If you didn't get a confirmation email from me,

it means I didn't receive your final exam. There are still three of you whose exams I haven't received. Please contact me asap if you sent an exam, but did not receive a reply from me.

The first to cross the finish line is ...

Joe!

Joe was the first to submit his final. He did so over the weekend and already has been spotted (with an as yet unidentified comrade) in warmer environs.

Your Final Exam

Welcome to your Japanarchy class "take-home" final exam!

Instructions
Although I anticipate most of you will be able to submit your exams by Monday, December 17th, you have until 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, December 19th at the absolute latest to submit your completed final exam. (You may submit your exam at any time prior to the 19th.)

Email your exam directly to me. Do NOT send your exam as an attachment, but in the body of an email message.

I will be happy to answer any and all procedural questions you may have, but I won't answer any questions that might involve providing you with information that could be used in an exam response.

Part One: Short Answer Questions (56%)

Answer ONLY 8 of the following 10 questions with a one-paragraph response. Make sure to support your ideas with SPECIFIC examples from assigned material and class discussions.

1. In what way or ways was Kanno Sugako's political sensibility consistent over the course of her life?

2. How do the workers portrayed in The Factory Ship respond to cumulative stress and oppressive working conditions? Describe the effectiveness or possible sustainability of the responses you choose to address in your answer.

3. In the short story "Sayonara T'sai-chien," why does Hwang suggest the Japanese tourists were given a hard time at the airport and why is this detail significant?

4. What does Okuzaki Kenzo want in the film The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, and what tactics does he employ to this end?

5. What is significant about the encounter Amamiya Karin has when she travels to North Korea in the film Atarashii kamisama (The New God)? Who is involved?

6. What do YOU think Mokuren's "real job" is in Lonely Hearts Killer? What specific textual evidence supports your opinion?

7. Describe and critique how the phrase "personal responsibility" (jiko sekinin) has been used in reference to some Japanese aid workers, activists, volunteers, journalists, and students who have gone to Iraq. (Make sure to address who uses the expression and why or to what end?)

8. According to Ramsey Kanaan, how are we already living in a “world of anarchy”? What specific examples did he provide when he spoke to our class?

9. Pick one of the anarchists we have studied this semester and make an educated guess as to how she or he might understand (or have understood) the testimony of the veterans interviewed in the documentary Japanese Devils? (Make sure you provide evidence to back up your answer!)

10. In your own words, explain Naito Chizuko’s concept of “the empty center” and briefly discuss how it relates to at least one other work (reading or film) or figure we’ve studied this semester.

Part Two: Essay (44%)

Compare and/or contrast the novel Lonely Hearts Killer to any 3 of the assigned texts, blog readings, or films from this semester. Your essay should begin with an introductory paragraph that clearly and specifically explains how you interpret the novel as a whole and/or how you see it fitting into this course. Then, you should write 1-3 paragraphs for each of the three sources you choose to address in relation to LHK. You should develop a specific argument or claim for each section in which you compare/contrast LHK to another work and avoid simply listing differences or similarities. You might consider, for example, the significance of very similar or wildly different themes, motifs, political questions, or settings. Make sure to use textual evidence, backing up your claims with specific examples. Avoid vague statements and generalizations. A conclusion is not necessary, but if you find that your essay leads to a conclusion, feel free to include one.

If you want a sense of how your essay will be graded, you can refer to the rubric below, which is adapted from and consistent with the types of essay grading rubrics you can find here and here.

An “A” essay will demonstrate your command of the course material. You will address all the tasks required by the prompt. Your analysis will be cogent, interesting, and sophisticated. Your ideas will be original (or at least very insightful) and go beyond what was discussed in class and/or on the blog. Your arguments and responses will be supported by appropriate and specific examples. The logical connections between your ideas will be clear and explicit. Your paragraphs will be effectively constructed, your transitions will be clear, and you will make few or no minor or technical errors.

A “B” essay will show a good understanding of the course material and tasks required by the prompt. Your ideas will go beyond the obvious. You may make some minor factual or conceptual errors, but you will demonstrate a solid grasp of key course concepts. You will develop arguments with appropriate textual evidence and supporting detail. You may have a few mechanical or grammatical errors.

