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You know it’s a Mishima story if…

You know it’s a Mishima story if…. Diction alludes to Japan’s lost tradition: “fading,” “melting,” “distance,” “blurred,” “transparent,” “faint,” “forgetting”=GHOSTS=KAMI as a primary MOTIF.

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You know it’s a Mishima story if…

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  1. You know it’s a Mishima story if… Diction alludes to Japan’s lost tradition: “fading,” “melting,” “distance,” “blurred,” “transparent,” “faint,” “forgetting”=GHOSTS=KAMI as a primary MOTIF. Diction alludes to “artificiality.” Ambiguous? Good thing or bad thing? Artificial (western)culture imposed on Japan or the artistic “artifice” of Japanese art forms and rituals? Irony?

  2. Titles allude to Japan’s history and lost traditions: • “Patriotism”: Bushido Code=seppuku.The February 26, 1936 Incident. Imperial Army rebellion. • “Death in Midsummer”: The atomic bomb and its aftermath. August 6 and 9, 1945 and Post-WWII. • “Thermos Bottles.” Modern Japanese “haunted” by the past. Samurai and geisha transition to Westernization. Japanese immigrants: the lure of the West. • “The Pearl.” Japanese Empire. Pearl Harbor. Military “maneuvers.” Military officers like bickering middle-aged women? Or vice versa? • “Dojoji.” Traditional Noh theater with a modern twist. Contrast original legend with Mishima’s version. Japan is “occupied.” • “Swaddling Clothes.” Original title: “Newspapers.” Focus on the multiple meanings of the word “kami.” Notice how Japan’s past, present, and future converge.

  3. Imagery • Red and white=Japanese flag • Orange, yellow, gold=Emperor’s flag • Green=surrender • Cherry blossoms=transience • Shintoism: Kami,white paper, straw • Modern images vs. traditional images • Three Imperial Treasures: sword, mirror, jewel • Contrasting: Hot/Cold;Fat/Thin;Light/Dark

  4. Analogy: Private lives=Japan’s history and change • “Patriotism”: Shinji and Reiko honor the “Divine Couple” (Emperor/Empress) and uphold Bushido Code. • “Death in Midsummer”: Japan’s tradition and future generation are swept away by waves of modernization. The horror of losing three family members is equivalent to the loss of thousands of lives with dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. • “Thermos Bottles”: Modern Japanese are having “affairs” with the West=Japan’s national infidelity to its tradition. • “The Pearl”: Cattiness among Japanese middle-aged women equivalent to infighting among Japanese WWII military leaders. Blame and shame. Honor and dishonor. • “Dojoji”: Japan’s honorable past replaced by modern conveniences. • “Swaddling Clothes”: What will happen to Japan’s future generations?

  5. Setting: time and place and outside=inside • “Patriotism”: February 28, 1936. 8-mat room=private/public space; altar=“Divine Couple,” Great Ise Shrine (honors sun goddess), sakaki twig=Shintoism; sun and snow. • “Death in Midsummer”: Allusion to August 6 and 9, 1945; sun and sand; mushroom clouds; “A” beach; waves. • “Thermos Bottles”: San Francisco=Japanese diaspora vs. traditional Japanese. “ “The Pearl”: birthday party=military schemes • “Dojoji”: wardrobe vs. factory; ancient legend moderized; isolation vs. openness • “Swaddling Clothes”: authentic vs. artificial. 20 years pass in an instant. Inside home. Outside home.

  6. Theme: Loss of Japan’s noble values and rituals • Honor • Beauty • Purity • Passion • Death

  7. Characters • Ambiguous gender roles=changing values • Eyebrows=thick=masculinity (Samurai?) Delicate or none=feminity (Noble ladies/geisha?) (Kami=Hair?) • Pale skin=female beauty; purity • Clothing=traditional vs. modern • Husbands/Wives/Lovers=Conflict between tradition/modern; transition from traditional to modern; past, present, future of Japan: “witness,” “guilt,” “fear.” • Children=future generations • Shinji and Reiko- names mean “spirit” (kami) • The women in “The Pearl”-names=military leaders

  8. Female Characters • Reiko and her dagger and lipstick • Tomoko holds Momoko and looks at sea • Yasue and her green bathing suit • Asaka and her daughter in San Francisco • Kimiko and her “lawn-green” sweater • Kiyoko abandons seppuku of her face • Toshiko willing to sacrifice self for son • Unnamed nanny gives birth to bastard son

  9. Male Characters • Shinji commits seppuku without killing wife first. • Masaru works for American auto company instead of vacationing with family. Grabs surviving son’s hand at end of story. • Kawase caught between traditional Japan and West. • Dealer selling Japanese antique in which Yasushi, the lover of Mrs. Sakurayama, was killed by her jealous husband. • No male characters in “The Pearl” • Toshiko’s husband is an actor.

  10. The Children • Kiyoo and Keiko “pulled” by waves and drown; surviving child, Katsuo, overprotected; a daughter, Momoko, born one year later. Mother holds Momoko; Father holds Katsuo’s hand at end. • Shigeru afraid of thermos bottles; mom uses bottle to discipline son in Japan but then deliberately breaks it. Former geisha’s daughter, Hamako, used to be afraid of thermos bottles but no longer fears them. • Toshiko’s son vs. nanny’s son.

  11. “Now I am become death…” • “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” --J. Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita after viewing the first atomic bomb test. www.atomicarchive.com/Movies/Movie8.shtml

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