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3 History Lecture Notes ?/span>2001 by Mineharu Nakayama
3.1. Prehistory
Principal
periods, dates, artifacts and monuments, waves of migrations of Altaic peoples from
Central Asia; others from South China, Southeast asia and Polynesia; Ainu
people
Keywords:
Joomon Culture, Emperor Jimmu, Yayoi Culture, Yamato, Uji, Shinto and KAMI,
Buddhism
30,000BC - (522AD?) Stone Age
30,000BC - earliest datable traces of human
habitation
10,000BC - 300 BC JOOMON CULTURE (JOO means 'rope or cord'; MON means 'figure') Many
Joomon-doki (rope figured pottery) were produced.
Doguu
figurines
Tate-ana
pit dwellings
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Rope
figured pottery Doguu
figurines Tate-ana
pit dwellings
660BC - The first Emperor - JIMMU
300BC - 300 AD YAYOI
CULTURE - technical innovations - metal working, the use of pottery wheel
and irrigated rice cultivation (from Korea), clan units grow in power
--------- Picture inserted
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Pottery
Irrigation Storage
(Nezumi gaeshi)
About this time - the first clear view of the
Japanese (by Chinese record 3c BC) - sharp class divisions and living by agriculture
and fishing (Occurrence of bronze articles and evidence of established
agricultural communities)
-
a hundred or more tribal units under female or male chieftains of
semi-religious status
-"queen's
country" - a certain hegemony over the others - MATRIARCHAL system -
descent of the historical imperial line from the sun goddess
Starting around 200AD - overrun by waves of mounted
invaders from Korean Peninsula/cultural influences from Korea
ca. 260 - Conjectural date for founding of the Great
Shrine of the Sun Goddess at Ise
297 AD Chinese record - Accounts of the Eastern
Babarians "Land of Wa" (dwarfs)
mound
burial, purification rituals, "mourning keeper", "fond of
liquoe", longevity, polygamy, litigation infrequent, group responsibility,
class distinctions, slavery, Queen Himiko (or Pimiko), shaman queen, junshi
(sacrifical death)- "over a hundred male and female attendants followed
her to the grave"
ca. 300-552 - KOFUN
(Tomb) PERIOD - many large burial mounds (KOFUN) were built throughout the
western 2/3 of the islands -> concentration of wealth and power in the hands
of a military aristocracy
-
creation of giant key-hole tombs and Haniwa figure
-
agression into Korea (Silla, Paekche, Koguryo), Mimana colony
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Haniwa
Emperor
Nintoku's tomb (KOFUN)
By 6 c AD - the YAMATO
family gains supremacy (Nara Plain) and founds the imperial line.
Emperor
- dual character - functions of a religious leader and a leader of the state
-
Political and economic organization was still primitive
-
most of the land - controlled by semiautonomous tribal unit - UJI (bound to the ruling family of the
Yamato)
UJI
- had chiefs and own UJI shrines, a number of subordinate UJI and pseudo-family
groupings of farmers, fishermen, weavers, and other types of workers
Religious
practice - SHINTO "the way of
the gods" - the worship of gods or KAMI
(natural phenomena, mythological ancestors (often nature gods)) - the line
between man and nature was not drawn sharply - unusual or awesome men were
easily made into deities - No ethical concepts associated with these religious
ideas except the sense of awe and reverence before nature and a concept of
ritual purity (NO list of DOS and DON'TS - NO Ten Commandments)
(even
presently can see - water in front of a shrine to wash mouth and hands)
-
cultural influences from the nearby continent - iron and bronze
538 AD - BUDDHISM
arrival from China via Korea (Buddhism - an endless cycle of reincarnations, enlightenment
- Nirvana, universal appeal)
use
of Chinese characters
A
fight started in the Yamato court - Buddhist images and beliefs as a magical
system of equal or greater power than Shinto - the supporter of Buddhism won
3.2. Early
Japan
Keywords:
Prince Shootoku, NARA Period, KOJIKI, NIHON-SHOKI/NIHONGI, MANYOOSHU,
Shoosooin, HEIAN period, TALE OF GENJI, Great Buddha in Toodai-ji
552-646 - ASUKA
PERIOD
562 - Japanese power in Korea destroyed by Korean
Kingdom of Silla
592-628 - Reign of Empress Suiko with the support of
the continental-looking Soga clan.
Prince
SHOOTOKU (593-622) - the regent for
his aunt Empress SUIKO proved a great champion of the new religion and the
continental civilization
594 - Buddhism proclaimed the state religion
604 - Shootoku drafted Seventeen Article Constitution
- ethical government
-
establishes a 200 yr tradition of scholarly missions to China
Conscious
effort of massive cultural borrowing (No parallel in the western history except
Peter the Great -18 c in Russia)
Adoption
of Chinese calendar.
Soga
clan increases influence over the Imperial (Yamato clan) family.
Chinese concept of all-powerful monarchy (Emperor -
from a naive semisacred leader into a secular ruler of the Chinese type, but in
reality by 7th century - largely symbols of authority rather than wielders of
personal power - manipulated by other members of the extensive imperial clan or
the broader court aristocracy -> NOW "symbol of the State and the unity
of the people")
Centralized state - provinces administered by
officials from the capital higher posts in the government - largely filled by
bureaucrats who passed scholastic state-administered examinations, but didn't
last long -> determined by inherited family status rather than by individual
merit)
607 - Founding of Hooryuu-ji Temple (World's oldest
wooden building, Chinese copy) - Hossoo Sect
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645 - The TAIKA
REFORM (abolishes most private land ownership and aims for the central
government like China, but gradually into the hands of private owners -
hereditary privilege of certain families, tax-free estate - temples and
shrines)
701 - TAIHOO CODE (creates administrative offices and
legal system)
710 - 784 NARA
PERIOD - Imperial court moved to the newly built city Nara, Japan's first
permanent capital and urban center (Heijoo-kyo)
- the court left the old city to escape Buddhist political influence
City
laid out on symmetrical grid-pattern of Changan, capital of Tang China
712 - KOJIKI (Records of Ancient Matters), Japan's
first written history book
720 - NIHON-SHOKI or NIHONGI (Chronicles of Japan),
Japan's first written mythology
751 - KAIFUUSOO, first collection of Chinese poetry
written by Japanese
752 - Founding of Toodaiji Temple (rebuilt 3 times),
The Great Buddha, Kegon Sect
largest
wooden structure in the world
Bronze-cast
Great Buddha (Daibutsu) -dedicated in 752- Buddha of Light (Vairochana or
Dainichi Nyorai)
parallels
other manmmoth Buddhist temples built in Asia at same time (e.g., Borobudor
Temple in Indonesia, Pagan Temple in Myamar/Burma)
All
reality is mirrored in every other part of reality "A speck of dust rises
in the air: it contains the whole of the earth; a single flower blooms: the
whole world blossoms forth."
