『BEHOLD MY SWARTHY FACE。』

Book Press Release #3

2011-12-20T09:56:00.002+09:00

This just in from Meredith Howard, Publicity Director of Columbia University Press:

Dear Behold My Swarthy Face:

Columbia University Press is pleased to announce the publication of The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, Abridged Edition, edited by J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel.Featuring choice selections from the core anthologies The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature: From Restoration to Occupation, 1868-1945, and The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature: From 1945 to the Present, this collection offers a concise yet remarkably rich introduction to the fiction, poetry, drama, and essays of Japan's modern encounter with the West. Spanning a period of exceptional invention and transition, this volume is not only a critical companion to courses on Japanese literary and intellectual development but also an essential reference for scholarship on Japanese history, culture, and interactions with the East and West.

The first half covers the three major styles of literary expression that informed Japanese writing and performance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: classical Japanese fiction and drama, Chinese poetry, and Western literary representation and cultural critique. Their juxtaposition brilliantly captures the social, intellectual, and political challenges shaping Japan during this period, particularly the rise of nationalism, the complex interaction between traditional and modern forces, and the encroachment of Western ideas and writing. The second half conveys the changes that have transformed Japan since the end of the Pacific War, such as the heady transition from poverty to prosperity, the friction between conflicting ideologies and political beliefs, and the growing influence of popular culture on the country's artistic and intellectual traditions. Featuring sensitive translations of works by Nagai Kafu, Natsume Soseki, Oe Kenzaburo, Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio, and many others, this anthology relates an essential portrait of Japan's dynamic modernization.

J. Thomas Rimer is emeritus professor of Japanese literature, theater, and art at the University of Pittsburgh.

Van C. Gessel is professor of Japanese literature at Brigham Young University.
To find out more about this work click here.

With best wishes,
Meredith Howard, Publicity Director, Columbia University Press

This Just In From Mother

2011-10-24T13:48:00.010+09:00

This just in from Mother:

Honey, I read your translation of Ishikawa Jun's xxxxx, but I'm not sure I get it. What does it mean?

Mother,

Your question reminds me of that line in Whitman's “Leaves of Grass” where a young boy asks the narrator, What does the grass mean? and the narrator replies, rather opaquely, it’s the “flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven,” which is about as good an answer as I can give, so let’s just say that xxxxx is the flag of my disposition (though I don’t think it’s woven of any hopeful green stuff).

But that’s not much of an answer. Let me try again. You see, Ishikawa Jun’s debut work xxxxx (1935), which I have translated as xxx xxxxxx, is a relatively short modernist self-portrait constructed through the largely ironic appropriation of at least three historically antecedent genres of novel: the künstlerroman (artist-novel), the possession novel, and the symbolist novel. The work is part künstlerroman in that … (click here to continue reading my rough exegesis of the work). (**Removed to prevent plagiarism, Sally Suzuki, 1/25/12).

Beholdmyswarthyface Japanese Literature Examination (Round 4)

2011-07-19T11:45:00.003+09:00

This just in from Cniva Albinus:

Hey Beholdmyswarthyface,

I recently heard that Round 4 of the Beholdmyswarthyface Japanese Literature Exam is being circulated among your friends and colleagues. I was hoping you could post it online so that we--the readers of your blog--could also take it. I didn't score too well on the third one, so I was hoping to do better on this round. Thank you. -Cniva Albinus.

Cniva,

I don't know how you heard about this, but sure thing. Here's the test. If you'd like us to grade it, just send your answers to our email address in PDF format. Good luck! And remember, the test was intended for undergraduates, so it might be too easy for you. Best, Sally Suzuki

Final Exam***Removed to prevent future cheating. -Sally Suzuki, Jan 4, 2012***

Ishikawa Jun's "xxx xxxxxx" (1935)

2011-07-13T01:00:00.023+09:00

This just in from Swarthyface:

Posted below is the latest draft of my translation of Ishikawa Jun's xxxxx (『xx』, 1935). The plot can be summarized as follows:

Guy (the story's narrator and protagonist who in many ways resembles the real-life Ishikawa Jun) wanders around a NE suburb of Tokyo in search of the axis mundi, discovers that there is no such thing, forces self to stop dabbling in poetry, begins a disappearing act (by which he sheds, one by one, the various layers of self, starting with emotions, in an effort to reduce self to pure cogito), finds only a void at self's center, attempts suicide, fails, is reduced to pure physicality, ravishes his wife's sister (suggesting the possibility of spiritual redemption through the flesh/barbarization/daraku), confesses that he suffers from a condition known as "nympholepsy," and abruptly cuts narrative off in media res.

To have the text read to you, click on this I-speech button:

And finally, I am indebted to the Beholdmyswarthyface Foundation for the grant that made experimental work on this translation possible. I am also indebted to Professors xxxxxx and xxxxxxxx, both of whom read my translation against the original, and made many helpful suggestions.

(***Removed to prevent plagiarism, Sally Suzuki, 1/25/12)

Press Release for a New Novel by Levy Hideo

2011-07-12T11:30:00.000+09:00

This just in from Meredith Howard, Publicity Director, Columbia University Press:

Dear Behold My Swarthy Face,

Columbia University Press is pleased to announce the publication of A Room Where the Star Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard: A Novel in Three Parts by Levy Hideo.

Set against the political and social upheavals of the 1960s, A Room Where the Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard tells the story of Ben Isaac, a blond-haired, blue-eyed American youth living with his father at the American consulate in Yokohama. Chafing against his father's strict authority and the trappings of an America culture that has grown increasingly remote, Ben flees home to live with Ando, his Japanese friend. R! efusing to speak English with Ben, Ando shows the young American the way to Shinjuku, the epicenter of Japan's countercultural movement and the closest Ben has ever felt to home.

From the vantage point of a privileged and alienated "outsider" (gaijin), Levy's narrative, which echoes events in his own life, beautifully captures a heady, eventful moment in Japanese history. It also richly renders the universal struggle to grasp the full contours of one's identity. Wandering the streets of Shinjuku, Ben can barely decipher the signs around him or make sense of the sounds reaching his ears. Eventually, the symbols and sensations take root, and he becomes one with Japanese language and culture. Through his explorations, Ben breaks free from English and the constraints of being a gaijin. Levy's coming-of-age novel is an eloquent elegy to a lost time.

Levy Hideo is the pen name of Ian Hideo Levy. He is the first Westerner to become a novelist in Japanese. Born in 1950 to a Jewish father and a Polish mother, he spent his childhood in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He taught Japanese literature at Princeton and Stanford, and received a National Book Award for his translations from the ancient poetry anthology, Man'yoshu (The Ten Thousand Leaves). Since moving to Tokyo in 1990, he has published more than a dozen volumes of fiction and nonfiction spanning America, Japan and China. The winner of numerous Japanese literary and cultural awards, including the prestigious Osaragi Prize, he has become a major international voice in contemporary Japanese literature.

To find out more about this work or to purchase it click here.

With best wishes,
Meredith Howard, Publicity Director, Columbia University Press

Japan Timeline: 1701-present (Incomplete as of 6/15/11)

2011-06-18T18:39:00.002+09:00

This just in from Cniva Albinus→

Dear Beholdmyswarthyface,
Thank you for compiling and uploading your Encyclopedia of Modern Japan. I've saved it onto my desktop, and refer to it regularly. I have just one request: please post the timeline, by itself, onto your blog. That way we could immediately access it, without having to thumb through your nearly 300-page Scribd document. Thank you, Cniva Albinus.

Cniva,

Sure thing. As you know, the timeline is still incomplete, and many of the entries need to be edited/updated, but I'll go ahead and post it anyway. -SS

Timeline

Pre-Meiji Era

*Genroku Akō Incident 元禄赤穂事件 (1701): “Fourty-seven rōnin” incident that took place in 1701. The fictionalized accounts of these events are known as Chūshingura.

*Restoration Shinto 復興神道 (18th century): A school of thought represented by Kada no Azumamaro (1669-1736), Kano no Mabuchi (1697-1769), Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), and Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843). While other Shintō schools also sought to rediscover ancient, natural Shintō, Fukkō Shintōists often relied on Buddhist or Confucian methodology or ways of thought, and therefore produced Buddhistic or Confucianistic theories about Shintō. Fukko Shintô scholars began with a painstaking study of ancient philology in their attempt to elucidate the mentality of the ancient Japanese and thus to discover the essence of Shinto. (Kokugakuin Glossary of Shinto Names and Terms)

*Kyōhō reforms 享保の改革 (1736): An array of economic policies introduced by the Tokugawa Shogunate Yoshimune.

*Kansei Reforms 寛政の改革 (1787-1793): A series of strict sumptuary laws issued by the statesman Matsudaira Sadanobu (1759-1829) in order to strengthen the Tokugawa regime and restore the sinking financial and moral condition of the Tokugawa government.

*Cholera Epidemic (1822):

*Morrison jiken モリソン事件 (1832): US merchant ship carrying Japanese castaways is fired on as it attempts to enter Uraga Bay near Edo (now Tokyo) and then Kagoshima Bay in Kyushu.

*Tempo Reforms 天保の改革 (1842-47): A series of reforms even more repressive than those which preceded them.

*Foundation of Institute for Research on the Barbarian Books蕃書調所の創設 (1856): The insistute would later become the Tokyo (Imperial) University.

*Convention of Kanagawa 日米和親条約 (1854): Treaty concluded between Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the U.S. Navy and the Tokugawa shogunate. The treaty opened the Japanese ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to United States trade and guaranteed the safety of shipwrecked U.S. sailors.

*The Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty 日英和親条約 (1854): Treaty between Britain and Japan.

*Earthquake (1855):

*The Treaty of Amity and Commerce (“Harris Treaty”) 日米修好通商条約 (1858): Treaty between U.S. and Japan signed in Shimoda which opened the ports of Edo and four other Japanese cities to American trade and granted extraterritoriality to foreigners, among other stipulations. This was the first of the unequal Ansei Treaties.

*Shogun Recognizes Dutch Medicine (1858):

*Cholera Epidemic (1858):

*The Japanese Embassy to the United States 万延元年遣米使節 (1860): First Japanese embassy to the United States, dispatched by the Tokugawa shogunate.

*Namamugi Incident 生麦事件 (or the Kanagawa Incident or Richardson Affair) (1862): A samurai assault on foreign nationals in Japan, which resulted in the August 1863 bombardment of Kagoshima. In Japanese the bombardment is described as a war between the United Kingdom and Satsuma domain, the Anglo-Satsuma War 薩英戦争.

*Keiō Reforms 慶応の改革 (1866): A set of reforms created in reaction to unrest in the provinces; it became a key part of the reforms and changes made during the rule of Emperor Meiji. When both Shogun and Emperor happened to die at the same time, the bakufu (shogunate government) created the Keio Reform to keep Japan from falling into disunity or disarray. It Westernized many aspects of the system of bureaucracy, the military, and the economy, focusing on governmental promotions by merit (rather than by birth) and trade policies with other nations. The bakufu hoped that these Reforms would somehow end the Rebellions of Satsuma and Choshu, but they did not. The rebels did not wish to see the bakufu profit from these changes which were so close to the core of what the rebels had been fighting against all along. (Allexperts.com)

Meiji Era

*Meiji Period Begins (1868): Rebel government proclaims beginning of the Meiji era.

*Haibutsu kishaku 廃仏毀釈 (1868-): A violent anti-Buddhist movement which in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate and during the Meiji Restoration caused the forcible closure of thousands of temples, the confiscation of their land, the forced return to lay life of monks, and the destruction of books, statues and other Buddhist property.

*Promulgation of Charter Oath 五箇条の御誓文 (1868): Charter promulgated at the enthronement of Emperor Meiji of Japan on April 7, 1868. The Oath outlined the main aims and the course of action to be followed during Emperor Meiji’s reign, setting the legal stage for Japan’s modernization. It remained influential, if less for governing than inspiring, throughout the Meiji era and into the twentieth century, and can be considered the first constitution of modern Japan.

*Shinbutsu bunri 神仏分離 (1868): Law forbidding the fusion of Buddhism and Shinto. The new law marked a change from the previous era’s policy of fusing the two religions, known as shinbutsu shūgō 神仏習合.

*Sakai Incident 堺事件 (1868): Incident in which 11 French sailors from the French corvette Dupleix were killed in the port of Sakai near Osaka. This incident was dramatised in a famous short story, “Sakai Jiken,” by Mori Ōgai.

*Boshin War 戊辰戦争 (1868-1869): Civil war fought between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court.

*Publication Ordinance of 1869 出版条例 (1869):

*Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order 神仏判然令 (?): Order issued from the new Meiji government to separate Buddhism and Shinto.

*Abolition of the Four-Class System 四民平等 (1870-1871):

*Great Promulgation Campaign 大教宣布 (1870-1884): Failed campaign by Shinto leaders to create a state religion. Narrowly understood, the 1870 Imperial decree released by the Office of Propaganda to the people announcing the Kannagara no daidô (the Great Way of the Kami). More widely understood, the movement directed by the Kyōdōshoku (Agency for Spiritual Guidance) in which doctrines such as “keishin, aikoku” (Reverence for Kami and Patriotism) were expounded to the people. It was a national indoctrination movement for the purpose of strengthening the imperial system and opposing Christianity, but it weakened in the face of Buddhist opposition and arguments for the separation of religion and government. The movement disappeared after the Agency was dissolved in 1884. (Kokugakuin Glossary of Shinto Names and Terms)

*Abolition of the Han System 廃藩置県 (1871): An act of the new Meiji government to replace the traditional feudal domain (han) system and to introduce centralized government authority (Prefectures of Japan). This process marked the culmination of the Meiji Restoration in that all daimyo (feudal lords) were required to return their authority to the Emperor. The process was accomplished in several stages. The process also marked the end of privileged status for samurai.

