The Harp of a Burma by Michio Takeyama - Essay Example

Abdullah AlMutawa Your Teacher’s April 28, The Harp of Burma The Harp of a Burma, by Michio Takeyama, is set in Burma during the end of World War II, close to the surrender of Japan. The book relates the story of Japanese soldiers in a troupe, especially Private Mizushima who can play the Burmese harp, who were involved in the Second World War. It focuses on the aftermath of the surrender, with special focus on Mizushima. The author focuses on the human experience whilst telling the story. Takeyama looks at the role Japanese soldiers played during the war, especially those in troupes who were not only soldiers but also entertainers sent to the front to boost the morale of other soldiers. By using the analogy of music, the Burmese harp that Mizumshima played, Takeyama has tried to promote an ideal of peace after the ravages of World War II, keeping in mind the Buddhist teachings of peace and harmony. After the Second World War, people saw the ravages of war firsthand.. Despite the dangers involved, the soldiers on both sides fought valiantly and fearlessly, perhaps not just because of their ideals, but for the pride and vainglory of their leaders and generals. To boost their morale at the war front, often troupes of musicians were sent to them to keep them entertained. This was done in an attempt to keep them fighting. Despite the peaceful ideals of Buddhism, the Japanese fought the British in Burma, a Buddhist country and shed a lot of blood there. This was in direct contrast to the Buddhist teachings. As per Mayton, “Non violence is at the heart of Buddhist thinking and behavior. The first of the five precepts that all Buddhists should follow is [to] avoid killing, or harming any living thing” (47). People who shed blood in their own ancestral land are cursed. Added to this was the fact that due to the continuous onslaught of the British, and the defeats of the Japanese elsewhere, it was becoming more and more difficult to continue fighting, calling for the Burmese to surrender (Win 114). There were many Japanese soldiers, however, who refused to surrender despite the surrender of their government. In the novel, Mizushima was asked to convince a group of soldiers, who were still fighting in the mountains, to surrender to the British. McDonald states that the Buddhist cultural practices and beliefs entail that if surrender achieves peace, then people should not be made to suffer by non surrender (23). The Burmese, being Buddhists, considered war to be foreign to their way of life, however, their Japanese occupiers were actively shedding blood in their land. Mizushima, who was also motivated by these Buddhist ideals, actively sought to end the war by engaging with the soldiers in the mountains. However, his besieged compatriots do not agree with his thoughts on the matter and end up being obliterated by the British, with Mizushima injured during the attack. When Mizushima goes back to the mountain to ask the soldiers to surrender so that peace can be restored to Burma, he is following the Buddhist cultural practices that call for people to carry the message of peace with them wherever they go (McDonald 48). War is evil, as per the Buddhists, as people who are killed by violence in one’s own territory are thought to bring trouble and strife to those who allow this killing to happen there. Mizushima, thus, not only obeys the wishes of his captain by taking the message of peace to the soldiers back in the mountain to surrender (Mayton 79), but also heeds the Buddhist commands in this regard As per Douglas, the Japanese troops had well developed plans that helped them succeed in the war; however, their opponents were better equipped with the psychological tactics of warfare, and employed several techniques to foul the attempts of the Japanese and to defeat them (2). Takeyama, in his novel, depicts how the Japanese troops were entertained by troupes to keep their morale high and their fighting spirit alive, especially those who were fighting far away from home in foreign lands, like Burma. However, again, once the war had ended due to the Japanese government’s surrender, in order to promote peace, after the ravages and strife of war, it was necessary that all these soldiers, who still maintained their fighting spirit, should surrender and let peace prevail. However, the local soldiers did not want to continute fighting. This is what attracted Mizushima to seek the soldiers still fighting and convince them to give up arms. More so, because he had convinced himself that the Buddhist teachings in this regard were correct. These epiphanies are exactly what prompted him to stay in Burma as a monk, promoting peace and trying to soothe the wounds caused by war, instead of going back to Japan. After the incident at the mountains, when Mizushima got injured, he was nursed back to health by a local Buddhist monk. Once he healed, he decided to go back to where his military camp used to be, but along the way he sees a lot of bodies of dead Japanese soldiers. Somehow, he cannot take it and he decides to bury them, giving them some form of funeral. It is then that he realizes the futility and wastefulness of war. He sees the high price of war on his own kind, the Japanese soldiers, and he realizes how the Japanese have not only wronged themselves, but the Buddhist Burmese whose religion seeks peace and non-vilence above everything else. He, therefore, decides to become a Buddhist monk and leave his soldiering days behind him. Even when his commanding officer, Captain Inouye, asks him to return, he refuses. He tells him, through a letter, that he has decided to stay back and study to become a monk, and promote the Buddhist principles and teachings on peace and non-violence, whilst burying all the dead Japanese soldiers he can find in the war ravaged land. When he states that he will only return to Japan after he has buried all the dead Japanese, in effect, what he is saying is that he would like to undo the wrong that was caused due to the war in his own little way. The novel, Harp of Burma, recounts the lives of soldiers and the Burmese’s take on the Second World War. The music, as represented by the Burmese harp of Mizushima, was used by Takeyama as an analogy for peace, which the people were so deprived of because of the war. The harp was first shown to be a source of inspiration, a tool used to raise the morale of the fighting Japanese. By using music, the soldiers were encouraged to forget about their hard lives during the war, and to ignore the vilence that they faced every day. But Mizushima soon realized how wrong he was, and how much he sought peace rather than strife. He, therefore, took his harp and did not use it to boost the morale of the fighters, but rather to seek peace. Mending the broken lives of the war ravaged people was much more important to Mizushima. He saw clearly, just how very important it was for him to make amends and spread peace in the land that he and his compatriots had fought in. Takeyama clearly depicts the futility of war, and, through Mizushima and his harp, as well as Buddhist teachings, tries to promote ideals of peace and harmony. Works Cited Books: Mayton, Daniel M. Nonviolence and Peace Psychology: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Societal, and World Peace. New York, NY: Springer, 2009. Print. McDonald, Keiko I. Cinema East: A Critical Study of Major Japanese Films. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1983. Print. Win, T. W., Mall, T., & AV Media (Firm), Videosoft Productions (1995). The sound of the Golden harp: Dances of Myanmar ; Yangon. Yangon, (Burma: AV Media [distributor. Journals Burma, S, B. P. Chen, M. Murphy, A. Kurimasa, and D. J. Chen. "ATM phosphorylates histone H2AX in response to DNA double-strand breaks." Journal of Biological Chemistry (2001) Douglas, G. "Mahagitá Harp and Vocal Music of Burma, and: Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble: Mon Music of Burma, and: Princess Nicotine: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar (Burma) (review)." Journal of American Folklore (2010) Read More