Japanese Chritian Authors - V g Gessel

7/21/2019 Japanese Chritian Authors - V g Gessel

1/22

Voices in the Wilderness: Japanese Christian AuthorsAuthor(s): Van C. GesselReviewed work(s):Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Winter, 1982), pp. 437-457Published by: Sophia UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2384166.

Accessed: 28/02/2013 19:52

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Sophia Universityis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toMonumenta

Nipponica.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:52:30 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sophiahttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2384166?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2384166?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sophia


2/22

Voices n theWildernessJapanese hristian uthorsby VANC. GESSEL

T is not he ntentfthepresentrticleosing ymnsfpraiseoJapaneseChristian riterss though heyhad somesupposed ink odivine reativen-spiration. n the otherhand, the so-calledChristianwriters ave a specialcross o bear nJapan:theymust earn o live with hefact hat hey re workingoutside he traditions f theirnative iteraturend attemptingo give voice tofeelingsnd experienceshathavenotappeared nwritingn their ountry efore.Therefore hese uthors annotbe effortlesslyntegratednto the mainstream fJapaneseiterature.utthephenomenonfwriters hoare Christians as reachedepic-some might ay epidemic'-proportionsn the postwarperiod, nd it istime o strike balancebetween he Christian riticswho aud thesewriterso anembarrassingegree ndtheconventionaliterarynalystswhopassover hem sfleetingberrations.Withmorethan a score ofChristians ow activelyworkingand extremelynfluentialn theJapanese iterarycene,' thetime eemsripetobegindealingwith he iteraturef these ndividuals either s religiouswolves nliteraryheep'sclothing, or as gemsofvirtue mmune o criticismecausetheyhavedonned heheavyvestmentsfreligious rivilege.The threenovelistswhowillbe discussedhere-Shiina Rinzo ; EndoShuisaku'{1Apf>,ndShimaoToshio9-X -are thefirsto come togripswithChristianitys a religious ather han social or intellectual henomenon,nd toallowit to shapethenature ftheiriterary roduction. ndtheyhavegrappledwith hetheological mplicationsf Christianityn Japan n a mannernot at-

tempted y theMeiji-perioditerati,manyof whomabsorbedsomedegreeofChristianhoughtntheearlydaysoftheir evelopments writers.Yet thestandard iewofChristian uthorsnJapan s determinedargely yafaintly egativettitudeoward heforeign eligiontself. hristianity,ikeEnglishTHE AUTHOR is Assistant Professor in theDepartment of Oriental Languages, Univer-sityofCalifornia,Berkeley.I In additionto the writers iscussed n thepresent rticle, ames uch as Ariyoshiawako{+Th+, Inoue Hisashi X Lt1KC1, Miura

Ayako - Miura Shumon -:SmPW,Ogawa Kunio uJ I5lX, Ohara Tomie DRtN,Sono Ayako , Takahashi Takakoffla+ Tanaka SumieEl fPijMM,nd YashiroSei'ichiAft*- belongto theranksof Chris-tianwriters'.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/22

438 Monumentaipponica,XXVII,4literature,s somethinghat choolgirlsmay be allowedto play aroundwith ikedolls for spaceoftime, utwhich maturendividualmust eave behind.Theentire rocessofconversiono Christianitys eyedwith uspicion;whenShiinaRinzo was baptized nChristmas ay 1950, hewords fcongratulationsfferedby thecritic amei Katsuichir6VM-M were: You'regoing o have to makeachoicebetween eligionnd literature.'2erhaps t s an exaggerationo saythatcritics onsider heChristianuthorstraitors'o their piritualndcultural radi-tion,3butmostcertainlyhetendencyo regard hemwith uspicion nd denythem ull tatus s writerss strong.When Shiinabegan publishingtories uchas 'Shin'yanoShuen'1947 'Midnight anquet', 1970),hewas hailedas Japan'sfirstxistential riter,thenewspokesman or freshwaveofproletarianiterature.4uthe fell apidlyfrom riticalgrace afterhis baptism, s thoughhe could not be forgiven orfinding n alternativeo the bleak nihilism hat had pervadedhis earlyworks.Similarly,ndo Shasakuwas nitially raised or aising uestions boutguilt ndsin nShiroiHito bu,Aand KiiroiHito tu>AA('WhiteMen' and YellowMen'),1955,but on hisown admission is readershave dividedntotwodistinctampssincehebeganwritingopular ntertainmentovels longwith isserious iction.And ShimaoToshio,onceregardeds themostoriginalurrealistf thepostwarera forworks uch as 'Yutmeno Naka de noNichij5' *? 'X H ' ('Daily Life nDreams'), 1948,has proven disappointmento somefor urningomore ealisticaccountsof the guilt-riddenelationshipwithhis deeplydisturbedwife.6Thestigma ftenko gp the forced intellectual onversions' romMarxism uringthe1930s-seems to have passed undilutedo theseChristian onverts.This study s an attempto refute amei's claim thata writer annothave areligion, r that devout ndividual annotwrite. t willfirst e necessaryo pointoutthetechniques nd attitudes hat et thesewriters partfrom heir ontem-poraries nd from heir wn iterary eritage.Most importants the matter f perspective. he narrative pproach n thefictionf Shiina, nd6, and Shimaoresembleshetechnique fvisualperspectiveemployed ytheemakimono , t painters f the ateHIeian eriod.Calledfuki-nukiyataiqk& byarthistorians,his s the familiar eviceofremovingherooffrom house and observinghehuman ctivity ithin rom vantage oint

2 See Takada Kaname i% M 'The Chal-lenge ofChristian iterature', n Japan Chris-tianQuarterly 3:2 (Spring 1967), p. 185.3 'Treason', of course, is not the chargeleveled at these authors. Instead they aregenerally dismissed as kannen-teki X$i('ideological') writers, withering erm n theJapanese ritical ocabulary.4 The criticwho spoke of Shiina in these

termswas Fukuda Tsunearit Ei I T-.See EtaJun a)X 3, Eto Jun Zentaiwa aNOzawa Shoten,1974, , p. 214.

I Endo Shusaku & Kita Morio 4L5?,Korianvs.MamboiAWIP)fs. v >S C, Kodan-sha, 1974, pp. 36-37.6 Even Okuno Takeo Af 9, unstintinginhis praise forShimao's originality, eelshisdomesticworks resecond-rate. ee his criticalcommentaryn ShimaoToshio, Yasuoka Sho-taro,KojimaNobuo, Yoshiyuki unnosukeha

Gendai Nihon Bungaku Taikei 90, ChikumaShobo, 1972, pp. 369-84.



