Suicidal Honor: General Nogi And the Writings of Mori Ogai And Natsume Soseki

305 Pages·2006·3.71 MB·English

by  Doris G. Bargen

Japanese literature / history
(Continued from front flap) B
S
Of related interest A
R UICIDAL OO

offered himself as a human sacrifice to a dead G n September 13, 1912, the day of Emperor
rather than living deity? To answer this ques- Not a Song Like Any Other E Meiji’s funeral, General Nogi Maresuke com-
N
tion, Bargen delves deeply and with great in- An Anthology of Writings by Mori O¯gai mitted ritual suicide by seppuku (disembowel-
sight into the story of Nogi’s conflicted career ment). It was an act of delayed atonement that
as a military hero who longed to be a peaceful Edited by J. Thomas Rimer S HONOR paid a debt of honor incurred thirty-five years
man of letters. 2004, 328 pages, illus. earlier. The revered military hero’s wife joined
U
In the second half of Suicidal Honor Bargen Cloth ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-2702-1 in his act of junshi (“following one’s lord into
Cloth ISBN-10: 0-8248-2702-3
turns to the extraordinary influence of the No- death”). The violence of their double suicide
I
gis’ deaths on two of Japan’s greatest writers, “To say this is an important book is to understate its accomplishment. It is shocked the nation. What had impelled the
C GENERAL NOGI and
Mori Ògai and Natsume Sòseki. Ògai’s histori- marvelous—from the sensitivity the title represents to the overall organization general and his wife, on the threshold of a new
¯
cal fiction, written in the immediate aftermath of the materials included. It is an outstanding scholarly book in a very readable the WRITINGS of MORI OGAI era, to resort so drastically, so dramatically,
I
of his friend’s junshi, is a profound meditation presentation. Those who are familiar with Ògai through his short stories and D and NATSUME SO¯SEKI to this forbidden, anachronistic practice? The
on the significance of ritual suicide in a time of novels will find this an enlightening book that will enhance their understanding nation was divided. There were those who saw
and appreciation of the life and work of a great man.” —Japan Times
historical transition. Stories such as “The Sakai the suicides as a heroic affirmation of the samu-
A
Incident” (“Sakai jiken”) appear in a new light rai code; others found them a cause for embar-
and with greatly enhanced resonance in Bar- rassment, a sign that Japan had not yet crossed
Chaos and Order in the Works of Natsume So¯seki L
gen’s interpretation. In Sòseki’s masterpiece, the cultural line separating tradition from
Angela Yiu
Kokoro, Sensei, the protagonist, refers to the modernity.
emperor’s death and his general’s junshi before 1998, 264 pages While acknowledging the nation’s sharp-
H
taking his own life. Scholars routinely mention Cloth ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-1981-1 ly divided reaction to the Nogis’ junshi as a use-
these references, but Bargen demonstrates con- Cloth ISBN-10: 0-8248-1981-0 ful indicator of the event’s seismic impact on
vincingly the uncanny ways in which Sòseki’s O Japanese culture, Doris G. Bargen in the first
Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
agonized response to Nogi’s suicide structures half of her book demonstrates that the deeper
“A thoughtful, often eloquent and insightful attempt to read several of Sòseki’s
the entire novel. novels closely, to account as well for some of his criticism and his kanshi.” N significance of Nogi’s action must be sought in
By exploring the historical and literary —Journal of Japanese Studies his personal history, enmeshed as it was in the
legacies of Nogi, Ògai, and Sòseki from an in- tumultuous politics of the Meiji period. Suicid-
O
terdisciplinary perspective, Suicidal Honor illu- al Honor traces Nogi’s military career (and per-
minates Japan’s prolonged and painful transi- sonal travail) through the armed struggles of
R
tion from the idealized heroic world of samurai the collapsing shògunate and through the two
culture to the mundane anxieties of modernity. Cover art: Yoshitoshi (1839–1892); ukiyo-e #83 (printed 1890) from the series One Hundred wars of imperial conquest during which Nogi
Aspects of the Moon 1885–1892 (tsuki hyakushi). John Stevenson Collection.
It is a study that will fascinate specialists in the played a significant role: the Sino-Japanese
fields of Japanese literature, history, and reli- War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War
Cover design by Santos Barbasa Jr.
gion, and anyone seeking a deeper understand- (1904–1905). It also probes beneath the po-
ing of Japan’s warrior culture. litical to explore the religious origins of ritual
self-sacrifice in cultures as different as ancient
DORIS G. BARGEN is associate professor of Japanese Rome and today’s Nigeria. Seen in this con-
literature and culture and director of Asian UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I PRESS text, Nogi’s death was homage to the divine
Languages and Literatures at the University of Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888 emperor. But what was the significance of
Massachusetts Amherst. Nogi’s waiting thirty-five years before he
ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-2998-8
DORIS G. BARGEN
ISBN-10: 0-8248-2998-0
(Continued on back flap)
www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
jack mech.indd 1 10/12/06 2:59:24 PM
Suicidal Honor
General Nogi, following Emperor Meiji during the Great Military Parade in Nara, Fall
1908. Reproduced from Kuwahara and Sugawara, eds., Nogi Maresuke no sekai
(Shinjinbutsu ôraisha, 1992), unnumbered plate following title page.
Suicidal
Honor
General Nogi and
the Writings of Mori Ôgai
and Natsume Sôseki
Doris G. Bargen
University of Hawai‘i Press / Honolulu
© 2006 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
11 10 09 08 07 06 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bargen, Doris G.
Suicidal honor : General Nogi and the writings of Mori Ôgai and Natsume Sôseki /
Doris G. Bargen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-2998-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8248-2998-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Nogi, Maresuke, 1849–1912. 2. Seppuku. 3. Nogi, Maresuke, 1849–1912—In
literature. 4. Mori, Ôgai, 1862–1922—Criticism and interpretation. 5. Natsume,
Sôseki, 1867–1916—Criticism and interpretation. 6. Suicide in literature.
7. Japanese literature—1868—History and criticism. I. Title.
DS884.5.B37 2006
394'.880952—dc22
2006019423
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free
paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Council on Library Resources.
Designed by University of Hawai‘i Press production staff
Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
For
Carlin A. Barton
Liza Dalby
Fujikawa Teruko

