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A Japanese rite of powerat the British MuseumBRIANMOERANTheauthor s professor ofJapaneseStudies n theUniversity f London,basedat the School ofOrientalandAfricanStudies.

People will do anything for money. Or so it is said.Certainly,money seldom comes free, being given in ex-change-usually for services rendered or an articlesold. But in most commodity transactionsof this kindmoney is handedover as a resultof an agreementmadebetween 'payer' and 'payee'. Money thus signifies thata contracthas been made;it honoursthe sign.Those who have money have power-a power whichis in theory erased by the completion of the transaction,when payer and payee revert to equal terms. Notsurprisingly, herefore,some people like to display thispower before investing it in its materialsignifier. Whocannot recall scenes in films, on television, or even-ararity these days-in books, between pompous cus-tomer and obsequious salesman, or arrogant ord andfawning servant(whose roles are on occasion wickedlyreversed, as in Losey's The Servant or John Cleese'scelebrated portrayalof a hotelier in Fawlty Towers)?The 'payee' plays to the whims of the payer, adoptingall the stylized gesturescharacteristic f a rite of power.However, the fact that financial transactionsactuallyrarely result in the kind of 'egalitarianism' thatproponentsof British-styledemocracy might like to en-visage, occasionally leads to bizarre displays of thepower of money. Thus was the case when the BritishMuseum launched its appeal for ?4 million in order tobuild a new gallery for its Japanese collection. Onceplans had been drawn up, it-or its Japanese back-ersI-decided to hold a kikoshiki,or 'groundbreakingceremony', to celebratethe constructionof this gallery(on the roof above the present North Entrance),and towhich a carefully selected group of 'Japanophiles'-in-cludinga sprinklingof academics-was invited.

Upon arrival at the North Entrance,all invitees wererelieved of theirhats, coats, bags and umbrellas,beforebeing ushered by a uniformed guard to the lift andtaken to the first floor. There they were greeted per-sonally by the Museum's Director and Chairmanof theBoard of Trustees. Those who were recognizedreceived warm welcomes, even affectionate kisses(thoughof the public kind). Others, lesser lights in thepuzzled museum world, were subjected to hard staresand firm handshakes-before being guided throughonegalleryto anotherwhere the ceremonywas to be held.As we entered this gallery, we were quickly siftedinto 'greater'and 'lesser' plenipotentiariesattendantatthis rite. The distinguished (including, of course, theJapaneseAmbassador)were obliged to have their handspurified with water poured from a bamboo ladle by akimonoed Japanese girl, before being ushered to theirplaces along two rows of chairs. The rest of us werepermittedto stand in our 'defiled' state at the back ofthe gallery, and found ourselves facing a hurriedlyerected Shinto shrine,complete with altar(loaded withofferings of fruit, sea bream(brought rom Japan),twosake bottles, rice cakes, dried squidand seaweed), con-gratulatory ed and white palls, four bamboo plants,cutpaper stripsand a purplebaldachin.Onto this 'stage' came the Shinto priest (kenmushi)who bowed both to the altar and to us. An announcer,strategically positionedjust 'off stage' where members

