Tantalizing Tarot and Cute Cartomancy in Japan - Literature review Example

Tantalizing Tarot and Cute Cartomancy in Japan Japan has carved a niche for itself in the field of animation and manga cartoons. The world over, people are familiar with the face of “Hello Kitty” as primarily an example of Japanese ‘cute’. However, it is clear that such animal characters convey more than ‘cuteness’ and the possibilities of using such “zoomorphic images as vehicles” (Miller 2010, p. 70) or ambassadors of particular concepts is what is discussed by Laura Miller (2010) in the work “Japan’s Zoomorphic Urge”. The proliferation of “humanoid non-human” characters in domains beyond the realms of cuteness or the kawaii has found many uses. For example, their use in sign boards, public offices, almost everywhere, shows their popularity. These characters though in the form of animals, perform, behave and speak the way human beings do. This helps to actually take the glare away from the source, and actually focus on what is being said, while sufficiently conveying the message relevant to human beings, whether it is the right way to use chopsticks or predicting the future through appropriate messages in tarot-cards. Thereby, the zoomorphic characters provide “a way to introduce new meanings and allows for universal identification” – a process called “iconic abstraction” (Miller 2010, pp. 74-5). Furthermore, the concept of using animal characters to put forth what is delicate to convey directly by human beings, is not new and may have had their origins in the spread of Buddhism (Miller 2010, p.72). They have been used didactically to instruct morals and societal laws and regulations. Since the animal characters speak the language of human beings and convey human emotions the human audience understand and related to what is being said and the learning happens without loss of interest or distractions. “Animal icons not only encourage us to touch, look or buy, they are there to instruct us in decidedly human behaviors and characteristics” (Miller 2010, p. 73), thus, they are tools of instruction even in units of nation’s defence forces. However, since there is a distance between the emotions conveyed by these animal characters to what they actually are, and by virtue of their non-human nature, the also hold the potential to convey subtle messages like discreetly appealing to the sexual fantasies of human beings and which would not have been possible but for their animal-ness, like the depiction of the cats as sex-workers who are top-less in Kobayashi’s Cat Shit One (Miller 2010, p.79). The implications of such depiction may not be always acceptable, as the inherent ‘cuteness’ in theses characters entice the viewers to reach out to them and touch them, or even caress them, or derive sensory pleasure from them, without suffering the stigma that a similar action on human beings may elicit. “Recalling the frequent juxtaposition of clothed and “naked” animals, we can link zoomorphism to a flirtation with the naughty or daring as well” (Miller 2010, p.79) and this makes people uneasy, observes Miller (2010). This observation of the author, reminds the reader of the pertinent remark by Yano (2009), “the potential for Japanese cute—including Hello Kitty—as a benign, if winking, mask for larger issues”(p. 686) like female sexuality, gendered roles of women and so on. Miller (2010) concludes that rather than pondering over the negative potential of animal characters, the positive sides may be put to larger use and this point offers good scope for further analysis. References: Christine R. Yano (2009): Wink on Pink: Interpreting Japanese Cute as It Grabs the Global Headlines, The Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 68, No. 3 (August) 2009: 681–688. Miller, Laura (2011): “Japan’s Zoomorphic Urge” in Asia Network Exchange Vol. XVII, No. 2, Spring 2010. Pp. 69-82. When the Moon Strikes the Bell: Desire and Enlightenment in the Noh Play Dōjōji Literature, music, theatre, and other art forms play an important role in artistically mirroring a society by meanings of powerful themes, portrayals, characterization and elucidation of subtle societal structures. The dramatization of issues that engage a society, the social value systems, the class hierarchies, and the relevant roles played by each member of the society makes for powerful media through which a society can be studied. In this way, Susan Blakeley Klein’s (1991) work offers a window through which many dimensions of the Japanese society and culture may be studied. The subordinate and inferior status given to women in East Asian societies can be seen in the week’s material of discussion. Japanese culture has its roots in Shinto-Buddhism and therefore is entwined with the connotations of region-specific aspects of religion as narrated in Buddhist folklores and tales, which depict women as lowly, subject to physical passions of uncontrollable nature, and as almost evil. Desire and lust are all depictive of women, while purity of mind, pursuit of Enlightenment, and self-control