What Plot is This?

It is harvest time in Kyoto now - the views of the fields have probably changed little for hundreds of years. One of the most characteristic sights are the higanbana (higan refers to the Autumn equinox; hana/bana is flower - spiderlily in English) which sprout up overnight by the sides of the fields from early September onwards.

This is a poem I translated several years ago, working with the author, Melvin Wong, to translate a rather thick volume of his work. I was pleased to have the opportunity to work with him on these evocative poems - this is one I particularly liked for its mix of the real and the fantastic - it seems a throwback to some dark happening in the past. Although they were never published, I still rather like them.

Rice Field
The autumn light unhesitatingly
Switched the waving rice
From the green of summer to its own yellow-brown.
With the turn of seasons,
Nothing is forgotten, it seems.
Like roaring flames come the red flowers.
The fresh blood of jealousy erupts
From the multitude of buried dead.
What kind of plot is this?
In a single night
In all the fields around,
The rice,
Before its day of execution,
Is bent before the violence of the coming storm
Blowing ever more strongly.
At the end of the day - no harvesting
And fear increasing all the more -
An eerie sunset

Melvin Wong (Chris Hellman Trans.)

Photo courtesy of Japundit Blog

Swords on the Screen

There are a couple of interesting looking movies out this month. Both of them are somewhat similar in theme, but very different in treatment. The first is Jusan-nin no Shikaku (13 Assassins). It is a remake of Kudo Eiichi 's 1963 film staring Kataoka Chiezo. The original was great for atmosphere, but a bit disappointing in the sword wielding department. This becomes more understandable if you look more closely at his background - he was a rebel who, together with a number of other directors of the time, sought to criticize the samurai culture, using it as a mirror for their own rebellious times. (See Kudo Eiichi for more details.) And so the action is unglamorous and chaotic. Miike Takashi, who directs the new version, is known for the extreme violence in his movies - it seems this will be extreme action at least, but I don't expect much of a sub-text.

The story concerns the thoroughly vile Lord Matsudaira who is given to rape and murder, and effectively stands above the law, as the brother of the shogun. A small group of upstanding samurai decide that something must be done, and decide to assassinate him on his way back from Edo. They convert a vilage on the route into a death-trap and the battle begins. The subtitle for the new version is something like '13 against 300' - it seems that the last hour or so is given over to the ambush. Sounds like fun.

The second offering is a bit more serious and based on a historical incident: Sakurada Mongai no Hen (The Sakurada Gate Incident) of 1860, but it also involves the way-laying and assassination of a high ranking lord, the dictatorial official, Ii Naosuke. It centres on the participants, rather than the action itself, and looks to be a more thoughtful piece of film-making than '13 Assassins'. It is based on the novel by Yoshimura Akira, a well-known writer with a somewhat grim but insightful style. It definitely seems worth seeing.

Zen again - what a pickle

The subject of Zen and the sword is a perennial chestnut. The 'traditional' view that kendo is a kind of 'zen in motion' seems to have gained great popularity both from D.T. Suzuki's "Zen in Japanese Culture" and from Donn Draeger's writings. It seems to have been quite popular amongst Japanese adherents of kendo during the pre-war and post-war periods, and for all I know still is, and various non-practitioners writing about the martial arts seem to have continued this trend, basically following the same sources. 

More recently, writers who have some experience in the bugei have countered this early misconception by pointing out a range of other 'spiritual' (for want of a better word) influences on swordsmanship and related arts. In particular, I am thinking of Karl Friday, Cameron Hurst, "The Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan" edited by Diane Skoss, and probably other worthy volumes that I can't recall just at the moment. 