--------- Picture inserted
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759 - MANYOOSHU
(Collection of Myriad Leaves), Japan's first anthology of poems 4516 native
Japanese poems in 20 volumes, covering 400 yrs of poetry (from Emperor Nintoku
(d. 399) to 759)
beginning
of written poetic tradition; imperial patronage after 905
Waka
(Japnese songs, syllable count 5-7-5-7-7) cf. Tanka (short poems) and Chooka
(long poems); Themes - romantic love, nature, seasons (Spring vs. Autumn),
change, parting and separation, passage of time
techniques
- fixed epithets, pillow words, pivot words
Further
development of kana symbols (manyoogana)
Great
poets (e.g., Hitomaro, Yakamochi)
Manyo
spirit - expansive, life-affirming, natural
8c - SHOOSOOIN (Imperial storehouse/museum) - 10,000
treasures from Middle East (in particular from Iran (silk road)), India, China,
Korea, etc.
-
raised platform construction of a rice granary
(Nara today: has withstood abandonment, samurai wars,
WWII to become the greatest surviving repository of Buddhist and continental
art and archtecture from China of the Six Dynasties (220-589), Sui Dynasty
(589-618), and Tang Dynasty (618-907), as well as other parts of Asia)
794 - 1191 HEIAN
PERIOD - The imperial court establishes Heian-kyo (Kyoto), which represents a capital of peace and
tranquillity (laid out on larger scale than Nara; again on Chinese model of
Chang-an, but Buddhist temples were excluded from city proper.
Kyoto
becomes permanent site of residence of emperors until 1868
Isolation,
Assimilation and Naturalization of Cultural Influences
Malevolent
influence of Buddhism on politics, especially the priest Dookyoo, who was close
to Empress Shootoku (r. 764-770), the last empress to reign in Japanese history
Development
of urban culture (city vs. country dichotomy)
Zenith
of courtly or aristocratic life-style
emperor,
court, and bluebloods (Kuge)
wealth
derives from large land estates or shooen
authority
derives from bloodlines, cultural prestage
emperors
"regin, but do not rule"
805 - Saicho (767-822) returns from China to found
Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei (Kyoto), Tendai Sect of Buddhism
806 - Kuukai (a.k.a. Kooboo Daishi, 774-835) returns
from China to found Shingon Sect of Buddhism on Mt. Kooya (Wakayama)
emphasis
on rituals, court patronage, secret transmission of teachings sutra, mudra
(hand poses), mandala (cosmic diagrams)
838 - last mission to China, termination of official
relations with China
858 - The Fujiwara family secures ruling power as
regents to the imperial throne. (marriage politics: Fujiwara marry daughters to
emperor, produce heir, force abdiction, become regent for grandchild)
9c - KANA developed from kanji (31 syllable -Tanka;
diary written in Kana - man ,but pretended to be a woman)
905 - First imperial anthology Kokin-shuu (Collection of Ancient and Modern
Verse)
preface
by editor, Tsurayuki (905), on nature of waka
1011 - TALE OF
GENJI by Lady Murasaki, the world's first novel, description of a court
life (in brilliant detail and psychological subtlety), a novel but also a story
to be read aloud from hand scrolls and to be illustrated
Sensitivity
- esthetic feelings
Yamato-e
- Chinese influence (bold use of color)
11c - Buddhist paradise on earth, Phoenix Hall of the
Byoodooin Temple
1068 - Gosanjoo Tennoo attempts to control the power
of the Fujiwara family
1086 - Shirakawa Tenno begins institution of
"Cloistered Emperor"
Literature: Waka poetry, diaries, fictional tales of
courtly life and loves
Sei
Shoonagon, arbiter of good taste in Makura-no sooshi "The Pillow
Book"
Monogatari
'tales'
poem
tales: Ise Monogatari (Tale of Ise)
prose
tales: Taketori Monogatari (Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and the Shining Princess)
Tale
of Genji - World of the "Shining Prince", Hikaru Genji
courtly
ideals and aesthetics
miyabi,
courtly refinement "rule of taste"
mono-no
aware, the "ahness", "sadness" of things/life/love; nothing
is permanent, all is
change - Shinto expression of beauty and awe (aware) plus Buddhist feeling that
life is suffering,
changing, unstable and impermanent (mujo)
arts
of poetic exchange, calligraphy, painting, incense, dress, gardening
importance
of court women as writiers, perpetrators of native Yamato language and its
literary tradition
3.3. Feudalism
Keywords:
Taira and Minamoto, KAMAKURA period, Shogun, Minamoto-no Yoritomo, Kamikaze,
Emperor Godaigo, NAN-BOKU-CHO Period, Ashikaga Takauji, The Onin war, Daimyo,
the Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren
Cadet branches of the imperial family Taira and Minamoto (Heike & Genji)
1156 - Taira Kiyomori, of the military and provincial
aristocracy, gains control of civil government in the capital
1156-60 - A struggle for court control pits the Taira
family against the Minamoto family.
The Taira holds way from 1160-1180. (married their daughters to the
emperors)
1185 - The Minamoto clan triumphs after a 5 yr war
and establishes the first military government in Kamakura (one hr SW of Tokyo
by train). Power passes from the
court aristocracy to the warrior class.
The
Tale of the Heike
the
second great clssic of Japanese literature
the
historical sourcebook or "bible" for the samurai
work
of oral literature told by traveling musicians and priests
tells
two major stories
rise
and fall of the Heike: power corrupts, the proud will not last (life of the warrior
+ Buddhist doctrine of change)
military
victories of the Genji, esp. the great strategies of Yoshitsune, Yoritomo's
half brother, at Ichi-no-tani, and the final naval victory at Dan-no- ura
other
themes
origin
of samurai code/style about military dress, martial arts (e.g., kendo, Way
of the Sword); honor, seppuku (ritual suicide; also called harakiri 'belly slashing');
death poems, etc.
the
vanity of all existence: the bell that tolls at the beginning and end of the Tale;
the death of Atsumori; the final visit with the imperial princess
the
"nobility of failure": the story of Yoshitsune - the "failed
hero" is more heroic:
a tradition of the "anti-hero"
The
"cherry blossom" as metaphor for the life of the warrior; it casts
itself away at the very peak of its powers
1191 - Zen
Buddhism was introduced from China. (Later 13th-16th c) it influences Chanoyu
(tea ceremony), Noh theater, rock gardens, ink painting, and flower arrangement)
the
patronage of Zen Buddhism by the samurai elite
to
develop powers of concentration for the martial arts through meditation: sitting
at Zen or zazen
philosophy
of "elf-relience" (jiriki)
Zen
or "Chan" Buddhism in China
founded
by Bodhidarma, who meditated for nine years until his legs disappeared or atrophied:
Daruma
the
sect of Buddhism that survives anti-Buddhist campaigns in China after the fall
of the Tang Dynasty
temples
- distant from cities; economically self-sufficient
although
a branch of Mahayana or institutional Buddhism, it is a return to the original,
non-institutional spririt of early Buddhism
rejects
teachings of sutras, teachers
relies
on kooan, mental puzzles or paradoxes designed to destroy relience on dialectic
logic (e.g., "When you
see the Buddha, kill the Buddha", "What is the sound of one hand clapping?",
"Where is the white rabbit in the snowstorm?", "What was your form before
your parents were born?")
goal:
to achieve "satori" or "enlightenment" - to discover the
Buddha nature, or Nothingness, in oneself
emphasis
on naturalness and anti-intellectualization
emptying
the bucket of the mind - resonates with Shinto
influence
of the understated, rustic taste of China in the Sung Dynasty (960-1280)
1192 - KAMAKURA
period - Japan's first Shogun
(Military ruler, the generalissimo of the emperor's army) - Minamoto Yoritomo
establishes first Shogunate government
Bakufu=Shogunate
(literary "tent government")
Shugo
(protector)- region and Jito (the new managerial position of steward); followed
local customary laws - proto-feudal
1206 - Honen (1133-1212) exiled because of success in
gaining converts to the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism.