are character of men in Japanese culture. Thus, it is important to understand the symbolism implied, failing which the essence of what was being conveyed will be lost. Klien (1991) explains this point very well in her discussion of the above, in the larger discussion of the power of evil (women) and the ultimate victory of goodness (men) through the practice of the Lotus Sutra which is the basic tenet of Mahayana Buddhism. The part played by the shirabyoshi dancer is crucial in conveying the intensity of evilness that is possible for women; this is contrasted with the docile and almost cowardly avoidance of the monk in Noh Play Dōjōji. Klien (1991) discusses in detail the variations of the play in which a young woman is wrongly encouraged by her father to think of a young Buddhist monk who takes shelter in her father’s house for a night, to be her future husband. When she solicits his companionship in his bed, he uneasily escapes her promising to return on his way back, as it was his duty to remain pure on his onward journey. He however takes a different path on his return to avoid her, and she senses it; although following him to his ship, she fails to reach him in time, and disappointed she turns into a serpent to chase him. He seeks shelter in a Buddhist temple where the monks were preparing to launch the bell. He is hidden in the bell and the woman enters the temple disguised as a shirabyoshi attacks the bell, in order to avenge her loss, and ultimately both the attacked young monk (the pure object of her desire) and the evilness of desire in her attain liberation (in at least on version of the play) by hearing the Lotus Sutra chanted. Klien (1991) illustrates how the play may be meant for a specific audience, since it so explicitly warned the monks and men in general to avoid women due to “the strength of evil in the female heart” (Klien 1991, Pp. 297-300). In the latter part of her work, the author discusses the position and treatment of women in the play in a psychoanalytical point of view; She cites other researchers, to state that the lowered status of women may be a bid to retrieve the lost identities of men when pre-dominant influence of the mother is severed in the puberty of boys (Klien 1991, p 304). Though the work is primarily concerned with the themes of desire and enlightenment, Interrelated themes of sexuality, gendered role-play, women’s inferior status in the society to the point of her being considered a menace to be avoided, the undercurrent of Buddhist religion in the depiction of desire, lust and purity of its characters, all find a place in making the drama a powerful on reflecting the pre-occupations of the Japanese society. References: Klein, Blakeley Susan (1991): “When the Moon Strikes the Bell: Desire and Enlightenment in the Noh Play Dōjōji” in Journal of Japanese Studies Vol 17, No 2 (summer, 1991). Pp. 291-322. The Politics of Androgyny in Japan: Sexuality and Subversion in the Theatre and Beyond The manner in which sex, gender and sexuality is viewed in west is largely different from the way it is viewed the east. In the Japanese context, the subject of ‘Androgyny’ the discussion of this week’s study of Jennifer Robertson’s (1992) work offers a very different treatment of the subject, as it deals with “constructed, performed, practiced, and deployed by real females and males, who include the Takarazuka actors, their fans, and their critics” (pp. 433-5). The author has played with the semantics and semiotics of the word ‘androgyny’ and offers a glimpse into the alternative interpretations that can be had for the term, as denoting dual sex or consisting of both masculine and feminine qualities, rather than denoting sex-less- devoid of both masculine and feminine qualities (Robertson 1992). It may be pertinent to remember the Asian cultures have ‘gender-pluralism’ which is explained as being inclusive of “pluralistic sensibilities and dispositions regarding bodily practices (adornment, attire, mannerisms) and embodied desires, as well as social roles, sexual relationships and ways of being that bear on or are otherwise linked with local conceptions of femininity, masculinity, androgyny, etc” (Peletz 2006, p.310). Similarly, Robertson (1992) explains ‘sex’ as the physicality of the body and ‘gender’ as the qualities with which the male body or the female body is brought up with; “That an individual resembles a particular female or male in the first place is precisely because both parties approximate a more generic gender stereotype” (Robertson 1992, p. 421). The influence of religion in Japanese culture is clear in that “since female bodies are regarded in orthodox Buddhist doctrine as not only polluted but also marks of a lower form of existence, enlightenment is not possible for them unless they manage to metamorphose into male bodies”- which is similar to the analysis done by Klien (1991) with regards to Noh Play Dōjōji. According to Robertson (1992) “The effect is not the creation of an androgyne, but a female's total transformation into "the opposite" sex-in