4/22

GESSEL: Voices in theWilderness 439somewhere p in the sky.With the proliferationf screens, urtains,nd sh5ji'blown away' and the raisedvantagepoint, heartistwas able to see virtuallyeverythinghatwent n within courtier'swelling,nd hecouldstudyhe ubtleinterplayfhuman elationshipsrom more bjective ngle, llowing im o formmore ntelligentpinions bout the humanbeingsunderhisscrutiny.The literaryechniques f this rinityfChristianwriters esemble heartist'sfukinuki atai pproach nmanyways.They ccept hetraditionaliew fman asa privatendividual nd a social entity,utthey lacea new ndintensemphasisonmanas a moralbeing.The actions fa character o longer xist n isolation;they re ike pebble ast nto poolofwater,reating ippleshat xtend utovera wide reaand nvolve he ives fmany thers.7The nnerustificationf he go,whichwas once sufficientxcusefor nykind ofbehaviornJapanese iction,sno longer heultimate ardstick.here s nowan exalted erspective'romwhichthe varied cts of man are observed. his is ofcourse he perspectivefGod-atranscendentantage oint romwhichhuman ehaviors studied,valuated,ndeventuallyudged.These writersakeforgranted moralordernthe universe,setof empirical aluesagainstwhichmenwillbe measured nd ultimatelyd-judgedeither oodorevil.Theways nwhich his echnique fperspectives exploited epend o a largedegree n the ndividual uthor's onceptionfGod. Shiina ccepts heexistenceofa God who s the one and only bsolute n life.With hispresumptionhiinacan examine ll the supposedlyabsolute'endeavors f men whether olitical,social,orevenreligious-with mixture f rage and bemusement.incenoneoftheelaborate hilosophiesoncocted ythinkersver hecenturiesanhelpmenovercome heirmostformidablenemy death they re all reduced o petty,ephemeral octrines. or Endo, the transcendenteingstudies he activities fmen-whether elflessrbrutal with compassionate,lmost orrowfulnder-standingfhuman railty.he knowledge hatman s not eft lonein his suffer-ingsmakes ll thetrials f life ndurable orEndo, and reduces ll the nhumanbarbarismntheworld o nsignificantctsoffutility.fEndo's deitysa maternal,NewTestament-likeigure,himao'sGod is theunwavering udge f theMosaic(or,more ccurately,hePsalmist)radition. an writhestthebottom f a pitofsin,unableto savehimself,etwith remarkableapacity ohurt thers.Viewedfrom his ngle,man s ndesperate eedofa higherource f trengthponwhichto relynorder o survive.Thematicallyhe oncerns f these hreewritersurn ime nd time gainto thesubjectof death.The looming nevitabilityf death and the abyssof despairwhich topensupbeforeman-is more han ustthenegation f existence. eathinstead s a measureof thequalityof an individual ife, he moment t whichDeoDle anfullynd finallyeexamine hat hey avedone with heir llotted ime.

I The image belongs to Endo Shuisaku,from his short story 'Yonjusai no Otoko'El+oMCQ ('A Forty-year-old an'), in Endo Shusaku Bungaku Zenshui mShinchosha,1975, v, p. 70.



5/22

440 Monumenta ipponica,XXVII,4For Shiina, eath s the sole obstacle ocomplete uman reedom,n enemyhatmustbe confrontednd obliteratedefore ife tself an haveanymeaning. orEndo, the sufferinghatprecedes eath sthe ntervalfclosest mpathyetweenmanand a compassionate,omfortingod. And forShimao,death s less of atorture hanthe death nthe midst f ife' hatresults rom in. The raisedper-spective f thenarrative,ombinedwith hefocus on themoralsignificancefdeath, ends originalitynd literarymerit o thewritingsf these hree uthors.Shiina Rinzo, 911-19738Shiina sthewriter ho marks heturning oint nthe egitimizationfChristianfiction n Japan. His novels and plays suggest althoughneverfully xplore-possibilities hich arlierJapaneseiteratureeldompursued. he clear-cuton-frontationsf character nd situationnShiina'sChristianwritingsetthe stagefordecisive attles etween ood andevil, in and righteousness,ife nddeath-inshort, or 'drama'of ife hathasessentiallyeenmissingromhemainstreamofJapaneseiterature.hiinawasunique nthe arly ostwar eriod or lucidatingpositive, ife-affirmingotentialn literaturen an age largelymarkedby darkpessimism nd virtually evoid of humor-an age which he ironically ncesymbolized.Shiina'spost-conversionritingseemdifficultor heaverageJapanese eadertoaccept.Theyrequire hereader oacknowledge,t least ntellectually,hebasicpremise hatdeath s not an absolute, nd thathuman ife s thereforepen toimprovement. ithout hisbasic covenant etween uthor nd reader, hiina'sfiction asilydegeneratesntoa ludicrous uppet how of unbelievablemotiva-tions ndpoorlyustifiedctions. t is this ery enuous ubstance f hisChristiannovels hat enders hem nterestingetunsatisfyingxperiments. prime xampleis Kaiko E ('The Encounter'), 952,Shiina's firstmportant ovel afterhisacceptance fChristianity,workwhichhe called both a recordofmybattleagainst henihilism f thepastanda declarationfmy oyinthefreedom hichrescuedmefrom ihilism's ivisiveness.'9Kaiko sa peculiarwork, ttemptings itdoesto summarize hiina'smany ndvaried ttitudes oward ife nd deathprior o his encounter'withChristianity,and to declare n tentative ermshis newly mbraced onvictions. or all thenaiveteof its philosophical ims and its polarized characterizations,owever,

8 Shiinawas born nHyogo prefectureo aworking-classamily. e ranaway from omeat the ge of fifteenndworked tvariousoddjobs. While employedby the San'yo ElectricRailroad Company, he became an activeorganizer orthe CommunistParty.Arrestedin the Red Purgeof 1931,he was sentenced ofouryears n prison.During his incarcerationhe read Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, andKierkegaard, nd was persuadedto renounce

Marxism. After his release on parole heworked in a steel mill and began writing,although his first ecognized work did notappear until 1947.9 Quoted by Sako Jun'ichiro inhis essay on Shiina in the volume Kami to noDeai X a X M ('EncounterswithGod'), inGendai Nihon Kirisuto-kyo ungaku ZenshuiNft1* - p97, , Kyobunkan, 973,I, p. 264.



6/22

GESSEL: Voices in theWilderness 441there s a freshnessnd a genuinelyelt ptimismt the core of the workthatbreathe italityntoan otherwiseisappointingarrative.

The mostobviousweakness fKaiko s that nthewide pectrumfcharacterseach representsfundamentalhilosophicalttitude hich heauthorhas forceduponhim rher.The central igurenthenovelhas thebackhome'-soundingameof Furusato Yasushi t . His sisterKeiko >it is a free-spiritedoungwoman suspected t theofficewhere he worksof harboringeft-wingoliticalviews and is thereforen dangerof dismissal. nwardly, owever,Keiko is ananarchist keptical f any system f beliefs an obvious reflectionf Shiina'snihilismnthe arly ostwar ears).Heronlydesire stobefree fall restraintsnher ctions-free ffamily,overs, mployers;hehas, nshort, terminalaseoftaedium itae.Another haracters a narrow-mindedommunist ctivistwhosees the impending roletarian evolution s the only hope formankind.Yetanother s a figure traight ut of thepages of Dazai Osamu &-ta: a spoiled girlofwealth ndaristocraticositionwho tries oabnegateher ocialstatus hroughvarious cts of decadence. erhaps hedarkest igurenthewholemiserableom-pany sTomoya , a rich ndustrialistho, ickof human ocietynd unable obearhissimple-minded ife, wallows own ncreasinglyarger uantities f co-caine until tkillshim.It shouldbe obvious nough romhesebrief escriptionshat hecharactersnKaik5aretypes,hat hey reat themercyffixeddeologiesnd ack thefreedomof action that s, ironically nough,precisely hatShiina s pleading or n thenovel.'0 The charactersre marionettesn a dialectical allad drama that wasintendedobeessentiallynti-dialectical.here s nfact irtuallyodevelopment,change, r nteractionetweenhe haractersnthenovel.The storyine, lthoughfleshedut with fewminor omplications,sbasically baldnarrativen whichYasushi, na struggleo holdhis mpoverishedamily ogether,ttemptso meet('encounter') he nfluentialomoya nthehopethat he richman's ntercessionwillprevent eikofrom eing ireds a communistympathizernd thusforestalltheresultantconomicdisaster hatwouldbefallhisfamily. omoya, however,dodges all attemptst encounter,ndbythetimeYasushi s finally ble to forcehisway nto hehouse,Tomoya salready ead. Keiko osesherob,and tappearslikely s the novelendsthatYasushi'sfamilymaynotbe ableto survive.Inthenormal ovelisticense fplot nd characterevelopment,aik5must etermed rather epidachievement.ut ithas someredeeming eatures hataretechnicallyantalizingndall butrescue hebookas a work f iterature.hey lsopoint utShiina'suniquenesss thefirstmportant hristian riterfter hewar,andtherefore erit onsideration ere.The burdenof enduring haracterswho are so obviously epresentationsftheir reator's tates f mind tdifferentointsn his ifemay eemoverwhelming

" This point s made byEndo Shuisakunan essayon Shiina,found nEnda's Shakyo5oBungaku V a ('Religion ndLiterature'), Endo ShuisakuBunko, Kodansha, 1977, p.274.



