appropriate in the case of Japan to talk specifically in terms of the position of a graduate of the law faculty of Tokyo University in the Ministry of Finance. Apparently there is a strong sense of belonging to groups such as being an employee of Electric Power Supply, or a player with the Giants Baseball Team, but an awareness of belonging to the working class or the middle class is lacking in Japanese class structure.

  40 Because of the great economic growth since 1955, the real spending power of the individual Japanese citizen rose four to five times in the 20 years to 1975. In addition to this is the fact that class divisions are not strong in Japanese culture. Consequently, opinion polls since 1977 have continued to show that fully 90% of people reply that they belong to the middle class. Bureau of Economic Planning, Kokumin Seikatsu Senkdo Chsa (Surveys of Preferences in National Life), November 1975.

  41 Kata Kji, Kamishibai Shwashi (History of the Picture-card Show in the Shwa Period), bunsha, 1979.

  42 Kajii Jun, Sengo no Kashihon Bunka (The Culture of Postwar Lending Libraries), Tksha, 1976.

  43 During the seventies and eighties the number of manga titles published in Japan was phenomenal; while publishers of normal books were going bankrupt, those who relied mostly on manga could rest easy. The year 1977 was a bad one for ordinary magazines, but boys’ and girls’ comic magazines significantly increased their sales. In that year, manga amounted to 28% of all material published in Japan. In the following year, 1978, boys’ manga had a growth of over 20%. According to a survey by the Shuppan Kagaku Kenkyjo (Research Institute for Publication Science), with 4,044 new titles published between January and October 1978, and total sales of 123,460,000, 65% of titles and 70% of total sales were taken by manga. Hyakka Nenkan (Annual Encyclopaedia Supplement), Heibonsha, 1979. To mention new types of manga, not just quantity, Shirato Sanpei, Mizuki Shigeru and Tsuge Yoshiharu all started out with the small circulation comic magazine called Garo.

  It is a difficult task to make a comprehensive survey of manga. In Sengo Mangashi Nto (Jottings of Postwar Manga History), Kinokuniya Shinsho, 1975, Ishiko Junz has recorded names of works, their date of publication and the names of the magazines they appeared in. Soeda Yoshiya’s Manga Bunka (Manga Culture), Kinokuniya Shoten, 1983, treats manga quantitatively and considers their significance in postwar Japanese society. The first foreign book written about Japanese manga is Schodt, Frederik, L., The Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, Kdansha International 1983.

  44 Inaba Michio, ‘Sore de mo anata wa osuki?—Shnen mangashi ni miru taik gensho’ (So you still like them?—the retrogressive phenomenon as seen in boys’ comic magazines) in the monthly Shy, January 1978; Tsumura Takashi, Mangateki na keikan no joshidaisei koroshi jiken (The Manga-like murder of female college
students by a policeman), in Shy, March, 1978. This controversy was waged for a year in the pages of Shy .

  45 See note 39.

  4

  Vaudeville Acts

  46 Don Rodrigo de Vivero, Don Rodrigo’s Record of Things Heard and Seen in Japan (Appendix: Report on the Exploration of the Biscay Gold and Silver Islands) Japanese translation by Murakami Naojir, Ikoku Ssho, Shnnansha, 1919; Kawazoe Noboru, Kon Wajir no rykron (Kon Wajir’s fashion theory), in Gendai Fzoku Kenkykai (Research Institute for Contemporary Customs), ed. Gendai Fzoku, No. 3, 1979; see also Kon Wajir (1888–1973), Kon Wajirsh (A Collection of Kon Wajir’s Works), Vol. 9, Domesu Shuppan 1972.

  47 See reference 46.

  48 E.S.Morse, Japan Day by Day, 1–3, 1917, Japanese translation by Ishikawa Kin’ichi, Ty Bunko, Heibonsha, 1970. Morse first visited Japan in 1877. His biography was written by Dorothy Wayman: Edward Sylvester Morse (2 vols.), 1942. Japanese translation by Ninagawa Chikamasa, Ch Kron Bijutsu Shuppan, 1976.

  49 B.H.Chamberlain, Things Japanese (2 vols.), 1905. Japanese translation by Takanashi Kenkichi, Ty Bunko Heibonsha, 1969. Chamberlain was in Japan from 1873 to 1911.