A “C” essay will show a basic understanding of the course material and information involved in the assignment. You may have some factual, interpretive, or conceptual errors. You may only partially develop your response, and your analysis may be overly general or vague. Some of your ideas may be undeveloped or unsupported. You may make only limited use of textual evidence. Your essay may contain information that is not germane to what the prompt requires.

A “D” essay shows little command of the course material or has significant factual and conceptual errors. You may confuse or not understand key concepts. You may not develop your ideas or points. You may not make use of textual evidence. Your essay may have some major grammatical or proofreading errors.

An “F” essay shows little or no understanding of the course material or contains plagiarized passages. There may be no discernable point. You may simply list ideas or facts or write about unrelated topics.

Finally, you have an extra credit option for the final exam. Professor Kota Inoue, who visited the UI this past semester, told me about an interesting question he sometimes asks his students, and I've adapted it for our class. Here it is:

Everyone in our class has been challenged in one way or another -- perhaps even on a fundamental level. We have studied a variety of controversial issues, such as whether or not violent means of resistance can be justifiable. The course may have been uncomfortable at times, but my hope is that the discomfort helped you expand your intellectual horizons. However, my hopes alone can't determine your experience. You all have to find your own challenges in this or any other course. Explain what the challenge(s) was (were) for you. If you have felt any intellectual or emotional discomfort in this class, please consider that experience as a way to define your challenge(s). If you have not felt discomfort, you might consider what aspects of this course made you wonder or feel confused or even "turned off." There will be clues as to the nature of what challenged you in those experiences. If you felt no discomfort and were somehow able to embrace all the material without difficulty, you should still feel free to reflect and comment on how you experienced the course material. Your response will be evaluated in terms of the thoughtfulness of your reflections in relation to the specific material we studied in the course.

Look Back in Anger

This new article might be helpful for you to read as you prepare for the final exam in that it addresses some issues and problems we have studied.

A reminder, some photos, and a monologue!

If you are grateful for the following reminder, you can thank Cam'c. Please remember that you should review the translations Shiori made for us for next week, as well as posts related to news and current events. To do so, you'll want to go through the blog archives for this semester, especially the posts you'll find here,
here, here, here, here, here, and here.


Now, here are the photos from Jenn and Stone!












And finally, Cecilia has written a monologue and generously given me permission to post it below. She says that she will revisit and revise the piece as part of a collection of women's monologues. Enjoy!!

Kaneko Fumiko
(The Words of a Revolutionary:
As Imagined by Cecilia Copeland Haertsch)

As I look back on my life I am left with questions. I don’t think, looking back that I would’ve done anything differently. No, I did the best I could at the time, the best I knew how. But, as I look back at the people I’ve known some good, some bad… I have questions.

How is the world the way it is? How can people be surrounded by so much beauty and be so ugly? How can people be heartlessly cruel as if they had no emotions at all? How can people blindly believe in a fantasy of hierarchy when the truth, so blatantly obvious to me, is that each of us- all of us are the same. There is not one person who should have the right determine the fate of the rest. No-one should be able to send another to their death. No-one should be able to tell a person to kill in their name. No group should be able to declare war on another. What is war? It is a joke being played on people. A game, in which, so called underlings, are sacrificed for the sake of land or worse… the whim of a person who has the power to make it so.

We are capable of so much, desirous of greatness, but what stands in our way? We do. We, as people stand in our own way. We hurt each other, we control each other, punish each other for wrongs we imagine. We follow the word of our social betters or higher up’s as if they were gospel. We pretend that they hold a more important place, and that to disobey them is to go against nature in some way. That is not so. It is nature to follow our own hearts. How are we to ever know what is in our own hearts if are never given the opportunity to find out? How are we to comprehend the possibilities of our future if all of our past was spent being indoctrinated into a mindset of subordination?

It is not death I fear. I fear compliance. I fear making myself small. I fear living a life accepting what is wrong with the world without protest. I fear looking the other way while I hear the screams of innocent people being tortured. Like so many people did as I cried out in pain. I fear turning my back on the truth. I fear many things, but not death. To die is natural. To live in fear is not. To die is part of life, but if one never truly lives what value is their life? I would rather live fully, and if by doing so means to die, than I will have lived. Truly lived, rather than taking up space in the world as an inanimate object that moves about and consumes and produces waste. To think, and love, and make changes in the world is what life is.