7/22

442 Monumentaipponica,XXVII,4to the readerof this novel.But Shiinasoothesour sufferingo a large extentthroughhedepictionfa central haracter ho sinterestingreciselyecausehestandsfornothingnd is essentiallyree fany deological iases.Yasushi is ineverywaythedirect ntithesisf all theother haractersn the story.Afterhis repatriationrom hebattlefieldn thePacificWar, Yasushi spentmonthsmulling veronevital uestion: ould he die for omeone lseor for omeideology?He comes o realize hat, espite is oveforhiscountry,or hemasses,and forhisfamily, is ovecannotbe absolute, nd that tis more mportantoaccept responsibilityorhis own ife nd attempto help others han to declarefaithnsomeunreliablereed rgive nto theheavy ullofpessimismnddespair,theoptions hosenbytheother haracters. ecause of thisdiscovery,asushi sthemost nvolved,ctive, aring iguren thenovel, he ype f ndividual hocanofferssistancenstead f advice, uccor atherhan ermons,ompassionnplaceofcondemnation. e is, toplace him n a literaryrame freference,henovelisticembodimentfthedekunobo'blockhead')thatMiyazawaKenji 9RVP, longedto become.1'It is nothing hortof remarkable hat ShiinaRinzo, once pinpointed s thebrightesttar n thebleakfirmamentfnihilistic ritersn the arly ostwar ears,shouldbe able to pulloff uch character reation uccessfully.ntheend there ssomethingffectingnd evenconvincingboutYasushi. Perhapsthepervasivepessimismf he econdaryharactersersuadeshereader o be attractedo,oratleast relievedby, Yasushi. His dauntlessnessnd enthusiasm re infectious,particularlyecausehe hasso much obedespondentbout-a fathern a hospitalaboutto havehis eg amputated, motherwhohas lost all touchwith eality,tubercularister,nd a brothernelementarychoolwhose dea ofdefendinghefamily onor s to attack hosewho ridicule imontheplayground ith knife.Yasushi methodicallynd unstintinglyeals with ach of theproblems hatheencounters,oinghisbestto solvethem nd acceptingheoutcome,whatevertmaybe. Attheendof thenovel,withKeiko out of a job, his father ndTomoyadead,andthefamilyeeteringn thebrink fdisaster, asushicheerfullyesolvesto surmounthese hallenges,nd to narrow hegapsbetween imselfnd thosearoundhim-gaps which re,he insists, otabsolute t all.Shiinamercifullyvoidsthe mug mplicationhatYasushi sable to sustain isoptimismnd be effectiventhe ives fothersimply ecausehe s a Christian. heclosest hiina omes o makingn overt eclarationfreligiousaithnthenovel sa brieftatementnwhichYasushi, ouched yall themisery e sees aroundhim,comments:

'Not even heirmiserys absolute.t doesn't ave hepowerosubjugate en rannihilatehem tterly.his s thegoodnews hat haveheard.Because f that" The allusion,ofcourse, s toMiyazawa's

famousuntitled oem (commonly itledAmeni mo Makezu' Nf = X;) writtenon 3November1931.For a translation,ee BurtonWatson & Hiroaki Sato, ed. & tr.,FromtheCountry f Eight slands,AnchorBooks, NewYork, 1981, pp. 505-06.



8/22

GESSEL: Voices in the Wilderness 443discoverycanfight nhappinessndperversityith smile. know hat heresendless entlenessn thisnightnShibuya,ndthroughoutheworld ...12The goodnews'here sfukuin , theterm sed to translatethegospel'.Butthe word s vague enough n this ontext hat readerunfamiliar ithChristianterminologyouldinfer hatYasushi was speaking f a more bstract entlenesspermeatinghe world. hiina n fact eems o anticipatehecriticismhathehasproduced Christian haracter ho s supposed obemorally uperiorohis hea-then ompatriots. t theendof thenovel omeone preads rumor hatYasushiis a Christian,utwhenhe is confrontednd askedpoint-blank,asushigives hecryptic esponse:Thatmaybewhat veryoneallsme,but 've never houghtfmyselfs such.'13One of thestrengthsfKaiko is the factthatthe novel does nothingeupon

thequestionof Yasushi'sreligious ffiliation.he character asushi is rescuedfrom elf-righteousnessnd the novel Kaiko fromunbearabledidacticism yYasushi'srefusal oplacehimselfboveanyone lse, ndbyShiina'swillingnessoshowus thatYasushi sanythingut nfallible imself. here sgentle umornthesceneswhereYasushi s found sleepat crucialmomentsnthestory notunlikeJesus'sdisciples utsideGethsemane),nce evensnoring way pleasantlywhilehis overcoat moldersgainst kerosene tove.And nspite f all Yasushi'sgoodintentionsnd nobleefforts,othingndshappily-ever-after,lthough hedarkercharactersnthestoryt leasthave beenconvinced hatYasushi sdifferentromthemselves-that e is in fact a 'lighton theruins'14-howeverittle heymayunderstandim.The result s thatKaiko,for ll the shallowness f tscharacters,does not nthe endfail o miserablys do most deologicalnovels.Yasushi's ifedoes notturn utany happier ecauseof hisfaith, ut hisencounter ith he un-specifiedgoodnews'hasgivenhimone importantdvantage ver he others:hehashope.Althoughhe ontrasts etween haractersrestarknthenovel ndtheauthor's ympathieslearlywith ne isolatedfigure,he readerwho can-eithersincerelyrprovisionally-accepthe imitationshich hiinaplaces on novelisticdevelopments rewarded y being ble to share nYasushi's tendernessnd hismoral riumphvernihilism ndpossibly vendeath.The mportantuestion ere, owever,swhetherheJapanese eading ublic f1952 or 1982) s capableofmakingheconcessionswhich hiinademands. ost-conversionhiinawas withoutuestion ne of hemost oggedly ptimisticritersto appear n modernJapan.Evenwhenhis characters rovelnpovertynd faceoverwhelmingbstacles, here s a hardcore ofbright eterminationithin hemthatrefuses o be smothered ythestarkness freality. ew characters fthispersuasion ave ppearedn recent apanese iction,ndmany eadersmust e at alosshowtorespond oYasushi.15 At times t s hardto restrainhethoughthat12 Shiina Rinzo, Kaiko, in Kami to noDeai, p. 130.13 Ibid., p. 162.14 Quoted in Takado, 'Christian Litera-ture',p. 186.

15 Endo Shiisaku has inherited his tradi-tion of depicting he optimistic ctivistswhoare regarded as lunatics by society at large.See, for example, his Obakasan sA v1959 Wonderfulool, 1974).



9/22

444 Monumenta ipponica,XXVII,4Shiinamight avebeen omethingfa Pollyanna imself,uthisessays videncekeenly hilosophicalmind amiliar ith vastrange fbothJapanese ndWesternideas.The only afeconclusion,hen, s that heexperienceffaith hat ame toShiina was notsufficientlybsorbed nd assimilatednto his iterature. ne canalmost hearan audiblesighof relief omingfrombetween he ines ofKaiko.Shiina ikelywastoo elatedbyhispersonal xperiencefconversionnd tooeagerto sharehisnew-foundoy with thers o write novel o which he verage eadercan relate.Although hiinamadeconsiderabledvancesnnovelisticechnique fter aiko,peakingnthenovelUtsukushiinnaX t v