*Iwakura Mission (1871): Group of politicians led by Iwakura Tomomi tours Europe and the United States.

*Maria Rusugō jiken マリア・ルス号事件 (Maria Luz Incident, 1872): A diplomatic incident between the early Meiji government of the Empire of Japan and the Republic of Peru over a merchant ship with Chinese indentured laborers in Yokohama in 1872. It was an early test of the independence of the Japanese judiciary system and a challenge to the extraterritoriality provisions of the unequal treaties then in force between Japan and the western powers.

*Compulsory Education (1872):

*Promulgation of Three Great Teachings 三条教則 (1872):

*Establishment of the Home Ministry 内務省の設立 (1873): A Cabinet-level ministry established under the Meiji Constitution that managed the internal affairs of Empire of Japan from 1873-1947. Its duties included local administration, police, public works, and elections.

*The Japanese Land Tax Reform 地租改正 (1873): Series of tax reforms started by the Meiji Government in 1873. It was a major restructuring of the previous land taxation system, and established the right of private land ownership in Japan for the first time.

*National Conscription Law (1873):

*Formation of The Meirokusha 明六社の創立 (1873):

*Freedom and People’s Rights Movement 自由民権運動 (1873- ): Progressive social and political movement for democracy in 1880s. It pursued the formation of an elected legislature, revision of the Unequal Treaties with America and European countries, the institution of civil rights and the reduction of centralized taxation. The movement prompted the Meiji government to establish a constitution in 1889 and a diet in 1890; on the other hand, it failed to loosen the control of the central government and its demand for true democracy remained unfulfilled, with ultimate power continuing to reside in the Meiji (Chōshū-Satsuma) oligarchy because, among other limitations, the Meiji Constitution enfranchised only men who paid a substantial amount in property taxes, as a result of the Land Tax Reform in 1873.

*Promulgation of The Eleven Principles (1873): Based on Hirata Shinto doctrine, the eleven principles were: divine virtue and gratitude to the emperor; immortality of the human spirit; creation of the universe by the kami of Heaven; separation of the visible and invisible realms; nationalism; ritual acts; pacification of the spirit; proper relation between lord and subject; proper relation between parent and child; proper relation between husband and wife; and ritual purification. (Encyclopedia of Shinto)

*Establishment of Kyōbushō 教部省の設立 (1873- ): Ministry of religion. Established in 1873 to replace the Jingikan (Department of Divinities), which from 1869 to 1871 had been pursuing the indoctrination of the people under the principle of unity of religion and rule (saisei itchi). The Jingikan was reformed in 1871 into a new Jingishô (Ministry of Divinities), which in turn underwent revision two years later into the Ministry of Religion. The Ministry oversaw religious affairs and policies, and sought to advance the Taikyō sempu (Proclamation of the Great Doctrine) through a system for indoctrination mobilizing both Shintoists and Buddhists. The Ministry was dissolved in 1877 in response to arguments for the separation of religious and governmental affairs, and its administrative functions were assumed by the Bureau of Shrines and Temples in the newly created Home Ministry. (Kokugakuin Glossary of Shinto Names and Terms)

*Saga Rebellion 佐賀の乱 (1874): One of a number of uprisings in Kyūshū against the new Meiji government of Japan by members of the former samurai class. It was led by Etō Shimpei and Shima Yoshitake in their native domain of Hizen.

*Libel Law 讒謗律（ざんぼうりつ） (1875): Law passed by the new Meiji government that criminalized criticism of the government.

*The Treaty of Saint Petersburg Karafuto-Chishima Kōkan Jōyaku 樺太・千島交換条約 (1875): treaty between the Empire of Japan and the Empire of Russia which stipulated that Japan would give up claims to the Sakhalin Island in exchange for undisputed sovereignty over all the Kuril Islands up to the Kamchatka peninsula.

*Press Regulations 新聞条例 (1875): Press Regulations passed by the new Meiji government, making criticism of the government all but impossible. The series of regulations came to be known as the Newspapers’ Reign of Terror.

*Press Ordinance (1876): Press regulation ordinance that gave the Home Ministry the right to close any publication deemed a threat to the government. The ordinance remained in effect until the end of the Pacific War.

*Akizuki Rebellion 秋月の乱 (1876): One of a number of uprisings by members of the former samurai-class which took place in the early Meiji period in Kyūshū and other parts of western Japan against the new Meiji government.

*Hagi Rebellion 萩の乱 (1876): One of a number of ex-samurai uprisings which took place in the early Meiji period against the new Meiji government of Japan.

*Shimpūren no ran 神風連の乱 (1876): One of a number of ex-samurai uprisings which took place in the early Meiji period against the new Meiji government.

*Satsuma Rebellion 西南戦争 (1877): A revolt of Satsuma ex-samurai against the Meiji government, led by Saigō Takamori. It was the last, and the most serious, of a series of armed uprisings against the new government.

*Battle of Shiroyama 城山の戦い (1877): The final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion.

*“Poison Women” Novel Boom Begins「毒婦」小説の旺盛 (1878- ):

*Public Assembly Ordinance 集会条例 (1880): One of the several ordinances that helped put an end to the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement.

*Gen’yōsha Established 玄洋社 (1881- ): An influential ultranationalist group and secret society active during the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods.

*Penal Code of 1882 (1882): Makes lese majesty a punishable offense.

*Imperial Rescript for Soldiers and Sailors 軍人勅諭 (1882): Rescript issued by Emperor Meiji in 1882, which would become the most important document in the development of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy. The Rescript was intended to be the official code of ethics for military personnel, and is often cited along with the Imperial Rescript on Education of 1890 as the basis for Japan’s prewar national ideology. All military personnel were required to memorize the 2700 kanji document by heart. The initial draft was written by Nishi Amane, an Army Ministry bureaucrat and scholar of western philosophy. It was extensively edited by Inoue Kowashi. A famous precept in the Rescript states that “duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather.”

*Bank of Japan Founded (1882):

*Oriental Socialist Party Founded 東洋社会党 (1882): Tokichi Tarui and others organized the group in Nagasaki prefecture which had about forty members and proclaimed equality, maximum well-being of the public, common ownership of property, joint management of companies, and cooperative child rearing. However, about two months after its formation, this party was banned and dissolved.

*Revised Press Ordinance (1883): Extension of the 1876 Press Ordinance. This revised ordinance became the precursor to Article 19 of the 1887 Press Regulations.

*Chichibu jiken 秩父事件 (1884): Incident in which peasants from Saitama Prefecture, led by members of the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement, rose against the government.

*Explosives Control Ordinance 爆発物取締条例 (1884): One of the several ordinances that helped put an end to the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement.

*Osaka jiken 大阪事件 (1885):

*Formation of Waseda Group 早稲田文学の設立 (?): One of the major literary groups of the mid- to late-Meiji period.

*First Bank of Japan Banknotes Issued (1885):

*Ken’yūsha Group 研友社 (1885-1903): Popular literary group formed by Ozaki Kōyō and others. The group began with the first publication of the literary journal Garakuta bunko, and ended with Kōyō’s death. ryōzanpaku of bundan (shōyō’s words)

*Sendagi Group 千駄木:

*Negishi Group 根岸: Group of writers active during Meiji period, living in Tokyo region of Negishi. The group included Kōda Rohan, Aeba Kōson, Morita Shiken.

*Kokumin Bungaku 国民文学 (?): Literary coterie formed around ‘Kokumin no Tomo’ and the Kokumin Newspaper.

*Norumanton gō jiken ノルマントン号事件 (Normanton Incident, 1886): Incident in which 23 Japanese passengers drowned after the British cargo ship Normanton sank off the Kii Peninsula.

*Press Regulations 新聞紙条例 (1887): Regulations on press promulgated by imperial edict.

*Publication Regulations 出版条例 (1887): Regulations on press promulgated by imperial edict.

*Shinseisha 新声社 (1889- ): Poetry society founded by Mori Ōgai, et. al.

*Meiji Constitution 大日本帝国憲法 (1889): The organic law of the Empire of Japan, promulgated in 1889 and enacted on November 29, 1890. The constitution remained in effect until May 2, 1947.

*Bungaku gokusui ronsō 文学極衰論争 (1889-1890): Ozaki Kōyō and Shimada Saburō attack Shōyō’s “novel of feelings” as base. More heroes and more didacticism! (Leads to Yano Ryūkei’s heroic tale Ukishiro monogatari, which is criticized by Ishibashi Ningetsu and Ishida Roan for being “too heroic and remote” (Murakami, Ideology and Narrative in Modern Japanese Literature). Doppo and (eventually, albeit ambiguously) Tōkoku on kindaibungaku side (anti-heroic/pro-feeling) with Ningetsu and Roan (as opposed to kaikabungaku of Ozaki/Shimada/Yano/Aizan).

*Maihime ronsō 舞姫論争 (1890): Literary dispute between Ishibashi Ningetsu and Mori Ōgai about the author’s attitude toward Toyotarō, the protagonist of “Maihime” who chooses his own career over the girl he loves.

*Imperial Rescript on Education 教育勅語 (1890): Rescript signed by Emperor Meiji on October 30, 1890 to articulate government policy on the guiding principles of education. The 315 character document was read aloud at all important school events, and students were required to study and memorize the text.

*Establishment of the Meiji Diet (1890): Meiji Diet formed.

*Uchimura Kanzō fukei jiken 内村鑑三不敬事件 (1890): The “disrespect incident” between Christian Uchimura Kanzō and various government officials trying to suppress religion.

*Ōtsu jiken 大津事件 (1891): The attempted assassination of Russian Crown Prince Nicholas Alexandrovitch while he was on tour in Japan.

*Ashio Copper Mine jiken 足尾鉱毒事件 (1891): Incident that began when Tanaka Shozo submitted a query to the Diet concerning environmental pollution in Tochigi Prefecture.

*Botsurisō ronsō 没理想論争 (1891-1892): “Submerged ideals debate” between Mori Ōgai and Tsubouchi Shōyō.

*Jinsei sōshō ronsō 人生相渉論争 (1893): Debate between Kitamura Tōkoku and Yamaji Aizan on relation between self and others in literature.

*Bōkan kikan ronsō 傍観機関論争 (1893): Debate between Mori Ōgai and the Japan Medical Society.

*Publication Law (1893): Law passed by Diet regulating press content.

*Shinpa 新派 (1890s- ): Form of drama that presented melodramatic events from contemporary life. Its roots can be traced to a form of agitation propaganda theater in the 1880s promoted by Liberal Party members Sadanori Sudo and Otojirō Kawakami. It eventually earned the name “shinpa” (literally meaning “new school”) to contrast it from “kyūha” (“old school,” namely kabuki) due its more contemporary and realistic stories. As a theatrical form, it was most successful in the early 1900s as the works of novelists such as Kyōka Izumi, Kōyō Ozaki, and Roka Tokutomi were adapted for the stage. (Answers.com)

*The Peace Preservation Law 保安条例 (1894): An Imperial Ordinance issued on 25 December 1894, intended to suppress the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement. It was the most drastic of the several laws enacted after 1875 to contain political opposition to the Meiji oligarchy. It imposed stringent restrictions on the press, public speeches and political meetings. Article Four of the Law authorized the chief of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, with the approval of the Home Minister, to banish from Tokyo for three years anyone who was found to be inciting disturbances or scheming to disrupt public order within 7.5 miles of the Imperial Palace. Within three days of the law’s promulgation, 570 people prominent in the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement (including future Tokyo governor Ozaki Yukio) were arrested and expelled. The Law was repealed in 1898, but was soon replaced by the more stringent Public Order & Police Law of 1900.

*The First Sino-Japanese War 日清戦争 (1894-1895): War fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over the control of Korea.

*Treaty of Shimonoseki 下関条約 (1895): Treaty signed at the Shunpanrō hall on April 17, 1895 between the Empire of Japan and Qing Empire of China, ending the First Sino-Japanese War and resulting in Japan’s cession of Taiwan.

*Shakai shōsetsu rongi 社会小説論議 (1895-1898):

*Seikin-ha 星菫派 (1890s): Literary group formed by the two Yosanos and other Romantic writers. The group was criticized by Katō Shūichi immediately following the war.

*Ryudo Club 龍土倶楽部 (): literature and arts club; met at Ryūdo-ten

*Bungaku Seinen: literary youth of Meiji 30s who preferred gossip-centered shizenshugi novelists to the older generation of writers such as Sōseki and Ōgai.

*Triple Intervention 三国干渉 (1895): A diplomatic intervention by Russia, Germany, and France that ended the First Sino-Japanese War and prevented Japan from occupying the Liaotung peninsula.

*Move to State Monopoly Capitalism (1895):

*The Establishment of The Society for the Study of Socialism 社会主義研究会 (1896): Early socialist society whose members included Isoo Abe, Kotoku Shusui, and Katayama Sen. The society was reorganized in 1901 into Japan’s first socialist political party, the Socialist Democratic Party 社会民主党.

*Nihonshugi rongi 日本主義論議 (1897):

*Universal Suffrage League 普通選挙期成同盟会 (1897): League created to raise public awareness of electoral politics through discussion groups and periodicals.

*Social Policy Association Established 社会政策学会 (1898): Progressive research group founded by Tokyo Imperial University law professors Kuwada Kumazō and Kanai En.

*Unitarian Society in Tokyo Established (1898): Progressive group formed to study works of Marx, William Bliss, Richard Ely, and Saint-Simon. Regarded as the origin of Japan’s socialist movement. 40 members of group formed Socialist Society two years later.