short, rebirth as a male over the course of several generations” (p.423). Through this framework, the author explores aspects of androgyny in otokoyaku - in other words, a masculine embodiment in a female body, who has on stage “must stride forthrightly across the stage, her arms held stiffly away from her body, her fingers curled around her thumbs” (Robertson 1992, p. 423). A well-versed “androgynous onnagata blurred the boundaries between sex and gender, male and female, femininity and masculinity” and to do this it was not sufficient if the boundaries of gender are followed only on-stage. They had to practice them off-stage too and for this reason many of the performers did not marry at all. Tracing the origins of such performance to early Edo period (Robertson 1992, p. 423), the author states that the modernization during Meiji Restoration of 1868 had a strong impact in the way men and women dressed, and more importantly the establishment of the Takarazuka Revue, the empowerment of woman to play ‘masculine part’. The post-war example of The Rose of Versailles illustrates well the point explained by the author. Various women who played the character of Oscar in the play were not only prepared to adorn appropriate mannerisms to portray the role authentically, they were also forced to play women’s roles in between in order to remind the audience that they were women; since as the author aptly puts it “The directors did not want the otokoyaku to be too successful in her appropriation and performance of masculinity” (Robertson 1992, p. 433). The most important thing in this discussion of androgyny, as correctly referred to by the author, is that viewpoints held by the directors and the women audiences - The otokoyaku, in short, is appreciated as an exemplary female who can successfully negotiate both genders, and their attendant roles, without being constrained by either” (Robertson 1992, p. 433). References: Peletz G. Michael (2006). “Transgenderism and Gender Pluralism in Southeast Asia since Early Modern Times” in Current Anthropology Volume 47, Number 2, April 2006. p. 309-40. Also online version available at http://pub.imnotaboy.com/readings/Transgenderism%20and%20Gender%20Pluralism%20in%20Southeast%20Asia%20since%20Early%20Modern%20Times%20(Michael%20G%20Peletz).pdf Robertson, Jennifer (1992): “The Politics of Androgyny in Japan: Sexuality and Subversion in the Theatre and Beyond” in American Ethnologist 19: 419-442. Japanese Hip-Hop and the Globalization of Popular Culture According to Douglas McGray (2002) there is hardly anything Japanese about the popular Japanese pop-dance “Pada Pada” (p. 49) and yet, this epitomizes what Japanese pop-culture is all about. In short it is an example of how alien pop-music has permeated into the fabric of Japanese culture due to globalization, the manner in which the same has captured the imagination of young Japanese, and has been localized and adapted by the community to form what is uniquely their own – the Japanese pop-culture. The evidence of this is explored in an ethnographic perspective by Ian Condry (2001) in his work on Japanese Hip-Hop (which includes rap music, DJ, break dance graffiti among other things), is the reading for this week. The Hip-Hop culture began in the USA in the 1970s in the side streets of New York where rappers beats slowly gathered momentum and has transcended cultural boundaries to enter the night clubs of Tokyo. An ethnographer’s job is to study the local cultural practices and social structures as they are, and globalization may appear to conflict this, since it aims at melting the differences between cultures (Condry 2001, p. 373). Despite this, his work proves the unique transformation of the Japanese Hip-Hop which has a global appeal with a highly localized flavor. The author observes that clubs were the “actual site” or genba where the transformation was taking place, in the sense that DJs met, learned and competed with each other for attention as evolving rappers, and therefore he calls it “genba globalism” (Condry 2001, p. 374). He goes on to describe the start of events in Shibuya area of Tokyo well past midnight, when youngsters dressed in baggie type pants and shirts arrive at genba, making them crowded and filled with music, smoke and dance. Anime clips, abstract videos, Kung Fu movies are all available in the background giving a predominantly Asian touch to the events. Furthermore, observes Condry (2001) that the lyrics, the language of the music is Japanese. Frequently live bands are played, and music is also played from recorded CDs, and often competitions take place between two groups, all contributing to the ambience of the dance floor, ensuring constant interaction between the rapper groups and the persons dancing along as audience. The nights progresses with one or the other group performing sets of two to three dances at a time till it is around dawn until the train services start. Members and friends get to meet each other in between these dances, and greet each other on occasions like New Year, wishing each other