1212 - Kamo-no Chomei writes Hojo-ki (an Account of
My Hut)
1219 - The Hojo family, the decedents of Taira, takes
power. Hojo shogunal "regents"
1222 - Dogen (1200-53) founds Soto School of Zen.
1260 - Nichiren (1212-82) establishes the Hokke-shu
(Lotus Sect) of Buddhism.
1274, 84 - Kubilai Khan fails to add Japan to his Mongol
Empire when storms (Kamikaze -
Divine Wind) wreck his invasion fleets.
13th c Renaissance of sculpture - the great Buddha at
Kamakura, Noh
1333 - Emperor Godaigo attempts to take back the
political power.
Kenmu
Restoration (1333-36) Godaigo disposed by forces of Ashikaga Takauji.
1336-1573 (NAN-BOKU
CHO Period/Muromachi or Ashikaga Periods) - two imperial capitals; Ashikaga Takauji - Kamakura general
broke with Godaigo and set up another member of the imperial family as emperor
in Kyoto.
A
new Shogunate, the Ashikaga - strong art patrons, but weak rulers
the
development of the "high culture" of the samurai class under the
direction of the Ashikaga Shoguns: its two poles: opulence and understatement
1338 - Ashikaga Takauji becomes Shogun.
1368 - Ashikaga Yoshimitsu succeeds to the shogunate.
builds
"Goldren Pavilion" (Kinkaku-ji) - gold plated structure (later a
temple) floating at the
edge of mirror pond; symbol of Ashikaga opulence and extravagance
cultivates
the Noh theater and patronizes the theater's foremost playwright and theorist, Zeami
Noh:
a dramatic poem concerned with past or supernatural events, performed by
a dancer, often masked, and a secondary character(s), often a traveller or Buddhist
priest, who along with the chorus elicits and tells the dancer's traumatic
tale
1443 - Zeami (1363-1443) Master playwright and
performer of the Noh drama, dies.
Ashikaga
Yoshimasa, 8th Ashikaga Shogun
builds
"Silver Pavilion" (Ginkaku-ji) - unpainted bldg. (later temple)
surrounded by swept
sand that supposedly makes the pavilion look silver in the moonlight; symbol of
aesthetic of understatement, primitivism, rustification, less is more,
minimalism, reverse
snobbism, etc. represented by such terms as
Shibui
- "astringent" or unostentatious
(e.g.,
fine silk fabric made to look like linen)
Sabi
- rusty, rustic, rusticated, weathered
Wabi
- forlorn, lonely, abandonned
the
concept of "elegance" or "miyabi" from the Heian Period is
retained but without its
sense of extravagance and ostentatiousness
a
"negative" or inverted aesthetic standard that reflects:
declining
military and economic control of central leaders
state
of constant change and uncertainty of the times
mujo
"impermanence, transience, ever-changing"
Zen
Buddhism: ideas of naturalness, self-sufficiency, anti- establishmentarianism
(reinforced by Shinto taste)
Chinese
tastes in the Sung Dynasty, also a period of weakened political and economical
conrol in China
this
new aesthetic is anticipated and described in
writings
by Chomei and Kenko
a
ten-foot square hut is better than a palace
better
to imagine the cherry blossoms and the moon than to actually see
them
tea
ceremony (Sado, Ocha-no-yu)
especially,
the "wabi" -tea style of Rikyu
Noh
theater (Onoh, Noh-gaku)
gardens
(paradox: Nature (manipulated) made to look Natural
flower
arrangement (Ikebana, Kado)
Donald
Keene on 4 characteristics of Japanese taste:
1)
suggestion, 2) irregularity, 3) simplicity, 4) perishability
1467-77 - The Onin war (a civil conflict) devastates
Kyoto
civil
war destroying the last of the residential archtecture of Heian Period within
the city limits of Kyoto
Daimyo
or feudal lord claimed absolute control of their own vassals and lands.
1467-1568 - Period of Warring States
rise
of local feudal lords (Daimyo) with small estates, stockades
breakdown
of Ashikaga power
By late 15th c - the imperial court and its aristocracy
became poor
Samurai - great emphasis on the military virtues of
bravery, honor, self-discipline, and the stoical acceptance of death - suicide
(no religious injunctions) - harakiri or seppuku - payment of the highest form,
honorable way to escape an intolerable situation
less emphasis on law, but morality -no room for the
concept of political rights
Confucian system - loyalty; family continuity -
select one most suitable male heir, or take an adoption
No cult of chivalry though women were considered as
fragile and inferior beings (Buddhism influence plus Confucian influence) - yet
Samurai expected women to be as tough as they were
Buddhist concepts of the vanity of life or Shinto
ideas of the permeation of nature and man
the Pure Land, Nichiren (Lotus Sutra), Zen (concepts
of meditation, simplicity, and closeness to nature)
3.4 Centralized
Feudalism
Keywords:
Portuguese, St. Francis Xavier, Oda Nobunaga, Akechi Mitsuhide, Toyotomi
Hideyoshi, Tensho Boy Mission, Tokugawa Ieyasu, EDO Period, Fudai, Shimpan,
Tozama, Hatamoto, Sankin kootai, Foreign policy, Sakoku, Dutch, Shimabara-no
ran, Haiku, Kabuki, Jooruri, Geisha, Ukiyoe, Seppuku, social scale/classes,
Burakumin, Commodore Matthew C. Perry
1543 - Western (Portuguese) commerce arrives at Tanegashima,
and left his gun
1549 - 57 St.
Francis Xavier launches a Jesuit mission (He converted 150 Japanese to
Christianity - by 17th c a half million converted)
1568 - Regional Lord Oda Nobunaga first seized Kyoto (Azuchi Momoyama Period).
castles
- hirajiro vs. yamashiro
breaks
power of Buddhist monk armies & Ashikagas
1568-1600 - Age of Unification
1582 - Oda was assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide. Akechi was killed by a farmer. Oda's close follower Toyotomi Hideyoshi keeps the campaign
and completes it in 1590. He never
took the title of Shogun. He made
a clear distinction between samurais and other classes. He monopolized foreign trade,
confiscated the arms of the peasantry, drawing a sharp line between them and
the samurai.
1586 - Tenshoo shoonen shisetsu (Tenshoo Boy
Missions) went to Europe and came back in 1590.
1589 - Persecution of Christians
1590 - National unification completed by Hideyoshi.