  50 Ernest Satow, Ichi Gaikkan no Mita Meiji Ishin (The Meiji Restoration as Seen by a Foreign Diplomat). Japanese translation by Sakata Seiichi, Iwanami Bunko, 1960.

  51 Orikuchi Shinobu, Nihon Bungaku no Hatten (The Development of Japanese Literature), 1931. Reprinted in Orikuchi Shinobu Zensh (Collected Works of Orikuchi Shinobu), Chk Bunko, 1976. Orikuchi’s theories about banquet entertainments, or art forms which developed specifically for use at drinking parties, were expounded in several of his writings. They were developed by scholars who were influenced by Orikuchi, and who attempted to verify his theories: Ikeda Yasabur, Nihon Gein Denshron (The Transmission of Japanese Performing Arts), Ch Kronsha, 1962; Tada Michitar, Shigusa no Nihon Bunka (The Japanese Culture of Gesture), Chikuma Shob, 1972.

  52 Fujiwara no Sadaie (1162–1241) was 38 years old at the time, and had just been granted leave to attend the palace as a court poet.

  53 For the history of manzai, refer to the following specialist historical research: Morita Yoshinori, Chsei Senmin to Zatsugein no Kenky (Research in Medieval Outcasts and Miscellaneous Performing Arts), Yzankaku, 1974; Hayashiya Tatsusabur, Chsei Geinshi no Kenky (Research into the History of the Medieval Performing Arts), Iwanami Shoten 1960.

  54 For a history of manzai since the Meiji Period see Yoshida Tamesabur, Manzai Taiheiki (A Manzai Chronicle of the Great Peace), Sanwa Tosho, 1964; Yoshida Tamesabur, Manzai Fsetsuroku (Manzai Weathering the Blizzard), Kygei Shuppan, 1978. For a history which comes up to the present day see: Maeda Isamu, Kamigata Manzai Happyakunenshi (Eight hundred years of manzai in the Kamigata Region), Sugimoto Shoten, 1975; Misumi Haruo, Sasuraibito no Geinshi (History of the Performing Arts of Wayfarers), NHK Bukkusu, Nihon Hs Shuppan Kykai, 1976.

  55 The two wits were Akita Minoru (1905–1977) and Nagaoki Makoto (1904–1976). Nagaoki Makoto, Kamigata Shgei Kenbunroku (Record of my Experiences as a Comedian in the Kamigata Region), Kygei Shuppan, 1977; Akita Minoru, Watakushi wa Manzai Sakusha (I am a Manzai Writer), Bungei Shunjsha, 1975.

  For an appraisal of Akita Minoru, see Yamamoto Akira ‘Akita Minoru no warai to wa nan de atta ka’ (The Humour of Akita Minoru) in Kimigata Gein, Special Issue on Akita Minoru, April 1978.

  56 It is difficult to make adequate records of a popular art like manzai, which is always in a state of flux. The earliest treatment is Yanagita Kunio’s (1875–1962) Kebzuk (Reflections of a Long-haired Priest), 1914. Taking a hint from this, Hayakawa Ktar wrote in 1927 Sansh Tokura no Kagura no Saiz no Koto (On the Saiz in the Kagura of Tokura, Mikawa County). Further, the magazine Gein Tzai published from 1975 to 1977 ‘An exchange of letters concerning the Saiz market’ by Ozawa Shichi and Nagai Hiro’o, which investigated the way in which the tay-saiz team was formed.

  A book which deals with manzai in relation with other popular performing arts is Ei Rokusuke’s Geinintachi no Geinshi (History of Performing Arts and Artists), Bunshun Bunko, Bungei Shunjsha, 1975 (first appeared 1969).

  57 Collier, John Payne, Punch and Judy, Thomas Hailes, 1823. The importance of the role of Punch seems to have been early realized in Japan among people involved in the puppet theatre, and is commented on by Minamie Jir (1902–) who was concerned with puppet drama since the Taish Period. For example: Kindai Ningygeki no Genry o Saguru— Fuausto to Panchi (Tracing the Origins of the Modern Puppet Theatre— Faust and Punch), Ikadasha, 1972. This book originally appeared in 1942 during the war, with a preface by Naruse Mukyoku giving an account of his friendship with the author since the Taish Period.