10/22

GESSEL: Voices in the Wilderness 445praisedand totallymisinterpreted."8 ith fewexceptions he novelhas beenviewed s an exciting istorical arrativekillfullyoldbya master toryteller-andnothingmore.9 Andreadersxpectingheviolent,ramaticlashof deologiesandcultures hat haracterizedhe arlier hinmokuMt,1966 Silence, 969)weredisappointedby the rather ubdued,introspectiveharacterswho dominateSamurai.The novel s a remarkablyaithfulccountof a voyage o Mexico and Europeundertakenn 1613 by envoys f thepowerful endai daimyoDate Masamuneftiti'. The chiefJapanese mbassador,HasekuraTsunenaga AtVi, 1571-1622,was a low-rankingassal whoobedientlyubmittedo his ord's commandand made the arduous ourney o the West, guided by an ambitious, ealousFranciscan riar. n thenovel,Hasekura'sonly oncerns to opentraderelationswithMexicoas he has beenordered;Velasco, hepriest erving differentord, seager o be appointed ishopofJapan o thathemaywin hehearts f theJapa-nesepeople.20Despitethe dynamic otential f the plot,End6's purpose n re-creating ase-kura's ife s toprovide record fthespiritual oyage hat akesplace withinnindividual's oul. Readerswhoexpect henovelto portray othingmorethan atemporalourney re,ifyou will, ll at sea. It is the finely uned pposition frapid urfacemovementcrossoceans andcontinentsnthe outerworld, nd thealmost mperceptibletirringsffaithwithinHasekura's oul thatgivesSamuraiits tension, ts richness, nd its power.Thiscontrast s reflectedn the narrativestructure. s withChinmoku,nd6 employsboth first-personnd omniscientnarratorso tell thestory fthisvoyage.Butin Samuraihe has two main char-actersnstead f ust one,and for his eason hedual-voice echniqueworks venmoreeffectively.he first-personarratorn Samurai s the self-assertingriestVelasco, ndthecloseproximityetweentorytellernd listener tches he sharpoutlines f Velasco's personalityn thereader'smind.BecausethisFranciscan s adominant-evendomineering-actorn thedrama, he mmediacy f his actualpresence s he plots stratagems, ursues mbitions, nd parriesopponents sheightenedyhaving im erve s oneof henarrators. e respond o thedramaticmomentshatheinstigates,nd werecognize im s a vibrant, ombative umanforce.He is, in short, he very mbodiment f aggressiveWestern hristianity.When he samurai akes o thestage,however,he narrativeoice nthenovelretreats o a more subdued,passiveposition.The elevatedperspective f thenarrator ere allowsthe reader o share n thegradualchanges hattake placewithin hesamurai.At first asekuraregisterso reaction t all to the crucifixesand mages fChrist hatheseesallaroundhim; hey aveno significanceorhim.

18 Endo made thisremark o me in a con-versation n New York City on 22 March1980.19 The most notableexception s probablyYamamoto Kenkichi Lj4Kt+, who called it

Endo's 'least deologicalnovel .. hismaster-piece'. Quotation on the acket box of Samu-rai.20 The historicalmodel forVelasco is thefriar uis Sotelo, 1574-1624.



11/22

446 Monumenta ipponica, XXVII, 4But when hirty-eightf theJapanesemerchantsn the entouragere baptizednMexicoCity s an obviously ypocritical eans o furtlherheir inancialnterests,Hasekurabegins o view hese mageswith ontempt.Yet as theexternal arrativeurges orward nderVelasco'sguidance, mbroil-ing he nvoysn violent truggleswith olitical nd religiousnstitutionsorkingagainst hem n bothJapan ndEurope), he amurai nd twoof hisfellow mbas-sadors are persuaded hatbaptism s an expediencys theonlypracticalmeansto accomplish heirmission uccessfullynd return o Japanwithhonor.Theysubmit o a spiritually eaningless aptism.When he mbassy ails n tspurpose ndthe nvoys eturnejectedlyoJapanafter everalyears,however,heyfind hat the political limatehas undergonemany hanges,not the eastof which s thestrict an on Christianity.fter isreturn asekura s increasinglysolatedfrom ny sourceofsympathyr under-standing. is experiencesntheWesthavetornhim wayfrom amily nd friendsinhis tiny,nsularmarshland,nd the hogunateorbids im o associatewithhisother omradeswho haveconverted o theproscribed aith.He is leftwithoutanyonewhocan offer omfortrcompassion. herelentless oliticalwheels tillgrindforward, nd the domainalauthoritiesonclude that the samurai'sveryexistences an intolerableffronto their nti-Christianolicies.WhenHasekurais summoned efore he Council of Elders,he knows hathewill be ordered oatone forhis crime f conversion.Deprived t this oint fevery ecourse fhuman mpathy, asekura mbracesthe till loudyyet onstantmage f anotherMan who was despised nd rejectedofmen'.The samurai's inal cene n thenovelstrongly etsubtly uggestsheultimate piritual hange hathas come overhim.

Snow reakedntheroof ndslipped o theground. hesound emindedhesamurai fthe reak fthehalyards.na singlemomenthehalyardsreaked,hewhiteeagulls lew verwith shrillall, hewaves eat gainsthehull, nd theshipmoved ut nto hegreat cean and fromhatmomenttwasdecided hatthiswould ehisfate.His ong ourney asnowbringingim o this inal estina-tion.Whenhe lookedup,outside heopendoorhe could see his attendantozosittingn he nowy arden ith isheadbowed.Hecould ell hat ismasternd hesteward adstood pto eave....'Fromnowon He willbebeside ou.'Suddenlye heard ozo's strainedoice ehind im.'Fromnowon He will ttend ou.'The samurai topped,ookedback, ndnodded isheademphatically.henhesetoff own he old,glisteningorridorowardshe ndofhisourney.2'

The reader s leftwith hestrong mpressionhatreligiousonviction aces tsmostformidablehallengewhen n individuals hoveringt thebrink fdeath.21 Endo Shuisaku, he Samurai, r. Van C. Gessel, PeterOwen,London, 1982,p. 262.



12/22

GESSEL: Voices in theWilderness 447Atthemomentwhen ife tselfs about to be snuffedut, t s thefaithwhich iesat thecoreof his existence hat ustains he samurai nd transformsis miserabledeath ntoa kindofmartyrdom.nd his sole companion s hemakesthe finaljourney fhis ife stheJesuswhometwith imilar ejectionn theworld fmen.This imageof a wretched ut sympathetichrist s a familiar ne in End6'sliterature:t s thesameforgivinghristwhourgedRodrigues o trample Inthefumie in Chinmoku.n Samurai t s this ncounter ith aith t theverynstantofdeath hatunifiesheexternalnd internal arratives hichhave been so care-fully oven ogetherver hecourseof thenovel.A clearcommentarynEndo'smetaphysicalims nwritinghe book is the fact hat his riginal itlewasto be& niAttaOtoko 7 tYJo ('A Man Who Meta King').22The Hasekura fbothfact nd fiction ad theopportunityo meetmaniyf thekings ftheearthinclud-ingPhilip II ofSpainandPopePaulV); butonlywhenhe stands eforen abyssofdespair nd deathdoes he encounter Kingwhocan salvehiswounds ndlessenhis orment.t s whenHasekurameets nd embraces his athetic ingthathisown sorrows ecome ndurable,ndhisabortiveife'sourneys transformedinto spirituallyignificantuccess.UnlikeShiinaRinz6,whoaccepts rima aciethe iberatinglements f Chris-tianity ndextolls hemnhis fiction,nd6 has had to grapplewith heJapaneseresistanceo themonotheisticxclusivismfhisadopted religion.n hisearliestworks hisconflict etween astern nd Westernheologieswas presenteds astrugglen which here anbenovictors. husthe nguish ver inthat ills hiroiHito,a novel boutbetrayalntheFrenchResistance,s conspicuouslybsent nthe ompanionwork et nJapan,KiiroiHito.Thisdichotomyfbeliefs ontinuedto shapethemajorthemes fEndo's fiction orsometime, nd thedialecticaljuxtapositionfEast/West,antheism/monotheismadefornovels s ideologi-callydiscomfortings Shiina's arlyChristian ritings.nd6declared tentativetruce etweenhetwobattling ultural amps nChinmoku,utthere s still lin-geringense nthatnovel hatJapan annot bsorbChristianityntil hereligionisaltered osuit he ocalclimate. onversely,hefaith fRodrigues nd hiscom-panionshasto bestrippedf ts ulturalrappings efore hey ancomprehendhetruenature fChrist. nlywhenhe rejects is mage fa stern aternaludgeandclings o theforgiving, otherlyompanion ftheJapanese aithfu]s Rodriguesable to hearthevoice mpelling im operformhesacrificialct of ove.Thus, whileChinmokus certainly turning oint of Endo's work,not untilSamurai oeshis thematic isionmellow o thepointthathe no longerneed bedogmaticbouttheconflictsffaiths ndcultures.nthepresent ovelhe awardsthepalmofvictoryo neitheride,orperhaps oboth ides.Velasco,once hehascast off isunseemly ride,sallowed oworshipndserve is mage f a glorifiedChristwith rational nd aggressiveaith.Capturedwhenhe returnso Japan

22 Conversation in New York City, 22March 1980. Endo also mentions hisas hisworkingtitle in an interviewwith Miura Shumon i7tU, included n the publishededition of Samurai in Japan (Shinchosha,1980).