1592-7 - Hideyoshi attempts to invade Korea, as the
first step to conquer the world (China), but fails. (diverts samurai energies
into Korean campaigns)
1598 - Hideyoshi dies.
1600 - Battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa
Ieyasu takes the torch.
Sekigahara
-60,000 guns; Japan - 100,000 guns - France - 3,000 guns
Sakai
(in Osaka) produced 5,000 guns per year; all Europe - 2,000 per yr
1603 - Tokugawa Shogunate, Edo Period - Edo -
government (capital - Kyoto)
Nakanakuba
koroshite shimaoo hototogisu - Nobunaga (kill)
Nakanakuba
nakasete miseyoo hototogisu - Hideyoshi (force)
Nakanakuba
nakumade matoo hototogisu - Ieyasu (wait)
establishment of highly centralized Shogunate
seat
of government moved to Edo (modern day Tokyo)
control
of feudal lords
245
to 295 vassal lords or daimyo (feudal lord)
Fudai
(hereditary daimyoo) (loyalists)
Shinpan
(Tokugawa collateral branch)
Tozama
(outer daimyo) (pledge loyality)
Hatamoto
- direct army of shogun
Sankin
kootai - one yr at home, one yr at Edo with his wife and the first son
(hostages)
financial
burdens: two residences, great processions, etc.
later
"restructuring": elimination of loards as in story of 47 Masterless
Samurai (Chushingura)
System
of roads, communications and checkpoints
Tokaido
road linking Kyoto and Edo
check
point near Mt. Fuji (Kanto/Kansai - East & West of the barrier)
A
fourth of the agricultural land and all the great cities, ports, and mines -
Shogun's land (tenryoo)
Neo-Confucianism
established as official Tokugawa ideology.
4
classes - samurai (leaders), peasants, artisans, merchants
(eta, hinin-> burakumin)
samurai
class (5-6% of population) administers society
makes
chu, loyality to one's lord, most important value (given more emphasis than even
ko "filial piety"- devotion to parents and family)
emphasizes
subordinate status of women
Great
Learning for Women (Onna Daigaku) - 3 obediences
divorce
in "3 and 1/2 lines" (Mikudari han)
neighborhood
associations as form of collective responsibility
builds
monuments to Tokugawa power, e.g., Ieyasu's mausoleum at Nikko
control
of life-style, leisure, money of all classes
sumptuary
laws controlling luxurious living
establishment
of pleasure districts (e.g., the Yoshiwara in the city of Edo)
courtesans:
geisha as professional entertainers
Unification
leads to:
growth
of large cities: Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Nagasaki, and the new political capital Edo
growth
of castle towns: local economies grown up around daimyo castles
relative
peace and prosperity for 250+ years
rise
of middle-man class: the choonin, townsmen or merchant class
although
at the bottom of the social hierarchy, this class amasses wealth
possession
of wealth - without political power - leads to contradictory moral goals
thrift,
frugality and investment as the first step to amassing capital
the
culture of merchant class focuses on conspicuous consumption
redefinition
(re-evaluation) of the term ukiyo as a "vale of tears"
to
the meaning of ukiyo as "the floating world"
emphasis
on feeling (ninjo) rather than duty (giri)
emphasis
on romantic love - the primacy of feelings, romantic choice
posture
of anti-establishment opposition to the samurai class
wet/heterodox
merchant tradition vs. dry/orthodox samurai tradition
Haiku, Kabuki,
Jooruri, Ukiyoe, etc.
Principal
cultural artists and artifacts of the merchant tradition
Basho
(1644-94) and the writing of haiku (5-7-5) poetry: a life of travel and the
open road in pursuit of the
poetic moment
Sikaku
(1641-93) and the kana-novel
rise
in literacy: literature and art made available to the average person through the
"mass" publication of novels and prints (e.g., ukiyoe "picture
of the floating
world") - wood block prints of courtesans, actors and landscapes)
makes
Heian classics available to mass audience: neo-classicism
creates
a series of romantic or erotic novels in which the central characters devote
themselves to the way of love or sexual pursuit (shikido, the way of eroticism)
e.g., The Man Who Lived For Love (1683), The Woman Who Lived
For Love, Five Woman Who Lived For Love
novels
as an important source of information about fashions in dress, food, theater,
sumo, etc.
importance
of tone in these writings: ironic, parodic, satirical
Chikamatsu
(1653-1724) and the Puppet and Kabuki theater
giri
vs. ninjo (duty vs. feeling) or romantic vs. arranged marrage
the
drama and tragedy of the double suicide (shinju)
duty
wins but lovers as "failed heroes" live in death
Kabuki
theater: starts with comic and erotic performances by Okuni, an actress, and her troope on the dry
riverbed of the Kamo River in Kyoto
later
women were outlawed as performers; roles were taken by men
perfection
of female impersonation
Pleasure
districts: Yoshiwara in Edo, rise of professional entertainers (geisha)
Sumo
wrestling
Public
bathhouses, nudity, tatooing
1615 - Osaka Castle destroyed; final defeat of
Hideyoshi's heirs.
1616 - Ieyasu dies.
1617 - Renewed persecution of Christians (fumie- walk
on crucifix- test).
1624 - Spanish expelled.
1638 - Shimabara-no ran (Riot at Shimabara) 40,000 Christians and farmers stayed
in the island and fought against 100,000 of the government soldiers about 4
months. Protestants (Dutch) helped
the government from the sea to seize the riot.
1639 - Japanese are forbidden to leave the
country. Missionaries are
expelled. Only Chinese and Dutch
traders were allowed to contact the Japanese at Dejima (man-made island) in
Nagasaki. (national isolation policy - Sakoku)
-
technically behind, but stable society - strong sense of national identity
-
occasional riots by the oppressed peasants
-
regional specialization in production
-
monetized economy
-
25 or 30 million people - above mere subsistence level, only one heir - more of
a liability than asset - practiced infanticide
-
importation, manufacture of guns prohibited: "return to the sword"
ca. 1700 - The Genroku flowering of narratives,
theatrical, and arts; novels by Ihara Saikaku, plays by Chikamatsu Monzaemon,
and haiku by Basho.
1703 - the 47 ronin masterless samurai
late 18th c salaried samurai - working for wages
Confucian doctrines - nationwide intellectual
cross-fertilization- Chinese was to rule by men of superior education and
morality, but Tokugawa was by birth
18th c - Kokugaku or National learning and Ranguku or
Dutch learning
1770-90 - The Tamuma Period of political corruption.
1792 - Russians - Matsumae in Hokkaido
1804 - Americans - Nagasaki; Russians
1808 - British
1840-1 - Tempo Reforms.
1844 - Dutch
1846 - French. US warships under Biddle at Uraga
request trade with Japan
1853 - Commodore Matthew
C. Perry appeared in the Edo Bay (Uraga), requesting American trading
rights
1854 - Perry returns and negotiates Treaty of
Kanagawa. Internal Japanese opposition to the development results in a period
of political chaos, contributing to the fall of the rule of the Tokugawa
Bakufu.
The
Harris Treaty expands the US trade concession; France; Great Britain, Russia,
and the Netherlands followed.
