Japanese Literature - Kabuki

Kabuki Theater was invented during the Tokugawa period (徳川時代); the Tokugawa period is also referred to as the “Edo Period (江戸時代).” The Tokugawa period was a period of change within Japan that lasted from the early sixteenth century until 1868. During the changes going on in Japan, all of the arts had increased – from literary books to ukiyo-e woodblock prints to the theater. Many people, not just the higher upper class, were becoming more interested in the arts and demanded for better availability. Kabuki was one of the arts that held a high demand. But what separates Kabuki Theater from the other arts? From its emergence into the theater to the make-up and costuming, Kabuki has gained the interest of many people.

Kabuki (歌舞伎) emerged from a troupe of entertainers that would perform for the audiences during the seventeenth century. These troupes of entertainers would usually travel from one location to the next performing for those interested. Unlike those of the Nō (能) plays, Kabuki plays had depended solely on the non-aristocratic, i.e. the common Japanese people, to survive. The first kabuki performance was credited to a woman by the name of Okuni (お国), who was an attendant at the Izumo Shrine (出雲大社). Okuni and her company, composed up of mostly women, performed on the dry bed of the Kamogawa River (鴨川) in Kyoto (京都) during the year 1603. After her company performed on the riverbed, they gained national fame. The dance that Okuni and her company had performed was a modified version of “nembutsu odori (念仏踊り), which was Buddhist ceremonial dance. It was Okuni’s company who started the trend and genre of “kabuki.”

The Chinese characters – or kanji (漢字) – for kabuki when separated stands for “sing/song” (歌), “dance” (舞), and “skill/technique” (伎). Therefore, the meaning of “kabuki” is basically having the skill of singing and dancing or the technique of singing and dancing. The word “kabuki” itself came from the Japanese word “kabuku,” which originally meant “to incline.” “Kabuku” came from the Azuchi-Momoyama period (安土桃山時代), from 1573 until 1603. In the seventeenth century, the meaning for “kabuku” changed from “to incline” to mean “to be unusual.” However, “kabuku” is no longer used in the Japanese language today. The word “kabuki” was first used to describe Okuni’s company for their bizarre style of light theatrical performance with dancing and comic sketches.

When people think of Kabuki Theater, they do not imagine women playing the roles of any characters. This is because of the ban the Japanese government had placed on women performers. Okuni had popularized the idea of “onna kabuki (女歌舞伎),” translated into “women’s kabuki.” In women’s kabuki, the female actresses play all the roles, regardless of gender. Much like how the kabuki actors now have the men playing all the roles, regardless of the character’s gender. Onna kabuki was very popular among all the crowds, whether it was noblemen or common folks; members of all societies came to see the women’s performance. However, this would be due to the fact that some of the women within the onna kabuki would double as an actress and a prostitute. Actually, none of the female members in Okuni’s company had practiced prostitution. As the trend was becoming more popular, female prostitutes were taking advantage of the interest to advertise their services by doing sensual dances. As a result of the increase in prostitution within the onna kabuki, a new term was used to describe the situation, “yūjo kabuki (遊女歌舞妓)” or “prostitute’s kabuki.” Because there were limited women performing, the audience members would often fight over the actresses. The fighting became more violence with the passing of time. In order to maintain order, the Tokugawa shogunate or bakufu (徳川幕府) had banned women completely from performing in kabuki performances in the year 1629.

Even though the onna kabuki was banned from being performed, the art of kabuki still gaining popularity. Because of this, a new form, called “wakashu kabuki (若衆歌舞伎)” or “young men’s kabuki,” had emerged into the theater scene. In this form, only young, handsome men play the roles of the characters, as mentioned above. The young men take on the roles of men, women, anyone. The young men in the wakashu kabuki, like the women in the onna kabuki, had also performed kabuki acts as well as soliciting their bodies. The Tokugawa shonugate had also disapproved the wakashu kabuki for their prostitution was being committed by the adolescent male actors. Because the males in the wakashu were also prostitutes, violence over the men broke out within the audience that came to see them perform. At first, the wakashu kabuki’s prostitution was not banned until a fight between two samurai over one of the young boys was made public in the year 1652. In July of 1652, the Tokugawa shogunate had once again stepped into the kabuki theater’s affairs to regulate it.

Only two years after wakashu kabuki was banned from being performed, another new form of kabuki was created to please the audience; this new form was called “yarō kabuki (野郎歌舞伎)” or “Men’s kabuki.” Within yarō kabuki, the male actors had to show the authorities of the shogunate that they would indeed not use their bodies for sexual services or display their bodies in a provocative way. Yarō kabuki was under a more careful watch from the authorities than the previous forms of kabuki had been, which lead to the creation of new techniques to captivate the audience’s attention – rather than using their sex-appeal.

In order to make the young men from wakashu kabuki appear older for yarō kabuki and to represent the change from boy to man, the actors were forced to shave the front of their hair, called “maegami (前髪)” or known now as “bangs.” Because of the longer hair the wakashu kabuki actors had, it gave them the appearance of being more feminine and one of their most attractive features. Without the maegami, the wakashu had lost that major feature. To make up for this, the kabuki actors began to use wigs to make up for the missing hair. The wigs that the kabuki actors used are called, “katsura (かつら/鬘).” Each katsura held a specific meaning as to whom the actor is playing. The katsura described to the audience without words of the social status, age, and the occupation of the wearer of the wig. The katsura was made from real hair imported from China at the time. Because so many different katsura were used, there would be workers in the kabuki theater dedicated exclusively to the katsura process. The craftsmen of the katsura focus solely on the creation of the katsura; these craftsmen were called katsurashi (鬘師). The tokoyama (とこやま/床山) or wig dressers prepare the katsura for each performance, which could take hours to repair.