I am now facing a non-life. I look into my future and I see a life without choice. I see an existence of nothingness. All the pain and suffering I have known is worth it, if I can spend the night in the arms of my love. All is worth it, if I can reach out to touch a small blade of grass with my fingertip. I have known real freedom in my life.

And now I will exercise it by doing the only thing I can to celebrate life. I will kill myself. Rash? No. Logical, peaceful, happy. Life should be lived to the fullest. Life should be about doing everything one believes in. Life should be about living in opposition of that which one does not agree with. My life has been taken away. My ability to make an impact on the world has been confined to a cell. I will not be confined! By taking my own life, I take it back!

LHK recap

While we did get a good sense of the range of ways in which we might interpret Lonely Hearts Killer yesterday, we certainly didn't exhaust all the possibilities. There are also many characters and scenes we didn't discuss. Before we shift gears to conclude the course, I wanted you all to think about the novel a little bit more. In addition to thinking about whether the novel itself is "anarchist fiction," which wouldn't have to mean you think certain characters are anarchists, of course, I'd like you to think about how you experienced the novel. From your comments, I know some of you found it depressing. Others found it hopeful. That makes perfect sense to me, because I've experienced it both ways. I think there are also many understandable reasons to be frustrated by the novel, to be "hooked" on it, or even to want to intervene in the ending or other scenes somehow. How did you feel about it and why? Try to be as specific as possible in your answers.

Also, I'd like you to discuss some of the characters, scenes, and issues we didn't address in class. For example, what did you make of the discussion between the young couple that Inoue and Iroha overhear at the dim sum restaurant in the first chapter? Did it remind you of anything? Or what did you think of Kisaragi and Udzuki?

“Koda-kun” by Shiga Naoki (translated by Shiori Yamazaki"

Shiori translated the post that appeared here on the Irregular Rhythm Asylum blog. Shiga is the same anarchist and punk singer who made this "dismantle the emperor system" poster. He is currently traveling around the world. The names in Shiori's translation are like in English with the surname last and given name first. I look forward to your comments!

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2007
"Koda-kun" by Naoki Shiga
translated by Shiori Yamazaki

There is an inn in Amman in Jordan, where Shosei Koda, who was killed in Iraq, had once stayed. One backpacker set out for Iraq by himself from this inn three years ago.

Iraq has been in a state of invasion by the US Army from the Gulf War up until the present. The US Army has killed countless Iraqis during this invasion. The Japanese government also has dispatched the SDF (Self Defense Force) troops to support the US Army. There are many guerrillas, of course, in Iraq (the US calls guerrillas terrorists), who resist these invading armies.

Under these circumstances, Koda-kun was captured three years ago by the guerillas who were resisting the US army’s invasion. The guerrillas demanded that the Japanese government withdraw the SDF troops from Iraq, as a condition of Koda-kun’s release.

The news about Koda-kun being taken as a hostage spread all over Japan. However, the Japanese government didn’t accept the guerrilla’s demand. And he was killed. Mass communication and public opinion expressed sympathy toward him before he was killed. As soon as he was killed, however, mass communication and public opinion, from the government on down, all of the sudden, started to criticize Koda, depicting him as the bad guy, who had selfishly gone to Iraq. In the end, they tried to deny his entire existence by using the word “jikosekinin [self-responsibility].”

Since that day, I’ve never been able to forget about his death. There are, of course, occasions when I forget, but it’s stuck somewhere in my heart all the time.

Why is that? Is it because I am the same age as him? Or is it because I am a traveler like him? Or is it because I’ve opposed all sorts of wars such as the one being carried out by the US army? Or opposed the Japanese government’s reaction toward him? Or opposed the mass communication and public opinions, who kept insulting him, a man who had already died?

Probably, all of these things have stuck in me. Most of the mass communication didn’t talk about such a thing as “why” he went to Iraq. What on earth did he want to do in Iraq?

The answer was written down on a note, which was left at KODA hotel (Mr. Samer, an employee of the inn where Koda-kun stayed, named it after Koda-kun to mourn him).

Koda-kun wanted to help Iraqi kids who had been hurt by the war, and he tried to look at reality with his own eyes, the reality which TV doesn’t show. And he acted.
There are pictures in the note which Koda-kun passed Mr. Samer before leaving for Iraq.