1863-8 - The domains of Satsuma, Chooshuu, and Tosa
agitate to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate. They are victorious in 868 when
Keiki, the last Tokugawa Shogun, resigns.
1867 - Tokugawa Shogunate ends. End of the Edo Period, end of
feudalism.
3.5. Meiji and
Taisho
Keywords:
Townsend Harris, Sonnoo Jooi, compulsory education, samurai revolt, Itagaki
Taisuke, Jiyuu Minken Undo, Seiyuukai, Ookuma Shigenobu, Ito Hirobumi, invited
foreigners, the Imperial Constitution, Diet system, Sino-Japanese War,
Russo-Japanese War, TAISHO Period, Taisho democracy, WW I, Versailles Peace
Conference, Washington Conference, voting right
China
- semicolonial system of unequal treaties
Russians
- all of Siberia
1854 - Harris Treaty (Townsend Harris) - full trade
treaty in 1858 (commercial treaty - asked Emperor's approval)
strong
demand of Japanese silk
Sonnoo
Jooi "honor the emperor and expel the barbarians"
(US Civil War 1861-5)
1/3/1868 - direct Imperial rule; Meiji Restoration - the reinstitution of the supremacy of the
Emperor in political and ideological life.
-
rapid modernization; abolish the samurai class; Edo -> Tokyo
Fukoku
Kyoohei (rich country, strong military)
return
the land registers to the emperor, receive appointments as governors
1869 - 15 yr old emperor moved to Tokyo.
Rickshaw
invented in Japan.
1871 - Education Ministry was founded
1872 - compulsory education.
Tokyo-Yokohama
railroad opened.
1873 - universal military conscription; fixed
monetary taxes.
The
Meiroku-sha, an influential group of intellectuals,
urges
the "civilization and enlightenment" (Bunmeikaika)
of
Japanese society based on largely Western models.
Members
include Fukuzawa Yukichi, a founder of Keio Univ.
in
Tokyo. A conservative reaction arises against the "mindless
and
chaotic" importation of foreign ideas and technologies.
1876 - The samurai were prohibited from wearing their
swords
1877 - the last and the greatest samurai revolt
clear
awareness of the possibility of learning from abroad
1877 - Tokyo University - graduates- high civil service
jobs
1879 - New Testament translated.
1881 - In response to the People's Rights movement,
the government promises a constitution and parliament. Constitution promulgated
1889, and Diet opens in 1890.
1881-98 - 6177 British, 2764 Americans, 913 Germans,
619 French, and 45 Italians were invited (French-law, German-medicine, steel,
American-agriculture, British - railroad)
1885 - Prime Minister and the cabinet were appointed.
1887 - Masquerade ball in Western dress given for the
political elite and foreigners at Rokumeikan provokes a nationalistic reaction.
Tokutomi Sohoo founds the nationalistic newspaper Kokumin Shinbun.
1889 - Promulgation of the Imperial Constitution
- based on the German (Weimar) constitution - and the Imperial Household Code
Emperor
- merely validate the decision, not to rule
1890 - First National Diet- House of Peers (15 yen
Tax - not much more than 1% of the population) and House of Representatives -
first successful parliamentary experiment outside the West
First
national election
1892 - 2nd national election
1894-5 Sino-Japanese
War - victory (control of Korea)
1894 - British - agreed to relinquish their
extraterritorial privileges by 1899
1900 - At about the turn of the century, Japan's
publishing industry undergoes a boom that is probably unprecedented in the
history of the world up until that time.
Itagaki
Taisuke - Jiyuu Minken Undo "freedom and people's rights ->
"movement" - political party - (later) Seiyuukai held power in
1900-12,
Ookuma
Shigenobu - implement British parliamentary system; cabinet 1914-16
Ito
Hirobumi - German system - constitution - assassinated by a Korean in 1909
1901 - A massive wave of translation of European
literature begins and continues for about a decade. Of particular importance
are the works of Zora and Nietzsche, though at first their ideas are translated
into bad melodrama.
1901-13 - Saionji Kinmochi and General Katsura Taro
alternated prime minister position
1902 - first true equal alliance between a Western
nation (Britain) and a non-western nation (Japan) (- against Russia). Oriental
Palace Hotel in Yokohama installs electric lights and fans.
1903 - First permanent movie house, the Electric
Theater, built in Akasaka entertainment district , Tokyo.
1904-5 Russio-Japanese
War - victory (control of Korea). The peace treaty (broken by Teddy
Roosevelt) strikes many as unfair, and riots break out.
1905 - Natsume Sooseki, professor of English at Tokyo
Imperial University, publishes his I Am a
Cat, and the work proves to be wildly popular. Natsume Sooseki's image
today graces Japan's most widely circulating denomination of paper currency,
the 1,000 yen note.
1906-10 - Perhaps Japan's most important national
literacy movement, Japanese Naturalism, erupts.
1907 - Universal education for 6 yrs became reality
1908 - Conservatives object to Naturalism. Boshin
Shosho is promulgated to improve the morals of the nation.
1910.6 - 1911.1 - The High Treason Incident. Severity
of censorship increases. Left-wing thinkers are suppressed. The "Winter Years
of Socialism" continue until the end of WWI.
1910 - Occupy (colonize) Korea. The first flight of
an airplane in Japan.
1911 - Revision of Anglo-Japanese Alliance; US-Japan,
Anglo-Japanese, German-Japanese Treaties of Amity, Trade, and Navigation
1912 - Emperor Meiji dies. End of Meiji period.
General Nogi commits suicide to serve his Emperor in death.
1912 - TAISHO
Period (1912-26), Emperor Taisho
1913-32 - Taisho democracy
1913 - Political parties win power from other elites.
The Women's Movement.
1914-8 - Entry of Japan into WW I. Japan aligns
itself with allies against Germany. Suffers only 1,210 casualties and prospers
greatly from increased European demand for its industrial products. The
transition from an agricultural society to an industrial one is facilitated.
1915 - 21 Demands forced on China - a new concession
from China
1918 - Siberian Expedition against Russian Revolution
in concert with US and Great Britain. Rice riots, strikes, and open defiance of
the National Family ideology.
1919 - Versailles
Peace Conference - first non-Western nation to have made it into the club
of the Western great powers - German holdings in Shantung Provinces in China
and German islands of the North Pacific became Japanese
1920 - May First Day. Leftist intellectual trends
alarm the authorities.
1921 - Hara Takashi, popular Party Prime Minister, is
assassinated.
1921-2 - Washington Conference - limit the ratio of
the capital ships to between 3 and 5 with the US and Great Britain, not build
bases beyond Hawaii and Singapore
1922 - Japan Communist Party founded.
1923 - Great Kanto Earthquake
1925 - the vote was given to all adult males
(Universal male suffrage). Legislation, the Peace Preservation Law, to suppress
the left is enacted - a crime to advocate a basic change in the political
system or abolition of private property (lacked emotional and intellectual
support for the democracy). Scandals erode faith in party politics and
government.
1926 - Taisho Emperor dies.