In order to create the katsura, the craftsman would spend about ten or more days preparing the katsura for the upcoming performances. To create the katsura being used for the plays, the craftsman would have to take the measurements of everyone’s heads who are involved within the kabuki play. For the katsura to be able to stay on the head of the actor and keep the original shape, the daigane (台金) – the thin framework made from copper – is created. The hair is then added to a silk over the daigane, skillfully hiding the framework holding the katsura onto the actors’ head. The silk is called habutae (羽二重). After the katsura are created, they are then given to the tokoyama to be perfected. For most of the wigs, there is a similar design used but each wig is customized to have elements of the actor within the wig style itself. So even if there are many wigs laid out in a room dedicated to the wigs, the actors would be able to immediately identify which wig belongs to them.

Even though all the wigs on the actors were elaborately done, the most complicated in design would be those of the onnagata (女形), the female roles played by the male actors. Within the category of onnagata, there are many subcategories that follow, each with their own style of katsura. Some of the subcategories of onnagata are hime (姫) – ladies from high social status or translated into “princess,” musume (娘) – women of ordinary social status, nyōbō (女房) – married middle-class women, and the geisha/gigi/keisei/courtesans. Within each of these subcategories, there are even more groupings that divide the category of onnagata, all with their own set of katsura.

Each katsura had its own specialized name given by the tokoyama and each section of the katsura had its own name. The four main components of the katsura are divided into the following: the maegami, bin, tabo, and mage. The maegami (前髪), as mentioned above, is the hair that lies on the top of the forehead or the bangs. The bin (鬢) is the hair that is swept back from the sides of the face, specifically where the temples are on the head. The tabo (髱) is the hair found at the bottom of the neck at the nape. The mage (髷) is the hair on top of the hair, usually in a knot style. For the onnagata actors, there is another division within the mage. This division classifies whether the women is unmarried (shimada 島田) or married (marumage 丸髷). To this day, the two hairstyles are worn by Japanese women. The shimada style is worn more often than that of the marumage. The women who wear shimada tend to typically be younger women for festive events or by geisha. When women get married in Japan, it is customary to wear a shimada katsura if the wedding is traditional style. The marumage is rarely seen in modern days; however, some women within remote areas in Japan could be spotted wearing this type of hairstyle.

The marumage katsura originally came from katsurayama (鬘山) wore in jidaimono (時代物) plays, or historical plays. In the older days of Kabuki Theater, no longer used in modern day kabuki, actors would sometimes have a small colored patch of silk attached to the katsura. Two common colors of the attached silk are purple and grey. The purple attachment was called “murasaki boshi” and the grey was referred to as “baba boshi.” The baba boshi was primarily used for the elderly women roles. The main purpose of these coverings was to hide the lack of maegami, due to the transition from wakashu kabuki to yarō kabuki. As a result, these coverings then became the signifier for the onnagata roles.

For the actors playing the roles of hime onnagata, a different type of katsura was used. This type of katsura is referred to as “fukiwa” (吹輪). This type of katsura has two main characteristics; the mage is higher and broader than most other katsura and the hair is decorated with elaborate ornaments that only the higher class ladies would be able to wear.

Another ornate katsura would be the oiran (花魁), which was wore by the courtesan roles. Within this type of katsura, the mage is more pronounced than those of the other katsura. It is a semicircle that had exaggerated the hair arrangement above the nape. This style of exaggeration was known as the “hyōgo mage” (兵庫髷). The actors, who had to wear the hyōgo mage as part of their role, had required the physical strength to hold his head up due to the weight due to the weight of the actual katsura. The costuming for the courtesan roles would also be of heavy materials, which require the actor to support the weight above his head and below his body.

To further the appeal and make their characters more distinguished, the actors in Kabuki Theater would use makeup to set apart the actors. Like the katsura, each specific role had a specialized style of makeup design for the specific character role. The makeup, also like the katsura, visually gave background information on the roles of the characters – for example, the status held in society by the character or even the gender of the character.

One of the most noticeable features of kabuki is the painted faces on the actors. Kabuki makeup in general is referred to as “keshō (化粧).” Another style of kabuki makeup is called “kumadori (隈取).” The purpose behind kumadori is to exaggerate the outlining of the face to give the face a more masculine and muscular appeal to the audience. With kumadori, the lines the painted onto the face are bold and use different colors to define the characters. These lines are drawn among the eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, and mouth in a symmetrical pattern. One reason why the lines are boldly painted onto the face is to accentuate the expressions from the actor, rather than concealing it. The most common colors appearing in kumadori are black, red, and blue; however, the occasional brown, purple, gold, and red yellowish-brown will be used. Each color has a specific meaning as to why it is used. For example, the color red (akai 赤い) is associated with heroes and being virtuous whereas blue (aoi 青い) represents a villainous person and wickedness.

