Aging and Loss: Mourning and Maturity in Contemporary Japan

246 Pages·2014·7.258 MB·English

by  Jason Danely

Aging and Loss
v
Global Perspectives on Aging Series
Edited by Sarah Lamb,Brandeis University
This series publishes books that will deepen and expand our understanding of
age,aging,and late life in the United States and beyond.The series focuses on
anthropology while being open to ethnographically vivid and theoretically rich
scholarship in related fields,including sociology,religion,cultural studies,social
medicine, medical humanities, gender and sexuality studies, human develop-
ment,and cultural gerontology.
Aging and Loss
v
Mourning and Maturity
in Contemporary Japan
Jason Danely
rutgers university press
new brunswick, new jersey, and london
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Danely,Jason.
Aging and loss :mourning and maturity in contemporary Japan / Jason Danely.
pages cm.—(Global perspectives on aging)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8135–6517–0(hardcover :alk.paper) — ISBN 978–0–8135–6516–3
(pbk.:alk.paper) — ISBN 978–0–8135–6518–7(e-book)
1.Aging—Japan. 2. Older people—Japan. 3. Death—Social aspects.
4. Mourning customs—Japan. I. Title.
HQ1064.J3D352 2014
305.260952—dc23 2014014273
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British
Library.
Cover.Portrait ofOno Sayaka’s grandmother,Ro¯ba wa ichinichi ni shite,narazu (Ro¯ba
[old woman] wasn’t built in a day).Japanese pigment on gold leaf.Used with permission
ofthe artist.
Copyright © 2014by Jason Danely
All rights reserved
No part ofthis book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,electronic
or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written
permission from the publisher.Please contact Rutgers University Press,106Somerset Street,
New Brunswick,NJ 08901.The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use”as defined
byU.S.copyright law.
Visit our website:http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
To Robin

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
PART I
Loss
1 Loss,Abandonment,and
Aesthetics 9
2 The Weight ofLoss:Experiencing
Aging and Grief 35
PART II
Mourning
3 Landscapes ofMourning:Constructing
Nature and Kinship 65
4 Temporalities ofLoss:Transience
and Yielding 90
5 Passing It On:Circulating Aging
Narratives 110
PART III
Abandonment and Care
6 Aesthetics ofFailed Subjectivity 133
vii
viii contents
PART IV
Hope
7 Care and Recognition:Encountering
the Other World 161
8 The Heart ofAging:An Afterword 185
Notes 193
Bibliography 201
Index 223
Acknowledgments
The lifeline ofethnographic research is the generosity and trust ofa handful of
individuals willing to share their time and their stories with a curious stranger.
In particular,the twelve older individuals at the core ofmy interview group have
been and remain a source ofencouragement and inspiration,without which this
project could not have come into being.My first and deepest gratitude goes to
all of the individuals whose identities I keep in confidence, but whose hearts
I have tried my best to express with honesty and dignity in the pages of this
book.Most ofall,they have taught me the joy oflistening,and to each one I owe
a debt ofgratitude.
I would not have embarked on a study of aging and loss in Japan were it
not for the guidance of my mentors and advisors who saw in me a potential
that I could not have uncovered on my own.I am especially grateful to David K.
Jordan, whose thorough, insightful, and always humorous comments on
draft after draft of this book have taught me an immeasurable amount about
the ethnographic process. No man has ever spilled so much red ink on my
behalf.
I also would like to thank Carl Becker,who has extended himselffar beyond
what he would admit to create an intellectual space for me to conduct my
research in Kyoto on several occasions. He has been an invaluable role model
for his passion,rigor,and kindness.
Steven Parish was the first mentor to suggest old age as a research focus,and
his curiosity and openness led me to examine in greater depth the themes of
abandonment and loss from a psychodynamic perspective.Mel Spiro took the
time to read some early case studies that became the backbone ofthis book,and
helped me explore more about the significance offamily dynamics and religious
symbols.As this ethnography began to take shape,I relied on the responses and
reflections of Roy D’Andrade, Keith McNeal, Christena Turner, and Richard
Madsen.
ix
x acknowledgments
I am grateful to Anne Basting and Thomas Fritsch at the Center on Age and
Community, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee for recognizing the impor-
tance of qualitative, descriptive research on aging and supporting my initial
work on writing this manuscript and keeping me engaged in work with older
adults.I am also grateful to Erica Bornstein,Paul Brodwin,David Moberg,and
Susan McFadden for helping me talk through my ideas in ways that spurred my
writing during my time in Milwaukee.
Much of my education in the anthropology of aging has come from
colleagues and friends whom I have had the good fortune to get to know
through the Association for Anthropology and Gerontology.I would especially
like to thank Caitrin Lynch, Samantha Solimeo, Frances Norwood, and Jay
Sokolovsky, all of whom donated their time and expertise to read various
portions ofthis book at many different stages in its development.I admire their
examples of clear and compelling writing on aging and culture.Other readers
and listeners whom I would like to thank include Hikaru Suzuki,Jean Langford,
Bambi Chapin, and Brooke Huminski. Yukiko Taniguchi helped transcribe
many of the conversations that I have included in this book,and patiently sat
with me on many occasions to describe the nuance ofthe vernacular with keen
attention.I owe a tremendous thank-you to the two anonymous reviewers for
taking the time to write such thoughtful,detailed,and honest responses.
The hardest decisions in writing and editing came in the final months,when
it seemed more and more difficult for me to see things with fresh eyes.There are
few words to describe how grateful I am to have had the chance to work with the
editor ofthis series,Sarah Lamb,and with Marlie Wasserman,editor at Rutgers
University Press, for shepherding the manuscript along, for the many close
readings, and for trusting me with their vision of a new book series. My best
decisions and clearest,liveliest passages in this book are all thanks to them,and
it was much easier to snip out pages (or chapters) under their wise and caring
guidance.
This ethnographic study was made possible by a number of grants that
Iwould like to acknowledge here:the IIE Fulbright Graduate Student Research
Grant,University of California’s Pacific Rim Mini-Grant,the Melford E.Spiro
Dissertation Award,and the Association ofAsian Studies First Book Subvention
Grant. Portions of transcripts and anecdotal material have appeared in
previously published work,including “Art,Aging,and Abandonment”(Danely
2011),“Repetition and the Symbolic in Contemporary Japanese Ancestor Memo-
rial”(Danely 2012b),and “Temporality,Spirituality,and the Life Course in an
Aging Japan”(Danely 2013).Some material has also been presented at academic
conferences and workshops and to other groups;all ofthese presentations have
been essential for developing my sense of audience and keeping me aware of
many perspectives and bodies ofwork.
Paul and Jan Stoub cooked meals,watched children,and generously lent me
a place to stay,relax,and work.Paul Stoub lent his design skills to produce the