*Rekishi-ga ronsō 歴史画論争 (1899):

*New Poetry Society 新詩社 (1899- ): Poetry society founded by Yosano Tekkan and centered around the literary magazine Myōjō.

*Seiyūkai Formed 政友会 (1900): Conservative political group formed by Itō Hirobumi. In 1940 it voted to dissolve itself into the Imperial Rule Assistance Association as part of Fumimaro Konoe’s efforts to create a single-party state, and thereafter ceased to exist.

*The Public Order and Police Law 治安警察法 (1900): Law issued by the administration of Prime Minister Yamagata Aritomo specifically against the organized labor movements. In addition to restrictions on freedom of speech, assembly and association, it also specifically prohibited workers from organizing and going on strike. A provision banning women from political associations was deleted in 1922.

*Socialist Society Formed (1900-):

*Bitekiseikatsu ronsō 美的生活論争 (1901): Debate that begins with Takayama Chogyū’s call for individualism and for an aesthetic life in his essay “Biteki seikatsu o ronzu” (1902). Hasegawa Tenkei counters, pointing out the inconsistencies in his argument (duty of literature: genjitsu o bakuro!).

*Kokuryuukai Formed 黒竜会 (1901- ): Right-wing organization whose ideas became influential in the 1930s.

*Social Democratic Party Established 社会民主党の設立 (1901-1911): Japan’s first socialist political party. The party was disbanded in 1911 following a major government crackdown on leftist movements.

*Bundan shōmakyō jiken 文壇照魔鏡事件 (1901):

*Establishment of the Heiminsha 平民社の創立 (1903- ): Group of anarchists and socialists formed in opposition to the wave of nationalist frenzy that preceded the Russo-Japanese War. Its weekly journal, Heimin Shinbun, was published from 1903 until 1905. The group was led by Kōtoku Shūsui and other prominent radicals.

*First rails laid in Tokyo (1903):

*Marx’s Communist Manifesto appears in Japanese (1904):

*Japan’s First Department Store Opens (1904): Mitsukoshi opens in Tokyo.

*Kimi shinitamau koto nakare 君死にたまふこと勿れを巡る論争 (1904): Debate between Yosano Akiko and Ōmachi Keigetsu over Yosano’s poem written in opposition to the Russo-Japanese War.

*Russo-Japanese War 日露戦 (1904-1905): A conflict that grew out of the rival imperial ambitions of the Russian and Japanese empires over Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea. The Treaty of Portsmouth, unpopular among the Japanese public who demanded more territory and monetary indemnity, officially ended the war.

*Seven Professors Incident 七博士事件 (1905):

*Hibiya yakiuchi jiken 日比谷公園焼打事件 (Hibiya Inindiary Incident, 1905): Riots that took place when an enormous crowd gathered at Hibiya Park to protest the Portsmouth Treaty that ended the Russo-Japanese War.

*Rise and Fall of Naturalism 自然主義の盛衰 (1906-1910):

*The Japan Socialist Party 日本社会党の設立 (1906-1908): Coalition representing a wide spectrum of socialist beliefs. The radical element was led by Toshihiko Sakai and Kotoku Shusui, who favored “direct action” and violent overthrow of the government, and moderates socialists led by Sen Katayama and Tatsuji Tazoe, who favored a mild program of social reform. The coalition was instable, and collapsed only after a year, on 22 February 1908.

*Program of Shrine Consolodation 神社合祉 (1906): Government order to merge village shrines.

*Bungei kyōkai 文芸協会 (1906- ): Literary group formed by Tsubouchi Shōyō, Shimamura Hōgetsu, and others promoting shingeki and other new forms of artistic and literary expression.

*Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907 日米紳士協約 (1907): Informal agreement between the U.S. and the Empire of Japan whereby the U.S. would not impose restriction on Japanese immigration or students, and Japan would not allow further emigration to the U.S. The goal was to reduce tensions between the two powerful Pacific nations. The agreement was never ratified by Congress, which in 1924 ended it.

*Heyday of Naturalism 自然主義 (1907-1913):

*Akahata jiken 赤旗事件 (Red Flag Incident, 1908): At Koken Yamaguchi’s welcome-back party after his discharge from prison, Ōsugi Sakae, Kanson Arahata and other young radicals wove red flags reading “Museifu Kyōsan” (Anarchist Communism) or “Kakumei” (Revolution), and sang revolution songs. When they took their demonstration outside, the police brutally attacked and arrested Ōsugi, Arahata, Yamaguchi, Hitoshi Yamakawa, and several others. This and several other contemporaneous incidents led to stricter government censorship. (A Brief History of Japanese Anarchism)

*Debakame Incident 出歯亀事件 (1908): Debakame is a Japanese word that originally meant “peeping Tom and murderer” but now generally just means “peeping Tom” when used at all. The etymology is simple: in 1908, a known pepping Tom named Ikeda Kametarō, a.k.a. Deba no Kamekichi, was arrested for and found guilty of murdering a woman on her way back from the public baths. (No-sword.jp)

*Nihon-ha 日本派 (early 1900s?-?): The “Japan School” of haiku, led by Masaoka Shiki, Kawahigashi Hekigotou, and, later, Takahama Kyoshi.

*The Trial of Lady Chatterley チャタレイ裁判 (1908):

*Trial of Ikuta Kizan and Ishibashi Shian (1908): Censorship trial of two naturalist writers, Ikuta Kizan and Ishibashi Shian. Hiraide Shuu led the defense.

*Pan no kai パンの会 (1908-1912): Poetry group formed in opposition to the literary Naturalism that dominated at the time. The group of writers, mostly Tokyoites, would meet at a certain French restaurant to discuss literature.

*Press Law (1909): Law passed by Diet regulating press content.

*High Treason Incident 大逆事件 (1910): Incident involving the 1910 plot by Japanese socialists-anarchists to assassinate the Japanese Emperor. Twenty-four of the twenty-six defendants were sentenced to death on January 18 1911. Of these, half had their sentence commuted to life imprisonment on the following day. Of the remaining twelve, eleven were executed on January 24, 1911. These included Kotoku Shusui, the first Japanese anarchist, and Oishi Seinosuke, a doctor. The last of the condemned defendants, the only woman, Kanno Suga, was executed the next day. While many of the defendants were probably aware to some degree of the plot, they did not intend to personally participate and were completely surprised by the process which led to the verdicts. The High Treason Incident is also indirectly related to The Red Flag Incident, which occurred in 1908. During the High Treason investigation, anarchists already incarcerated were questioned about possible involvement, including Osugi Sakae, Sakai Toshihiko, and Yamakawa Hitoshi. Kanno Suga, who was found not guilty during the Red Flag trials, was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death in the High Treason trials. Osugi later wrote that he had encountered the defendants in prison, but was too afraid to speak to them too loudly. Kotoku was unable to hear him, as he had poor hearing. Osugi also encountered their executioner, who later retired after their execution. The Incident ushered in a period of heightened repression and steady decline for socialism in general, and anarchism in particular, throughout the Taisho period.

*Shinshichō-ha 新思潮派 (1910- ): Anti-naturalist literary group established by Tanizaki Jun’ichirō and other young writers attending the University of Tokyo. also called 新理知派、新技巧派。

*Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty 日韓併合条約 (1910): Treaty signed by the representatives of the Korean and Japanese Imperial Governments which marked the official beginning of Japan’s rule over the Korean peninsula.

*Public Peace Police Law (1910): Law promulgated by the Yamagata government severely limiting the activities of labor and socialist organization. The law marked a major defeat for progressives.

*Shirakabaha 白樺派 (1910- ): founded by Mushakōji Saneatsu, Shiga Naoya; Arishima Takeo;

*Execution of Twelve “Anarchists” (1911):

*Committee on Literature 文芸委員会 (1911-1913): Early attempt by government to censor content of publications. The committee was disbanded after complaints from writers and publishers. It was followed by the Literary Chat Society 文芸今話会.

*Committee for the Investigation of Popular Education 通俗教育調査委員会 (1911- ): Committe created by Imperial Decree for the purpse of monitoring various forms of media.

*Death of Meiji Emperor (1912): Emperor Meiji dies in July, “followed” by General Nogi Maresuke.

*Tokyo Population Reaches Three Million (1912):

Taishō Era

*Mavo (1912-1926): Radical art group which roared into new arenas and new art forms during the 1920s, with work ranging from performance art to painting, book illustration, and architectural projects. Hurling rocks through glass roofs and displaying their rejected works, Mavo artists held peripatetic protest exhibitions against the Japanese art establishment. Ultimately, Mavo’s work became a major influence in Japanese commercial art and had a pronounced and lasting impact on Japanese visual and political culture. (Ucpress.edu)

*Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopatathia Sexualis introduced to Japan (1914): Krafft-Ebing’s classic study of sexual “perversion” was translated as 『変態性慾心理』, and immediately banned. The modern use of the word “hentai” began around this time. An earlier translation had appeared in 1894, under the title Shikijōkyōhen.

*Shimsensu jiken シーメンズ事件 (1914): “Siemens Incident.” Several politicians are charged with bribery, leading to the resignation of the first Yamamoto Gonnohyoe cabinet.

*The Twenty-One Demands 対華二十一ヵ条要求 (1915): A set of demands made by the Empire of Japan and sent to the nominal government of the Republic of China, resulting in two treaties.

*Yūtōbungaku ronsō 遊蕩文学論争 (1916): Debate that began with Akagi Kōhei’s attack on what he viewed as the recent degradation of literature by the Naturalist authors.

*Bosei hogo ronsō 母性保護論争 (1916): begins with Yosano Akiko’s feminist attack on Tolstoy and Ellen Key for their essentialist representations of the maternal urge.

*Dentōshugi ronsō 伝統主義論争 (1917):

*Minshū geijutsu ronsō 民衆芸術論争 (1917):

*Failed attempt to occupy Siberia (1917):

*Rice Riots of 1918 米騒動 (1918): Landlords and rice merchants anticipating the dispatch of troops to Siberia began rice speculation, causing prices to skyrocket. This squeezed the people’s livelihoods, and Rice Riots (Kome Sodo) broke out in Toyama in July 1918 (Taisho 7), and spread quickly among communities along the coast ringing Toyama Bay. When newspapers gave national exposure to the Toyama riots the following month, similar riots rapidly erupted around the country. (National Diet Library)

*Shinjinkai Formed 新人会 (1918?- ?):

*Dawn Society (Reimeikai) Formed 黎明会 (1918-1920): Progressive political party formed by Yoshino Sakuzō.

*Toshi keikaku hō 都市計画法 (1919): The Town Planning and Zoning Act.

*Shigaichi kenchikubutsu 市街地建築物法 (1919): Urban Building Act.

*Japan Federation of Labor 総同盟 (1919-1940):

*Kaikyū geijutsu ronsō 階級芸術論争 (1920):

*Morito jiken 森戸事件 (1920): Incident involving the arrest and three-month imprisonment of Tokyo University professor Morito Tatsuo for publishing an article about the social theory of anarchist Peter Alekseevich Kropotkin.

*Nikolaevsk Incident (1920): Japanese residents of the town of Nikolaevsk near the mouth of the Amur River are massacred.

*Formation of Japan Socialist League 日本社会主義同盟の設立 (1920-1921): Association organized by Shakaishugi editor Sakutaro Iwasa, Sakai Toshihiko, and Yamakawa Hitoshi that brought together the various factions (anarchism, Bolshevism, etc.) in a struggle against capitalism and imperialism. The league was suppressed by the government in 1921.

*Japan’s First Labor Rally Held (1920): The first labor rally is held in ...

*Mirai-ha bijutsu kyōkai (1920-):

*Puroretaria bungaku ronsō プロレタリア文学論争 (1921):

*Appearance of Shin-kankakuha, Dada, other bourgeois modernist movements (1921):

*Mitsubishi Kawasaki dockyard strike in Kobe (1921):

*Assassination of Prime Minister Hara Takashi (1921): The Prime Minister was assassinated in Tokyo Station by a right-wing railroad switchman.

*Ana Boru ronsō アナ・ボル論争 (1921):

*Washington Naval Conference (1921-1922): a military conference called by the administration of President Warren G. Harding and held in Washington, D.C. Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations having interests in the Pacific Ocean and East Asia. Soviet Russia was not invited to the conference. It was the first international conference held in the United States and the first disarmament conference in history, and is studied by political scientists as a model for a successful disarmament movement. It resulted in three major treaties: Four-Power Treaty, Five-Power Treaty (more commonly known as the Washington Naval Treaty) and the Nine-Power Treaty and a number of smaller agreements. These treaties preserved peace during the 1920s but are also credited with enabling the rise of the Japanese Empire as a naval power leading up to World War II.

*Japan Communist Party Established 日本共産党の設立 (1922-1935): The party was as an underground branch of Comintern by a group of socialist activists, including Hitoshi Yamakawa, Kanson Arahata, Toshihiko Sakai, Kyuichi Tokuda and Sanzo Nozaka. Outlawed at once under the Peace Preservation Law, the JCP was subjected to repression and persecution by the military and police. By 1935, the underground party had virtually ceased to exist.

*Sengen hitotsu ronsō 宣言一つ論争 (1922): debate about the political role of writers; began with publication of Arishima Takeo’s “Sengen hitotsu” (Kaizō); Hirotsu Kazuo responds by arguing for a classless pure realm for art (junsuina geijutsu/junsuina kimochi). Arishima responds with three types of artists (defined by relation to society: pure; conciliatory; moralist). Marxists (?) Katagami Noboru, Sakai Toshihiko, and Kawakami Hajime join in on fun.