However, these colors are not directly on the face of the actor. There is actually a whole process the actors have to go through in order to prepare makeup-wise for the performance. One of the first things the actor does is cover any part of his body that will be seen by the audience in a white base, called oshiroi (おしろい). The actors cover all parts of his face, including eyebrows and lips, to completely conceal his own features. While applying the oshiroi, the actors have their katsura wrapped up in a habutae (羽二重), the same silk their katsura are made of, to protect their wig from any keshō that may get onto the katsura itself. If the actor is playing the role of an onnagata, then a pink color is painted on before the oshiroi is applied. This gives the appearance of a feminine blush within the face.

Because the entire face of the actor is covered with the oshiroi, the actor would then have to paint on all the features of a face. For the eyes, an outline is made around the eyes, followed by emphasizing the eyes with a red or black coloring within the far corners of the eyes. Depending on the character type the actor is trying to portray, the lips would be drawn a certain way. If the character was a young girl, the lips would be drawn more delicately than that of a man’s. A young woman’s mouth would be designed as a small pout whereas the man’s would have a more serious undertone. Like the lips, the eyebrows also differed between the two genders. The males’ eyebrows would be slightly lower than those of a female character’s eyebrows. Some women roles did not have eyebrows painted on if they were portraying a married woman character. If the character was a married woman, it was also within custom to blacken their teeth, which was seen portrayed on stage to mimic a real-life woman.

From the history of Kabuki Theater to the hair and makeup, everything involved with this art form was very interesting. Even though the theater had many criticisms from the Tokugawa shogunate, it continued to thrive on into the modern world and remain as a form of entertainment for all social classes. Due to the regulations and restrictions placed among kabuki, the theater is no longer like its original form. However, the process of applying makeup had stayed the same throughout the Tokugawa period until now, the Heisei period (平成).

Japanese Literature - Lady of Ise

As mentioned in class, the Kokin Wakashu (古今和歌集) is probably one of the most famous and important pieces of Heian literature not just in Japan, but around the world. The Kokin Wakashu is often shortened to just the “Kokinshu (古今集).” The Kokinshu is a collection of waka or poems and when translated into English, it is called “The Collection of Poems Old and New.” To the Japanese people of the time, poetry was one of the most important arts that could be performed. It was so important to the Japanese that the Japanese people would have poetry competitions. It was under Emperor Daigo (醍醐天皇) that this collection of poetry in the Kokinshu would come into existence in 905.

One of the many poets included in the Kokinshu would be Lady of Ise (伊勢). She was asked by Ki no Tsurayuki and his fellow poets to submit some of her poetry to be compiled for the Kokinshu. Out of the one thousand one hundred eleven poems recorded, twenty-two of Lady of Ise’s poetry is included in the Kokinshu. Other major achievements Lady of Ise claims are being part of the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses (三十六歌仙 or Sanjurokkasen), The Ise Shu, having seventy of her poetry included in the “Later Collection of Japanese Poems (後撰和歌集 or Gosen Wakashu),” and performing in various poetic tournaments. Although there has been many research projects done on the subject, there is not much known about the poets, especially the women poets, during the Heian period. However, there is a little more known on Lady of Ise than some of the other famous women poets of the time.

Lady of Ise was born the daughter to Fujiwara no Tsugikage sometime in the tenth century. The exact year of her birth is unknown. Her father was Lord of Ise as well as becoming Lord of Yamato later on in life. It has been noted that Lady of Ise had come from a long line of poets as well as scholars. Lady of Ise had been sent off to act as the assistant to the empress of Japan, Fujiwara no Onshi (藤原温子). Onshi was the consort of Emperor Uda (宇多天皇). Emperor Uda was the 59th emperor of Japan, who served as emperor for ten years. He served from 887 to 897 AD. After Emperor Uda had served his ten years as emperor, the role was then passed onto Emperor Daigo (醍醐天皇). Emperor Daigo had served from 897 until 930AD. As Emperor Uda had, Emperor Daigo had gained his entitlement to the throne by it being passed down from father to son. Even after Emperor Uda was no longer serving as the emperor, Lady of Ise had continued to act as his wife’s assistant. After Onshi had passed away, Lady of Ise went on to serve as the assistant to Onshi’s daughter.

Lady of Ise was well-known for being similar to that of a “femme fatale” in the sense that she was involved in many love affairs. Among the people she was involved with were Fujiwara no Nakahira (藤原仲平), Nakahira’s brother Fujiwara no Tokihira (藤原 時平), Emperor Uda (宇多天皇), Prince Atsuyoshi (敦慶親王), and Taira no Sadafun (平貞文). Fujiwara no Tsugukage was the brother to Empress Onshi, her boss. Although the love affair with Fujiwara no Nakahira was short-lasting, she was able to capture his attention once again after withdrawing from the court for a period of time to write poetry. At the return to court, she had also managed to gain the attention of Nakahira’s and Onshi’s brother, Tokihira. One of Fujiwara no Tokihira’s rivals, Taira no Sadafun, was exchanging poetry with Lady of Ise as Tokihira was trying to win over Lady of Ise’s love. During this time period, when you were exchanging your poetry with someone, it was similar to how the Japanese students will give their crush a love note. However, during this time, Lady of Ise was one of Emperor Uda’s concubines, before Onshi had passed away. As a result of being his concubine, she gave birth to Emperor Uda’s son who had passed away at a young age. The son was named Prince Yuki-Akari. However, sometime before Lady of Ise became the concubine of Emperor Uda, she was the lover of Prince Atsuyoshi. Prince Atsuyoshi was the brother by blood to Emperor Daigo (醍醐天皇) – who commissioned the Kokinshu – as well as being the fourth son of Emperor Uda. Prince Atsuyoshi was Lady of Ise’s last lover. With Prince Atsuyoshi, Lady of Ise gave birth to Nakatsukasa (中務).

