Handbook of Japanese Mythology phần 2

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Handbook of Japanese Mythology phần 2 22 Handbook of Japanese Mythology kept the two-hundred-odd domains isolated from one another, so that even the most hostile of them needed a couple of centuries to band together to remove the Tokugawa shogunate. And, overall, it kept Japan peaceful and free of annex- ation by rapacious Western colonial powers. The settled lives of the townsmen and bushi brought forth a renewed Great Tradition of literate discussion by philosophers as well as artists, of myths in the context of national mythologies rather than regional or local ones. Such myths were incorporated into theatrical works, paintings, popular cheap “penny dreadful” books, and formal story- telling arts. They formed a national mythology, the hallmark of a mature Great Tradition. The Little Traditions still flourished in the shade, often the object of satire by sophisticated urbanites and the educated. In the latter half of the nineteenth century Japan started a rapid program of modernization and part-Westernization. This culminated in World War II, when Japan attacked and its forces occupied most of its neighbors. The myth of the kamikaze was revived during the war: the idea that with nothing more than spirit and self-sacrifice, the deities would save Japan from defeat. The Japanese adapted rapidly to the situation after their defeat in World War II, and within a couple of decades, they were directing their energies to surviving in a capitalist, reasonably peaceful (from their perspective) world. In the process, new myths started emerging: myths built on Japanese successes, and explaining Japanese failures as well. Many of these myths—collectively called by foreign scholars “myths of Japanese uniqueness” and by Japanese scholars Nihonshugi (Japaneseness) or Nihonjin-ron (Japanese thinking), were initiated and spread by academics and politicians. They also had impact on diverse fields such as fashion. The idea of Japanese uniqueness, based on some physical distinction of the Japan- ese as a race, is particularly prominent. Thus in the past twenty years alone, sev- eral such myths have emerged: that the Japanese, being largely vegetarians, have gut lengths shorter than most other humans. That the prevalence of one blood type in Japan is responsible for the communitarianism and self-sacrifice in Japan- ese society. That Japanese brains are structured differently from other nations, and therefore Japanese language can be imprecise and vague without limiting intra- Japanese communication. There is even a modern myth that brown-haired people (as opposed to black-haired or blond) are warmer, more sociable, and kinder than other people, leading to a rash of younger Japanese people dying their hair brown! SOCIAL HISTORY While all the political history described above was going on, the vast mass of the population were living much as their ancestors had. Hamlets, usually of farmer- Introduction 23 tenants, lived in close proximity to their landlords, who also worked the land. Small manufacturing and service towns, often clustered around castles that offered some protection in times of unrest, were scattered about the countryside. In the larger cities of Sakai, Osaka, Edo, and others, a large class of workers and small entrepreneurs emerged from the fourteenth century onward. These popu- lations, often isolated from others (there were major travel restrictions imposed by fearful local governments starting in the fourteenth century), sometimes mar- ginalized, created their own myths and the rituals that bolstered them. These myths were sometimes transmitted from one community to another by way of wandering monks and priests, pilgrims, sailors, medicine sellers, and other itin- erants. And some of these myths were incorporated, one way or another, into the myths of the Great Tradition. But more than that, each hamlet, each area, had its own myths associated with their way of life, which they perceived to be unique and markedly different from those of their neighbors. These local myths were of varied and diverse ori- gins, but they shared one major element: They reflected local experience and fears. The ferocious Bimbogami, the deity of poverty, was always knocking at the door. Sprites and demons lurked at particular local places where real dangers to the unwary—precipices and deep rivers, falling trees and landslides—were to be found. Wizards lurked in the mountains, and if they were properly addressed and solicited they might provide a relief from the hardships of life. The social world of the Japanese individual throughout “traditional” history (that is, up to the end of World War II) was intensely circum ...