  58 When these lectures were given in the spring of 1980, unknown to me there had already been in Japan a revival of manzai. A new style with a new designation, ‘The Manzai’, presumably signifies an internationalization of manzai art. Detailed discussions of the development of this new stream can be found in the following: Inoue Hiroshi, Manzai—Osaka no Warai (Manzai—the Humour of Osaka) Sekai Shissha, 1981; Minami Hiroshi, Nagai Hiro’o, Ozawa Shichi (eds.), Irodoru—Iromono no Sekai (Makeup—the World of Vaudeville), Hakusuisha, 1981; Tsuganezawa Satohiro, Masumedia no Shakaigaku—Jh to Goraku (The Sociology of the Mass Media—Information and Entertainment), Sekai Shissha, 1982.

  The plain-speaking narrative style of Biito Takeshi, the new starplayer of Manzai, slashing out at wheedling humanism, is quite different from the style which has been broadcast on the mass media in the 30-odd years since the war, and arguments for and against it enlivened the print media in 1982. By 1983, the television programme which features Biito Takeshi’s character Takechan Man, an extraordinary character who disregards realism, had become one of the most popular programmes on television.

  5

  Legends of Common Culture

  59 The generations are divided first by whether or not one is old enough to remember the defeat in 1945—that is, whether one remembers the war or not; the next big division is whether one accepts television as a normal part of everyday life or not. This is the division between the television generation and the pre-television generation. This is the degree to which television has changed the lives of the Japanese.

  One might try to pinpoint this exactly with the date of the first television transmission in 1953, but it was not until 1961 that the number of people watching television surpassed those listening to the radio. In 1962, the number of sets registered as NHK viewers reached 10 million and the average daily viewing time passed the three-hour mark. Kitamura Hideo and Nakano Osamu (eds.), Nihon no Terebibunka (Japanese TV Culture), Yhikaku, 1983.

  60 The word tarento (‘talent’, TV personality) was not associated with the beginning of radio in the mid-1920s but entered the Japanese language with the start of television. This is because the methods of television production were learnt from America, and American-English terms came along with the knowhow. According to Fukuda Teiry, the term tarento refers to a person appearing on television who displays a talent for communication, which is fully exploited in the relationship with the mass audience of television. ‘The talent of the TV personality is acknowledged as something truly outstanding amongst the talents produced by the masses,’ Okamoto Hiroshi and Fukuda Teiry, Gendai Tarentorojii (Contemporary Talentology), Hsei Daigaku Shuppankyoku, 1966.

  The masses entrust a part of their emotions to the TV personality. This is enacted on a daily basis by such dating programmes as Panchi de deeto (Dates with Punch), and on a larger scale, like a big festival, by the end-of-year NHK Song Contest.

  61 Yanagita Kunio, Koky Nanajnen (Seventy Years of my Birthplace), Nojigiku Bunko, 1959.

  62 The word ‘parody’ (parodii) was not commonly used in Japan even before the war, and certainly not during it. Not until the 1970s did it become part of everyday Japanese, being used widely in weeklies and in pictorial magazines and comics. This probably means that, because the movement to criticize authority lost the vigour it used to have in the period 1945–1970 an
d was stifled in the 1970s and 1980s, interest was shown in a mode of expression which tried to hint at something different under the cover of universally accepted sayings. This was also a revival of the popular culture which had existed in the middle Edo Period, when the foreign loan word parodii did not exist.

  However, even if parody does not incur the harsh sentence of exile to a distant island as in the Edo Period, it does not necessarily get off scot-free. Maddo Amano replaced the skiers in the photograph of a snow-covered mountain by mountain photographer Shirakawa Yoshikazu with big tyres rolling down the slopes. He was sued by Shirakawa in 1970 and brought to trial. At the first hearing he was found guilty, innocent at the second hearing, while the third hearing (at the Supreme Court), on 28 March 1980, ordered a rehearing of the second trial’s verdict.

  63 A look at the Sunday Great River Dramas of the 1970s shows that of ten works two were dramas about the Meiji Restoration (Katsu Kaish and Kashin), and one was on the Chshingura theme (Genroku Taiheiki). Furthermore, three years later in 1982, another Chshingura drama (Tge no Gunz) appears.