Lady of Ise had made sure that her daughter Nakatsukasa (中務) had followed in her footprints and become a great poetess as well. While Nakatsukasa was growing up, Lady of Ise would show and teach her about poetry. It was noted that Lady of Ise once showed Nakatsukasa a poem and was stated saying “Poems should be composed in this manner.” Nakatsukasa had succeeded by becoming known as one the “Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses (Sanjurokkasen or 三十六歌仙)” along with her mother. At that time, Nakatsukasa had established a name for her own self rather than being known as the daughter of Prince Atsuyoshi and/or Lady of Ise. It had been suggested that the Yamato monogatari (The Tales of Yamato大和物語) was created by Lady of Ise and finished by Nakatsukasa, but there is not much evidence supporting this claim.

While Lady of Ise was still alive, the Ise Shu was produced. It had included almost five hundred of Lady of Ise’s poetry. The exact number of the poems in the Ise Shu would be four hundred eighty-three; however, some of the poetry included was not written by Lady of Ise, but for Lady of Ise. Within the first thirty-three poems of the Ise Shu were accounts of her beginning years within the courts. These first thirty-three poems are generally referenced as the “Diary of Ise (Ise Nikki or 伊勢の日記).” The title “Diary of Ise” actually came about because of Ban Nobutomo labeling it as such. Scholars who studied the Ise Shu had agreed that Lady of Ise had not produced the Ise Shu by herself, but rather it was written for her. Lady of Ise did, however, have a hand in the editing process that took place during the creation of the Ise Shu. Even though the scholars understand that it was not Lady of Ise’s own creation, they take the Ise Shu as an autobiography of Lady of Ise’s life. This could be problematic in the sense that the Ise Shu could have fabricated or embellished some details of Lady of Ise’s life.

Almost fifty years after the “Collection of Poems Old and New (Kokin Wakashu 古今和歌集)” was created, the “Later Collection of Japanese Poems (Gosen Wakashu 後撰和歌集)” was created. The Gosenshu was compiled around the year 951, making it the second collection of poetic anthologies that was imperially commissioned. However, the Gosenshu was commissioned not by Emperor Daigo (醍醐天皇), but by Emperor Murakami (村上天皇). Each of the poems in the Gosenshu had a narrative headnote at the beginning, which made it sometimes difficult for the readers to distinguish it from the actual poetry. The Gosenshu had been produced during the time when uta monogatari were becoming popularized. Thus, uta monogatari and the Gosenshu share many similarities, such as the narrative headnotes. For the Gosenshu, Emperor Murakami had demanded Lady of Ise’s daughter Nakatsukasa to submit her mother’s collection of poetry for the project. However, only four of the seventy Lady of Ise’s poems appear in both the Gosenshu and the Ise Nikki.

Although it is unknown if Lady of Ise did have any involvement in the Ise monogatari (The Tales of Ise or 伊勢物語), many scholars speculate that Lady of Ise had finished it after Ariwara no Narihira (在原業平) had passed away. Scholars had first assumed that Ariwara no Narihira was the original author of the Ise monogatari, but later realized that would be seemingly impossible for him to have written the entire uta monotagatari by himself for it mentions his death within it. Because of that reason, many scholars suspect that someone close to Ariwara no Narihira, such as a family member or as mentioned before Lady of Ise. The Ise Monogatari entails a hero figure who lives in a world full of lies and restrictions and manages to overcome the obstacles that gets in the way of the hero.

Besides getting credit for major works of literature during the Heian period, Lady of Ise was performing in poetic tournaments that were very popular at the time. Lady of Ise was performing in these competitions even when she was no longer part of the court. These contests were called “uta-awase 歌合せ” that were created by the emperors themselves. With each competition, there was a different theme for the poets to compose. Lady of Ise had won many competitions and sometimes ended up in a tie with her opponents. Due to her skill in composing beautiful poetry – especially that of Japanese waka (和歌), she was invited to many poetic tournaments; most of the time, her presence was mandatory at the imperial waka contests. She was also the only woman to have taken place in the Empress’s Poetry Contest that took place in 893 during the Kampyo Era. This competition was thought of as one of the earliest and most important poetic contests that took place during the Heian period. About twenty years later, Lady of Ise had acted as the recorder in the Poetry Contest at the Teiji Villa held by the then retired Emperor Uda. The role of a recorder was one of the most prestigious in a poetic tournament. Lady of Ise’s opponent in that Poetic Contest was Ki no Tsurayuki (紀 貫之); she had tied with him during this competition due to Tsurayuki’s complaint of biased judgement.

In the competition where Lady of Ise and Ki no Tsuraryuki had ended with a tie, the theme for their poetry was about the feeling of sadness and missing someone. The following poems are what Lady of Ise and Ki no Tsurayuki had written for their match; Lady of Ise is on the left side and Ki no Tsurayuki is on the right side:

Meetings with you When longing for you overflows,
have ended long ago; try though I may to hide it,
how many tears, I wonder, others will surely know—
have flowed out of me. how depressing the thought.