Asian
markets became open because the Western nations left Pacific.
influence
from Russian Revolution
labor
movement
JPN's
foreign policy moved from the military orientation to policies more in line
with business interests
3.6. Showa and
Heisei
Keywords: SHOWA Period, the
London Naval Treaty, the League of Nations, the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere, WWII, Indonesia, Manchuria, China, Russia, General Tojo Hideki, Atomic
bombs, Potsdam Proclamation, constitution, women, Emperor, demilitarization,
Land Reform Policy, San Francisco Peace Treaty, the US-Japan Security Pact,
Self Defense Force, LDP, the United Nations, Income-doubling Plan, Tokyo
Olympic Games, Okinawa, Sapporo Winter Olympic Games, "Nixon Shock",
Oil crisis, Tokyo Summit, HEISEI Period, coalition government, Nagano Winter
Olympic Games
Diet control over the prime ministership and cabinet
was by no means part of the established constitutional system but merely
political convenience
Army and Navy ministers remained military men and
outside party discipline
economy - bad - peasants forced to sell their
daughters
1926 - SHOWA
Period, Emperor Showa (Hirohito)
1927 - General Tanaka Giichi - president of Seiyuukai
- became prime minister - army - actual operations are free of civilian
control.
Writer
Akutagawa Ryuunosuke commits suicide, leaving behind prophetic statement that
Japanese society was falling into a dark valley.
Economy
collapsing. Many farmers forced to sell daughters into prostitution. Democracy
appears to fail and political parties are blamed. Young military patriots seek
spiritual solution.
1928 - army's assassination of the Chinese warlord in
Manchuria
1929 - American stock market crash
self
sufficiency - population problem
1930 -the cabinet forced the navy to accept the
London Naval treaty - heavy cruisers - 3-5 ratio of US and Britain -
insubordination by the navy
1931 - Depression, Occupying Manchuria (staged
incident, railroad)
Military
leaders assassinated the Prime Minister who forced the London Treaty
Right
wing terrorism becomes a primary force in governing Japanese foreign policy.
Talking pictures introduced into Japan, throwing those who formerly explicated
silent pictures in Japanese out of work. These people organize a union and urge
the boycott of talking pictures.
1932 - Founding of Japanese puppet state Manchuko in
Manchuria.
1933 - Withdrawal from the League of Nations
Mass
arrests of leftists. The writer Kobayashi Takiji tortured and murdered by the
police.
1936 - Minseito - "Will it be parliamentary
government or fascism?" - gained some seats, but outpowered by
nationalists
The
2.26 (Feb 26th). Incident - young army officers killed a number of government
leaders and seized part of downtown Tokyo - another decline of the Diet
1937 - Army general prime minister eliminated all
party participation in the cabinet
1937 - War against China, Control over Inner Mongolia
and North China, unplanned fight between JPN and China - Chiang Kai-shek's
government demanded an overall settlement of JPN's creeping aggression (but
never colonized China)
Mass
media in Japan ordered to avoid anything anti-war, anti-military, anti-Japan.
In December, the Japanese military in China goes berserk. There is the Rape of
Nanking.
1940 - the government banned all parties - Imperial Rule
Assistance Association - no dictator and the system was not the product of a
well-defined popular movement, but a change of mood, a shift in the balance of
power
Rome-Berlin-Tokyo
Axis.
9/'40 - the Greater
East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere - pacts with Germany and Italy
9/'40 - seized North Vietnam
4/'41 - pact with Russia
1941 - WWII,
Dec. 7 (Dec 8 in JPN time) attack on Pearl Harbor under government of Tojo
Hideki.
3
choices: - backing down in China; waging a war to seize the oil of Indonesia; negotiating
a compromise settlement with the US
General Tojo Hideki became prime
minister
1942 - Performances of American and British music are
banned.
1944 - Steel guitars, ukuleles, and banjos outlawed.
1945 - Atomic bombs: 8/6 - Hiroshima; 8/9 - Nagasaki
8/8
Russians joined the War against Japan
8/14
(Aug 15 in J time) unconditional surrender - Potsdam Proclamation
668,000
civilians were killed in aerial bombardments
Agricultural
production - 1/3
1945-52 -
Allied Occupation of Japan. Occupation troops include British, Australian, and
other allied forces, but the Soviets are excluded and it is generally an
American show. Ultimate power within Japan resides with the Supreme Commander
of the Allied Powers, S.C.A.P., or General Douglas MacArthur. However,
different from the Allied Occupation of Germany, in Japan, many administrative
functions and powers are left in the hands of Japanese citizens, who are
expected to carry out S.C.A.P.'s directives.
Demilitarization
- the Switzerland of Asia; and democratization
More
than 6.5 million in Asia were dumped back to Japan
7
men including General Tojo - executed
Ultra
nationalistic groups were banned, communists were released
1946 - New constitution - effective from
3/3/47
women
gained legal equality and the vote (universal suffrage)
Emperor
- symbol of state and the unity of the people
Article
9 - Disarmament
Prime
Minister - elected by the lower House
judicial
system - independent of executive interference
Zaibatsu
- dissolved - attempts to revive industry - took 10 yrs to become mid 30's
standard per capita
Land
Reform policy began - tenancy was reduced to only about 10 % of the land
union
organization
religious
freedom
compulsory
education - 6 -> 9 yrs
Liberal
Democratic Party, Communist Party, Socialist Party, Democratic Socialist Party,
Komeito (Clean Government Party - Soka Gakkai)
Japan
is an utter mess.
1946-7 - 1st Yoshida Government
1947-8 - Katayama Government. The only interlude of
non-conservative, socialist government in postwar Japan.
1948-9 - 2nd Yoshida Government.
1948 - Reserve course. S.C.A.P. ousts U.S. and
Japanese progressives from administration and undertakes policy of deflation.
1949 - Hideki Yukawa becomes the unshared Nobel
laureate in physiscs.
1949-52 - 3rd Yoshida Government
1950 - Korean War
Communist
Party driven underground. Japanese economy takes off.
1951 - San
Francisco Peace Treaty and the US-Japan
Security Pact
1952 - April, Occupation ends. Japan regains full
independence
1952-3 - 4th Yoshida Government
1953 - Television broadcasting begins.
1953-4 - 5th Yoshida Government
1954 - Self Defense Force
1954-7 - Hatoyama Government
1955 - Liberal Democratic Party (Two traditional
conservative enemies, Yoshida and Hatoyama, unite to form the LDP. The LDP has
held power till 1993.
Ishihara Shintaro
writes Season of Violence. One of the
angry young men of postwar Japanese media, Ishihara later becomes a
conservative politician, authored TheJapan
that Can Say No in 1989 (English ver. in 1991), and became the governor of
Tokyo in 1999.
Mid 50's - per capita production levels of pre-war
years
1956 - a full peace treaty with the Soviet Union
Japan's
participation in the United Nations
approved
1957-60 - Kishi (formerly convinced of being wartime
criminal) Government
1959 - Free Trade and exchange policy adopted
1960 - revision of the Security Treaty
Opposition
to the US-Japan Security Treaty brings down Kishi Government.
1960-4 - Ikeda Government.