*Einstein Visits Japan (1922):

*(Bungei sakuhin no) Naiyōteki kachi ronsō （文芸作品の）内容的価値論争 (1922): Kikuchi Kan argues that a work’s seikatsutekikachi (dōtokuteki and shisōteki) is as important as the naiyōteki (formal value). Satomi Ton dismisses Kikuchi’s sozaishugi and gaizaitekikachi.

*Mizukara shirazaru shizenshugisha ronsō 自ら知らざる自然主義者論争 ( - ): ?

*Shirakaba ronsō 白樺論争 ( - ): Debate between Shirakaba and naturalist writers;

*Toranomon jiken 虎ノ門事件 (1923): A failed assassination attempt on Crown Prince Hirohito by Yamaguchi socialist Namba Daisuke.

*The Great Kantō Earthquake 関東大震災 (1923): Earthquake of September 1 kills 90,000; injures 100,000; partially or totally destroys 680,000 homes; establishes permanent demarcation between “old” and “new” Japan.

*Teito fukkou 帝都復興 (1923- ): The term given to the reconstruction of Tokyo following the Great Kantō Earthquake.

*Amakasu jiken 甘粕事件 (1923): The Amakasu Incident occurred in the chaos immediately following the Great Kantō earthquake. Fearing that anarchists would take advantage of the disaster to overthrow the government, a squad of military police led by Lieutenant Amakasu Masahiko arrested Osugi Sakae, Itō Noe, and her six-year-old nephew. They were later beaten to death and their bodies thrown into a well. The killing of such high profile anarchists, along with a young child, became known as the Amakasu Incident, and sparked surprise and anger throughout Japan.

*Kameido jiken 亀戸事件 (1923): Incident in the Kameido district of Tokyo in which several anarchists, left-wing activists, and Koreans were killed by police following the Great Kantō earthquake

*Sanbun geijutsu ronsō 散文芸術論争 (1924): Hirotsu Kazuo and Satō Haruo defend prosaic art from attacks by Ikuta Chōkō, who insists on a pure art-for-art’s-sake position.

*Shi- (shinkyō-) shōsetsu ronsō 私（心境）小説 (1924-1925): Kume Masao vs. Ikuta Chōkō and Nakamura Murao. Begins with article (“Honkaku shōsetsu to shinkyō shōsetsu to,” Shinshōsetsu) by Nakamura Murao in which he contrasts the two types of narrative: honkaku shōsetsu (superior form exemplified in Tolstoy) and shinkyō shōsetsu (native, inferior phenomenon, broader in scope as it contains within it shinkyō shōsetsu). Ikuta Chōkō agrees, arguing for universality over particularity (“Nichijō seikatsu o henjū suru akukeikō” (Shinchō, 1924). Responding to both Nakamura and Chōkō, Kume Masao defends the shinkyō shōsetsu as the true and superior form of novel in his article “Shishōsetsu to shinkyōshōsetsu” (1925, Bungei kōza). According to him, the supposedly superior honkaku shōsetsu are no more than yomimono. The self is the basis of all literature, and all that matters is sincerity! he argues. Uno Kōji weighs in on Kume’s side, claiming Japanese are incapable of writing a honkaku shōsetsu anyway.

*Establishment of National Foundation Society 国本社の設立 (1924): National political society formed by Hiranuma Kiichirō.

*Hentai boom 変態ブーム (mid-1920s):

*May Thirtieth Movement (1925): A labor and anti-imperalist movement during the middle-period of the Republic of China era. It began when Shanghai Municipal Police officers opened fire on Chinese protesters in Shanghai’s International Settlement. The shootings sparked international censure and nation-wide anti-foreign demonstrations.

*Ninagawa jiken 蜷川事件 (1925): ?

*Inauguration of Radio Broadcasts (1925):

*Kyoto Student Federation Incident 京都学連事件 (1925): Incident in which 37 members of Kyoto Student Federation were searched, interrogated, and arrested.

*Peace Preservation Law 治安維持法 (1925): Law enacted on 12 May 1925, under the administration of Kato Takaaki, specifically against socialism, Communism, and anarchism. It was one of the most significant laws of pre-war Japan. The main force behind the law was Minister of Justice (and future Prime Minister) Hiranuma Kiichiro, although a strict law to control the activities of leftist radicals had wide support in the Diet and widespread popular support.

*General Election Law 普通選挙法 (1925): Law passed in 1925 extending suffrage to all males aged 25 and over. It was proposed by the Kenseito political party and it was passed by the Diet of Japan May 5. The law effectively quadrupled the size of the electorate.

*Shisō zendō 思想善導 (1925): intended to suppress socialist and anarchist activity.

Shōwa and Heisei Eras

*Japan Labor-Farmer Party 日本労働農民党 (1926-1928): Progressive political party ordered to shut down by government.

*Japan Writers’ Association 日本文芸家協会 (1926-, and again in 1946- ):

*Junsui shōsetsu ronsō 純粋小説論争 (1926): begins with Aono Suekichi’s essay on mokuteki ishiki ronsō.

*Mokuteki ishiki ronsō 目的意識論争 (1926):

*Socialist People’s Party 社会民主党 (1926-1932):

*The Shōwa Financial Crisis 昭和金融恐慌 (1927): A financial panic in 1927, during the first year of the Shōwa reign, and was a foretaste of the Great Depression. It brought down the government of Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō and led to the domination of the zaibatsu over the Japanese banking industry.

*Nihon shihonshugi ronsō 日本資本主義論争 (1927):

*First Subway Line Opens (1927): First subway begins running between Asakusa and Ueno.

*Shōsetsu no suji ronsō 小説の筋論争 (1927): Debate between Akutagawa and Tanizaki over the value of “plot” in fiction.

*Nanjin jiken 南京事件 (1927): Japanese, British, and US consulates in Nanjing attacked by Chinese Nationalist soldiers.

*Rōnō-ha 労農派 (1927): Marxist group formed in opposition to Japan’s Communist Party. The group was centered around the journal Rōnō, founded the same year.

*Akutagawa Ryūnosuke’s Death (1927): Akutagawa commits suicide.

*Troops dispatched to Shandong Peninsula (1927): Japan sends troops to interfere in China’s 1927 revolution.

*March Fifteenth Incident 三・一五事件 (1928): Incident in which 1,658 suspected communists from around the country were rounded up and arrested. Charges were brought against 483 of those. In a special open trial of the Tokyo District Court in 108 sessions from 25 June 1931 to 2 July 1932, some 300 members of the JCP were sentenced. The trial was carefully orchestrated by the Home Ministry to expose the inner workings of the JCP and its strategy to undermine the existing political order. All defendants were found guilty and were given stiff sentences, but those who publicly recanted (tenkō) their communist ideology and who agreed to “rehabilitation” were given much reduced sentences.

*NAPF (Japan Proletarian Art League) 全日本無産者芸術連盟 (1928-1934): Formed in the aftermath of the March15 arrests. Later renamed KOPF.

*Geijutsu Taishūka ronsō 芸術大衆化論争 (1928):

*Geijutsuteki kachi ronsō 芸術的価値論争 (1928):

*Keishikishugi bungaku ronsō 形式主義文学論争 (1928):

*Government begins active suppression of left-wing (1928):

*Mass Arrests (1928): Mass arrests of leftists carried out on March 15 by Tanaka cabinet.

*Revised Peace Preservation Law 治安維持法 (1928): Included amendment stipulating death for anyone who challenged private property rights or sought to alter Japan’s kokutai.

*Bungaku kenkyū ():

*Bungei judo undō: Literary Home-front Campaign, whose 52 members of prominent writers include Kobayashi Hideo, Kawabata Yasunari, Kikuchi Kan, Yokomitsu Riichi;

*Japan Proletarian Writer’s Association 日本プロレタリア作家同盟 (1929- ): NALP. Association formed under the aegis of NAPF.

*Marukusu shugi geijutsu kenkyuukai マルクス主義芸術研究会 (1929- ): Student organization at Tokyo University founded by Hayashi Fusao, Nakano Shigeharu, and Kaji Wataru as an outgrowth of Shinjinkai. The group would soon gain control of the proletarian arts movement under the Japan Proletarian Arts League, or JPAL.

*Inshō hihyō ronsō 印象批評論争 (1929?): begins with Kobayashi Hideo’s “Samazama naru ishō?

*Casino Folies Opens in Asakusa カジノ・フォーリー (1929-1933): A revue troop made up of girls between the age of 12 and 16. It was rumored that dancers would drop their panties one day a week.

*April Sixteenth Incident 四月十六日事件 (1929): Incident in which six to seven hundred suspected communists were arrested; 339 people were charged.

*London Naval Treaty (1930): A disarmament treaty between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. The treaty was ratified by the Japanese diet in 1934.

*Shinkō geijutsu ha (kurabu) 新興芸術派倶楽部 (1930-1932 ): Literary society formed by Yokomitsu Riichi, Kawabata Yasunari and other “Shinkankaku-ha” writers as a reaction to the rise of proletarian literature. ero guro nansensu; part of post-quake “shinkō” boom (shinkō bungaku, shinkō eiga, shinkō kaikyū, etc); Ryūtanji Yū; members dispersed in 1931-2.

*Kōza-ha 講座派 (1930): Formation of Marxist group. Disbanded in 1936.

*Hihan 批判 (1930- ): Progressive intellectual and cultural journal. It was a continuation of the previous journal Warera.

*March Incident 三月事件 (1931): Aborted military coup launched by the radical Sakurakai secret society within the Imperial Japanese Army, aided by civilian ultranationalist groups.

*November Incident 十一月事件 (1931): Also known as the Military Academy Incident 士官学校事件, this was an attempted coup d’état that took place in November 1934. It was one of a sequence of similar conspiracies for a ‘Shōwa Restoration’ led by radical elements with the Imperial Japanese Army.

*Liutiaogou Incident 柳条湖事件 (1931): conquest of Manchuria by the Japanese Guandong (Kwantung) army begins.

*First talkie film (1931): Madamu to nyoubou.

*October Incident 十月事件 (1931): Also known as the Imperial Colors Incident 錦旗革命事件, this was an abortive coup d’état attempt on 21 October 1931, launched by the Sakurakai secret society within the Imperial Japanese Army and aided by civilian ultranationalist groups. Leaders of the planned coup were arrested and received exceedingly light sentences.

*Manshū jihen 満州事変 (1931-3): The Mukden (or Manchurian) Incident. An early event in the Second Sino-Japanese War in which a section of railroad owned by Japan’s South Manchuria Railway was dynamited. The Imperial Japanese Army, accusing Chinese dissidents of the act, responded with the invasion of Manchuria, leading to the establishment of Manchukuo the following year. While the responsibility for this act of sabotage remains a subject of controversy, the prevailing view is that Japanese militarists staged the explosion in order to provide a pretext for war. (Answers.com)

*Period of “National Emergency” Begins 非常時 (1931-1945):

*Information Committee 情報委員かい (1931):

*Nōmin bungaku ronsō 農民文学論争 (1931):

*Tantei shōsetsu ronsō 探偵小説論争 (1931): debate centered around detective fiction of Edogawa Ranpo.

*Establishment of Puppet State of Manchuria (1932):

*May 15th Incident 五一五事件 (1932): Attempted launched by radical elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy, aided by cadets in the Imperial Japanese Army and civilian remnants of the League of Blood Incident. Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated by 11 young naval officers. The following trial and popular support by Japanese population led to light sentences.

*Socialist Masses Party 社会大衆党 (1932-1940):

*Bungei fukkō 文芸復興 (1932-1935): Cultural renaissance. Term coined by Hayashi Fusao.

*Sakuradamon jiken 桜田門事件 (1932): Assassination attempt made on Emperor Showa by Korean independence activist Lee Bong-chang.

*Shanhai jiken 上海事件 (1932): Incident between Chinese and Japanese troops in Shanghai.

*League of Blood Founded 血盟団 (1932- ): Ultanationalist organization formed by Inoue Issho and other right-wing radicals.

*League of Blood Incident 血盟団事件 (1932): The “League of Blood Incident” was an assassination plot in which ultranationalist extremists targeted wealthy businessmen and liberal politicians. The group chose twenty victims but succeeded in killing only two: former Finance Minister and head of the Rikken Minseito, Junnosuke Inoue, and Director-General of Mitsui Holding Company, Dan Takuma.

*Shakaishugi riarizumu ronsō 社会主義リアリズム論争 (1933):

*The Shōwa Research Association 昭和研究会 (1933-1940): Political think tank in prewar Japan.

*Murder of Kobayashi Takeji (1933): Proletarian writer Kobayashi Takeji is tortured to death at the hands of the police.

*Yuibutsuron kenkyūkai 唯物論研究会 (1930s): Marxist research group in the 1930s, whose members included Tosaka Jun, Mashita Shin’ichi, and other prominent leftist philosophers and critics.

*Tenkō ronsō 転向論争 (1933):

*Shesutofu ronsō シェストフ論争 (1933):

*Shimpeitai jiken 神兵隊事件 (1933): A failed coup intended to install a military government.

*Takigawa jiken 滝川事件 (1933): The forced removal of Professor Takigawa and other foreign policy dissidents and “old liberals” from the law faculty at Kyoto University.

*Gakugei jiyuu doumei 学芸自由同盟 (1933-1935): Group of 250 leading intellectuals led by Hasegawa Nyozekan, Miki Kiyoshi, and Nii Itaru that sought to protest Professor Takigawa’s dismissal and to curb the increasing suppression of left-wing cultural organizations. Tokuda Shuusei was elected as president of the group. The group was disbanded in 1935.