Lady of Ise’s poem for the competition was about the sadness a person feels when someone they love or was very close to leaves them and how a person would react to such an event. Based on the way Lady of Ise had phrased the first two lines of her poem “Meetings with you/ have ended long ago,” it seems to be dealing with a break-up. The next two lines that she wrote “how many tears, I wonder, have flowed out of me” seems to be conveying the idea that she had been crying a great amount since the incident. Another possibility of how Lady of Ise could have not met that person in a long time could because that person had passed away. She could also be expressing the thoughts and feelings of her “audience.” By “audience,” it could be whoever is reading her poems. This could be used as a method to convey humanly feelings that all people would feel at one point or another in their lifetime that expresses the way the audience member feels when they cannot think of the words themselves.

Ki no Tsurayuki’s poem for the competition was about the sadness a person feels and how difficult it may be to hide such a feeling from others. The feeling that Ki no Tsurayuki is expressing the depression someone feels when they no longer have that person they want when he wrote the following lines “When longing for your overflows, try thought I may to hide it.” The person would be longing for someone, but perhaps that person does not feel the same way or perhaps something that happened to the person – such as death – and the longing the person feels could be the longing to see him or her once again. It may be because Ki no Tsurayuki is a man that he must feel as though he has to hide the feeling for the person in his poem or that people do not others to see them while they are feelings as depressed as they do. His next lines are “others will surely know—how depressing the thought.” Going along with the idea of hiding your feelings from others, when people are in a depressed state of mind, it is usually easy to tell regardless of how close or distant a person may be to you. When a person is depressed, it affects their whole mood and the environment around them. To these ideas of depression and sadness, Ki no Tsurayuki closes the poem with a thought that many people would probably think when first hearing this poem. However, it could have another meaning underneath it. It could mean something like others will talk about what problems the person is dealing with behind their back and the person feels as though there might not be anyone to they could confide in without the fear of things being spread from person to person.

Both poems could be representative of many things and could be taken in a different way with each person to adjust to their specific situation. These poems were vague enough that they can relate to anyone that is feeling sadness or missing someone due to a break-up or death. The poems are not just limited to break-ups and deaths though or to any of the analysis that I pulled out of them. They are versatile enough to speak to and for the audience.

During her lifetime, Lady of Ise had achieved many great and memorable things. She was involved in many important pieces of literature during the Heian period – including the Kokinshu, Gosenshu, The Ise Nikki, winning important poetic tournaments, getting credit for the Ise Monogatari, and possibly the Yamato Monogatari with her daughter Nakatsukasa. She was given prestigious titles such as being one of the “Thirty-six Poetic Geniuses” and being asked to be the recorder at some poetic tournaments as well as acting as the assistant to the empress, Onshi. Due to her poetic talent and her beauty, she had many men chasing after her. Although there is not too much known on Lady of Ise like there are on other poets of the time, from what scholars do know, Lady of Ise was one of the best poets of her time – regardless of gender.

Food, Snacks, and Drinks (November)

A continuation of this post While in Japan, I figured I should be trying snacks and foods that I normally wouldn't and/or can't get in America. Because there are so many snacks to try, I decided to do a monthly review on everything I tried. ^_^ Hope you guys enjoyed this! I apologize for the products I really like because they are probably going to be the shortest or the longest descriptions you'll find! XD


Match

This yellow drink has a really surprising flavor to it. At first, no one could think of what it was. Then it hit me, "Smarties." You know, the candy the elderly hand out to children on Halloween? The kind that is powdery and crumbly if it gets smushed. This drink tastes like Smarties in a liquidized form. It's really sweet and yummy~ but surprising flavor. I personally like Smarties though I know many people who don't, so as you can guess... I like this drink. It's kind of a taste of America. By the way, there is a chocolate candy like M&M's around the world that is also called Smarties. They have the powdery disks ones in America and Canada, but in Canada (because the British Smarties was released there first), it is called "Rockets" lolz. I found that out when I was trying to describe this drink to my British friend Natalie. We were both confused on what the other person meant. Natalie, wanna send me some Smarties from England and I'll send you Smarties from America? :D

チョコパイ
Choco Pie

It would be a lie if I said I never had this before. I rarely ate this while home in America, but since a friend was kind of enough to give me one, I figured it would be worth it to post about it on the blog. It is very chocolate-y and marshmallow-y, which is to be expected. It's been a long time since I last had one, but from what I can kind of remember... this one has a more chocolate-y taste as well as feels creamier. You get what I am saying?

バスコ　りんご / いちご
Basco's Apple/Strawberry

It was not that bad~ but not my cup of apple juice (sorry, I don't like tea at all). It had that artificial taste of apples and strawberries on a plain cracker. Maybe I was spoiled as a child, but I prefer my plain crackers to have that buttery feeling to it~ not nothing on it. Sorry I am not more helpful~ :/

シナモン香るりんごのクレープ蒸しケーキ
Apple Cinnamon Crepe

When I first saw this, I was like "Apple cinnamon muffin?!?!" After I purchased it, I realized it said "crepe" and then thought to myself, I don't think that means what you think it means? However, once I got it opened, the smell of apple and cinnamon had filled the air around me. And me being me, I decided to poke the crepe breading thing... it is the same as a crepe, to my surprise. This filled me with my joy than if it was really a muffin that said "crepe." There was an apple filling/jam in the middle of the crepe-muffin. All around the filling was the crepe bread and a hint of cinnamon. Once you hit the filling/jam, it really does taste like an apple. The taste of apples is so strong but delicious. In the filling, there was very little apple chunks. They are hard to see in real life as well as in the pictures.

