Sam Kraus - 10/22

Although I have many opinions on the readings this week, I am hesitant at times to voice too many of them. As for why, it ultimately comes down to the fact that I am not a Japanese person. I may be included in certain circles, but I am of course not, and will never be, of "Japanese." So, I am more than sure that I miss many nuances in the readings, form incomplete ideas, form ignorant ideas, etc. However, I would  still like to offer opinions on the readings without presenting them as facts or the sort.

Love Isn't Easy When You're the National Anthem is told from the first person perspective of the national anthem itself, and I quite enjoyed the combination of that surrealist aspect along with the commentary on nationalism and compliance. People not complying with the national anthem is of course nothing unique to Japan - in America, it is a controversial topic. Most notably, when Colin Kaepernick, the NFL quarterback, chose to knee for the USA's national anthem for a season. Of course, both anthems similarly contain nods to national pride and militarism. Interestingly enough, in this instance, the freshmen boy is the only person who chooses not to sing the song. Comedically, the national anthem is hurt by this. It says, "What kind of song did I have to be for you to want to sing me?" And if we were to attempt to answer this question, my assumption would be that the national anthem would have to distance itself from the emperor and militaristic pride. The World Wars will forever live within the DNA of Japan, and due to the national anthem and people like Sanae Takaichi who are still insistent on diminishing the importance and notoriety of Japanese war crimes and militarism, it is no mystery that many people refuse to comply with the anthem. Furthermore, it is no mystery that to this day, it remains incredibly controversial. And on top of this, similarly to America, Japan has a history of punishing people who refuse to comply with the anthem. And with a rise in far-right politics and fascism burgeoning across the world,  it is not unwarranted to consider that this compliance could become more enforced if this trend continues. I speak more so for America when I say this, but there is a great difference between pride of one's home and its people, and pride of militarism. At the end of the day, what is a military but a private army that is built with the interest of the elite in mind? I have always contended with the idea of without question, honoring veterans. This is NOT because they aren't incredibly brave people, but it is because it has always seemed to me like propaganda. As in, focus on honoring them for providing your freedom, rather than considering that their deaths are meaningless and inconsequential to the very people who send them to die. And of course, a lot of these young men that are recruited to fight are poor; they are targeted by the military as they understand well that these impoverished men have no where else to turn. When one refuses to comply with the national anthem, it is often perceived as a slight to those who fight. However, it is much more than that - it is a slight to those who create wars for personal gain. 

As for Abandoning a Cat, it was my favorite short story of all time. After returning to it, I can safely say that it is absolutely still up there. Piggybacking off of the last story, during WW2, the national anthem served as a tool to manifest the support of imperialism and militarism. However, Murakami's father was not one of those people who blindly supported the cause. As he says himself in one of his Haiku's, "A soldier, yet a priest, clasping my hands in prayer, toward the moon." His father regretted this period of his country and his life so deeply, that every morning, when praying to the Butsudan, he included the Chinese soldiers in his prayers. And as Murakami mentions himself, he carries his father's trauma with him. Atrocities were committed by the Japanese military in China (among other places), and to this day, these acts are public knowledge, yet largely concealed. I have always deeply respected Murakami for writing about this topic - not only in this short story, but also in Wind-up Bird Chronicle, which is in my opinion, his greatest novel. He details accounts from Manchukuo, and part of me wonders if this was done in part, to honor his late father (among other reasons). Just like his father, Murakami is deeply traumatized by what occurred in the Chinese front, and he is not afraid to share his laments. Even aside from the mentions of war, this piece is incredibly introspective and moving. I love Murakami's writings on the randomness of life, the ascent being easier than the descent in life, him and his father's estranged relationship, the idea of ordinary memories being incredibly impactful, etc. His relationship with his father reminds me of Tengo's relationship with his father in 1Q84, and part of me wonders if this was partly autobiographical - probably. 

Tokyo Ueno Station also reflects on the war and militarism, but its topics are a lot more varied. For instance, it touches not only on the imperial family and the national anthem, but also on American influence, extreme poverty, the 1986-1991 asset price bubble, etc. It appears to be an account of traumatic experiences that Japanese citizens have encountered over the last century. More than anything, it shows how the people at the bottom of society stand to suffer the most from all of this. As impoverished and hungry as they are, if the imperial family was stopping by, they were forced to move their tents and would be evicted from the area. In war, the poor always stand to lose much more than those who send the poor to die. 

As for Erika Kobayashi's three short stories, they continue with the theme of the war. However, they also carry themes of globalism and American influence. For example. Coco's Century of course uses Coco Chanel to comment on Western influence post WW2, and along with that, the narrator goes around traveling the west. This western influence is a very common theme in Japanese literature - most notably, Meiji Era literature from authors such as Sōseki. His Last Bow carries very similar themes, but instead of Coco Chanel, it discusses Sherlock Holmes. As for war, it almost seems to represent an end to the cycle of trauma. The narrator's bloodline on the male side are all doctors. Shigeru was an army doctor, and the narrator's dad was too. However, his dad eventually quit that, and the narrator decided to avoid medicine altogether. To me, this comes off as distancing oneself from the militaristic past. Lastly, Sunrise deals with themes of light - whether that is the sun, atomic bombs, or the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant. It accounts a young girl growing up during this time, and the influences that light and nuclear power had on her. More than any other country, Japan has a devastating past when it comes to that topic, and all of this has occurred in under 100 years. Again, to finish, normal citizens of a country who are only trying to make a living, stand to suffer more than the ones who create such wars.