Zen still has a strong hold on the regular martial artist's imagination, if the prevalence of the topic on various discussion forums is anything to go by. And, I must admit, there are a few well-known examples of swordsmen who did have a strong connection with Zen (though whether it was an integral part of their swordsmanship or merely(?) their chosen spiritual discipline, and thus part of their life, is a moot question). For the promulgators of Zen, any connection will do, particularly the use of 'Zen' terminology. While those unfamiliar with Japanese culture might assume the strength of the connection, anyone who has delved a little deeper will be aware that such terminology was not the sole prerogative of any one group, but was used because it could be used to described certain phenomena for which no better terms existed. Similarly, if we talk about someone being egotistical, it doesn't mean that we are committed Freudians. (I recommend Bloom's "Closing of the American Mind" for more on how much of our language and ideas are based on philosophies we don't really understand...but this is getting off-track...). 

 An example of this is Suzuki's discussion of the work Fushikihen, which roughly translates as "On the Unknown/Ignorance (in Swordsmanship)" written by one Kimura Kyuhou in the 18th century. Suzuki includes a short extract from his work in his discussion of Zen in swordsmanship, using Kyuhou as an example of a Zen swordsman. A closer examination of the writing reveals that though he uses some Zen terms such as mushin, and 'drinking the waters of the West River', he also refers to Confucius and Laozi on several occasions, and specifically refers to another work on swordsmanship that refutes the idea of meditation as useful for developing skill in the sword. In fact, the work is mostly Neo-Confucian in vein. (For a full translation see my (quick plug) "The Samurai Mind" to be published in March 2011).  

So where does this idea come from? One of the reasons is undoubtedly Takuan. The friendship of this Zen abbot with Yagyu Munenori is well-known, not least through the letters he wrote to him. These have generally been mediated (perhaps primarily, but certainly not exclusively, by Suzuki) as Takuan teaching Munenori the deeper aspects of swordsmanship through his deep knowledge of Zen. There is, of course, something faintly(?) ridiculous about this, but it seems largely to have gone unquestioned. For a more considered approach, try "Zen and the Creative Process: The "Kendo-Zen" Thought of the Rinzai Master Takuan" by Dennis Lishka.  His take is that Takuan is explaining Zen in terms that his audience will understand, rather than explaining swordsmanship in terms of Zen - isn't that more reasonable?

Regional Strategy

It seems the excitement never stops!
Once again, discounting the rights and wrongs of the situation (and everyone involved has pretty strong views), the flare-up over the arrest of the Chinese fishing captain for ramming a Japanese coastguard vessel brings up several interesting points.

The timing, in particular, is quite interesting - it happened immediately after Kan's defeat of Ozawa - for all his short-comings, Ozawa is certainly far more vocal, out-spoken and less likely to be pushed around on foreign policy.

China's quick resort to this kind of strong-arm tactic has set off alarm bells throughout the region - it is very likely the shape of things to come. What is also interesting, though perhaps not immediately apparent, is the thinking behind this kind of tactic. Whereas America utilises a similar approach based on the belief that they are right, China seems to disregard the rightness or wrongness of the situation in favor of what works - if it looks like Japan will retreat a step or two, it's worth a try to gain some tactical ground. They have plenty of experience in heating the pot and then letting things cool for a while.

International opinions are worth watching, too - for all China's economic strength and bluster, the country is part of the web of international relations that will be affected by actions of this kind. Already there seems to be a feeling that though they have won a tactical victory, strategically, it may have been a misstep.

Ozawa Falls

As a quick follow-up to my last post, despite the initial dispositions of the power blocks in the party, and a fairly strong showing in televised debates, Ozawa was comprehensively beaten, and Kan retained leadership.

The key was was the rank and file of the party: Ozawa just couldn't overcome the seeds of distrust and dislike that had already been sown by his previous behavior. It seems he had misread the strength of feeling against him.

There might be something in the need to create enemies if you want to get things done, but this is an example of when creating too many can come back to bite you in the ass.

Strategy in Politics

Occasionally, you get to watch strategy at work in national or world events as they play out around you. Although not privy to all the details, it can be fascinating to observe events as they unfold, with an eye to the moves and the tactics of the main players.