of the Press were gathered, nformedus that we wouldfirst witness the purificationof the Holy Articles and ofall those attending.We were then subjectedto a seriesof instructions n both Japaneseand English: 'Go-kirit-su. Please stand... Go-teito. Please bow the head untilthe prayer is over... O-naori kudasai. The prayer isover... Go-chakusekikudasai. Please sit.' Obediently,we all bowed our beads, while those who were sittingstood up and sat down after the priest had waved hispaperfronded wandin the air two or threetimes.The purificationof the site over, we advanced to thesecond stage of the rite. 'Goshin nori. The priest willask the Gods to descend to this site... Go-kiritsu.Pleasestand... Go-teito. Please bow the head... O-naorikudasai... Go-chakusekikudasai.' This time two hand-claps, accompanied by a sudden storm of flashes fromthe pressmen's cameras,before the same series of com-mands was issued for the tensen no gi, offering of foodand drink to the Gods, and the norito sojo, recitationofa Shinto prayer. By the time the two rows of distin-guished guests had found themselves standing,sitting,standingand sitting four times in as many minutes,welesser mortals were gratefulfor the gallery wall againstwhich we could rest our backs and shift from time totime the weight on our legs.There was anotherclap and the priest did somethingin front of the altar beforebowing, takinga step back-wards, bowing again and making off to the left of thestage where the announcer stood by his microphone.'Shiho barai. Now the priest will be purifying theground of the construction site'. All stood for thecentral stages of the rite, during which the priestopened up some carefully folded paper and, takingwhat appeared to be no more than white confetti,sprinkled t three times to the front right of the shrineand threetimes to the back. Bowing to the altarwith itsofferingsof food andwine, he then sprinkledmore con-fetti over it, before performingthe same task at theback left, frontleft and centreof the shrine. Once morehe bowed.

We were then led by the announcer's sombre voiceinto the kuwai no gi, the ground breaking ceremony,and it was at this point that three of the distinguishedguests were obliged to participatemore actively in theproceedings.The Chairmanof the architectsresponsiblefor the new gallery's design was invited to performafew gestures with a wooden sickle. Then the Chairmanof the British Museum's Board of Trustees was given awooden hoe with which he touched three neat piles ofearthplaced on the floor. Finally, the Chairmanof theconstructioncompanycontracted o carry out the build-ing of the new gallery did more or less the same thingwith a wooden spade handed him by the priest. Eachdid so with splendid gravityandtruly British aplomb.'Now the Gods will be offered sacred branches', wewere informed,and the priest again clapped his handstwice ('just in case people's attention has wandered',whisperedan irreverentguest next to me). Once more,those representativesof institutionsdirectly connectedwith the project-the Chairmanof the Board of Trus-tees and Director of the British Museum, the Managing

1. It is hardto tellpreciselywho wasresponsible or the ritehere described,whichtook place on amid-Decembereveningin 1987;hard, oo, tojudge just how similarthe ritewas to othersheld in Japan tself.From my ownexperience in ruralJapan,I can say thatthe basicelementswere the same, but thatthe handwashingelement wasnew-probably basedon normalcustom forthose visiting a Shintoshrine.

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Director of the constructioncompany, the Chairmanofthe architect's firm, even His Excellency the JapaneseAmbassador-found themselves offering laurel sprigsto the Shinto altar.Each bowed once, stepped forwardto the altaron which he placedhis allottedsprig,bowedtwice, took a step back and gave two solemn handclaps, before returning o his seat.

Next we were informed that the priest would clearthe altar of its offerings, before asking the Godsreverently to returnto heaven. 'Go-kiritsu...Go-teito'.The priest utteredwhat sounded like a werewolf howlin the winter's night and those who had stood were in-vited to reseat themselves, as the priest gave two finalclaps, two bows and moved off stage once more.Not that he had quite finished his duties. 'We wouldnow like to drink a toast', intoned the announcer.'We're now going to have the sacred wine. Pleasestand...We'd now like to ask the Chief Priestto partakeof the wine... We've now happilyconcludedthe BritishMuseum gallery's ground breaking ceremony. Con-gratulations.'

'O-medeto gozaimasu. Congratulations.'For the firsttime, the priest broke his silence, and all the greaterplenipotentiariesat the front of the gallery murmured'congratulations'. This was followed by shakuhachimusic and a few drum beats, as the announcerhandedover proceedingsto the Directorof the British Museumwho himself introducedthe Japanese Ambassador tothose assembled.It was at this point that the underlying reason forseven or eight dozen English people's participating n astrange Shinto rite conducted in, of all places,Bloomsbury became clear. This clapping of hands andwaving of fronds, this throwing of confetti and simu-lated gardening, these stages of silence broken byvoiced commands and the screeching of chairsas well-

groomed men stood and sat-all were performedforthe single purpose of gaining money. His Excellencythe Ambassador spoke in halting English about thepromotion of cultural relations between our twocountries, England and Japan. These and otherplatitudes served to prolong the agony of the power-less-an agony made the more painful by his haltingEnglish-but, finally, he presented he Chairmanof theBoard of Trustees with a cheque from the JapaneseGovernment. All that sitting and standing, stylizedmovement and breath-heldsilence had been repaid byten million yen.