There are Iraqi children in this picture who have been hurt by the US army’s bombings. (Koda-kun’s family made a copy of this picture and sent it to Mr. Samer later.)

I had no idea for what reason Koda-kun tried to go to Iraq until I came to the inn, “Koda Hotel” in Amman. So, I want to introduce it here for those like me who didn’t know about it. (The reason why he tried to go to Iraq has been referred to in some books and magazines.)

I couldn’t for the life of me forget about Koda-kun’s death. I offered rice hot from the pot and vodka for Koda-kun’s picture, which was decorated in Koda Hotel. Also, I chanted a sutra and said a mass for him. This picture [of Koda-kun] is the one which Koda-kun’s family passed on to Mr. Samer.

Nothing changes, however, even after a fake monk or a high priest holds a mass. The thing that’d change is just my feelings. I just take over his will as I like – his wish to help Iraqi children. And I act to disallow this kind of situation [which is portrayed in the] pictures of Iraqi children, who have been hurt by bombings. I will also live his life as well. I like to think of it in this way.

I can’t help feeling that Koda-kun, who is on trip, is in this inn in Amman. I also feel that he is supporting us who are traveling around the world like him. This might be an illusion, but I feel it is so.







(These notes are the story that I gathered from what Mr. Samer of Koda Hotel told me. I hope you can read it well.)

P.S.1 Many refugees, whose homes in Iraq were taken, have been escaping to Jordan and Syria. The Iraqi doctor who I talked to told me about the many killings by the US Army. Our talk was interrupted because we were at a loss for words, because of either sadness or anger.

And on the same night, a few Japanese, Iraqi, American, Australian, Germans and I went to see a movie called “the Zigizigi Land,” which is about a Palestinian who works as a taxi driver in the US. The movie opens up the pathology of the whole American society, cynically and sharply shown through the conversation between the Palestinian driver and the passengers. It criticizes severely the apartheid toward Palestinians by the Israeli government.

I thought that it is a significant thing to be able to talk about the Palestinian problem through one movie with everyone, as individuals, beyond our nationalities, races, and situations such as being Iraqi, American, Japanese, Australian, or German. I also think that it is [because of] the power of movie or art.

Besides, we all are against the war as individuals when we get rid of our delicate positions. I think that it is the first step to change how each government deals with Palestinian apartheid, Israel’s invasion, and the US Army’s invasion of Iraq, starting with the Japanese government who supports them. Then, if we could take them into our daily lives practically, even it’s slow, I think they would have widespread grassroots support.

P.S. 2 I went to the Palestinian refugee’s area in Lebanon. Kids full of energy were running around downtown among the remains of gunfire. The city was full of life with various kinds of shops. The Palestinian flags were displayed and the posters of Palestine releases were put up all over the town. The road of returning to Palestine hasn’t ended yet. Even if the world forgets when it’s convenient, they’d live like weeds which grow through asphalt.


I went to a shop there which sells Palestine releases. I bought some T-shirts and Palestine stoles. Please purchase them when they get to IRA soon if you are interested. (They are here! IRA)

Labels: Anti-War, Palestine, shiga
POSTED BY IRA_K AT 2:57 PM

Samer notes:

There was a phone call to Cliff Hotel from an Arabian man (I think he is a Taxi driver.) at around 4 in October 19th, 2004.

“There is a Japanese person who wants to go to your hotel. Can you tell me the address?” he said.

Koda came to Cliff Hotel with the driver 5 minutes later.

He didn’t even mention about Iraq at first, but said “I want to stay at a dormitory,” so I took him to his room and was writing his name (check-in). (The interaction around here is a little different from the book by Yuji Shimokawa, but I’ve just recorded the story of Samer himself.) [Yuji Shimokawa wrote a book called “Why Shousei Koda was killed?”]

Then, he suddenly said “I want to go to Iraq. Can you tell me where I can use a service?”

“It is too dangerous to go there by a service,” I said because the people who use a service are only tourists and there is a risk of being targeted.
And Koda said “I have to go.”

I asked the reason, and he said “I want to help Iraqi children. I want to go to Iraq, look at what is going on with my own eyes, and tell the Japanese people when I return to Japan.”

