Lit 365: Morrison Study Guide for Ishikawa Juns Asters (Shion Monogatari, 1956)1 Ishikawa Jun (1899-1987):

: Novelist from Tokyo. Made his literary debut in 1935 with the novella Kajin (The Nymphs). His 1936 novel Fugen (The Bodhisattva) won him the second Akutagawa Prize. After World War II, Ishikawa came to be regarded as one of the Shin-gesaku (new gesaku) school of writers. Other representative works are Yake-ato no Iesu (Jesus of the Ruins, 1946), gon densetsu (The Legend of Gold, 1946), Taka (The Hawk, 1953), Shifukusennen (A Thousand Years of Happiness, 1966), and Kyfki (Account of the Wild Wind). Some Terms 1. Ichioku s-zange : Collective repentance by 100 million. Ichioku, or one hundred million, refers to the size of the population of Japan, and by extension it becomes a metaphor for all the subjects/citizens in the land; zange, or penitence, is done by all or in unison (s) (Tyler 1998, 274). The term was coined shortly after the war by Prime Minister Higashikuni Naruhiko, who called on the Japanese people to repent collectively for the war. His call has been criticized as an attempt to exonerate the militarists and the ruling classes who were directly responsible for the war, and to shift the blame to the entire population. Ishikawa indirectly addresses the themes of memory, amnesia, trauma, repentance, atrocity, etc in this story. 2. Doppelgnger: Double walker in German; a double or second-self. In literature, dream analysis, or archetypal symbolism, the Doppelgnger is often figured as a twin, shadow, or mirror-image of the protagonist. The Doppelgnger characteristically appears as identical to (or closely resembling) the protagonist; sometimes the protagonist and Doppelgnger have the same name. Prominent literary examples of Doppelgngers include Poes William Wilson, Stevensons Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Conrads The Secret Sharer, and the novel and movie The Fight Club. [] In Freudian terms, the Doppelgnger represents hidden or repressed aspects of the protagonists personality, and the arrival of the double represents the return of the repressed. The protagonist must acknowledge what the double represents, and at the

Source: The Old Woman, the Wife and the Archer: Three Modern Japanese Short Novels. 1961. The Songs of Oak Mountain, by S. Fukasawa; Ohan, by C. Uno; Asters, by J. Ishikawa. Translated by Donald Keene.
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same time struggle against it. Characteristically, a Doppelgnger story climaxes with a confrontation of the two, usually a fight to the death. The death of the Doppelgnger represents the successful repression of the dangerous impulses, but the struggle leaves the protagonist sadder and wiser about humanity and about himself or herself. (Dr. Glen Johnson, Catholic University of America) 3. Kants four types of evil: (1) evil resulting from fragilitas, (2) evil resulting from impuritas, (3) evil resulting from perversitas (i.e. radical evil) (privileging of inclinations, still pathological), and (4) diabolical evil (unpathological, not based on inclinations, contrary to self-interest, elevated to the level of a maxim). For more, see Kants Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone (1794): http://bit.ly/bBJlc8 Study Guide Answer all of the following. 1. What genre(s) of novel might the work be classified as? Does the story fit into any of Todorovs genres of the uncanny, the fantastic, or the marvelous? 2. Describe the narrative structure of the work. 3. Discuss the role of poetry in the work. What powers does poetry possess? How does Muneyori regard his own natural poetic gifts? Explain the connection between his renunciation of poetry and his rebellion against his father/his fathers courtly culture? 4. Explain the significance of three arrows. What does each arrow represent? How are they related? What discovery does Muneyori make? 5. At its core, the work is an exploration of the problem of evil. Discuss the four types of evil that are represented in the work through the four characters of Tnai, Princess Utsuro, Yumimaro, and Muneyori. Consider these characters in relation to Kants four types of evil mentioned above. Also, discuss the ambiguous relationship between diabolical evil (Muneyori) and ultimate good (Heita). 6. Describe the character Heita. Describe his doppelgnger-esque relationship to Muneyori. In what ways are they the uncanny mirror images of each another? What are

their similarities? What are their differences? Do they complement each another to make a whole? 7. Describe the two settingsMuneyoris province and the town beyond the mountainand the inhabitants/communities/cultures of each. How does each group view the other? What is their relation to one another? 8. The work abounds in dichotomies/binaries. Identify and describe them all. What does Ishikawa seem to be saying about the true nature of these dichotomies? 9. Explain the significance of the three plants: the asters (shion), the forget-me-nots (wasurenagusa), and the grasses-of-forgetfulness/day lilies (wasuregusa). Which plants does Muneyori plant? In what circumstances? For what purpose? Which plants does Heita plant? In what circumstances? For what purpose? How do these plants relate to the larger themes of the work, namely the problems of history, memory, trauma, atrocity, evil, etc.? 10. Describe the Buddhist statues that are carved into the rocks. Why is Muneyori driven to destroy them? 11. Discuss the character of Chigusa. How does Chigusa and Muneyoris relationship resemble that of Yang Kwei-fei and Emperor Hsuan Tsung from Bai Juyis Song of Everlasting Regret (806)? 12. Given its main themes, can this work be read as an allegory of postwar Japanese society? Explain. Further Reading 1. Shibusawa Tatsuhikos essay in Henai teki sakka ron. 2. [add to the list as you research] 3. 4. 5.