*Literary Chat Society Founded 文芸懇話会の設立 (1934-1937): ... before it was disbanded in deference to new Imperial Arts Academy.

*Teijin jiken (1934): Government officials implicated in a stock scandal.

*Shūkyō fukkō 宗教復興 (1934):

*Kōdōshugi bungaku ronsō 行動主義文学論争 (1934):

*Junsui shōsetsu ronsō 純粋小説論争 (1935):

*Minobe Tatsukichi announces “organ theory” at Diet 国会議事堂で美濃部達吉が天皇機関説を発表 (1935):

*Formation of Japanese Romantic School (1935): Yasuda Yojuurou announced formation of school and urges fellow romantics to turn to Holderlin, Novalis, and Schlegel in order to “discover” their own traditional culture.

*Rapid rise of militarists (1935):

*Japan Romantic School 日本ロマン派 (1935-1945): partipates in Kindai no chōkoku;

*Fanatical tennou-shugi begins to spread (1935): Based in universalism (tennou is that which creates all life-- Taishou vitalism roots) of Kakei Katsuhiko, Todai professor of constitutional law.

*Shisō to jisseikatsu ronsō 思想と実生活論争 (1936): debate between Masamune Hakuchō and Kobayashi Hideo.

*Term “fascism” disappears from public discourse (1936): Though the notion that Japan was becoming “fascist” dominated the mass media in the 1930s, it began to disappear from public discourse after the Feb 26 incident.

*Establishment of New Japan Culture Society 新日本文化の会 (1936- ): Patriotic literary association founded by Hayashi Fusao and Matsumoto Manabu.

*Anti-Comintern Pact (1936): Japan joins with fascist Italy and Nazi Germany

*Nakano Shigeharu/Kobayashi Hideo ronsō 中野重治小林秀雄論争 (1936?): debate between Marxist Nakano and Kobayashi;

*Abe Sada jiken 安部定事件 (1936):

*May Day Banned (1936):

*Cabinet Information Committee (1936):

*Niniroku jiken 二二六事件 (“February 26 Incident”) (1936): A major coup attempt against the Japanese government by the Imperial Way Faction 皇道派. Groups of assassins killed or attempted to kill the upper leadership of the government and seize control of key buildings. Fourteen hundred junior military officers took up arms in Tokyo, occupying the Diet, army ministry, and police headquarters. Three cabinet members were killed, including finance minister Takahashi Korekiyo. A band of officers stormed the kantei (the prime minister’s residence) and attempted to kill Prime Minister Okada Keisuke. Admiral Suzuki Kantaro, and Prince Saionji Kimmochi. Most of the city ended up effectively under rebel control. The rebels were fighting in the name of the Emperor against what they saw as a self-serving, overly political government that needed to pay more attention to the troubled domestic economy. Emperor Hirohito responded by ordering the army and navy to suppress the revolt. Elements of the armed services interested in the conquest of Asia saw this as an opportunity to use the rebel’s actions as an excuse for the military to seize greater power over the government. On the 29th, both services reported that they had captured all the rebels, and either executed them or demanded that they commit ritual suicide. Martial law was imposed until July, and Okada was forced to resign in March, making way for a new premier, Hirota Koki (who ended up signing Japan’s alliance with Germany). After some initial success, the coup started to unravel as the Emperor, General Hideki Tojo and surprisingly Shigeru Honjo (once a known supporter of Sadao Araki) acted against the rebels. The Emperor showed unexpected firmness. After a brief political crisis and stalling from the military, the rebels were forced to surrender. In the aftermath, many radical officers were retired and the coup leaders were tried and executed. Whatever the motive, February 26 wiped out the pro-peace factions in Japan and placed the entire country on a solid militarist footing. It was an important step in the escalation in 1937 of the Second Sino-Japanese War, towards Shanghai and the Nanjing massacre. The story behind the February 26 Incident is controversial in Japan, and has been the subject of many movies and fictional stories. Although there is no conclusive evidence to support their position, many believe that Hirohito’s younger brother, Prince Chichibu Yasuhito, was behind the revolt. Some conspiracy theorists have gone as far as to say that Emperor Hirohito and his cohorts staged the rebellion to create the perception of a need for stronger internal security measures.

*Rokōkyō jiken 盧溝橋事件 “Marco Polo Bridge Incident” (1937): Conflict between Chinese and Japanese troops near the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing, which developed into the warfare between the two countries that was the prelude to the Pacific side of World War II. In 1931 Japan occupied Manchuria (now Northeast China) and established the puppet state of Manchukuo, spending large sums to develop the region’s industry and continuing to expand their occupation into northern China around Beiping and Tianjin. This violation of China’s territorial integrity produced a growing anti-Japanese movement in China. By 1937 this movement had grown so strong that the Chinese communists and Nationalists agreed to end their civil war and form a United Front against further Japanese aggression. Before the incident occurred, the Japanese army had occupied Fengtai, the railway junction close to the Marco Polo Bridge, southwest of Beiping. On the night of July 7, 1937, a small Japanese force on maneuvers near the Marco Polo Bridge demanded entry to the tiny walled town of Wanping in order to search for one of their soldiers. The Chinese garrison in the town refused the Japanese entry; a shot was heard, and the two sides began firing. The Chinese government, under strong anti-Japanese pressure, refused to make any concessions in the negotiation of the dispute. The Japanesethe Japanese scored successive victories. The Japanese government, under mounting public pressure not to retreat, decided to seek a quick victory in China. However, this eluded them, and the two sides plunged into what was to become the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) and, in 1941, the Pacific theatre of World War II. (Britannica Encyclopedia)

*Shina jihen 支那事変 (1937): The “China Incident,” which led to large-scale hostilities between Japan and China.

*Japan Proletarian Party 日本無産党 (1937):

*Nanking Massacre (1937):

*Publication of Kokutai no hongi (1937):

*Pane Gō jiken “Panay Incident” (1937): An important, if short‐lived, crisis in U.S.‐Japanese relations occurred in the 1930s as Japan launched the Second Sino‐Japanese War in July 1937. The Japanese had quickly conquered Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing, and blockaded the coastline. On 12 December 1937, Japanese warplanes sank the U.S. Navy’s gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River, killing three Americans and wounding nearly thirty. In the daylight attack, many of the escaping survivors were repeatedly machine‐gunned. Three Standard Oil tankers being convoyed by the Panay were also sunk. President Roosevelt’s advisers believed Japanese officers in China had authorized the attack on the clearly marked ships, and the president and his cabinet considered an embargo and possible naval action. However, while condemning the attack, congressional and press opinion concluded that no vital American interests were involved. When the foreign ministry in Tokyo soon offered a formal apology and agreed to U.S. demands for an indemnity of $2 million, the crisis subsided, but it increased anti‐Japanese sentiment in the United States and helped persuade the president to take a firmer stand toward Japan, including in 1938 imposing a “moral embargo” on the sale of aircraft to the Japanese military and increasing the U.S. Navy. (U.S. Military History Companion)

*Popular Front Incident 人民戦線事件 (1937-1938): Incident in which over four hundred leftists were arrested on suspicion of participation in anti-government activities.

*National Mobilization Law (1938):

*Establishment of the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement 国民精神総動員運動の設立 (1938- ): An organization in the Empire of Japan established as part of the controls on civilian organizations under the National Mobilization Law by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe.

*Press censorship begins in earnest (1938):

*Establishment of PEN Brigade ペン部隊の設立 (1938- ): Corps of compliant writers during the war. Members included Kishida Kunio, Hayashi Fumiko, . . .

*Establishment of Bungakkai 文学界の設立 (?): Literary society. Hosts Kindai no chōkoku panel.

*”New Order in East Asia” Declaration (1938): Government places new emphasis on Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere Ideology.

*Kyōju gurupu jiken 教授グループ事件 (1938): Arrest of professors suspected of being affiliated with the leftist group Popular Front (jinmin sensen).

*National General Mobilization Law 国家総動員法 (1938- ): Legislation passed by the Diet of Japan by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe to put the national economy of the Empire of Japan on war-time footing after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The National Mobilization Law had fifty clauses, which provided for government controls over civilian organizations (including labor unions), nationalization of strategic industries, price controls and rationing, and nationalized the news media. The laws gave the government the authority to use unlimited budgets to subsidize war production, and to compensate manufacturers for losses caused by war-time mobilization.

*The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature 日本文学振興会 (1938- ): Organization established in order to promote Japanese literature. The committee organizes five of the major literary awards.

*Jūgun sakka butai 従軍作家部隊 (1938-1945): Association of writers embedded with the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy.

*Continental Settlement ... 大陸開拓国策ペン部隊 (1939- ):

* 大陸開拓文芸懇話会 (1939):

*Nomonhan jiken (1939): Heavy fighting between Japanese and Soviet troops along the Manchurian-Mongolian border, ending in the defeat of Japanese forces.

*Japan Literary Society 日本文学者会 (1940- ):

*Tripartite Pact 日独伊三国同盟調印式 (1940): A pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II. The pact was signed by representatives of Germany (Adolf Hitler), Italy (foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano) and Japan (ambassador Saburo Kurusu).

*Zoruge jiken ゾルゲ事件 (1941): Spy case involving German journalist Richard Sorge.

*Pearl Harbor Attack (1941):

*Publication of Shinmin no michi (1941):

*Rationing of Paper Begins (1941):

*Patriot Conference of Literary Writers 文学者愛国大会 (1941): Conference.

*Japan’s Young Citizens’ Cultural Association 日本少国民文化協会 (1942- ):

*Japanese Literature Patriotic Association Founded 日本文学報国会の設立 (1942-1945): Interwar literary committee to which nearly all writers were pressured to join.

*Yokohama Incident (1942): Incident in which forty-nine writers were jailed for their leftist leanings.

*Kindai no chōkoku 近代の超克-- 文化総合会議 (1942- ): Symposium arranged by the Kyoto School.

*「世界史的立場と日本」座談会 (1942):

*Great East Asia Writers Congress 大東亜文学者大会 (1942-1944): 3 annual meetings.

*Great Japan Tanka Poets’ Association 大日本歌人協会 (1942?- ):

*Japanese Journalism Patriotic Association 大日本言論報国会 (1943-): Wartime association, led by Tokutomi Soho, created to suppress freedom of speech.

*New Japan Literary Society 新日本文学会 (1945-2005):

*Shutaisei ronsō 主体性論争 (1946-1948): Postwar debate over subjectivity.

*Rice Riots (1946): Thousands of demonstrators gather in front of Imperial Palace demanding better and cheaper access to rice.

*Seiji to bungaku ronsō 政治と文学論争 (1946- ?): postwar debate between orthodox Marxist Nakano Shigeharu (of Shin nihon bungaku) and Hirano Ken (of Kindai bungaku critics, along with Ara Masahito).

*Bungakusha no sensō sekinin ronsō 文学者の戦争責任論争 (1946):

*Daini geijutsu ronsō 第二芸術論争 (1946):

*Reverse Course Begins 逆コースの開始 (1947- ):

*Formation of Zengakuren 全学連の設立 (1948- ): Communist league of students in Japan noted for organizing marches and protests.

*Communist Party officially denounces subjectivism (1948):

*Teigin jiken 帝銀事件 (1948):

*Taira Incident 平事件 (1949): Incident in which a police station was occupied by members of the Communist Party. All those arrested were soon acquitted.

*Fūzoku shōsetsu ronsō 風俗小説論争 (1949): Debate between Nakamura Mitsuo and Niwa Fumio.

*Shimoyama Incident 下山事件 (1949): Incident surrounding the disappearance and death of Sadanori Shimoyama, the first president of Japanese National Railways. He disappeared on his way to work, July 5, 1949, and his body was found the next day. The Mitaka incident, the Matsukawa incident, and the Shimoyama incident occurred within one month of one another, and together are known as JNR’s Three Big Mysteries.

*Mitaka Incident 三鷹事件 (1949): An incident that took place on July 15, 1949 when an unmanned 63 series train with its operating handle tied down drove into Mitaka Station on the Chūō Line in Tokyo, killing 6 people and injuring 20. The government indicted ten people on a charge of train sabotage resulting in death of the victims. In a court ruling in 1955, one employee of Japanese National Railways, Keisuke Takeuchi, was sentenced to death; the other defendants were freed. All the acquitted defendants were members of the Japan Communist Party, but Takeuchi was not. Takeuchi died in jail in 1967 of a brain tumour. Until his death, he continued to proclaim his innocence.

*Matsukawa Incident 松川事件 (1949): Incident on August 17, 1949 when a passenger train hauled by a JNR Class C51 steam locomotive derailed and overturned between Kanayagawa and Matsukawa stations on the Tōhoku Main Line, killing three crew members. It was reported that the tracks had been sabotaged, which the government blamed on the Japanese Communist Party and the Japan National Railway Union. Twenty people were arrested and convicted but all were eventually acquitted. The perpetrators of the alleged sabotage were never found.

*Chōsen jihen 朝鮮事変 (1950-1953): Korean conflict.

*Red Purge Begins (1950):

*Ningen tankyū 人間探求 (1950-1953):

*Ihōjin ronsō 「異邦人」論争 (1951):

*Amatoria (1951-55):

*The Trial of Lady Chatterley チャタレイ裁判 (1951- ):

*Security Treaty 日米安全保障条約 (1951):

*Kaen-bin jiken 火炎ビン事件 (1952- ):

*May Day Incident メーデー事件 (1952): Series of protests in front of the Imperial Palace resulting in violent clashes between 1,000 police and 6,000 demonstrators demanding an end to the U.S. occupation. Two protestors were killed and over one thousand were injured.