I answered “you can only go by bus if you really want.” He said “OK. Please make a reservation now.” I could have made a reservation if I wanted to, but I thought there’d be a chance that I could stop him, so I lied saying “it’s too late to make a reservation today.” He returned to his room saying “then please make a reservation on tomorrow’s bus.”

It was around 4:30pm when Koda came out from his room and went out to buy a sandwich and ate it at the balcony in the back of reception.

After that, he went back to his room, and after a while, he was looking at an information note standing in front of the bookshelf in the lobby. And he went back to his room right after that.

He looked different from other tourists. (he seemed like he was thinking about something.)

After half an hour, he came out from his room, sat on a chair for a long time in the balcony, and was looking out the street. I was worried about him, so I went out to the balcony and talked to him asking “do you still want to go to Iraq?” He just answered “yes” with a serious face. I asked a guy who was staying at the Cliff hotel at that time to talk to Koda. I wanted him to quit thinking about going to Iraq by talking to a Japanese person.

That guy went out to the balcony, and talked with Koda. I tried to make him comfortable by telling some jokes “haven’t you changed your mind? If you really go to Iraq, you will be on Aljazirra (a news program of a satellite TV company in Qatar.)”
The other guy laughed at it, but Koda didn’t show a smile. He seemed upset.

After that, Koda and that guy talked for a long time. After they finished talking, the Japanese person said “He’s insisting on going to Iraq. No one can stop him.”

Koda woke up at around 10 the next morning (October 20th), asked me “did you make a reservation?” I answered saying “I did it for the bus leaving 6pm,” but it was a lie, because I thought there was a chance I could still stop him. He checked out at noon and was sitting the couch in the lobby, and I asked him many times “you haven’t changed your mind about going to Iraq?” but he said “no, I haven’t.”

I had to make a reservation by 2pm if I needed to make a reservation, so I asked him once again before 2. But he didn’t change his mind about going to Iraq. So, I had to make a reservation for a bus. I couldn’t stop him.

Koda passed me one thing at around 2 or 3 pm saying “please keep this until I get back from Iraq.” It was a stone that he picked up at the Dead Sea, a towel, and pictures of Iraqi children. There were about 10 pictures, and portrayed children who hurt by the war. Koda said “I got them from a Japanese person.”

After he died, I sent them to his family, and they sent me back one copy of the pictures and Koda’s picture. (they are in Samer’s book.)

The picture of children who they sent me was ok. Those pictures were the children who were hurt much worse than that. I think Koda wanted to do something for these kids.

Koda kept reading the information note until the departure, except for a time when he went out. The Japanese man (who talked with Koda last night) and I went to the bus terminal with Koda to see him off at around 5pm. He said “Assalam/Good-bye,” and took off on the bus.

2 hours after we saw him off, I decided to make a phone call to the Japanese Embassy. I said “A Japanese person, who is called ‘Shousei Koda’ left for Iraq 2 hours ago. I don’t think he has reached the border yet. I want you to stop him if possible.” The embassy said just “Thank you for your call. Please let us know if you get some more information.”

After that, I called someone who I know working at a hotel in Bagdad and asked if a Japanese person came or not, but I was told that he hadn’t. I was sure that Koda would go to the hotel because I told him about it, so I called again after a while. Then he said “A Japanese guy sure came by, but we can’t guarantee his safety, and the hotel could be targeted instead, so we couldn’t let him stay.”

A person from United Nation, who Mr. Samer knows, called the hotel at around midnight on 26th and said “A Japanese person was captured as a hostage in Iraq. Please watch either Aljazeera or NHK.” I turned on TV, and found Koda, who was surrounded by an armed group. I was so surprised and shocked.

When I found that Koda was captured by the element of al Qaeda lead by Zarqawi, I felt desperate like “if the Japanese government didn’t do anything during the time al Qaeda is demanding, he will be killed for sure.”

After that, people came from the Japanese government (foreign ministry) to Cliff Hotel, and asked me about various kinds of things concerning Koda. But when the three including Takato-san [and Imai-kun] were captured as hostages in Iraq a half years ago [2004], various kinds of people like the foreign ministry, the SDF, the Jordan government, came many times, and asked me many more things, and it was chaos.
But, this time with Koda wasn’t like that.

