The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction

Michihiro Ama

Description

The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction is the first book to treat the literary practices of certain major modern Japanese writers as Buddhist practices, and to read their work as Buddhist literature. Its distinctive contribution is its focus on modern literature and, importantly, modern Buddhism, which Michihiro Ama presents both as existing in continuity with the historical Buddhist tradition and as having unique features of its own. Ama corrects the dominant perception in which the Christian practice of confession has been accepted as the primary informing source of modern Japanese prose literature, arguing instead that the practice has always been a part of Shin Buddhist culture. Focusing on personal fiction, this volume explores the works of literary figures and Buddhist priests who, challenged by the modern development of Japan, turned to Buddhism in a variety of ways and used literature as a vehicle for transforming their sense of selfhood. Writers discussed include Natsume Sōseki, Tayama Katai, Shiga Naoya, Kiyozawa Manshi, and Akegarasu Haya. By bringing Buddhism out of the shadows of early twentieth-century Japanese literature and elucidating its presence in both individual authors' lives and the genre of autobiographical fiction, The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction demonstrates a more nuanced understanding of the role of Buddhism in the development of Japanese modernity.
Acknowledgments
Notes about Japanese Names

Introduction

1. A Disciplinary Divide and the Conceptual Framework of the Present Study

Part I: Writing Personal Fiction as a Confessional and Religious Practice

2. Modern Japanese Writers as Lay Buddhist Practitioners

3. Ari no mama as Literary and Buddhist Discourse

4. Shin Buddhist Confession and Literary Practice

5. A Shin Buddhist Historical Novel

Part II: The Buddhist Reading of Personal Fiction

6. Buddhist Words and Buddhist Symbols in Personal Novels

7. Buddhist Attainment and Mystical Experience

8. Literary Representations of Buddhist Funerals

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Translation of the Preface to Before and after My Rebirth by Akegarasu Haya

Appendix 2: Translation of the Preface to Guardians of the Dharma Castle by Matsuoka Yuzuru

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Japan
• History of religions
• Buddhism