The Ozawa Situation
I have never been particularly interested in politics, and politics in Japan, even less so, but the current situation in Japan is just too interesting to ignore. Ichiro Ozawa, the 'kingmaker' is making a bid for the throne. He is not a popular politician with the public at large, and his name has been besmirched over the last few years with the taint of financial scandals, but he has emerged ready for a fight for the leadership of his party, the DPJ, and the country itself.

It is the stuff novels are made of - the backroom politicking must be intense. Setting aside personal opinion, what is obvious is that Ozawa is a master of the game. He has built up his influence and support, allowed Yukio Hatoyama, the ex-prime mimister to take the blame for reneging on impossible election promises, let his successor, Naoto Kan, work off the inevitable resentment and unpopularity arising from the current strength of the yen against foreign currencies, and is now poised to step in before Kan has really had a chance to get to work.

But how has he got this chance? The unfathomable rules governing political parties seem to dictate that elections for leadership should take place within the party on a regular, unchanging basis - never mind that the current leader has just taken over the reigns of power, now he has to battle to hold onto his position as well as lead a country. Never mind, also, that polls show 75% of the country see no reason to change leadership, the situation allows Ozawa to fight in an arena where he holds most of the cards, in the closed arena of his own party. Far easier to win here than in a general election. He has even threatened to leave the party if he doesn't win... a strange move for a man who says he has the party's best interests at heart.

And why? Cynics would say it's naked ambition. The chances of being able to win the next election are already looking slim - it will probably be back to business as usual with the LDP in power, and the DPJ might not get another look-in for 10 years or more, so he is probably right in thinking that if he doesn't take a shot now, he will never become PM.

Of course, it's all politics, but now is a fascinating chance to watch a master at work.

Matsuura Seizan -swordsman and scholar

Matsuura Seizan is an unusual and interesting figure - a kind of 'renaissance man' - but little known in the west, which is a pity, as he left unusually clear and informative writings on the art of swordsmanship from the point of view of a master swordsman. I first got interested in him when I began to translate the Joseishi Kendan, (which is included in my forthcoming The Samurai Mind, published by Tuttle), and the more I found out, the more I became interested in him. Like Musashi, he was a master of both 'bun' and 'bu', but his background and life were quite the opposite of that more famous swordsman.

He was born as the oldest son of the daimyo of Hirado, an island just off the coast of western Kyushu, near Nagasaki, and after the death of his father, became lord of the domain at the age of 16. His position in society allowed him access to a variety of famous men of his age, and he was connected to a group of philosophers, artists and literary types in the Osaka-Kyoto area that was associated with Minagawa Kien, the Neo-confucian philosopher, and included luminaries such as the painters Maruyama Okyo and his student Nakagawa Rosetsu. While he doesn't write about art, his works clearly show his Confucian scholarship.

He was clearly a character of some discipline as well as administering his domain, he studied several different styles of martial arts, including archery, spear, jujutsu, riding, gunnery, and most famously Shingyoto ryu kenjutsu. He also became well known as a writer later in his life, especially for a long-running series of essays on miscellaneous oddities of Edo. Education was another of his concerns, and he founded a domainal school, the Ishinkan, which provided education both in martial and academic disciplines, allowing students of different styles to train together.

Nowadays he is chiefly remembered for his literary works, including those he wrote on the sword, principally Kendan and Kenkou, which present a mixture of advice and stories for students of the art of swordsmanship. Throughout, his erudition and intellectual honesty shine through, though only occasionally do we glimpse the more forthright, combative side of his nature.

This is shown more fully from other sources. Later in life, reports told of an old man who would roam the outskirts of Edo by night, handing out beatings to anyone who anyone who dared try his skill. He carried an old broken bowstave as a cane and a short sword at this waist, and would appropriate the swords of the losers as a penalty for their presumption. It is said that the numbers of those he defeated ran into the dozens and included several who later became famous for their skill with the sword. Of course, this was Matsuura Seizan himself - he would have been in his seventies at the time.