I’m wondering if they were thinking that he would be rescued like the three, and not be killed. I thought, however, “this is dangerous.” The al Qaeda group who caught Koda was too dangerous.

Later, there were two reports saying “Asian’s dead body was found,” but it wasn’t Koda. But I learned that he was found dead at 10pm on the 30th by the news. There was a phone call from the Japanese government that told me that he had been killed.

2 days later, I received a phone call from his family, and I apologized. They said “it’s not your fault.” When I found out that Koda was killed, I swore that I would name the hotel after Koda when I own it- which is my dream- and never forget about him.

A few months later, I called the Japanese Embassy, and asked them to tell Koda’s family “I want to name the hotel ‘KODA HOTEL’.” 1 week later, his family sent me a fax saying “thank you very much. When you make a hotel, please use his name, either KODA or SHOUSEI is fine.”

But, I was told that the City of Jordan can’t allow me to use “KODA HOTEL.” (I wonder if that was because it’s a personal name or because of the incident.) Actually, there are some procedures to change the name of the hotel which I will take over, and it takes time and money. It is too much, so I will start with the hotel’s name as it is now, but when I have more time and money, I will try to change it to ‘KODA HOTEL.’

But if I could open a hotel, I’ll write ‘KODA HOTEL’ in Japanese under the hotel’s name (so that the city wouldn’t know it.) try not to forget about him ever, and I don’t want people to forget about him.

[the translator’s note: Mr. Samer did open his own hotel whose name is KODA HOTEL on October 1st this year.]

Permission to post photos

Hi everyone,

Jenn (with Stone's help, I believe) took pictures of the class when Ramsey Kanaan visited us. I would like to post some of them on the blog. While not everyone is shown in the photos, many of you are. If you would prefer I didn't post pictures of you, please send me an email indicating your wishes before class next week.

Stories

I translated the following excerpt from the opening of Empires and Assassinations: Looking at the Organization of Modern Japanese Media Through Gender (2005) by Naitô Chizuko, the author of the "empty center" essay we read at the beginning of the semester.

Stories pervade – everywhere. One could even say that stories are not only that which is written to be literary, but that which is routinely born out of an arrangement of words. For example, a storytelling quality is pronounced in the language the news media use to relate certain kinds of incidents in ways that inspire in readers a desire to know.

The gap between her pedigree as an elite graduate of the private Keiô University and the reality of her life as a "woman of the night" is attracting attention to the murder of Ms.□□□□ , a 39 year old OL ["office lady"] at Tokyo Power whose body was discovered in an apartment in Tokyo's Shibuya District. What was the reason that led her to loiter around love hotels at night? (Shûkan Post, April 4, 1997)

When news of this incident first broke, the top-tier elite Keiô graduate and Tokyo Power OL's nightlife as a street prostitute drew attention, and various media outlets, beginning with this publication, investigated the details of her mysterious personal life. (Shûkan Gendai, August 9, 1997)

These excerpts come from weekly news journal reports on the so-called "Tokyo Power OL Incident" of 1997. The victim was a woman, and the notion that this woman was a "top tier elite OL" by day, but had a completely different face by night was scrutinized repeatedly as a source of "attention" by the media. The reason why relates to the various particulars of this incident that lent themselves to it being narrated as a story.

First and foremost, the mark of woman alone holds news value for its difference when both the sender and receiver of information are assumed to be male in the masculinized media world. Deviance from the norm or standard is more likely to pique curiosity, so it is desirable for a protagonist to have some distinguishing characteristic, scar, or differential negative in a story. Second of all, the extreme "gap" between her afternoons and evenings opens up a wide range for story development and promises of the depth so appealing in stories. The seeming endlessness of the story can raise the curiosity and expectations of readers higher and higher as they are drawn further along for the ride. Third of all is her "mysterious personal life," which is imbued with sexual meaning. You want to know because it is "mysterious," and a sexual element is added to that desire, so the desire then multiplies and becomes a force that propels the story. In a context such as this, the story will always move in ways that discriminate against that character.


Through the novel you are reading, Hoshino, himself a former journalist, is exploring similar questions.

Even if you've only read the assigned first chapter, you already know the mass media show up in this story. I will make periodic media-related posts over the next few weeks so that we might think about the issues raised in the novel expansively.