*Anti-subversive Activities Act 破壊活動防止 (1952):

*Peace Treaty With Japan (San Francisco Peace Treaty) 日本国との平和条約 (1952): Treaty signed between Japan and part of the Allied Powers. This treaty served to officially end World War II, to formally end Japan’s position as an imperial power, and to allocate compensation to Allied civilians and former prisoners of war who had suffered Japanese war crimes. This treaty made extensive use of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to enunciate the Allies’ goals.

*Uchinada Incident 内灘事件 (1952-3): A series of protests against the establishment of a US Army firing range in Uchinada, Ishikawa Prefecture.

*Kokumin bungaku ronsō 国民文学論争 (1952):

*Kitan kurabu (1952-1975):

*Fūzoku kagaku 風俗科学 (1953-1955):

*Fūzoku zōshi (1953-55):

*Shijin no sensō sekinin ronsō 詩人の戦争責任論争 (1954):

*Kokumin bungaku ronsō 国民文学論争 (1950s): debate that included Yamamoto Kenkichi, ..

*二重橋事件 (1954):

*Ura mado 裏窓 (1956-1965):

*Sōmagahara jiken (1957): Case involving the murder of a Gunma woman by a U.S. serviceman.

*Nagasaki Flag Incident 長崎国旗事件 (1958): Diplomatic dispute over which flag should serve as the legitimate national flag of China.

*May-June (“Hagerty”) Incident ():

*Kokuminbungaku ronsō 国民文学論争 (1950s):

*Jōbu kōzō ronsō 上部構造論争 (1956):

*Sensō sekinin ronsō 戦争責任論争 (1956):

*Jiyū ronsō 自由論争 (1957):

*Seiji to bungaku ronsō 政治と文学論争 (1959): Debate between Hanada Kiyoteru and Yoshimoto Takaaki.

*Seiji shōsetsu ronsō 政治小説論争 (1959- ): began with Nakamura article, “Futatabi seiji shōsetsu o”

*安保阻止第八次統一行動 (1959): Protest on grounds of Diet in which over 300 demonstrators were injured.

*US-Japan Security Treaty 安保条約 (1960): Cold-war treaty signed between Japan and U.S. which strengthened ties between the two nation.

*六一五闘争 (1960):

*Asanuma Inejiro shakaito iincho shisatsu jiken (1960): Televised assassination of Socialist Party leader Asanuma Inejiro which, according to some, was CIA-orchestrated.

*Shimanaka jiken “Shimanaka Incident” (1960): The attempted murder of Chūō Kōronsha president Shimanaka Hōji by a right-winged radical angered at the publication of Fukazawa Shichirō’s famed story about regicide.

*Fūryū Mutan jiken 風流夢譚（嶋中）事件 (1961):

*Junbungaku ronsō 純文学論争 (1961): Debate Hirano Ken vs. Itō Sei and Takami Jun; Inoue Yasushi, Ōka Shōhei, others involved;

*Seiji to bungaku ronsō 政治と文学論争 (1963):

*Haneda jiken 羽田事件 (1967):

*Nichidai funsō 日大紛争 (1968):

*Tōdai funsō 東大紛争 (1968):

*Tōdai Yasuda Kōdō senkyo 東大安田講堂占拠 (1969):

*Naikō no sedai ronsō 内向の世代論争 (1970):

*Establishment of the Japanese Red Army 日本赤軍の設立 (1971): A far-left militia founded by Shigenobu Fusako early in 1971 in Lebanon. It called itself Japanese Red Army and sometimes Arab-JRA after the Lod airport massacre.

*Yojōhan Trial 四畳半襖の下張事件 (1980?- ):

*Edo shōsetsu ronsō 江戸小説論争 (1974?): Mizuno Minoru and Suzuki (?)

*Kokoro ronsō (1985-1994): Debate between Komori Yōichi and Nakamura Miharu on Natsume Sōseki’s Kokoro.

*Rengō sekigun Asama Sansō jiken 連合赤軍浅間山荘 (1972):

*Kindaichū jiken 金大中事件 (1973):

*Mitsubishi Jūkō jiken 三菱重工事件 (1974):

*Atami satsujin jiken (1974):

*Shitabari saiban 下張裁判 (1975): Trial in which novelist Nosaka Akiyuki was charged with reprinting and distributing Nagai Kafū’s allegedly pornographic novel.

*Rokkiido jiken (1976): Corruption scandal in which Japanese government officials were charged with taking bribes from Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.

*Toshiba jiken (1987):

*Matsumoto sarin jiken (1994)

*Sarin gasu jiken ():

*Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (March 11, 2001):

Roy Starrs on Haruo Shirane’s Inventing the Classics (2000) and the Polemics of Postmodernism

2011-06-11T14:53:00.000+09:00

Six years ago I along with Belgian Japonophile Michael Hauspie gave my first-ever happyō in Japanese to a graduate seminar at Waseda. Our topic: Inventing the Classics: Modernity, Nationality, and Japanese Literature, edited by Haruo Shirane. Needless to say, our presentation sucked (at least my half of it). Half the class fell asleep, teacher included.

In this article for the New Zealand Journal for Asian Studies, Roy Starrs of the University of Otago does a far better job than we did in addressing both the merits and shortcomings of Shirane’s book, and in exposing the fault lines in recent criticism, namely, the split between postmodernists and “anti-postmodernists.” (I’m not quite sure what to call latter— traditionalists? modernists? humanists? torchbearers of the Enlightenment? neo-New Critics? neo-conservatives?)

While admitting that the “antifoundational” approach to the canon (defined by Shirane as “those texts that are recognized by established or powerful institutions”) has enriched our understanding of literary history and helped to sweep away old dogmas, Starrs wonders whether the trendy suppositions of postmodernism haven’t warped our understanding by reducing everything to social phenomena. Writes Starrs:

As to whether these excellent literary-historical essays convince one of the validity of the “antifoundational” canon theory Shirane propounds in his Introduction, my feelings are more ambivalent. Generally speaking, the notion of “invented tradition” was a useful one when traditions were commonly and uncritically accepted as rock-solid, age-old “givens” or as arising and evolving naturally over many centuries without conscious intervention or manipulation by elite power groups. As with all such ideas or metaphors once they become widely popularized, however, there is always the danger that this once-useful 198 Starrs notion itself becomes too much of an idee fixe and is applied too simplistically or indiscriminately to all manner of cultural phenomena, no matter how diverse, hybrid or multifaceted.

Here’s a list I’ve compiled of some of the supposed attributes of these two camps (Starrs refers to the camp on the left as the “literature-lovers”; shall we then call the others “literature-demystifiers”?):

Humanistic --- Anti-humanistic
Universalistic --- Particularistic
Belief in aesthetic standards --- Rejection of aesthetic standards
Foundationalistic --- Anti-foundationalistic
Essentialistic --- Constructionistic
Objectivistic --- Relativistic
Belief in the primacy of author --- Emphasis on social/historic factors
Belief in notion of genius --- Denial of genius
Focus on individual, inner life --- Focus on collective consciousness

Starrs, clearly aligning himself with the “literature-lovers,” speaks of the nihilism of postmodernism, warning that humanists who accept the theories of these pernicious postmodernists in fact “embrace their own death.” Starrs even names names:

Some of the still most venerated intellectuals of the 20th century, from Heidegger and Benjamin to Foucault and Derrida, were among their number, men whose nihilism led them to political folly of the highest order – nothing less than the defense of anti-intellectual, antihumanistic tyrannies in Germany, the Soviet Union and Iran. Was this the result of their straining after a reputation as “original thinkers”, or perhaps a mere delight in confounding “established opinion”? Or was it simply, and less flatteringly, the result of a rather limited power and range of thought?

Behold My Swarthy Face Modern Japanese Literature Examination (Round 3)

2011-06-02T17:55:00.007+09:00

This just in from Cniva Albinus:

Hey Beholdmyswarthyface,

I recently heard that Round 3 of the Beholdmyswarthyface Modern Japanese Literature Exam is being circulated among your friends and colleagues. I was hoping you could post it online so that we--the readers of your blog--could also take it. I didn't score too well on the second one, so I was hoping to do better on this round. Thank you. -Cniva Albinus.

Cniva,

I don't know how you heard about this, but sure thing. Posted below is the test. If you'd like us to grade it, just send your answers to our email address in PDF format. Good luck! And remember, the test was intended for undergraduates, so it might be a tad too easy for you. -Sally Suzuki

Behold My Swarthy Face Modern Japanese Literature Examination (Round 3)***Removed to prevent future cheating. -Sally Suzuki, Jan 4, 2012***

Japan and Lacan

2011-03-30T11:32:00.000+09:00

This just in from Sally Suzuki:

Beholdmyswarthyface,

I thought you might be interested in these two articles on Lacan and Japan:

1. Shingu Kazushige, “Freud, Lacan and Japan” (2005)

2. Ogasawara Shin’ya's rather opaque “The Instance of the Letter in the Japanese Unconscious” (1996, translated from French).
Lacan’s argument, I think, goes like this:
a. Without repression, there is no need for psychoanalysis.
b. The Japanese language, because it is split into two “modes of satisfaction,” ie, onyomi (text) and kunyomi (speech), “frustrates the process of true repression” (Kazushige, 53).
c. The subject is always torn between these “duplicities of register,” ensuring that “whoever speaks Japanese speaks another language [i.e., Chinese] without even knowing it.”
d. Forever poised between these two readings, the Japanese are “the limit of analyzability.”
I’m still not quite sure how he gets from “c” to “d.” Shingu then elaborates on the social dimension of this split in subject:

Divided not only in speech and writing, the Japanese subject is fragmented in the formality system of the Japanese language, in which a variety of modal expressions indicate social situation, and grammar requires different declensions according to these modalities; there are also multiple terms for the first-, second-, and third-person pronouns. Notwithstanding this fragmentation, or more correctly, owing to it, the Japanese subject maintains unity through a principle of constellation: the Japanese see themselves reflected in the social-institutional hierarchy, which they perceive as being as eternal as the celestial bodies. Thus, the Japanese seem to be exempt from the anxiety of aphanisis that arises at certain times in life. For such people, psychoanalysis is neither necessary nor possible (Shingu, 53).
I'm still not very well versed in Lacanian terminology, so let me spend some time with this and get back to you in a few days. In the meantime, you might want to take a look at this.
Yours,
Sally Suzuki, Beholdmyswarthyface Media Director

Notes on Alastair Bonnett’s 『The Idea of the West: Culture, Politics and History』 (2004) (Part 2)

2011-03-27T22:58:00.000+09:00

This just in from Nabil al-Tasnimi:

In the first chapter, “From White to Western: ‘Racial Decline’ and the Rise of the Idea of the West in Britain, 1890-1930,” Bonnett traces the rise of the concept of the West as constructed by Westerners. He sees the idea of the West as arising out the earlier “idea of whiteness,” which had gone into disuse by the 1930s when “white values” were replaced by “Western values."

Whiteness discourse had a rather short history, lasting roughly from 1890-1930. Its severe limitations began to show during what Bonnett calls “the white crisis” period, which saw a proliferation of works celebrating the virtues of whiteness, and warning of the dangers posed to it. The fact that the racially reductive assumptions of the literature (namely, that whites are best) did not line up with the facts (namely, that there are plenty of stupid and inferior whites to be observed in the world) produced a great tension, eventually bringing about the decline of white supremacy discourse. Also, the fact that disparate ethnicities were all lumped together in the “white category” did not help its advocates’ case for “white unity.”

Numerous other inconsistencies helped to rupture the notion of “white unity.” Both the fratricidal First World War and the great class divide exposed whiteness as "an inadequate category of social solidarity" (18). This was the case not only in Europe but in America, too, where whites were realizing that the bond between, say, poor white trash in Alabama and elite neo-aristocratic WASPs from the east coast were more tenuous than once thought. "White identity,” they were to discover, “does not possess a discrete history" (23). The idea of “the West,” by contrast, proved far more applicable, flexible, cosmopolitan, and only subtly ethnocentric.

How did “the West,” then, which was not a common term in Britain before the late 1800s, suddenly become a central unifying idea by the first two decades of the 20th century? The term was first used in its current sense in the late 19th century, and spread in the early 20th century with the help of three competing forces: the rise of America as an imperial power, the Bolshevik revolution, and the rise (and eventual collapse) of the colonial powers of Europe. It was during the unfolding of these three historical shifts that “the West” as a unified subject, perspective, and cultural grouping was invented.

As the terminology moved from whiteness to Western-ness, the notion of race became increasingly irrelevant, or at least sort of. While there emerged a new tendency toward abstraction and universalistic sentiment, the more perceptive critics saw that behind all the lofty rhetoric was still a racial hierarchy that placed the white race on top, and that the alterations in terminology were no more than the proverbial lipstick on the pig, and were motivated by self-serving political convenience.

Nevertheless, a significant change occurred, and Bonnett traces this change from whiteness to Western-ness by examining five key figures from this era in British history whose varying uses of the term “the West” each typified the somewhat competing notions of the day. First was Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937), who served as Labour Party leader, and, later, British Prime Minister. He defined the West in terms of political discourse, using a partially deracialised, sometimes secular, and sometimes Christian terminology that emphasized a) humanitarianism and the alleviating of suffering, and b) the superior nature of the Western legal system and justice.

After MacDonald came Benjamin Kidd (1858-1916), who introduced the notion of "our Western civilization" in 1894. He saw the West "as a form of spirit, or consciousness, that is intellectually far-seeing and militarily enforced" (29). Though his rhetoric was often combative, he presented his ideas in mostly non-racialist terms, and in the guise of a priori truths which he saw only Westerners as capable of comprehending. These truths, he argued, must be mercilessly enforced, and it is therefore necessary to prepare for conflict in the defense of “Western culture.” To Kidd, whiteness was merely a "prosaic fact," while the West was "a higher and more important reality" (30).