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438481432
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction
The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction
Path Literature and an Interpretation of Buddhism
Michihiro Ama
Artwork on the cover by artist Atsuko Kubota.
Publication of this book was supported by a gift from Taikō Hamaji, President, Hamaji Corporation (Japan).
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ama, Michihiro, author.
Title: The awakening of modern Japanese fiction : path literature and an interpretation of Buddhism / Michihiro Ama.
Description: Albany : State University of New York, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020023297 (print) | LCCN 2020023298 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438481418 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438481432 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Japanese fiction—Taishō period, 1912–1926—History and criticism. | Buddhist literature—History and criticism. | Buddhism in literature. | Buddhism and literature—Japan.
Classification: LCC PL747.63.B8 A43 2021 (print) | LCC PL747.63.B8 (ebook) | DDC 895.63/609382—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023297
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023298
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Tomoko
Contents
Acknowledgments
Notes about Japanese Names
Introduction
Chapter 1 A Disciplinary Divide and the Conceptual Framework of the Present Study
Part 1 Writing Personal Fiction as a Confessional and Religious Practice
Chapter 2 Modern Japanese Writers as Lay Buddhist Practitioners
Chapter 3 Ari no mama as Literary and Buddhist Discourse
Chapter 4 Shin Buddhist Confession and Literary Practice
Chapter 5 A Shin Buddhist Historical Novel
Part 2 The Buddhist Reading of Personal Fiction
Chapter 6 Buddhist Words and Buddhist Symbols in Personal Novels
Chapter 7 Buddhist Attainment and Mystical Experience
Chapter 8 Literary Representations of Buddhist Funerals
Conclusion
Appendix 1 Translation of the Preface to Before and after My Rebirth by Akegarasu Haya
Appendix 2 Translation of the Preface to Guardians of the Dharma Castle by Matsuoka Yuzuru
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
I received support from so many people in writing this book that it is easier for me to recollect and thank them by putting them into categories. Please forgive me if I failed to recall individuals who guided me graciously during a period of more than ten years of research.
First and foremost, I would like to thank David Stahl for reading the entire draft manuscript on two separate occasions and for giving me valuable feedback. My learning curve in the study of modern Japanese literature was steep, and without his guidance, I would have been unable to move away from just the biographical criticism with which I had been primarily occupied until then.
The second group of scholars read draft manuscripts (either in their entirety or in part) at various stages of my research. I would like to thank my former PhD advisors affiliated (or once affiliated) with the University of California Irvine—Susan Klein, Edward Fowler, Anne Walthall, and Duncan Williams. They did not have to read this second book manuscript, but continued to support my research. I am also grateful to Michael Cronin, who improved my book proposal. Brian Dowdle, Robert Tuck, Marty Marton, and Ashby Kinch kindly participated in my manuscript workshop at the University of Montana, while Eric Schluessel helped fund the workshop.
The third group of scholars to whom I am so indebted are affiliated with Japanese universities and invited me to their research institutes. Tomoe Moriya of Hannan University funded my research in Japan in 2012. Takami Inoue and Michael Conway of Otani University Shin Buddhist Comprehensive Research Institute gave me the freedom to work on this book, while I was a short-term visiting fellow there in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
The fourth group of scholars introduced me to various articles and books of which I had not been aware. I thank Charles Hallisey (and Dennis Hirota who set up a meeting with Hallisey at the 2011 AAS annual conference in Honolulu), Steven Heine, Richard Payne, Mary Sheldon, and Kimberly Beek.
The fifth group of scholars supported my career in various ways. I thank Natasa Masanovic, Liz Ametsbichler, Mark Unno, James Dobbins, Mark Blum, Jessica Main, Susan Klein, and Duncan Williams. I would also like to thank Francisca Cho for reinitiating my contact with SUNY Press.
Various organizations funded my research. They include the Karashima Fund from the College of Humanities and Sciences at the University of Montana (UM), the Yamaguchi Opportunity Fund run by the UM Mansfield Center, the Faculty Development Grant from the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA), travel grants provided by the UAA College of Arts and Sciences, and the UAA Montgomery Dickson Center for Japanese Language and Culture.
Publication of this book was supported by many people. I would like to thank the Humanities Institute of the College of Humanities and Sciences at UM for the Baldridge Book Subvention Fund. Ranko Hamaji offered me a place to work in Japan and “fed” my wife and me, and graciously contributed to the book cover jacket in the name of Taikō Hamaji, president of Hamaji Corporation. Atsuko Kubota designed the book cover artwork. Special thanks goes to Ken’ichi Yokogawa. He tirelessly edited numerous draft manuscripts, helped me balance between academic and ordinary jargon, and polished my translations. I am grateful to Rachel Smith, Emi Okitsu, and Allison Grigonis for proofreading the manuscript. I am indebted to anonymous reviewers, Christopher Ahn (former acquisition editor at SUNY Press), James Peltz (co-director of SUNY Press), and other staff members of SUNY Press. I thank Teruo Akegarasu and Mariko Handō for giving me permission to publish partial translations of Before and after My Rebirth and Guardians of the Dharma Castle, respectively. Tadatoshi Miyamori helped me connect with Akegarasu, while resident priest of Honkakuji helped me connect with Handō.
Finally, I could not have completed this work without my wife Tomoko. I thank her for her patience and understanding—she supported my career and moved from Los Angeles to Anchorage and from there to Missoula with me—and I dedicate this book to her. I also thank Ayami Haruno for her kindness.
Michihiro Ama
Notes about Japanese Names
In this book, Japanese names appear in Japanese order: family name and then given name. In citations of scholarly works of Japanese authors who published articles and books in English, however, names appear in English order: given name and then family name. For scholarly works of Japanese authors translated into English, authors’ names appear in order of family name and given name. However, names of the translators who rendered Japanese articles and books into English appear in English order. Natsume Sōseki is referred to as Sōseki and Tayama Katai as Katai because Sōseki and Katai are pen names.
Introduction
The time of snow
Closes in on Mount Hiei …
Bleak days
Of ultimate loneliness;
My path never ends. 1
—Yukawa Hideki (1907–1981)
Japan’s first Nobel laureate, Yukawa Hideki, wrote the above waka poem during December 1945, just months after Japan’s unconditional surrender, which ended the Pacific War. With this first defeat as a modern nation state in Japanese history, Japanese society was completely devastated. It was during this bleak period that Yukawa seems to have identified his feeling of loss as a Japanese with the cold of winter on Mount Hiei, which he looked up to as the cradle of Japanese Buddhism. What connects his sense of loneliness, the severe cold, and Buddhism is the process of following a path toward an only dimly sensed goal—perhaps the recovery of Japan in general and a new world of physics in particular. Yukawa’s idea of an “endless path” 2 is derived from Japanese literary tradition. He was fond of medieval and early modern Japanese literature, including The Tale of Genji ( Genji monogatari ), Saigyō’s Mountain Home Anthology ( Sankashū ), and Bashō’s haikai , as well as Chinese classics, especially Zhuangzi and Laozi . Yukawa represents a broad range of modern Japanese intellectuals who do not consider themselves to be religious but maintain an interest in literary expressions of Buddhism.
Buddhism is one of the dominant forces that shaped Japanese culture. Western scholars have discussed Japan’s Buddhist art, Buddhist architecture, and performing art influenced by Buddhism, as well as Buddhism’s impact on medieval Japanese literature; however, they have done so by considering Buddhism to be incidental to modern Japanese literary studies. On the other hand, Japanese scholars have studied the representation of Buddhism in modern Japanese literature mostly through a denominational doctrinal