Tonight, I'll begin by telling you about a seemingly dramatic news story the media didn't cover much at all. In August of 2005, a fifty-year old woman drove up to the residence of former Japanese PM Koizumi. When she was unable to reach Koizumi, she began stabbing herself. The following was one of only a handful of news reports on this particular incident.

A woman driver tried to forcibly enter the Prime Minister's Official Residence on Tuesday and then stabbed herself when she was stopped by police, officials said. The woman slashed herself in the neck, abdomen and wrists as police tried to wrestle her from her car, police said. Police said the woman was a 50-year-old homemaker from Nagano city. About 20 to 30 handbills bearing slogans opposing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government were found in the car, police said. Police riot squad officers and about 50 reporters were at the scene.

Despite the presence of reporters, print and television media attention to this event amounted to little more than this cursory description. Whether or not the woman survived the suicide attempt and what her “handbills” indicated about her grievances were not accorded even scant attention. Perhaps some of you who may be very net-savvy might find out more?

First Impressions

What do you think of Lonely Hearts Killer so far? What do you think of Inoue? Do the public responses to the death of the young emperor remind you of anything? Use the comments below to share your thoughts on the novel thus far. This is the capstone text for our class. We'll find virtually all of the major themes we've encountered thus far in the novel, and sometimes they might show up in unexpected ways. If you've read ahead or finished it, please don't include any "spoilers" in your comments so that your classmates can still be surprised by the various twists and turns ahead.

Shiori's gift for you to enjoy over the break!

Norma Field visited the UI last fall, and she spoke to my classes, as some of you will remember. She also gave an amazing public lecture that still airs on UITV sometimes. You should check it out if you weren't able to catch her lecture. In addition to her stunning scholarly output on Japanese literature (everything and everyone from The Tale of Genji to Sôseki to Takiji), Professor Field writes and speaks about everything from Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and "comfort women" to depleted uranium.

She also does quite a bit of non-academic writing. Sakamoto Ryûichi, the composer/artist/activist whom some of you might know, has been drawing attention to a plutonium reprocessing plant in Rokkasho (Aomori). A uranium-enrichment plant is already there and has been in operation since 1992. Sakamoto and others are opposing this reprocessing plant. Norma Field was asked to contribute a poem to the ongoing campaign to stop the reprocessing plant. The piece she wrote has been set to music by OTO. To hear it, click here and then scroll down to "Before Then."

Well, your gift from Shiori Yamazaki is the following translation of an essay Norma Field wrote (in Japanese) a couple of years ago. It's very germane to the material we've covered in class lately, and I'm interested to hear what you all think of it. Enjoy! (Thanks, Shiori!)

"Thinking About 60 Post-WWII Years Through Keywords" (Asahi newspaper 8/17/05)
by Norma Field
translated by Shiori Yamazaki

The discussion over the nature of Japan and Japanese-ness has gained momentum. The fluctuating image of the self, as represented by economic power or corporate society, draws on the movement to reexamine the relationship between the organization and the individual, asking “what is myself?” How should we think about our identity?

Identity

“I didn’t have anything to do with it” this is the necessity of “individual” solidarity.

I was invited to a class which dealt with my book “In the Realm of a Dying Emperor” at a Japanese university last month.

It is a book which featured minority Japanese who expressed their opinions when Emperor Hirohito fell, and how self-restriction (called “jishuku” “self control”) covered society.

Mr. Shoichi Chibana burnt Japan’s national flag at the National Athletic Meet in Okinawa. Mrs. Yasuko Nakatani disagreed with her husband, who died while in the self defense force, being enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine. Mr. Hitoshi Motojima spoke up at congress, saying “Emperor [Hirohito] is somewhat responsible for the [second world] war.” They were all subjected to harsh criticism, such as those asking “how could you be Japanese saying that?”

During the class, one student spoke up saying “I am different from both someone who likes the Emperor or cannot forgive [the emperor]. I don’t have any relationship with those people in this book.”

I also heard the voice “I don’t know how to react [to anti-Japanese Chinese] because I haven’t had patriotic education, unlike Chinese people who demonstrate against Japan.” I don’t have any relationship with either the emperor system or patriotism – there was a strong impression because it sounded like a manifestation of an attitude of refusal.