The Ambassador's presentation was greeted withrelieved applause.Finally, the power game had come toan end. The British could revert to their civilized, theJapanese to their formally humble, selves. 'Thatconcludes', said Lord Windlesham, 'what has been aremarkable occasion in the history of the BritishMuseum, a unique occasion'. Remarkable n the sensethat a museum which had thrived by plundering thetreasuresof imperialized ands now found itself obligedto adoptan attitudeof humility.Thatthis humilitywasalready yielding to customaryviews of the Japaneseasa quaint people with somewhat odd customs could besensed in the Chairmanof the Board of Trustees' finalwords, and the applause with which his words werereceived: 'I would like to thank everyone present forthe quiet and respect they have shown on thisoccasion'.Is there a moral to this particular ite of power?Per-haps it is the admission that, yes, the Japanese mayhave money; they may even have art. But that art, ofcourse, is in the British Museum.The British can thusreassure themselves that, although they may no longerhave wealth, they have at least civilization. Like God,Britanniamoves in a mysteriousway.

Coca eradicationA remedy or independence? with a PostscriptA.L.SPEDDINGTheauthor didfieldworkin Bolivia between 1986and 1988 and r-eceivedher PhD in anthropologyfrom the LondonSchoolof Economicsin 1989.She works as afreelancewriter,novelistandresearcher,and isreturning o Bolivia towork there.

...Tratarde quitar a coca es quererque no haya Peru...es,finalmente, imaginacion de hombresque por sus intereses,pensando que hacen algo, destruyen la tierra sin la en-tender....To try to get rid of coca is to wish that there be noPeru.. it is, finally, the dream of men whofor their inter-ests, thinking they are doing something, destroy the earthwithoutunderstanding t.

Juan de Matienzo (1567) Gobiernodel PeruIf development is something which occurs in program-mes funded by aid, there is not much development inBolivia. The region of Bolivia I am concerned with isSud Yungas, a section of the eastern slopes of theAndes, with a subtropical climate and an economybased on the cultivation of coca by Aymara peasantfarmers.By local standards, t is a long way from beinga backwardarea; since the price of coca began to risein the 1970s, branch roads have been constructed ntomost districts,there is considerablecommercialactivity,many communities have piped water supplied to allhouses except those next to springs, and some haveeven installed a domestic electricity supply, tappinginto the network carryinghydroelelectricity rom a dis-tant dam. All this has been achieved through self-help

and community labour projects, organized by thepeasants themselves, and using the windfall profits ofthe great coca boom which ran from about 1970 andtook off between 1980 and 1986. The only programmefundingeconomic development, as opposed to medicalaid, is the UN's Agroyungasproject. Its aim is develop-ment through crop substitution,which is a euphemismfor coca eradication.Yet the propertiesof coca make ita developmenteconomist's dream.So why does it haveto be eradicated and replaced by coffee for the exportmarket?Coca is a woody, slow-growing shrub, with a strag-gling habit of growth and a maximum height of about1.50m. The part of the bush which is harvestedis itsleaves, borne in pairs, bright green, resemblingbayleaves but smaller and thinner. If they are notstripped off the bush, after three or four months theyturnbrown and fall off, to be replacedby a new crop.In practice the leaves are harvested before they turnbrown, dried in the sun, and packed into sacks fortransportand sale. Many adults in Bolivia consumecoca, as an infusion or by 'chewing' it. In fact theleaves are not chewed, but placed in the side of themouth between gum and cheek, with a small quantity

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