Francis Marvin (1863-1943), a follower of Kid, was the chief organizer of the Unity History Schools, which were established to maintain and propagate a coherent idea of the West, which he saw as having been severely splintered during the Great War. Marvin, somewhat oddly, saw Western man as a single racial unit, within which many other races simultaneously existed. But untroubled by such inconsistencies, he insisted that race was not something to be apprehended by the intellect alone, but to be felt by the heart as an emotional truth.

Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) too was inspired by the non-rationalist approach of Kidd. Spengler, most famous for his polemic The Decline of the West (1912), "leaves aside evolutionary biology" to argue instead that Western man is superior because he represents a form of Destiny. Race is feeling, not science, he asserts. In his Decline of the West he develops the notion of the life cycles of culture, which begin in growth and end in decay. The West as he saw it was now in its final stages of decay. Spengler also fought to abolish the term “Europe,” which he felt was misleading since it included Russians, who, after all, do not think like other Westerners.

Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) wrote A Study of History, in which he describes the rise and fall of thirty civilizations. Though he little mentions race, much of the focus is on the West. Like Spengler, he too considers the term “Europe” to be a misnomer, “since it appeared to link the West to the separate civilisation of Eastern Orthodoxy" (32). The future envisioned by Toynbee was a sort of utopia that was neither Western nor Eastern. Critics, however, would later claim that what he really describes is a world where the West has in fact eclipsed the globe, or erased itself, as it were, "in the process of its complete victory" (33). Toynbee also makes the important point that the "utility of deracialisation," rather than man’s moral development, is what led to fall of the white supremacy discourse.

Thus, by the 1930s white identity as a public ideal was largely dead, having been replaced by the idea of West-ness. (Notable exceptions of course could be found in Nazi Germany, the speeches of Winston Churchill, pamphlets dispersed at KKK rallies, and Pew Research Center polls.) Bonnett notes, however, that white privilege was no less real after this transformation; only the nature of that privilege had changed. “[White privilege] has become less visible, less acknowledged," and has adapted to global capitalist demands (34). The idea of West, Bonnett concludes, "helped resolve some of the problematic and unsustainable characteristics of white supremacism. Yet it carried its own burden of tensions," since, like whiteness, West-ness too came to be perceived as always in a state of crisis, and always in danger of decay or extinction (36).

"Afternoon of a Faun"

2011-03-07T22:11:00.007+09:00

This just in from Mary Klecka:

Your translation of "The Nymphs," in which the narrator likens himself at the end to the nymph-crazed forest god Faun (bokuyōshin), reminded me of Stéphane Mallarmé's poem "L'après-midi d'un faune" (1876), which reminded me of Debussy's eponymous symphonic poem for orchestra, which reminded me of Najinksy's ballet adaptation of the Debussy work that caused a scandal at its Paris premiere in 1912 when Najinsky, playing the part of the Faun, simulated masturbation in the final scene, which reminded me of this lanky homeless guy in Vermont performing what appears to be the part of the Faun in a (rather loose) adaptation of Najinsky's ballet, without the masturbation scene at the end.

Ishikawa Jun's "On The Thought Patterns of the People of Edo"

2011-03-07T17:09:00.004+09:00

This just in from Sally Suzuki:

Swarthyface, I have converted your translation of Ishikawa Jun's 1943 essay into a PDF file and uploaded it on Scribn. For your earlier, hyperlinked version, click here. For your brief intro to the essay, click here. For the original Japanese, click here. I hope this pleases you well.

**Removed to prevent plagiarism, Sally Suzuki, 1/25/12

Zadankai (Roundtable Discussion) Between Ray Asaba and Swarthyface, On Swarthyface's Translation of the First Sentence of Ishikawa Jun's "xxxxx"

2011-03-05T18:07:00.008+09:00

Sally Suzuki: Well, gentlemen, Mr. Swarthyface seems pretty confident about his rendering of the first sentence of Ishikawa Jun's "xxxxx." Just last night he was boasting to me: "Ne'er was there a sentence so perfectly translated." Here's the sentence in the original:

① 　わたしは……ある老女のことから書きはじめるつもりでゐたのだが、いざとなると老女の姿が前面に浮んで来る代りに、わたしはわたしはと、ペンの尖が堰の口ででもあるかのやうにわたしといふ溜り水が際限もなくあふれ出さうな気がするのは一応わたしが自分のことではちきれさうになつてゐるからだと思はれもするけれど、じつは第一行から意志の押しがきかないほどおよそ意志などのない混乱におちいつてゐる証拠かも知れないし、あるひは単に事物を正確にあらはさうとする努力をよくしえないほど懶惰なのだといふことかも知れない。

And his translation:

② 　I . . . I had originally intended to write about a certain old woman yet what comes to me now is not her image but only the stagnant waters of this "I . . . I . . ." that are about to spill endlessly forth as if the tip of this pen were a floodgate, and while this is partly because I am so exceedingly full of myself it also attests both to the mindless and impotent confusion into which I have already in this first sentence sunk and to the sheer languor that keeps me from even attempting to describe the world as it is.

We'll start with you, Ray. How do you think he handled this rather prolix sentence?

Ray: 上手いと思うけど、英語のほうが圧倒的に読みやすい。原文のうだうだしていて何が言いたいのかはっきりしないままだらだら話を続けていく感じが"while this is partly because..."とかやたら論理的になってる感じがするのですね。けどそれは言語の構造上の問題であってどうしようもないかもね。けど"perfect"であるよりももっと崩した感じのほうが面白いかも。

Swarthyface: ま、そうだね。多少論理的過ぎるかも、僕の英訳では。でもどうやって崩せばいいか分かりません。具体的提案があったら教えてね。こういう文体は昭和１０年前後に流行っていた「饒舌体」というものでね。太宰治、石川淳、宇野浩二などに多用されていて。それにぴったり合うような英語の調子を見つけるのは本当に大変ですよ。

Ray: 日本語は「...な気がするのは...」、「...けれど...」ていう風にだらだらと文章をつなげていくわけだよね。それによって、この一人称で語ってる男は始めから自分の言いたいことがわかってはいないというか、あんま文章構成を考えないでしゃべってるという印象を読者に与えると思う。つまり、「～な気がする」って言うところまで言って、その時点で「あ、その理由は～かな」みたいに思いついて付け加える。更に「そうは言ってみたけどこういう理由もあるかもとか思ってまた付け加える。文章が切れないでつづいていくからわかりにくいんだと思う。でも、それって日常の会話ではけっこう普通に行われてるというか、皆そんな考えないでしゃべってるってことはよくあるよね。それがこういう思考がだらだらつづいてくような人の場合こういうふうになるってことなのかなと俺は思います（日常会話だったら「もっとわかりやすくしゃべれよ」とか「おまえ何が言いたいのか全然わかんねえよ」と言われるような）。訳では、"while this is partly because," "it attests both to ... and to ..."ていうのをいれるから、話し手は自分が話す文章の全体の構成が最初から見えてるということになってしまって全然違う効果がうまれると思う。

だから、これは思いつきの提案ですが、そういう論理展開を示すことば省いて",which..."とか"or"とかでだらだらつなげていくのが良いかと思われる。

Swarthyface: いいことをいうね。実は最初は「or」にしたんけど、流れ的にちょっと変だなと思って「and」に変えた。でもやはり「or」の方がいいかもね。

ただ、この冒頭が明治初期の噺家的な口調に近い感じだとしても、作品全体が口語体で書かれているとは決して言えないね。ものすごく硬い言い回しもたくさんあるし、変な単語も多くて、物語の構成もしっかりしているし、文法的に漢文に近いところも多いので、作品全体はあくまで書き言葉で書かれているように感じる、パパにはね。だから英訳の方でも、多少フォーマルかつ論理的な英語にしてもいいかなと思つた。

でも仰った通り最初の文章は語り手が行先が分からないままとりあえず喋ってやるっていう投げやりな口調になっているから、少し口語っぽく崩してもいいかもね。やはりこの作品を訳すに当たり作者の明確な意図と語り手のだらだらした態度を区別せねばならぬことを忘れてはならぬ。

Sally Suzuki: I want to thank both of you for participating in this first ever zadankai hosted by Beholdmyswarthyface. I look forward to more discussions in the future.

Mishima and Overidentification

2011-03-01T12:56:00.000+09:00

This just in from Shirley "Little Bird" Boednest:

Dear Sally Suzuki,

I've been reading quite a bit of Mishima Yukio lately, but I'm not sure what to make of his politics. Are we to take his ultra-right-wing shenanigans seriously? Or was it all a stunt—a sort of parody of politics itself? But is it still parody if the object of parody (e.g., the emperor system, national mythology, etc.) is also that for which one sacrifices one's life? In other words, doesn't Mishima's final statement—his suicide—prove his sincerity? Or should the suicide too be seen as part of the act? Please help. I'm very confused. —Shirley "Little Bird" Boednest

*** ***

Shirley "Little Bird" Boednest,

Thank you for your query. I've often wondered about this myself. Mishima is certainly a hard one to figure out.

To understand Mishima's politics, we might turn again to Slavoj Žižek. In his book The Plague of Fantasies, Žižek develops the concept of "overidentification," a psychoanalytic term and potential political strategy by which the malign nature—or "hidden reverse"—of an ideology is exposed through one's total identification with that ideology. For example, someone who "identifies" with capitalism believes in the possibility of upward social mobility, the "American dream," etc. Someone who "overidentifies" with capitalism—say, Ayn Rand—however, embraces not only the ideology's talking points but its negative implications as well, namely, the selfishness, greed, alienation, inequality, commodity fetishism, etc. that go along with it. Similarly, the person who "identifies" with a fascist politics supports commonplace bourgeois notions such as the nation, a strong defense, corporate-capitalism, etc. Yet he is to be differentiated from the "overidentifying" fascist, who, like Mishima, openly embraces from the start all of the radical implications of that ideology—including those that the ideology itself would rather conceal.

Mishima's fascist histrionics, it seems, are precisely an example of such "overidentification." From his essays "Does Fascism Exist?" (Fashizumu ha sonzai suru ka?),"New Theory of Fascism" (Shinfashizumu-ron), and "On the Defense of Culture" (Bunka bōeiron) to his short-story and film Patriotism (Yūkoku), what we see over and over again is an unbridled advocacy for an emperorism and militarism that very few, if any, in the postwar world would ever subscribe to. So to answer your question, then, Shirley "Little Bird" Boednest, I think Mishima's politics are not to be taken at face value; in fact, it seems that he intentionally sought to undermine that which he was ostensibly advocating. (At the same time, I should warn against dismissing his politics in toto, for his criticism of the postwar geopolitical situation Japan found itself in, particularly regarding its relation to the U.S., is often quite incisive.)

Much has been said about the homoerotic dimension to the fascist aesthetic. Nazi ideology, for example, was rife with such imagery and innuendo, though it was always just beneath the surface. With Mishima, however, all of this is brought to the fore. Exterior and interior are reversed. Mishima's bizarre aestheticism held little appeal for Japan's disenfranchised right-wing youth in the 1960s, and Mishima was certainly aware that his homofascist exhibitionist displays had limited recruiting potential.

Then what are we to make of his suicide in the emperor's name, you ask? Was it not the ultimate proof of the sincerity of his convictions? Well, the short answer is, according to Susan Napier, no. "Mishima's treatment [of the emperor]," she explains, "is abstract, in some ways simply an elaborate excuse for his suicide. Mishima used the emperor as a powerful cultural image to suggest what Japanese culture had lost and also to give his own death a more impressive backdrop, but as a fictional image the emperor's attraction is a largely aesthetic one." (Napier, 85)

I hope this answers your questions.

Best,

Sally Suzuki

Oh, and this for the blind:

Donald Keene on Ishikawa Jun’s "xxxxx"

2011-02-27T13:56:00.004+09:00

This just in from Mother:

I read your translation of Ishikawa Jun’s xxxxx. A commendable effort on a difficult text. It still needs some tightening up in places, and there are still a few spots that, frankly, don’t make sense. I’ll try to find you an editor willing to go over it. Also—and you’re probably aware of this already—while thumbing through Donald Keene’s Dawn to the West the other day, I was surprised to find that he had quite a bit to say about xxxxx. Here is what he says:

****

Ishikawa's first story, “xxxxx” (The Beautiful Woman), appeared in 1935. Ishikawa was thirty-five at the time, unusually late for a Japanese author to make his debut. The story, related in the first person, concerns a man who is living with his mistress in an unfashionable, even dreary outskirts of Tokyo. He does nothing to earn a living, it would seem, and his eccentric behavior—his excitement over some sight of nature or his occasional fits of anger—gives him the local reputation of being a madman. He is painfully conscious of a terrible emptiness within himself, which seems to be his totality. He reflects:

I had been thinking for some time about stigmatization—how Francis of Assisi meditated so intently on Jesus that the marks of the nails that had been driven into the hands of his Lord on the Cross appeared on his own palms. The conviction that I was hollow inside had developed into an article of faith, but it was exasperating all the same to have others with smug looks on their faces casually dismiss this belief as another instance of my madness. It was not so much a matter of fanatic devotion to a faith that could move mountains as of manifesting a godhead from which I could not possibly withdraw. I was a shaman dragged about at the will of a supernatural possession; and the nothingness (mu) that I could imagine was not the creative nothingness that Lao Tsu described—"We make a vessel from a lump of clay; it is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful"—but an utterly useless nothingness, like a crack in the ground, a split in a tree, a cavern . . . yes, a cavern was the form in which the god I worshiped chose to display himself, and my stigmatization was a mere slipping of the hollow body that was myself into an empty frame in the sky.