13/22

448 MonumentaNipponica, XXVII,4following asekura'sdeath,Velasco is burned t the stake;hismartyr's eathbecomes n unsullied eflectionf his dynamic,Western eliefs.Hasekura,bycontrast, cceptsthe companionshipfJesus lmost passively.His faith s pri-marily on-rationalndthoroughlynternalized,nd theblurredntimationsfhisdeath re a fittingepresentationf a conviction ifferentrom but no less validthan-thatoftheSpanishmissionary. ndo inSamuraigrants othmena placeintheeternalmansions fheaven.Samurai s an intricatelyrafted ovel.The carefullyalanced nterweavingfplot lines with he ever-shiftingarrative oice; thearrayofcontrasts etweenEastandWest, aith ndunbelief,ervorndpassivity,leshnd spirit, ictorynddefeat, heCouncilof Elders nSendai and theCouncilof Bishops n Madrid; theabundant se ofnaturemagery,hiftingetweenandandsea,andsettinghe oft,hazy-whitemages f snow ssociatedwith he amuraigainst hevibrant,ire-likeimages hat urround elasco;theourneymotif,ustainednboth hephysicalndspiritualhreads f thenarrative;hegradual hiftn focusfrom hevastexternalworld o theprivate ecesses fthe amurai's eart; heuseofniakura-kotobaA-PJ-likephrasesnthenovel'sdiction; nd the ontrastingeaths t the nd that unc-tion s coda-like efrains all these lementsonvergeomakeSamurai eadverymuch ike a chakaAR, the ongverse orm f theMan'yoshuiB age.Thematicallyamurai s on one level n implicit ritique ftheenclosedJapa-nese ociety,orHasekurahasto break ut ofthe inymicrocosm fhismarshlandand encounter hrist efore e can find omeone o comprehendnd soothehisprivate orment. et in a broader ensethenovel takes aim at all man-madeinstitutions-whetherolitical, ocial,orevenreligious-that eekonly heir wnpreservationnd thereby nderminehehumanityf he ndividual, iscarding imas a mere og n theworkswhenhe ceasesto be ofuse or becomes threat o theintegrityf thesystem.n such a world,Endo asserts, he ndividualmust ookbeyondhuman ources or hesympathyndlove whichhemusthave tosurvive.He must urn o the realmof thespirit;whendeath oomsnear,only spiritualpower an offeronsolationndcourage.On a finalevel, amurai lsofunctionss a sort f1-novel. nd6wasoneofthefirstapaneseotravel broadfor tudyfter he econdWorldWar, nda numberoftheocean scenesnthenovel re re-creationsfthat xperience.utthebook sautobiographicalnmore hanusttheexternals fa voyage o Europe.Thefeel-ings f ncomprehensionnd even evulsionhatHasekuraexperiencess hegazesat themany mages fChrist re notunlike he motionswhich nd6 hasascribedto his ownyouth. he scene nwhichHasekura sbaptizedn Madrid s an eerilyaccurate eproductionf theceremonynwhichEnd6participatedt theage ofeleven. ikethe amurai, nd6 did notchooseChristianityfhisownvolition,utinitially ad itthrust pon him, nd for ome timehe feltdistant romt.Onlywhen hetrials f his ife'svoyage-particularlyis battleswith llness-broughthim o a pointwherehe could meet King'didhe, ike his novel'sprotagonist,come to termswith religion o longer oreign,ut ntensely ersonal.



14/22

GESSEL: Voices in theWilderness 449Thus Samurai s whatcould be called a 'spiritualutobiography'nmuch hesameway thatMoriOgai's MA41,4atehistoricalworks re a statementftheir

author'sdeepestmoralconcerns.23WhenOCgaisserted hatthe essential hort-comingofmainstream aturalist ictionn Japan was that t regardedman asmerely physical ntityndignored isspiritualeing,24 ewaspointinghewayforwriters uchas Endo to expand and bring o maturation n alternativep-proach o themodern ovel nJapan. t hasbeenthe askofthepostwar hristianwriterso pickupthegauntlet hatOgai threw own nd carry orwardhis radi-tionofspiritualxplorationnthenovel.This sprecisely hatEndohaspursuedand attained nSamurai.Shimao Toshio,b. 191725It is hardto imagine wo writersesssimilarnliteraryechnique hanEndo andShimaoToshio. Yet intheir isionof theagonythatprecedes eath, heyhavemuch n common:the mageofShimaothe writernd hisfrequent rotagonist'Toshio' overlapslmost erfectlyith he igurefRodriguesnSilence, uspendedupsidedown nthe foul orture it, creamingnagonyforGod to help him,yetanguished ytheguiltyealization hat he ufferingsf others esult rom isownegotism. he fiction f Shimao depicts ife as a nightmarend bad dreams scomparatively lacid; abnormality,nsanity,nd death are the materials romwhich verydayife s uneasily omposed.His charactersive nan abstract,ur-realistic tate, eelinghreatenedy an enemy' whetherhe unseen ntagonistsfwarorthe fearsome' eighbor ext oor) whonever ttacks.Religion or himaobecomes ess a panacea than a last resort; he series fstories eferredo as hisbyosai-monot (stories bouthis ailingwife')beginningn 1955 withWare

23 End6 has inrecentyearswritten num-berof iterary iographies f historical igureswithwhomhe feels certain piritual ffinity.Amongthese s a lifeofthe Christian aimyaKonishi Yukinaga 'J


15/22

450 Monumenta ipponica,XXVII,4Fukaki Fuchiyori' bthI t_ 9 ('Out of the Depths I Cry')26 coincide chrono-logicallywith himao'spersonal cceptance f Catholicism.f there s onerecur-rent heme hat nterlocksll these tories,t s an acknowledgmentfpersonalresponsibilityor he ufferingsfothers-specifically,heprotagonist'swnwifeand children and an agonizing ormentverthe sin that iesat the root of thatpain. t wouldnot be an exaggerationo assert hatShimao'smasterpiece,hinoToge HLD@k ('The Stingof Death'),27 1977, is the most anguished, robingnovel abouthuman solation, boutthepainthat ccompanies eing 'separateperson', nd aboutman's destructiveotential inceNatsume S6seki'sA HWflnovelKokoro.28Although hi no Toge is an autobiographicaleconstructionf therift hatenteredhimao'smarriagen 1954, henovel o drasticallyranscendshe tiflinglimitationsfthe1-novel orm hat ucha patclassificationardlyeemsust. nmanyways Shi no Toge s in fact perfectntithesisf thetraditional-novel.It is first f all anythingut clinicalrealism.The influencef Shimao's. arlyexperimentalurrealist orks an be sensedvery tronglyn the undercurrentsof thisnovel; dreamsplay a central ole in thework, nd time nd realityrestretchedo a pointbeyond ecognition.here s also a decisive esthetic istancebetween he frantic, allucinatoryature fthe situation nd thecalm, ntellec-tual voiceofthenarrator-agap vastlywider han hevaguely ronic erspectiveadoptedby TayamaKatai rI7tM and his literaryrogeny. urthermore,hemain thrust f thetraditional -novelwas an attempt o acceptor rationalizethetragedyf ifeby reducingt to a matterfeverydayxperience.29Shimao achieves ust theopposite ffect-the xperiencesfeverydayife reblown otally ut of proportionnd elevated o the evelofpure ragedy. et thismetamorphosisakesplace precisely ecausemundane vents vokesuchterror