I was born and raised in Japan. I have often visited Japan since I went to the US and became an adult. And now, I’ve been living in Japan for the first time in 16 years.

It was natural for passengers sitting on Tokyo trains to hold the belongings of people standing standing in front of them from the end of 50s to the beginning of 60s. Also, I think that indeed many ordinary people in Japan were thinking about the “relationship” between their own war and after-war experience, and the “jishuku” phenomena at the end of 80s.

Now, isn’t it a new kind of identity to deny the relationship between others or social events? It is the identity that you base on your position that says “I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

This is truly my own problem as well. This Iraq War: my colleague in Chicago University and I didn’t earnestly oppose it. We disagreed with it and joined anti-war meetings, but that was all.

Because “I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

We, the anti-Vietnam war generation, would stand up even if we had to give up our job, if our own children were sent to the battle field. However, the young people who live at the bottom of the social scale go to the actual battlefield during this present day without the military draft. That is the system that makes people perceive what is their own war as “a thing unrelated [to them].”

The Japanese people burned with democratic and anti-war feelings since the lost battle. However, the government mostly succeeded in taking away political interest from the nation by distributing the income-doubling policy right after “the campaign against the Japan-US Security Treaty in 60s.” It’s been now rare to see “the citizens, who aren’t concerned in an affair, widely stand up” situation.

Recently, liberalization of market economics even cut off individual attribution and relationships. Now, the situation is that “consumption is the most sparkling moment for an individual.”

Society is such that the massive majority of Japanese nationals believe that they are members of a nation enjoying an economic success. This sense, part of the core of Japanese national identity, is continuing even after the corruption of the bubble economy that can be called the “uneasy and lavish period.” This majority directs their annoyed attention to individuals who prosecute the oppressions that hide in daily life, saying “I am living this everyday life without any complaints.”

That feeling was in the root when they tried to suppress those three’s opinions, including Mr. Chibana. Likewise, there was that feeling against the three who became hostages in Iraq last year [2004]. They acted as individuals sympathetic to the Iraqis, who are not close to them. That was an annoying behavior for the people who want to live daily life insensibly.

Unfortunately, this is a result of a society which became fixated on prosperity, [prosperity] which is supposed to be a device. However, I don’t necessarily think that the current condition is hopeless.

When they were captured, there was a citizen’s group which sought for a way to release [them] working with Iraqi collaborators in Japan. It was a grass roots coalition, which draws the line between them and the government’s theory.

The reason why the Japanese citizens could have this kind of connection is because of the accomplishments of the peace movement, and their prosperity which allowed them learn about worlds beyond the US and Europe. I want to think that there is one side like that.

The world needs another kind of coalition, different from corporations or nations more and more. I want to connect up with the hope for a new identity forged on the possibility of peace and prosperity.

Rants and Raves

I really love the discussion under Randy's post on Thursday and hope you continue it over the break. I'd also like you to use this post to share your lingering responses to the film today. I was really pleased with your responses in class, but I know that not everyone had the chance to speak and that some of you had much more to say, so before we start talking about the next reading, feel free to rant, rave, vent, etc.

Also, Sara recently had a birthday, and "mmartah" will have one next week. Maybe there are other November birthdays we have yet to acknowledge too? Please say "happy birthday" if you run into Sara or "mmartah."

Reeducation Camps

I know many of you were very curious about the reeducation camps mentioned in last week's film. My guess is that some of you are imagining long rounds of self-criticism sessions when you think of reeducation camps in China after the war. You might imagine horrible conditions. Or maybe you imagine nonstop indoctrination. You might be struggling to reconcile what you imagine with what the men in the film described as their feelings of gratitude to the Chinese who reeducated them. For the curious among you, I'm providing the following links, which will give you some perspectives and additional questions to consider. We can follow up in class with a little discussion.

An article from the China Daily

An essay from the Guardian UK that challenges the silence around the camps in the film we watched last week

An article that situates the camps in the context of changing China-Japan relations

An article by Yuki Terazawa that you'll need to read from a campus computer unless you subscribe to Project Muse

Reduced Office Hours This Week

I won't be holding office hours on Thursday this week, so please come by on Wednesday between 1-2:30 if you need to see me before break. I'll hold additional office hours after the break, but you can always ask me questions via email if you have questions that require an immediate answer.