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Dates, Names, and Crests xiii
Introduction: An Incomprehensible Act 1
Part I: “Following One’s Lord into Death”
Chapter 1: Sacri¤ce and Self-Sacri¤ce 11
Chapter 2: The Japanese Custom of Junshi 20
Part II: Nogi in History
Chapter 3: Nogi’s Life Sentences 33
Chapter 4: The Sword and the Brush 64
Part III: Nogi in Literature
Chapter 5: Mori Ôgai’s Junshi Stories 85
“Okitsu Yagoemon no isho” (First Version): Junshi Postponed 86
“Sahashi Jingorô”: Anything But Seppuku 91
“Okitsu Yagoemon no isho” (Second Version): A Spectacle
for the Lord’s Successor 99
“Abe ichizoku”: The Perplexities of Permission 109
Chapter 6: Mori Ôgai’s “Sakai jiken”: Rebellion and Martyrdom 122
Chapter 7: Natsume Sôseki’s Kokoro: Living as Though Dead 159
Coda: Last Stands in Ancient Rome and Modern Japan 189
Notes 199
Bibliography 259
Index 279

Acknowledgments
I n Natsume Sôseki’s classic novel Kokoro (1914), Sensei reveals in his tes-
tament to a young friend his perplexity about a very peculiar self-assertive
last gesture made by the scholar-painter Watanabe Kazan (1793–1841).
Serving a life sentence commuted from death for his criticism of the shôgunal
seclusion policy and a (false) charge of conspiracy, Kazan had postponed his
death for one week in order to ¤nish a painting. What complexities were in-
volved in Kazan’s act that it should resurface in the public memory in 1912
and become relevant to Sensei’s own voluntary death? Should one respect or
reject, despise or admire, Kazan for timing his death—suicide by the sword
(jijin)—so supremely well for the sake of his artistic legacy? What fascinated
Sensei about Kazan, or Sôseki about Sensei, is what fascinates me about Gen-
eral Nogi Maresuke (1849–1912), the historical ¤gure at the heart of my
study and the contemporary literature he inspired.
Many scholars, friends, and students have helped me in the effort to un-
derstand what leads a man like Nogi carefully to coordinate his purpose in life
with his death, thereby conveying a message so intriguing that it becomes
part of the cultural memory. My most severe and constructive critic has been
my husband, Allen Guttmann, who helped me to clarify and organize my
ideas. Carlin A. Barton inspired me with her study of honor, shame, and
sacri¤ce in ancient Rome; and Liza Dalby, with her elegant, unorthodox re-
search into Japanese culture. It is to them and to their Japanese kindred spirit,
Fujikawa Teruko, that this book is dedicated.
In addition to the two anonymous readers for the University of Hawai‘i
Press, I am grateful to Christopher Benfey for his incisive comments on the
entire manuscript, to Shion Kono for his suggestions about my chapter on
Ôgai’s “Sakai jiken,” and to Karl Friday for his panel discussant’s comments
at the International Conference of Asia Scholars (ICAS) in Berlin 2001. I con-
sider myself most fortunate to have in Patricia Crosby a superb executive edi-
tor who knows exactly what I am trying to say and has often said it better.
Managing editor Ann Ludeman kept everything on track, and Barbara Fol-
som copyedited the manuscript meticulously and critically.