26 A referenceo thefamiliarDe Profundis'of Psalm 130,whichbegins: Out of thedepthshave I cried unto thee,0 Lord.'27 I have seen passing mentions of thisnovel elsewhere;the title s invariably rans-lated as The Thorns f Death. While I admitthis s a more poeticrendition,t obscures hebiblical reference: O death, where is thysting? 0 grave,where is thy victory?Thesting f death s sin' 1 Corinthians, 5:55-56).In the translation f the Bibleused by Shimaothe ast sentence eads: 'Shi no togewa tsumide aru' HEOMFCb6. The novel is in theform fa rensakuATf short tories elatedbytheme nd character, r whatmight e called'linked prose') publishedbetween 1960 and1976, Kawabata-like, n a variety f ournals.In various stages of development he work

received he Yomiuri ungaku ho ,the GeijutsuSensho and the NihonBungakuTaisho

28 This may seem rather avish praise, butOkuno Takeo, who if anything dmires Shi-mao even more than I do, goes so far as toclaimthat no workof literatureneither astor West has probed so deeply nto the essenceof the marital elationship. ee his remarks nNami R, 12:9 (1978), p. 20.29 Noriko Mizuta Lippit makes this claimabout the I-novel in her reviewof DennisKeene's work on YokomitsuRiichi, in JAS,41:1 (November 1981), p. 138. Keene's study,Yokomitsu iichi:Modernist, olumbiaU.P.,1981, s a marvelous iece of work ppropriatehere n particular or thediscussion,pp. 137-63, of the byosai-mono (which Keene calls'Sick-Wife-Novels') f Yokomitsu and Kan-bayashiAkatsuki?hiR. I think hat Yoko-mitsu s a likely iterary ncestorof Shimao,and thatShimao succeedsas a modernistnways that Yokomitsudid not.



16/22

GESSEL: Voices in the Wilderness 451and suffering.he horror f existence or heprotagonistransformsimplemo-ments ikewaking pinthemorningropening hemailbox nto lmostunthink-able acts,while xtremitiesuchas madness nd deathbecomebizarrelyamiliarhappenings. astly,where he raditional-novels laceconcern or he ntegrityfthenarrator'sself' boveall other onsiderations--tohepoint hat, s inShima-zaki Toson'sAMft* ShinseiYT ('A NewLife'),1919, he ccepted esponse o amorallyntolerable ituations flight in ShinoTogesuchself-justifications re-jectedoutright,ndescape s ruledoutfrom hevery eginning.The novel s in fact n exercisen self-annihilation.owhere n thehistoryfJapaneseiteratures there more nguished ry fpersonal uLilt,morepainfulrecognitionfsin nd ts onsequences, moredespairing illingnesso submitothepunishmentshatmisdeedsmust nevitably ring. ven inWesterniteratureonewouldhave oharken ack almost othe lassical ratofindqually rimordialscreeches rom soul inagony.As Hirano Ken hiW-JVas astutely oted, hinoToge s Crime ndPunishmentnreverse with nly passingmention fthe rimeand an endless,unrelievedwelling pon thepunishment.30he crimeof thehusbandToshio nthenovel sbymodern tandards lmost udicrouslynsignifi-cant,eventrivial, o the extent hat someJapanese riticsincludingMishimaYukio _ could notunderstand hat ll thefusswas about.3"Adultery,after ll, s somethingfa socialnorm, nd reconciliation ithminor oncessionson all sidespresumablyhould estore t least he urfaceayer ffamilyife o itsoriginal tate.The problemwith hisobvioussolution s thatShi no Toge s notreally boutadulterytall. Nordoes it,on theotherhand,haveverymuclhodowith edemption.he entire ocusofthis ong work in normal ypesett runs oover500 pages) s on thewifeMiho's unatic its nd the ffect hichhis ecurrent'judgment' as upon Toshio andthecouple'stwopre-schoolhildren.Thetempo f henovel sdeterminedolely y herise nd fall fMiho's attacksofmadness. ittle lseofanygreat onsequence akesplace n thenovel.Becauseofthe everityfMiho's mental isturbance,oshio s forced o resign is eachingposition nd for ll intents ndpurposes erminate is iteraryutput, eaving hehouseholdwithoutnymeans feconomic upport. aily ife or hehusband ndwife ecomes n endless ycle f ccusation,ecrimination,ttempteduicides,ndexhausted ecoveries. ach time t becomesevident hat Miho is aboutto losecontrolgain, hereader annothelpbut xperiencesense fdej"a u. Yet neveryinstance himao sabletorecast hefamiliarxperiencento subtly ewmoldofwords,mages, nd feelings hat urmount heobviousdangers frepetitivenessandgiveusyet deeperunderstandingfthis ouple'storment. fterneheatedverbalexchange,Miho may fleemadlyfrom he house with threat o throw

30 Hirano Ken, Bungei Jihyo t;RJ I('Reviews of CurrentLiterature'),KawadeShob6 Shinsha, Kawade Bungei Sensho,1978, i, p. 84. 131 Mishima's reaction to the novel is dis-cussed in Matsumoto Toru 1t4;1, 'Koteil

Sareta Shuk mei' FkV2s K tc3 i ('ImmovableDestiny'), and Matsubara Shin'ichitJl}t--,'By5sha no Bungakia' gtoz? ('Literatureof theAfflicted'),n KikanSo5zo5(July1977),pp. 33-42 & 14-21,respectively.



17/22

452 MonumentaNipponica,XXXVII,herselfnfront f a train,withToshio infrantic ursuit.The next seizuremay endwithToshio as the one tying noose arounidhis neck, choosing the release of deathover enduranceofMiho's unfeeling ross-examinations. r theremaybe a momentof unexpected, almost painfultendernessbetweenthe two as they pull back andrealize withhorror hat themurderousvenomof theirhatred s poisoning thelovebetweenthem. One of the most moving sequences in thenovel findsMiho struggl-ing between ngeratToshio's betrayal nd a gnawingdesireto shareherself otallywith him.

She enfolded er husbandwithboth armsas though he wereclingingo a pillar.Thensheslid downhisbodyto thefloor.'I nurtured nd formed hesehandsand feet.You would have died a longtimeago if I hadn't worried bout feedingyou properly. don't wantto give you toanyone lse. No one. No one Butyou ignoredme and did whatever ouwanted.And not ustfor neor two months. or tenyears. 've tried nd tried o enduret,but can't go on anymore.'Halfintears, hechanted he words ike a rehearsedmonologue. he saton thefloor, lternatelytrokinghesole of her husband'sfoot nd pressingtagainsthercheek, ll the whileweeping utof control.Suddenly thoughtfthewardays. wasstationed t a naval basenearherhome.Late atnightwhen went o see the tillyouthfullylumpgirl, hehadgropedn thedarkness or hestars n myuniform,unherhandsalong my acket,and knelt ostrokemycombatboots. The memory ersuadedme thatthe aroma of beachcrinum ad wafted ll thewayto thisbackstreet ousein a corner f thecapital.I'm notsure what combination f circumstances ademe growdistant rommywife n theturbulent haos after he defeat.But I couldn'thelp seeing n thetinyfigure fmywife obbing t myfeet n imageof thepastthatwas an irrefutablepartofmy xperience.32Shimao's focus nthisnovel is on thedesperate struggle ftwoseparatesouls tocope withthe mixtureof intense ove and violent hatredwhichtheyfeelforoneanother.Strippedto its most fundamental evel,Shi noToge s a novel about twoseparate people whoyearn o be one and agonize overtheir inal nabilityobecomeso. The destructive otentialthat lurkswithinaniintimaterelationship, nd theheavy burden of guiltthat accompanies the willful everingof that fragilebondfillShimao witha horrorthat is conveyedundiluted n this novel.Althoughthe fundamental ituationof the novel suggests comparisons with awork such as Fitzgerald'sTenders theNight,he moral considerationswhichlieat theheart of ShinoTogemake ArthurMiller's autobiographical play After heFall a morefittingWesterncounterpart.Miller pursuesthemeaning of the failedrelationshipsn his life and compares his own destructive apacity withthe night-mare ofAuschwitz.Similarly, s Toshio questionshis own responsibility or whathas happened to his family, mages of war and impendingdeath springto his

mind.32 Shimao Toshio, Shi no Toge, ShinchoGendai Bungaku, Shinchosha, XXVI, pp. 45-46.