Income-doubling
Plan by Prime Minister Ikeda (but actually doubling every seven years)
Ikeda's
famous quote, "Japan doesn't need the poor!" MITI helps engineer
three decades of unsurpassed economic growth.
1964 - Tokyo
Olympic Games - new sense of national pride and purpose
The
obligations of Article 8 of the IMF agreement
Membership
in OECD
Bullet
train (Hikari) service began
1964-72 - Sato Government
1965 - relations with South Korea - normalized with
large financial payments
Vietnam War; anti-America
1965 - Shin'ichiro Tomonaga becomes the unshared
Nobel laureate in physiscs.
1968 - Yasunari Kawabata becomes the unshared Nobel
laureate in literature.
1969 - reversion of Okinawa - effective in 1972
by late 60's
Japan became the 1st or 2nd largest trading partner of almost every country in
East and Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific
60's - major role in the Asian Development Bank
1970 - Osaka International Exposition
Mishima
Yukio commits suicide.
1971 - Nixon Shock - Nixon went to China
1972 - Sapporo
Winter Olympic Games
Return
of Okinawa
Kawabata
Yasunari commits suicide.
Diplomatic
relations between Japan and People's of Republic of China restored
1972-4 - Tanaka Government
1973 - Reona Esaki becomes the Nobel laureate in
physiscs.
1973 - Oil crisis (Oil Shock) - Japan's vulnerability (Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries - more than 60% import -> two-digit inflation)
-this challenge results in even greater export-inspired economic growth.
the
4th Middle East War
1974 - Former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato becomes the
Nobel laureate in Peace.
1974-6 - Miki Government
1976 -
Lockheed Scandal. Former prime minister Tanaka Kakuei is prosecuted for taking
bribes from Lockheed.
1976-8 - Fukuda Government
1978-80 - Ohira Government
1979 - second increase oil prices by OPEC
Tokyo
Summit (5th Economic Summit Conference)
1981 - Ken'ichi Fukui becomes the Nobel laureate in
Chemistry.
1982-87 - Nakasone Government
80's - highest rates of longevity
1986 - Tokyo Summit (12th Economic Summit Conference)
1987-89 - Takeshita Government
1987 - Susumu Tonegawa becomes the Nobel laureate in
Physiology/Medicine.
1989 - Emperor Hirohito dies in January; Heisei Period starts, Emperor Heisei
(Akihito)
1989 - Uno Sosuke Government resigns over sex
scandal.
1989-91 - Kaifu Toshiki Government
1991-3 - Miyazawa Government
1993 - coalition government (non-LDP government) All
parties except LDP and Japan Communist Party
1994 June - Japan Socialist Party, LDP, Sakigake coalition government
1994 - Kenzaburo Oe becomes the unshared Nobel
laureate in Literature.
1996 - 1/17 Great Hanshin Earthquake
several
Aum incidents
1996 - coalition government (LDP and Shaminto (former
Japan Socialist Party) government)
1998 - Nagano
Winter Olympic Games
2000 - Prime Minister Obuchi
dies
Prime
Minister Mori (LDP, Komei-to and Hoshuto coalition government)
2000 - Okinawa Summit
2000 - Hideki Shirakawa becomes the Nobel laureate in
Chemistry.
George Hicks, The
Comfort Women: Japan's Brutal Regime of Enforced Prostitution in the Second
World War. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995. 303 pp. Selected
annotated bibliography, index. $25.00 US (cloth), ISBN 0-393-03807-6.
Reviewed for H-Women@msu.edu (October 1996) by Jeff
Roberts, Tennessee Technological University <jjr7904@tntech.edu>
Imperial Japan was not the first nation to procure
women to provide sexual services to its soldiers. As George Hicks notes, "More or less institutionalized
means have always been found for catering to this primitive sexual
need." Hicks, however,
convincingly argues that the Japanese case represents a most ghastly instance
of abuse, involving "the legalized military rape of subject women on a
scale ... previously unknown in history."
Hicks notes several reasons why this long dormant
issue surfaced only recently. In Asian societies, wherein chastity is esteemed,
the comfort women "had everything to gain by keeping silent and everything
to lose by making accusations."
With prospects for marriage ruined by speaking out, most preferred to
keep their ordeal secret rather than push for compensation and justice.
Furthermore, "[t]he task of uncovering the
history of the comfort women has thus far been delayed by such factors as the
destruction of evidence by the Japanese Armed Forces, the Japanese government's
insincere attitude toward war responsibility and social prejudice against
comfort women." The Japanese were all too happy to avoid the issue. Government officials have attempted to
deny or shift responsibility in a number of ways, for example, by claiming that
the comfort women were volunteers, working for private operators, over whom the
military maintained only limited supervision.
Hicks also notes that, with one exception, the
victorious Allies did not press the issue. While other atrocities such as the abuse of prisoners of war
and the massacre of civilians were dealt with by the Tokyo war crimes trials,
all such trials ceased with the outbreak of the Cold War. Only the Dutch took action, on behalf
of Dutch women. This lone
exception, oddly and improperly conducted in the midst of Indonesia's war for
independence, was routinely dismissed by the Japanese as anomaly, if not
injustice.
Perhaps most importantly, South Korea, whose women
were the primary victims, was both distracted by war and threats thereof, and
ruled by men who did not countenance demonstrations or protests. In addition Korea's leaders remained
unwilling to challenge Tokyo, at least in part owing to economic dependence.
Comfort women thus began demanding redress in earnest
only in the late 1980s and 1990s.
By this time, some individuals no longer had any family upon whom they
might "cast shame."
Furthermore, by then, Asian attitudes toward women's rights had begun to
change. Groups and individuals began
to link the issue with the problem of sexual oppression of women as a whole.
"Simultaneously shocking from the standpoints of morality, feminism and
patriotism," the issue could be used to arouse feelings against current
practices, including the ongoing sex trade in Asia.
Beginning in the late 1980s,
advocates for South Korean comfort women have demanded:
1. That
the Japanese government admit the forced draft of Korean women as comfort
women.
2. That a public apology be
made for this.
3. That all barbarities be
fully disclosed.
4. That a memorial be
raised for the victims.
5. That the survivors or
their bereaved families be compensated.
6. That
these facts be continuously related in historical education so that such
misdeeds are not repeated.
The Japanese government initially replied by claiming
that there was no evidence of a forced draft, and hence no need for apologies,
memorials, disclosures or compensation.
Anger at that response prompted many women to come
forward, and in some cases, to file suit.
Comfort women from other nations joined the South Koreans in
protest. All the while, scholars
gradually uncovered irrefutable evidence that the Japanese military was behind
the running of the comfort stations.
Following more Japanese stalling, the South Korean
government added its weight to the struggle in 1992. Several other nations followed suit. In August, 1993, the Japanese finally
admitted to the use of deception, coercion and official involvement in the
recruitment of comfort women. The
apology they gave "was along the lines that the government ...offer[s] its
deepest apology and sense of self-reproach to all the women for their
irreparable mental and physical suffering and injuries, promising that means of
compensation would be studied, and the lessons of history squarely faced."