サクッと　しっとりきなこ
Peanut Butter Thing

I love this things. They are so delicious~!! I don't think they are suppose to taste like peanut butter, but to me, they do! It's kind of weird and uncanny, I guess. They have a type of coating on them that also feels like peanut butter, but I don't know. Although it kind of looks like a crunchy snack, it is. But after the first bite, it just melts in your mouth. I'm sorry. I can't really describe this snack too well. :/ By the way, it comes in two fun shapes: hearts and circles. ^_^

はちみつ　りんごデニッシュ
Apple Danish

Disappointing. There was no apple jam within it, just apple pieces, The bread was croissant-y but not as good. Apples themselves were crunchy and needed more flavor.

きのこの山
Mushroom Mountain

It looks like a mushroom, but it's not! These are (maybe?) really popular in Japan, a lot of people like them... including myself. They are chocolate in mushroom shape. This one was given to me by my friends from Maryland USA, Jessica~! She went to Tokyo and bought them there. In Japan, some products are only available in certain areas. This one was a white chocolate with milk chocolate on what tasted like a pretzel where the stem of the mushroom was. Very delicious~! ♥

さわやか　ミックスネクター
Mixed Nectar

OH MY GOSH!!! This has to be the most delicious drink I have ever tried in my lifetime. It is so seriously addicting and delicious and ugh~ words cannot describer it! You can taste the smooth (yet thick) blend of nectar. It's so delicious... although I am a bit biased to fruit drinks. Everyone that tried it, that I know of anyway, loves it as well! It's such a great drink!

チョコレート小町
Komachi Chocolate

This is a chocolate filled bread that I happened to pick up in the Komachi Lobby, however that is not the reason they are called "Komachi Chocolate." I actually don't know that. Anyway, I am not too much of a huge chocolate fan. To me, this was only so-so. It wasn't all that good. As much as I love flavored and unflavored breads, I do not like all of them. This and cinnamon raisin bread (seriously, why ruin a good thing with raisins!!! does not make the list of what flavored breads I like.

World War II - Anime and Manga

Okay, so I'll admit it. I have an interest in World War II stuff. Fo realz. I don't know about you, but I always found it fascinating. How one man could take hold o f so much power, how a whole world with many different ideals can get involved, how it affected the lives of humans... it all interested me. Even though I am not for wars, I don't like them at all and think most of them are pointless, the World War II era intrigues me. I like history, though would not major in it because of how much went on (look at China alone!)and I have trouble remembering the dates of some major historical event. Well, you could imagine how I was actually happy doing research for this research project. We got to pick our own topics and basically write what we want. Honestly, World War II didn't even occur to me as a topic, instead I wanted to do the history on Anime Conventions, but that deemed too difficult. I hope you enjoy my essay~! ^_^

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With every anime or manga, there is a set time period in which the series is taking place. If there is not time period stated, it is to be assumed that it is currently taking place or around the same time as the release of the manga or anime. Some examples of the most popular anime and manga that includes a set time period would be Inuyasha (Sengoku Period; about 1467 to 1573), Slam Dunk (during the 1980s when it was released), and Macross Frontier (set in 2059). For this project, I would like to look at the anime and manga that are focused on World War II era and analyze their purpose and target age. The anime and manga that I will be using is Mein Kampf, Adolf, Momotarou’s Attack on America, Barefoot Gen, and Grave of the Fireflies.

“Propaganda is a weapon” read one of the speech bubbles by Adolf Hilter in the manga version of Mein Kampf. Mein Kampf is the story of Hitler’s struggles and his rise to power. Mein Kampf was created as part of the Manga de Dokuha (“Learn with Manga”) series. Manga de Dokuha releases historical and literacy books, such as Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The purpose behind releasing these types of manga is to educate the readers on how such an event has happened and the psychological reasoning from the author’s (in this case, Adolf Hitler) perspective in a way that makes it more understandable or fun for the readers. In Mein Kampf, it demonstrates how Adolf Hitler was treated as he was growing up that may have affected his psychological mind, how he was able to take control on the German Workers’ Party, and how he was able to capture the attention of Germany.

Mein Kampf was not aimed at any specific age group; Mein Kampf was written for anyone to read. When Manga de Dokuha had released the Mein Kampf manga, it followed the same “any person” format as the original Mein Kampf, which many young Germans read during their schooling years. According to freelance writer Thomas Bertrand, “War-lovers, ignorant people or fans of Japanese militarism are clearly attracted by this kind of publication, even if they don’t necessarily believe in the Nazi ideology.” This type of manga is not just limited to those types of people. To some people, a historical manga like Mein Kampf can be an eye-opener on what life was like during a certain period.

The propaganda used by Adolf Hitler portrayed in Mein Kampf the manga version was more of an emotional approach. In order from the German Workers’ Party where he first gets the attention of the people, shortly after introducing the word “Nazi” to the German Workers’ Party, and when he was presenting one of his most famous speeches in front of the nation. During each speech, he pulled at the heartstrings of the crowd. He would use emotion to the audience about being loyal to your country as well as the reason why Germany was facing a poverty-stricken country was because of the Jewish people, in his opinion. As it was revealed in the manga, it was in Austria when this idea was implanted into his head by a homeless Austrian man who Hitler was basically repeating the man’s life – coming to Vienna to make a career of being an artistic only to be rejected.