18/22

GESSEL: Voices in theWilderness 453Several eviewers avebeencritical ftheposturewhich oshiofinallydopts nresponse o Miho's madness.Mishimawonderedloudwhy hewas not ommitted

toa mental nstitutiontonce.33Hiranobalked t thehusband's otallyubmissivestance,whichheregardeds a surrender.34venOkuno,who considers himaothefinest riternJapan oday,wasrepul'sedas a man'to find oshiobowing oMiho'sdemands teveryurn.35 oshio does infact ry osurrenderncondition-allyto Miho and thephrase s usedintentionally,incethesituationn Shi noToge sa mirrormage f he cceptance f bnormalitys a matter f verydayifefound nShimao's suicide orps' stories, articularlyShuppatsuwa Tsui ni Oto-zurezu' iJj.It ('The DepartureNeverCame'), 1962.The possibilityfdeath of separation36-becomes constant eality orToshio because of theunrelievedntensityf Miho's insanity. he only wayhe can react to thisun-endurableituations to sublimate isownwill ohers.He doesthis ytaking ewvowswith er, ycovenantinghathewilldevotehimselfompletelyo her ndthechildren,ever literally ever leaving heir ide, aring or ll of thechildren'sneedshimselff hewishes,ubmittingiswritingso herforreviewndemenda-tion, uttingff ll tieswith ther eople,37ndopening phisdiaries, is corre-spondence,ndhis memories fthepastforherscrupulousnspection;nshort,being ubject o her otally,s hehadsurrenderedimselfo themilitaryuthoritiesduring hewar,for spaceof tenyears omakeup for he decade ofdeception.YetToshio s awarethathecannever ullyiveuptothe uperhuman romiseshe hasmade.To do so wouldmean thetotal ubmissionf hisego,thecompleteannihilationfhis elfhood. tillhisguiltmakeshimwant o obliteratell traces fhis own selfish ill.Mihocanbe satisfied ithno less, ven s sherecognizeshatshe s virtually estroyinghe oneman she oves.Thegulf etweenhe deal rela-tionshiphat heywould ike ohave ndtheflawedssociation hat xists etweenthem ssures hat herewillbe no releasefrom hecycleof self-inflictedorment.Shimaodraws ut and intensifieshe gony tothepoint hatToshio cries utfora 'shorteningfdays' ofhis suffering38-andhereby ommentswithpoignantemphasis ponthedifficultyfestablishingnd sustaining permanentelation-shipofharmony etween ne individualnd another.The pain of theattempt,which llbutpullsToshio ndMihoapart oth hysicallyndemotionally,oupledwith heir arnest esire o become s one,gives henovel tension nd a focusthat re all butdevastatingor hereader.At theendToshio andMihosend heirchildreno live withherrelativesnAmamiOshima, nd togethermanand wifeenter mentalhospital or reatment.he imageofthe two ockedtogetherna

33 Matsumoto, n KikanSozo, p. 39.34 Hirano,BungeiJihyo,, p. 349.35 Okuno, in hisChikumaessay, p. 379.36 The titleofthefirsthapter n the novelis, infact,RidatsuX ('Separation').37 A uniquefeature f Shimao'swork, ndone indicative f the constant tate of appre-hension nwhichhis charactersive, s the fact

that otherpeople', e.g., anyone outside hisfamily, re oftenreferredo not as the usualaite t-# ('other party'),but as taishuX}T#(whichcan sometimes lso be read aite, butmeans theenemy').38 A reference o Matthew, 24:22: 'Andexceptthose days should be shortened,hereshould no fleshbe saved....'



19/22

454 Monumenta ipponica, XXVII, 4barred ell, separated inallyrom he enemy'worldoutside, et hruistogetherphysically ith o meansofescape, s a fittinglthoughomewhat nsettlingon-clusion o thebook.Toshio's unqualifiedapitulation,o the pointof abandoninghis work,hisfriends,n fact verythingxcepthiswife,s highly roblematic.he disquietingthought hathe has lost all personalntegrity,verythinghat s after ll the sub-stance fa human eing, equiresome onsideration.fMiho sundisputed ictorandToshio theabject oser, hen elf-lacerationecomes heonlymotive or hewritingfthenovel. f,however,oshioadopts his osture ut ofa complexmix-ture f ove,guilt, elplessness,nd a sincere earningorharmony,henwe canmore eadilyccept ndempathize ith is ituation.t snodoubt nover-simpli-ficationo see Toshio'ssubmissivenesss an unadornedxpressionf ove forhiswife, declaration hat whitherhou goest, willgo; andwhere hou odgest,will odge;thy eopleshall bemypeople, ndthyGod myGod.'39 Yet certainlytheresan elementfthis ove nterminglednthe onfusedmassof emotionshatsendhim nto hehospital esideMiho. Toshio s a mandriven eyond he imitsanyone ouldreasonably xpecthimto endure.Desperation, uilt, nd the over-whelmingesire o have someone lseassume heburdens hathecan no longerbearbringhimto his finalpointof self-denial.imultaneously,here an be noquestion f his devotion o Miho and his earnesthopethathe can exorcise hedevils hathaunther.Theimpulse oward elf-preservationnd thedesire or elf-immolationointogether ith sense fcomplicitynMiho'stragedyo drive imto an act of ultimateompassion.This is precisely hathappens o Quentin nMiller'sAfterheFall; once hecan accepthisownguilt, e can

. . . know,nd evenhappily,hatwemeet nblessed; ot n somegardenf waxfruitndpaintedrees,hatie ofEden, ut fter,fter heFall, ftermany,manydeaths.... And hewish o kill snever illed, utwith omegiftfcouragenemay ook nto tsfacewhentappears,nd with strokef ove as to an idiot nthe house forgivet; again and again . . forever40The conclusion f Shi noTogegivesno indication hether iho'smadnesswill

becured.But t senough ohaveToshiorecognizehatby osinghis ife orMiho(andforhimself),ewill n the ndsave whatremains ftherelationshiphathasbound them ogether. n thevery astpage of thenovel,whenToshio has leftMiho inthehospital oom whilehe goesbackfor heir edding, e comes to aknowledgef his role ntherelationship:As I walked long he treet ndgotontothetrain, felt surgewithinmybody, rush ffreedomlutteringnside. he world nd thepeople n t came olife nmy yes, ndeverythingeemed oregaintsusual ssurancend warmth.

39 Ruth, 1:16. Shimao's move to be withMiho's 'people' on Amami Oshima, and hisacceptanceof her God' through aptism ntothe Catholic Churchof which he was already

a member, make this scripture eem mostappropriate n thiscase.40 ArthurMiller, After the Fall, BantamBooks, New York, 1965, pp. 162-63.