This passage, though somewhat confusing, is of particular interest because of the reference to the stigmatization of St. Francis, suggesting a familiarity with Catholic literature. But the writing—and this would be true of all Ishikawa's future works—bears no trace of foreign influence. In the original of the quoted passage everything after “The conviction that” forms one long sentence; this was the “garrulous” (jozetsu) style that was typical not only of Ishikawa but of various other authors of the 1930s. The conversations, on the other hand, reveal Ishikawa's marvelously accurate ear for the many varieties of Japanese speech; far from elegant clarity, which he might have learned from French literature, his style suggests the meanderings of gesaku writings. There is humor, touched with bitterness, in this story, but the effect of the whole is a portrayal of a man in the throes of anomie, a man who has lost all connection with the world. He attempts to commit suicide by walking over a railway bridge just before a freight train normally passes, but that night the train fails to come. He accidentally discovers that his mistress is unfaithful, and sleeps with her sister instead. In the end, a final mark of his ineffectuality, he realizes that he has not related the story promised in the first paragraph.

It is not clear how much of Ishikawa’s life found its way into “The Beautiful Woman.” Clearly, it is not an “I novel,” but much accords with the little we know of his life during the years before he wrote this story. Publication led to a spate of other stories in 1935-1936. “Fugen” (the Japanese name of the Buddhist divinity who is known in Sanskrit as Samantabhadra), published like most of his early stories in the magazine Sakuhin, was awarded the fourth Akutagawa Prize in 1937 . . . (Keene, 1092-1094)

Study Guide for Mori Ōgai’s Vita Sexualis (1909)

2011-02-20T11:53:00.003+09:00

This just in from Sally Suzuki:

I've put together the following study guide for Vita Sexualis 『ヰタ・セクスアリス』 by Mori Ōgai, just in case you ever have to teach it in a 300 or 400 level class. I went ahead and put your name on it. I hope this pleases you well.

Vita Sexualis Study Guide

Beholdmyswarthyface Modern Japanese Literature Examination (Round 2)

2011-02-07T14:11:00.005+09:00

This just in from Cniva Albinus:

Hey Beholdmyswarthyface,

I recently heard that Round 2 of the Beholdmyswarthyface Modern Japanese Literature Exam is being circulated among your friends and colleagues. I was hoping you could post it online so that we--the readers of your blog--can also take it. I didn't score too well on the first one, so I was hoping to do better on this round. Thank you. -Cniva Albinus.

Cniva,

I don't know how you heard about this, but sure thing. Posted below is the test. If you'd like us to grade it, just send your answers to our email address in PDF format. Good luck! And remember, the test was intended for undergraduates, so it might be a tad too easy for you. -Sally Suzuki

Beholdmyswarthyface Examination (Round 2)***Removed to prevent future cheating. -Sally Suzuki, Jan 4, 2012***

Letter to Mom (or, Crash Course in Modern and Postmodern Literary Theory Using the Most Comprehensive Hyperlinked Glossary Ever Assembled)

2011-02-02T01:11:00.000+09:00

This just in from Sally Suzuki:

I've converted your literary theory guide into PDF format in order to make it easier for your students to use/download. I hope you approve. -Sally Suzuki

Letter to Mom (or, Crash Course in Modern and Postmodern Literary Theory Using the Most Comprehensive Hyper...

MUEN SHAKAI (Part Two)

2011-02-01T19:57:00.001+09:00

This urgent message just in from Swarthyface, again related to the subject of muen shakai:

一日中ずっと家にいるわけにはいかず、しかも上智・東大・目白台・真砂その四つの図書館以外に行くところがなく無縁社会に陥りつつあるわたくしは最近毎日江戸川橋駅近くのデニーズに行って読書しながら長居するほかない。店員たちに相当嫌われている有様だ。そして今日長居しながら無縁社会の到来を誰よりも先に予見したであろう夏目漱石の『こころ』（1914）を読んでいたら以下の一節に出くわした→「自由と独立と己れとに充ちた現代に生れた我々は、その犠牲としてみんなこの淋しみを味わわなくてはならないでしょう。」

MUEN SHAKAI

2011-01-31T21:26:00.000+09:00

Here is a special message just in from Swarthyface, concerning the problem of muenshakai (society of alienation), a neologism coined recently by NHK which refers to the increasingly rapid disintegration of the network of social relations--a phenomenon Japan is now said to be experiencing. (Others of course may argue that this disintegration has been ongoing since the mid-Meiji period.) At any rate, here is his urgent message:

無縁社会って本当に恐ろしいものだなと最近身をもって感じるようになりましたね。そろそろ近代すなわち資本主義とそれに必然的に伴う疎外感や共同体の破壊という歴史的段階を終焉に至らしめて政治的活動を以て超克せねばならないよね。その活動の最先端に立つ旗手として僕は舵をとって無縁社会解体団体を創立しましたので参加・協力したい方、是非メールをくださいね。（男子禁止、悪しからず。）

特別講義のお知らせ

2011-01-30T11:08:00.000+09:00

リース・モートン博士

Professor Leith Morton (東京工業大学)

近代日本文藝のモダニズムとは何か

―異文化の土着化を中心にー

＊聴講自由、事前登録不要。講義・質疑応答は日本語／英語の両方を使って行われます。

　＊現代文芸論大学院演習「世界／日本文学へのアプローチ」の一環として行なわれる特別講義ですが、専門的関心のある方のご来聴を歓迎します。

日時　2011年1月31日（月）

午後5時～6時30分

場所　東京大学（本郷キャンパス）　法文1号館2階217番教室

113―0033　東京都文京区本郷7-3-1

交通　地下鉄丸ノ内線・大江戸線「本郷3丁目」、南北線「東大前」、千代田線「根津」など下車、いずれも徒歩10分。

構内地図　http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/campusmap/cam01_05_03_j.html

＊法文１号館は、東大（本郷キャンパス）正門から中に入り、安田講堂（時計台）に向かって直進、左側2番目の建物です。

講師プロフィール

リース・モートン教授は1951年オーストラリア、シドニーに生まれ、1982年にシドニー大学文学部東洋学科にて有島武郎研究で博士号を取得。シドニー大学、ニューカッスル大学で教鞭を取った後、2003年に東京工業大学に移った。近代日本の文学・文学・美学全般に通じた碩学であり、特に近現代詩およびモダニズムの美学に造詣が深い。近代日本文学に関する著書・論文・翻訳多数。また詩人としても知られており、詩集も出版している(以下のビブリオグラフィーを参照)。英語圏における近代日本文学研究を代表する著名な日本学者の一人。

東京大学大学院人文社会系研究科・現代文芸論研究室　

問い合わせ先　電話03(5841)7955 現代文芸論研究室

Leith Morton was formerly senior lecturer in Japanese at the University of Sydney and foundation Professor of Japanese at the University of Newcastle. He now teaches English at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, where he is a full professor in the Foreign Language Research and Teaching Center and the Department of Value and Decision Science. His main research interests are modern Japanese literature, culture and aesthetics. His books include: Tales From East of the River (Melbourne: Rigmarole Press, 1982); Divided Self: A Biography of Arishima Takeo (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1988); The Fox (Tokyo: Kumon Publishing Co., Ltd, 1989) (illustrated by Murakami Yukuo); Editor (and translator with three others) Seven Stories of Modern Japan (Sydney: Wild Peony Press, 1991); (Edited and translated) Mt Fuji: Selected Poems 1943-1986 by Kusano Shinpei (Michigan: Katydid Press, 1991); (Edited and translated) An Anthology of Contemporary Japanese Poetry (New York & London: Garland Publishing 1993); The Flower Garland (Sydney: Island Press, 1993); a day at the races (Macao: English Dept., Univ. of Macao, 2003); Modern Japanese Culture: The Insider View (Melbourne: Univ. of Oxford Press, 2003); At The Hotel Zudabollo (Sydney: Island Press, 2004); Modernism in Practice: An Introduction to Postwar Japanese Poetry (Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press, 2004); (Poetry Co-Editor and Co-Translator) The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature Volume 1: From Restoration to Occupation, 1868-1945 (New York, Columbia University Press, 2005); (Translator) Shuntaro Tanikawa: Selected Poems (Sydney: Vagabond Press, 2006); (Translator) Rin Ishigaki: Selected Poems (Sydney: Vagabond Press, 2006); (Translator) Masayo Koike: Selected Poems (Sydney: Vagabond Press, 2006); Tokyo: A Poem in Four Chapters (Sydney: Vagabond Press, 2006) and Yosano Akiko no ‘Midaregami’ o Eigo de Ajiwau (Tokyo: Chukei Shuppan, 2007). The Alien Within: Representations of the Exotic in 20th Century Japanese Literature (Hawaii Univ. Press, 2009).

Encyclopedia of Modern Japan

2011-01-27T13:39:00.009+09:00

This just in from Sally Suzuki:

We thank all of you--particularly Mark Jewel at J-Lit--who were kind enough to contribute. Please send us an email if you'd like to help edit or add entries. -Sally Suzuki.

The Beholdmyswarthyface Encyclopedia of Modern Japan (PDF)

ART ZINE 「pink」： LOOKING FOR CONTRIBUTORS

2011-01-26T18:31:00.008+09:00

This just in from Ms. Ozawa Miwako, founder and editor of the art and literary zine Pink:

Dear Mr. Behold M. Swarthyface,

ちょっとお願いがあってメールしています。
私は友人たちと「pink」というアートのフリーペーパーを作っているんだけど、そこに載せるコラムを書いてくれる人を探しています。

もしコラムをお願いできるというのであれば、
お題も何もかもが要相談という感じで、
つまりは自分の好きなことを書いていただければ良いという感じになります。

今他に依頼しているコラムニストは、食と文学について・・というざっくりしたお題だけある中で、好きに書いてもらっていますし以前に書いてもらった方々も、自分で書きたいものを締切りまでに出してもらってその後私と相談しながら校了するという感じです。

現代文芸論のとある学生さんは、vol１から書いてくれてるんだけど、好評で、柴田先生にもvol.2には出てもらいました。

褐面氏（つまりMr. Swarthyface）や『BEHOLD MY SWARTHY FACE。』の協力者・読者たちは、英語でも日本語でも執筆できると思うので、「pink」の誌面で何か日本映画についてとか、日本文学について、とかバイリンガルで書いてくれても嬉しいです。

ただ、文芸誌ではないので、あくまでも軽いタッチで書いてもらえたらいいのですが・・・

ページは見開き２P。
片面に日本語、もう片面に英語、というのでもいいと思います。

今はまだ編集作業にも入っておらず、スケジュールが押し気味です。
なんとか3月中に出版できることを祈っていますが、
このままだと4月に押される可能性が大きいです。

現在vol.3の第一特集は、ファッションフォトグラファーのMark Borthwickです。
あとは、日本人カメラマンの川島小鳥さん。
その他に、フードクリエイターの諏訪綾子さん、などなどの面々を考えております。

あと、原稿料なのですが、『pink』はフリーペーパーなので、
前ページ原稿料はお支払いしていません。
アーティスト達の協力の元でなんとか成り立っている雑誌です。

『pink』はアートのフリーペーパーとしてはクオリティが高いですし、どこにも負けない自信があります！！Swarthyfaceさんの日々思っていることや考えていることを、書いてみませんか？

一度ウェブで誌面を見てもらって、もし興味があれば
お返事ください。

突然のお願いですが、ご検討いただけたら幸いです！

小澤　身和子

Journal Entry #184

2011-01-26T17:55:00.003+09:00

This just in from Swarthyface:

秋期の最後の講義は今日で終了しました。残りは来週のファイナルとその翌週の学生との飲み会だけです。

実験として最後の課題を、自分が翻訳した石川淳『佳人』（The Nymphs）にしました。

自分の苦労の成果であるこの訳を取り上げて分析してもらうとは、聞く側として不思議な感覚であり、まるで私自身について語られているように聞こえてきました。

今日の発表者たちはテキストをよく分析してくれたなと感心しました。そして今まで意義の不明だった一節を、前列に着席していたＮemec君が明確にして下さいました。

これから英語圏の市場に挑み、Ishikawa Jun のThe Nymphs を出版し、ベストセラーにさせていくように頑張ります。笑

Letter from Reader, re: Akutagawa and Fragmentary Writing

2011-01-26T15:17:00.002+09:00

This just in from Marie-Noëlle Beauvieux:

Hi Beholdmyswarthyface & co.,

I am currently an exchange grad student in Tokyo and I am pursuing a thesis in comparative literature (Akutagawa Ryunosuke and fragmentary writing). As I saw last week with regret, I missed your courses at Sophia University this semester… and that made me wonder if you know of any courses/seminars/symposiums in Tokyo on Taisho literature that are being taught this year, or even of some references books on fragmentary writing and the Japanese language (I am working on a french translation of Shuju no ｋotoba) . . . or if you know of anything you think might be of interest.

I hope your Aozora Bunko Translation Project is going well, and thank you for all the interesting things you share.

Sincerely,
Marie-Noëlle Beauvieux

Marie-Noëlle Beauvieux,

Thanks for the mail. If I'm not mistaken, Professor Ando plans to focus on Taisho literature in the next semester of his kokubungaku graduate seminar at Todai, so you might want to check that out. As for books/essays on fragmentary writings of the Taisho period, the first thing that comes to mind is Seiji Lippit's chapter on the dismantling of literary form/genre in Akutagawa's late (fragmentary) works. If anything else comes to mind, I'll be sure to let you know.

Good luck with your translation.

Best,

Swarthyface