Hitler learned how to appeal to the audience by his speeches through a teacher of his in Linz Austria. This teacher was his history teacher as revealed in both the manga version and the actual Mein Kampf. “Though he had no such intention, it was then that I became a little revolutionary” are the words of Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf . In the manga version of Mein Kampf, the teacher is depicted saying “It is my personal hope that Austria will reunite with her fatherland, Germany, one day. I believe that it is by uniting the people under one nation, that a pride for history and culture can be created. […] However, I do what you to remember one thing! Be proud that you are German.” According to Hitler in Mein Kampf, the German adults implanted the patriotic ideology in them by reminding the German children at a young age not to forget their ancestral roots in Germany.

Osamu Tezuka had also created a manga that took place during the reign of Adolf Hitler and World War II, coincidentally called “Adolf.” Adolf has the strange twist of fate for a Japanese reporter Toge Sohei and three men all with the name of Adolf: the German dictator Adolf Hitler, a Jewish person living in Japan Adolf Kamil, and Kamil’s childhood best friend Adolf Kaufmann who was a Japanese-German. The lives of these four main characters intermingle during the length of the five volumes. The main premise of this series was based on the rumor about Adolf Hitler being Jewish himself. Documents about his birth had traveled from Germany to Japan, causing a wild-goose chase to find the papers and destroy them and the people harboring them or find the papers and release them to the world.

“This is the story of three men named Adolf. Each Adolf lived a life that was very different from that of the other two… Yet the three of them were bound together by a single twist of fate. Now that the last Adolf has died, I will recount the story for those to follow” these words found at the beginning were later discovered to be the words of Toge Sohei towards the end of the manga. Toge Sohei (though fictional) wanted the audience to see how the lives of these three men were influenced by their surroundings and peers. Perhaps, it was to show how people can be easily manipulated into thinking a certain way or the brutality that arises out of the manipulation. Adolf Kaufmann, originally, was against the Germans attacking the Jewish people for that would mean killing his best friend Adolf Kamil. However, he was forced by the people surrounding him to join the Hitler Youth, which taught him to hate the Jewish people. He killed countless people, including Adolf Kamil’s own father, with little guilt. Kaufmann actually ended up working for Hitler, who was convinced that everyone around him including Kaufmann was a traitor. Hitler was so paranoid that he killed his true followers. Adolf Kamil, on the other hand, continued to fight for justice for the Jewish people regardless of his location (Japan or Isaeli) because of the worldwide hate that the Jewish people faced.

Due to the themes of this manga, the main audience would be young adults to adults. There are themes of violence, murder, rape, and revenge committed by the characters. Every heroic character has a flaw within them, which gives each character a more humanistic aspect. Although Toge and Kamil were primarily “good guys” in the story, they did commit crimes of rape (Toge) and murder (Kamil). On the other hand, characters such as Kaufmann and Hitler were negatively portrayed; they did have some notions of not being “pure evil/bad guys.” Kaufmann, as noted above, was against the idea of killing the Jewish people for that would mean killing his childhood best friend. When Kaufmann was top of his class, he had the honor with two other boys to meet Hitler. While Hitler spoke to the boys, he used a soft, almost parent-like tone. Showing these contrasts of character traits to a younger audience may make them question what has been taught to them about good and bad in the world. It might make the younger audience distrust all people and create the next Hitler?

Moving back in time to before America got involved in the war is Momotaro’s Attack on America was part of a 1942 propaganda film, which was filmed alongside of the bombing of Pearl Harbor; hence, the attack on “Demon Island” with tropical music playing only before the bombing took place. That island was supposed to be Pearl Harbor, the naval base in Hawaii. The whole purpose of this children’s anime was propaganda to influence the children to have the nationalistic ideals of the time. The Japanese government wanted children and the other viewers to glorify the battle and the war, to make the readers feel like they took can amount to great things.

In Momotaro’s Attack on America, instead of using humans as the workers, the creators and animators decided to use monkeys, dogs, and rabbits as the Japanese soldiers except for Momotaro. The American soldiers, on the other hand, were stupid, fat, lazy, ugly, alcoholic humans. The Japanese government wanted to promote the idea that everyone on the Japanese side was a team made up of members who would do anything for each other and their country; whereas the American side was more “for the individual person.” The propaganda here was to pull at the heartstrings of the audience to make them have hope for their country and the belief that they are able to help like the monkeys, dogs, and rabbits were able to do so.

When Momotaro’s Attack on America first came out, the targeted group was for the younger generation of the time; particularly between 5 and 10 years old. This may be one of the reasons why the Japanese animators used animals to act as the Japanese soldiers rather than to have humans. Children may not want to see their soldiers getting injured or in harm’s way, but the American soldiers were left human due to the Japanese, at the time, hatred against the Americans; thus fine to the children to watch. The animals, though they were bombing the Americans, were not actually killing them, but more or less bullying them. This gave the Japanese school children a very basic idea of what actually happened in the war. All they knew, or told, was that the Japanese were superior to those American bums.