20/22

GESSEL: Voices n theWilderness 455Energyoursed hrough y ody; feltikeworkinggain.Mybody eemedlmostweightless.ut seared nto hedepthsfmy yeswas a picturefmywife-inhospital ardwith ocks nevery oor, ittingn a bed n anempty,nfurnishedroomwith ars risscrossinghewindowsopreventscape, uppressinger oneli-ness nd pleadingo mewith er yes s I left er here. hat mage fmywife-awoman hrustownnto desolate ellwhenhe nlyman he ver ovedbetrayedher-grippedmy oul andtuggedtmybody, efusingo letgo. Mywifewas na mental ard, waiting y eturn.couldnotmaginehat had ny ther orkodo than o ive ogetherithmywife n that ospitaloom.4'Toshiothus evers isfinal ie with he everyday' orld s society efinesttoseek whatever egree fpeace he can ina very ifferentortof daily'existence.One of the moststrikingspectsofstyle nShinoToge s theemploymentf

unusually ongsentencesnd seeminglynterminablearagraphical nits somerunnings longas five ages).The vocabularyn theseunits s evocative,meta-phorical, nd at times lmostcrypticallyntellectual. secondnoteworthyndalmostparadoxical eaturef the tylesthe nclusion f anenormousmount fcommonplace,mundane etail-what the characters at at each meal,whatposi-tions heyie inwhen hey o to sleep, tc.The diary-likereciseness ithwhichtheseroutine ctivities re detailed eems ncongruousn a novel about uncom-monplace ircumstanceshich re describedn a lofty, early edanticdiction.Yet these wo remarkablelements fstylework ogethero givethe novelacohesiveness nd power hat ould come n no otherway. The ponderousengthofthe syntactical artsand the erudite ocabulary ring touch of stability,sense of anchoring o the narrative. he rational,ntellectual tyle himaousesto describe hese highlyunstable,psychoticallymotionalexchangesplungesreadersnto hevortex f theconflicty convincinghem hat his bnormalitysreally ormal, nd that he omplacency f their wneverydayives sperhaps hetrueaberration. his delicately alanced contrast etweenmadness nd sanity,reflectedn thestylewith teady, onvoluted entenceso describe izarre, is-jointed cts na sense ucks hereadersnto henarrativend nvolves hem n t na manner hat purely ealisticpproach ouldnever opetoachieve.Atthe ametime, he contrast etweenmedium ndmessagemakes t clear thatno degree fintellectualttainmentan provide solution o a dilemma hatderives ssentiallyfrom cancerof thespirit.Finally, heconscious earnedness f thestyle rovides clueto a yetdeeperlayer fconcernn ShinoToge.Theremarkable etachmentf thenarratorromthe cene f he ctiongives hereader he mpressionhathe s observinghe itua-tionfrom bird's-eye iew; here gain the exaltedfukinuki atai' technique ug-gests hatman sbeing bserved romGod's vantage oint.Thisperspectiveddsa heavy ouchof rony o thenarrativeere, or heexaggeratedtruggleetweenMiho and Toshio after time omes to seemrather bsurd vento themselves.From our safe,distant ositionwe recognize hat howevermuch we may sym-41 Shimao,Shi no Toge,p. 337.



21/22

456 Monumentaipponica,XXVII,4pathizewith hese wopeople, heirufferingsre a result f heir wn rrors-sins,in fact-and that the stingof death' is a tormenthat ndividuals ringuponthemselvesnd must esolve hemselves.rom uch perspective,scape sclearlyan unconscionable ct ofcowardice;onlythecourageto confrontheproblemdirectlyan makea solution ossible.The inescapable onclusionhere s that Shimao's attitudesn this novel areessentiallyeligious. he biblical llusions nthe title f thework nd in severalchapter itles iveus further ints. t cannotbe a misreading f Shi no Toge toconsider t as a type f man'sseparation romGod, and ofthetormentshatbe-token that onely tate.Miho herself ecomessomethingf a deified eing nToshio'smind.The reconciliation hichToshio seekswithher; the unattainableabsolution orwhich eyearns; he elf-denial hich eaccepts; nd the ormentsofthe nferno hathe suffersorbeing eparated romher-all these xperiencesare as applicableto Toshio's relationship ithGod as they re withhis wife.Japaneseritics avecompared hinoToge oMedea,Faust, ndCrime ndPunish-ment.While hese reall apt, t s thebiblical nalogy hatgives himao'snovel tsconsummateower.ConclusionTheChristian riters a relative ewcomer o theJapanese iterarycene, espitethe onsiderable olewhich hristianitylayed nthedevelopmentfMeiji itera-ture.The writers fthat arlier eriod awChristianitys a mirror f their wnegos;oncethatmirrortopped fferinghemmutemages f heir wn ndividualityuponwhich orhapsodize, nd began pewing ack thou haltnots'as if o mockthe ndependencefthe reflectedelf, heMeiji intellectualsither urned heirbacksto thatmirrorr smashedttopieces.Theyouthful,ibidinous ritersftheRomantic chool,unableto acceptthe imitationsn personal reedom, uicklybid Christian thics arewell, lthoughChristianhought ontinued o exert ninfluenceponthem ndtheirwritings.In manyways hepostwarChristian henomenons thedirect pposite f theMeiji case. The writers ho have turned o Christianityavegenerally eenin-dividuals earching orguidelinesnd anchors n their ivesduring periodofwidespreadneasiness. ewhavedalliedwith hristianityike fleetingaramour,seekingfromerwild bandonwithoutommitment.nstead he mbrace fChris-tianityormosthas come ater n ife42nd therelationship as been more tableand enduring.The central roblem or hesewriters as been to transformhe experience fChristian onversionnto iterarymaterials ccessible o the uninitiated apanese

42 AlthoughEnda Shfisakuwould seem tobe the obvious exception to this generality,itmay be useful n his case to draw a distinc-tion between superficialbaptism and true

conversion. n such an instance,he becomesless of an exception o the rule thanmight ethought.



22/22

GESSEL: Voices in theWilderness 457reader. hiina Rinzo, n instance fundigested hristianity,as onlymarginallysuccessfuln thisundertaking. is interests emain n theabstract,deologicalplane nd seldom ilterown othemore elevant, ore iteraryomain f humanbehavior.Bycontrast,heres a pervading enseofunfeigned hristianitynthefiction f Endo Shiiisaku. yhisconfrontingead-on hequestion fwhetherheJapanese ancomprehendhristianity-or, ore ccurately, hetherhristianitycanbe shaped nto formwhich heJapanese an assimilate-the lucidationfhisreligion as become Endos focalpointboth nhiswritingnd in his life.43Because novels suchas Chinmokund Samurai re overt ttempts o explicateChristianityn a Japanese etting,hey remeaningfulotheJapanese eadernawaythat hiina'sdogmatism as never ble to be. The recognitionhatEndo5 asreceived oth nJapan nd overseashas enhanced herespectabilitynd literarycredibility hichJapanese hristian riters ave begun o assume n recent ears.In the workof Shimao Toshio we havewhatcomesclosest to unobtrusiveChristianity,religiousensitivityhoroughlybsorbednto he iteraryubstanceofhisfiction.himao's pproach scompletely ersonal ndemotional,n contrastto Shiina's ntellectualechnique, hile nhisuseofChristianhemesnd valuesheis considerably ubtler han Endo. Herein ies Shimao's strengths well as hisweakness s a Christian riter-although is fictions admirably ense, hatverydensity as meant hatfewJapanese eaders oday are even aware thathe is aChristian.Finally, neofthemost ignificantontributionsftheChristian riters aybetheir reshpproach othe -novel.Works uch s Samurai nd Shi no Toge uggestnewpotential or rather ired orm,nd ndicateways nwhich apanese ovelistscan breakout ofthenarrow onfinesf viewpoint ndstudy he actions f theircharactersrom largermoralframework.Itmayyet e sometime efore heJapanese hristian riters even s accessibleto his owncountrymens he is to the Western eader hrough ranslations. utthateffort as been givenforcefulmpetus y thefoundationsaid by Shiina,Endo,andShimao, raftsmen ho havedone much oenrich herange ndvarietyofcontemporaryapanese iction.

43 In a conversation n New York City,22 March 1980, Endo told me thatthefunda-mental im behindmost of hiswell-publicizedextraliteraryctivitieshas been the desire to

persuadethe Japanese hat n individualneednot be a stuffy,moralisticprig in order tobelieve n Christianity.

Documents

Japanese Chritian Authors - V g Gessel