in chaste Japanese, delivered with equal solemnity as well in typically Japanese style soliciting the “benevolence” of the other (Condry 2001, p. 380). Herein is the evidence that the author was looking for, that the crowd is still Japanese at heart, despite imbibing the American style of music and dance. Succinctly he puts it thus, “Clubbing offers freedom and constraint” to the rappers of genba globalism (p. 380); thus, in the clubs “globalization is refracted and transformed in important ways through actual site of urban hip-hop clubs” (p. 380). And significantly, it is Japanese rappers, playing in Japanese language, using Japanese subject to build their base (Condry 2001, p. 381). Hip-Hop culture in Japan spreads the ideals of leisure, fashion and DJ, and self-identification of who they are and what they stand for – “a culture of first person singular” (Condry 2001, p. 383). Discounting Arjun Appaduarai’s (1996) views on ‘-scapes’ as too technology, media and finance oriented, Condry (2001) suggests genba globalism may hold an “alternative key” on understanding “how new, hybrid forms of culture are produced” (p. 384). The author has provided fresh insight into the process of transcendence and assimilation of one culture by another through his ethnographic study, which provides for valuable information for future analysis. Referneces: Appadurai, Arjun (1996): Modernity at large - Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minnieapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Condry, Ian. 2001. Japanese Hip-Hop and the Globalization of Popular Culture. In Urban Life: Readings in the Anthropology of the City. George Gmelch and Walter Zenner, eds. Prospect Heights IL: Waveland Press. 357-387. McGray, Douglas (2002): “Japan’s Gross National Cool.” Foreign Policy, May/June, 44–54. Searching for Self in the Global South: Japanese Literary Representations of Afro-American Blackness A comparative study generally takes into account two objects which are similar in some aspects in differ in some other ways, and delineates the advantages and disadvantages of one vis-à-vis the other. While many ethnographers too compare cultures of societies or communities in this way, Marlin Sterling’s study of Japanese self-identity, has made a paradigm shift. Rather than studying the popularity of Jamaican music and Japanese interaction with the Jamaicans in Japanese setting, it has chosen to study the accounts of Japanese who travelled to Jamaica and returned after a few years, and compile the views in fictional and non-fictional writings of such people (Sterling 2011). It has compared the jibun sagashi, or self-searching of Japanese in the backdrop of relatively impoverished, racially different, and ideologically opposite Jamaica. The ethnographer discusses the recent trend of Japanese pre-occupation with Jamaican dancehall reggae; he describes how clashes of groups happen with fierce ridicule of opponents and praise of self in Japanese, Jamaican patois, music and sound systems in the dancehall, all combine to form a sort of sub-culture in itself. The popularity of Jamaican music is only a teaser through which the author opens the real discussion of Japanese ‘search for self’ or jibun sagashi (Sterling 2011, p. 55). Basically, Japanese society being a homogenous one, and being a developed society at that, the author observes, that it has hardly been exposed to blacks living within its domain, and therefore “black otherness therefore easily reduced to stereotypes of primitivism and savagery that help realise mythologies of civilised Western and of progressive, modern Japanese selves;” (Sterling 2011, p. 57) There are a few instances wherein the writers have confessed of deep distrust of black Jamaicans, and sought the shelter of white men exposing the deeply entrenched concepts of race and colour in people (pp. 64-5). However, these Japanese also hold the Jamaicans in deep-fascination indeed even marry and live there to visit Japan every now and then. The soul-searching which may have been spurred to the fore by exposure to reggae, Rastafari, rappers, dancehall, DJ, fashion, Gospel; made more acute by the loss of security faced by today’s youth in Japan due to recession, and propelled them further by the contrasting toughness and hardened nature of Afro-American Jamaicans. The Japanese engagement with the Jamaicans may be described thus: attractive from a distance, but too shocking and unnerving in close counters, as inferred from Sterling’s (2011) compilation. When the Japanese agree that the Jamaicans are ‘bad’ (p.63) but ‘appealing’ and it looks as if the Japanese are seeking to fulfil a part of a void they feel in themselves, in their exposure to Jamaicans. The interesting part is that the conclusions are inferred from the narratives of repatriates rather than direct study of ‘exposed’ Japanese, as compiled by Sterling (2011). Reference: Sterling, Marvin. 2011. Searching for Self in the Global South: Japanese Literary Representations of Afro-American Blackness. Japanese Studies. 31(1): 53-71. Read More