For a more realistic approach to the travesty that followed after Momotaro and his animal friends had bombed Pearl Harbor, Barefoot Gen starts out just before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and moves through how it was affecting the people living in Hiroshima afterwards. Although written in the 1970s, Barefoot Gen may be one of the most realistic portrayals of how the war was affecting the Japanese people. Written by Keiji Nakazawa, it was loosely based on his experience. After the bomb was dropped, Nakazawa had described Japan at the time as “a hell of dying… and a hell of living… the painful tears of the survivors fell throughout the land.” The main character Gen is a young boy (age of six) was one of the survivors that was living on this hell on Earth. He had suffered during the nuclear bombing; had watched his father, older sister, and younger brother die before his eyes as their house crushes them; had to convince his mother not to kill herself and the baby within her; went through starvation due to lack of food; and was considered a burden to society when he and his mother needed a place to stay.

Barefoot Gen was written for the future generations to know what happened to the survivors during the Hiroshima atomic bombing. Nakazawa wanted to share his memories of what he lived through with everyone and anyone who was willing to learn about the tragic event that had occurred. Though he wanted to forget the painful memories, he pushed on to continuing the story until the end. The propaganda Nakazawa used was to describe how it was living during that time. Barefoot Gen shows how many propaganda signs and sayings were used by the Japanese at that time. For one example, in the first volume, the Japanese men are forced to attend a “Spear Drill” to prepare for any fighting they have to do. In the signs beside the instructors read, “Charge, fiery spirits of Japan! Destroy the American Devils! Destroy the British Fiends!” By calling the Americans and British names such as “devils” and “fiends” was placing the Japanese soldiers higher than the others. Within manga series in the 1960s, Tetsuya Chiba (creator of Ashita no Joe/Boxer Joe) was once quoted saying that manga at that time “presented war in a very aggressive light, as if the soldiers were actual superheroes. I felt that showing how we killed the enemy is not something splendid.” The Japanese in Barefoot Gen were glamorizing the Japanese soldiers as that, which was shown throughout the series.

As mentioned before, Barefoot Gen was created by Keiji Nakazawa to teach the younger generations about what had happened in Hiroshima during World War II. The age group for this series is unlimited or not specified. He created his manga to reach out to people of all ages – from school children to the teachers who did not know how to teach such a topic. Because of the sensitivity of the subject, it may have been difficult to present the reality of the war’s effects while making it relatable to the audience. It was only after the death of Nakazawa’s mother that he was “forced to confront the bomb.” Nakazawa’s mother’s bones were affected by the radioactive caesium within the bombs that during cremation, her bones had turned to ash instead of remaining whole. Nakazawa took this as a sign to let others know the truth of what happened to the people living in Japan.

Another story dealing with the effects of the war is Grave of the Fireflies. This is a story about the young boy by the name Seita (14 years old) and his younger sister Setsuko (4 years old) a few months after the war had ended. Their mother had died from an air raid, leaving the two children on their own in the cruel world, while their father was out on sea with the Japanese navy. The children were forced to face reality when their families rejected them and had to live in an abandoned bomb shelter. Like some Japanese at the time, Seita was forced to commit crimes just to support him and his sister by looting houses during air raids. Due to the lack of anything in Japan, Setsuko became ill from malnutrition and shortly dies. A few weeks after the death of Setsuko, Seita also dies from malnutrition.

The propaganda used in this film is similar to that of Barefoot Gen. It also tried to portray what life was like for the Japanese citizens in a realistic way. Although Japan is a “community-focused” society, anyone from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki areas after the bombing were treated as outsiders. People turned their backs on those in need, such as Seita’s aunt. Seita and Setsuko had no way to get food to survive so Seita was forced to steal from the neighborhood during a dangerous time, in which he could get killed.

Although Grave of the Fireflies may seem a bit more challenging on the younger generation, it was made to be watched by any person, regardless of age. This film could be enjoyed by any person from any generation. It allows those that want to know what Japan was truly like after the war to see what it was like. As the film goes on, people get more attached to the characters for they give off a presence of being real, not just anime characters.

“Why must fireflies die so young?” these were the words of Setsuko to Seita in Grave of the Fireflies. Within each anime and manga I had examined, each had a handful amount of people dying off due to the war. Manga and anime created a way to reach out to their audiences to make their message be heard. In Mein Kampf, it was to show how words could affect the way normal human beings think. Adolf, full of violence and death, spreads a similar message. The environment around a person could really change a person – for the better and for the worse – as seen through Adolf Kamil and Adolf Kaufman. Momotaro’s Attack on America was to promote the idea that even animals have the ability to help the Japanese army. Barefoot Gen and Grave of the Fireflies were created to show how much of a tragedy war could be for the human race.

When it comes to anime and manga about war time, specifically World War II, there is usually no set age group being targeted. However, the content may be a bit more challenging for children to fully grasp. In my opinion, historical or war manga and anime are best suited for those that of teenagers and older. This is mostly due to the themes of violence, death, and sexual themes that generally go along with this genre of manga. However, because they are in a cartoonish style to help the younger generations understand such realities that come along with being at war. In time period manga and anime, things that seem highly unlikely – such as Hitler’s rise to power – become more likely and relatable. That is the purpose behind time period manga and anime.



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Well, there you have it. I know you enjoyed reading about these series and the propaganda behind the workings as much as I did writing and reading them. If you are interested in links to read/watch them, please feel free to message me. Remember comments are always welcomed and appreciated. ^^