The most powerful sections of the book are the
personal accounts of the comfort women.
Intermittently throughout the work, women tell of being violently
"deflowered" and then forced to service dozens of men per day in a
melange of dehumanizing ways.
One is left aghast at the physical pain the women
endured. "I was continuously
raw" writes one woman. "Sex was excruciating." Many emerged from their service with
physical scars, nearly all of which were inflicted by Japanese officers. While a few managed to injure their
tormentors in kind, "one forms the impression that many clients may have
preferred this kind of sado-masochistic drama to tame submission."
Sadism is a recurring theme
of the women's stories, along with the blatant abuse of force, as in the
following example:
As
I lay there naked on the bed ... he slowly ran the
sword
over my body ... He played with me like a cat plays
with
a helpless mouse ... He threw himself on top of me
...
he was too strong ... To me, this brutal and inhuman
rape
was worse than dying... The night was not over yet,
there
were more Japanese waiting ... this was only the
beginning.
Beyond the damaged hips, the crippled legs, abdominal
scars, broken bones, ruptured eardrums and missing teeth, came even more
devastating psychological trauma.
One women speaks of her inability to "relinquish her fear of sex
and hatred of men, which extends even to ... her grandson." "I just
hate all men and I hate sex."
Others have a different focus for their rage: "I was to be stripped of every shred of pride and
dignity ... how I hate the Japanese!" "Cannot hate them enough" says another comfort
woman, who was seized from her family on the very eve of her wedding.
The anguish they have endured has been worsened by
the fact that the victims could not find release in an open acknowledgment of
the wrong done to them. A former
Filipino comfort woman, now a grandmother of twelve, stressed the need for
justice as follows: "Our
lives were wasted by the Japanese.
We were treated like animals.
Japan should at least say that it is sorry."
Curiously, many Japanese right-wing organizations
have responded to even vague apologies with intense venom. They claim that Japan was not
responsible for the war, that their actions were not lawless by the standards
of the day, and that human rights were denied to all under wartime
conditions. The present stir, many
have claimed, is but economically motivated to put pressure on Japan.
Such responses alert one to another reason why this
issue must be pursued, beyond the fact that this is a war crime gone
unpunished. Japan has too often
attempted to cover up, or has failed to inform and educate young Japanese, on
the less heroic aspects of the war.
Overall there is a pervasive taboo on discussion of the war, giving one
an appearance of "national amnesia." The comfort woman issue "raises afresh the question of
Japanese reluctance to acknowledge wartime atrocities." What is needed is "not only
apology and compensation, but proper understanding of history by all
Japanese."
In one paragraph which may best sum up the reasons to
pursue this issue, the Comfort Women Problem Resolution Council of South Korea
concluded: "Even among the war crimes committed by Japan, the comfort
women issue involved the most inhuman, atrocious national crimes, unparalleled
in the world. We have consistently
demanded that the concealed truth of the matter be brought to light and that
apology and compensation be made to the victims. This is a move designed to restore the human rights denied
the comfort women. It also aims to
correct the distortions in the history of Korean and Japanese relations and to
sound an alarm bell to the world so that such war crimes are not
repeated."
Hicks offers overwhelming evidence to support his
criticisms of Japanese policies.
He is more ambiguous, however, in discerning this example from other
historical cases of military prostitution. Hicks is certainly correct to note that after the war,
American soldiers claimed from some comfort women "the same sort of
service their Japanese counterparts had." He also justifiably notes a
"link between the sexual activities of the Japanese Armed Forces and that
of the American Occupation Force as two sides of the same coin -- the
exploitation of women."
Hicks might do well, at times, to clearly note the
differences as well. Consider the
following: Scholars of the
Holocaust, by way of comparison, distinguish that event from many other examples
of genocide by noting the scope and scale of the deprivations, and the extent
of involvement of modern bureaucracies in the business of torture and
murder. It would seem that the
Japanese case similarly extends well beyond other historical examples of military
prostitution, and implicates both the Home Government and the Imperial Armed
Forces in a variety of ways. Not
only was the scale of deprivations extraordinary, but so too was the suffering.
The Imperial Japanese approached military
prostitution with some unusual attitudes.
Some felt that sexual deprivation made one accident prone, and that sex
before battle provided charms against injury. Some even wore "lucky" amulets made with the pubic
hair of comfort women.
The system was worsened far less by superstitions,
however, than by an intensely hierarchical military that strayed considerably
"beyond the rational requirements of discipline." Within the armed forces recruits
endured daily abuse in a dehumanizing process designed to secure complete obedience. The comfort women, supposedly supplied
to "relieve tension," endured excessive mistreatment, especially from
the officers. They who treated
their own men as an inferior species, showed even greater contempt for women
whom they often regarded as not only sexually but racially inferior. As one officer put it, "They're
less than cattle."
There is also no doubt of extensive bureaucratic
involvement. Women were procured
in one of three ways. Initially
recruiters searched for volunteers, finding some among professional
prostitutes. More commonly they
deceived young women with promises of cooking, laundry, nursing or waitressing
jobs. Finally, women were seized
in virtual slave raids.
While some (not all) of the "recruiting"
was handled by private operators, the Japanese Armed Forces "controlled
the comfort stations in such respects as laying down regulations for them and
conducting examinations of venereal disease." There were no uniform standards, but posted regulations
covered the hours of opening, the length of each visit, bathing procedures, the
required use of condoms (which were washed for re-use in shortage-stricken
areas), and the fee scale. The
military bureaucracy treated the women as they would handle standard
supplies. With the exception of a
recurrent concern for decorum, (amidst the satisfaction of rather brute
"male needs"), they ran the comfort stations in a disturbingly banal,
indifferent fashion.
There are minor problems with the work. Given that even educated readers often
struggle with Pacific geography, the book could use at least one map. While a bit overgeneral on the
background of the war, the last half of the work conversely drags in detail, as
Hicks chronicles the increasing attacks of advocates and Japan's gradual admittance
of guilt. Finally, on an
admittedly trivial note, as a scholar of Afghanistan, I simply must dispute his
claim that the Russo-Japanese war was "the first war in which an Asian
power successfully took on a Western one."
I also question his rather virulent denunciation of
the Allies for their failure to prosecute these war crimes earlier. Not only did the Allies have but
limited evidence, but, given prevailing attitudes, one must assume that they
likely viewed the comfort women as not altogether unusual for a society known
for its bathhouses, geishas, and the like. While the emergence of feminism has made these issues
explicit today, one must at least wonder how clearly the Allies of the late
1940's could have seen the dividing line between prevailing cultural patterns
and atrocity.
While the ongoing recovery of relevant information
precludes anyone from calling Hicks' work definitive, he has provided much of
value. He has also done well (the
book's title aside) to supply a limited degree of balance amidst a subject that
begs perjoratives and sensationalism.
Hicks notes cases of Japanese soldiers who empathized with for the
comfort women, including one who objected to the whole process as "no different
from relieving oneself in the lavatory." A 73 year-old veteran states: "I think it is
appropriate that some kind of compensation should be made to the comfort
women." One suspects that
upon concluding this work, Hicks' readers will readily agree.
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