Mark Twain in Japan: The Cultural Reception of an American Icon (MARK TWAIN & HIS CIRCLE) PDF
Preview Mark Twain in Japan: The Cultural Reception of an American Icon (MARK TWAIN & HIS CIRCLE)
Mark Twain in Japan Mark Twain and His Circle Series Tom Quirk, editor Mark Twain in Japan The Cultural Reception of an American Icon Tsuyoshi Ishihara ! University of Missouri Press Columbia and London Some images in the printed version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Copyright © 2005 by The Curators ofthe University ofMissouri University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri 65201 Printed and bound in the United States ofAmerica All rights reserved 5 4 3 2 1 09 08 07 06 05 Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ishihara,Tsuyoshi,1971– Mark Twain in Japan :the cultural reception ofan American icon / Tsuyoshi Ishihara. p.cm.— (Mark Twain and his circle series) Summary:“Explores the history ofMark Twain's reception in Japan in the spheres ofbooks,children’s magazines,and anime,the impact ofJapanese translations on Twain’s public image,how Japanese culture has transformed Japanese versions of Twain’s works,and how Japan is culturally influenced by America and America by Japan”—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8262-1590-4 (alk.paper) 1.Twain,Mark,1835–1910—Appreciation—Japan.2.Twain,Mark,1835–1910— Translations into Japanese—History and criticism.3.American literature— Appreciation—Japan.4.Japanese literature—American influences.5.Books and reading—Japan—History.6.Criticism—Japan—History.I.Title.II.Series. PS1337.4.J37I84 2005 818'.409—dc22 2005006340 ™ This paper meets the requirements ofthe American National Standard for Permanence ofPaper for Printed Library Materials,Z39.48,1984. Designer:Jennifer Cropp Typesetter:Crane Composition,Inc. Printer and binder:The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group Typefaces:Minion,Ruach,and Galliard To my wife, Noriko, with love This page intentionally left blank Contents ! Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii List of Abbreviations xvii List of Illustrations xix Introduction 1 1. What Happened to Huck? Kuni Sasaki’s Translation of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 10 2. Mark Twain in Wartime Japan: The Samurai Version of The Prince and the Pauper 36 3. Mark Twain in Postwar Japan: Juvenile Translations and School Textbooks 61 4. Japanese Animations of Huckleberry Finnand Tom Sawyer 89 Conclusion 125 Appendix: Mark Twain and His Works in Japanese Twentieth-Century Popular Culture 131 Bibliography 153 Index 169 This page intentionally left blank Preface ! This project evolved more than ten years ago when I was an under- graduate student in Japan.Although I had not yet read many Amer- ican books,it was almost impossible to live in Tokyo without having contact with American culture.America was everywhere.Ifyou walked in the streets of downtown Tokyo,you could find advertisements for American movies everywhere and hear American pop songs as back- ground music in a variety of places.You could watch American news programs on satellite television.You could even go to Disneyland by way of an easy 40-minute train ride from downtown Tokyo. At that time,I was one ofmany young Japanese who were “uncritically”fasci- nated with almost everything about America.In my eyes,America was the country that was free from many negative aspects ofJapanese cul- ture as I saw it,such as age hierarchy,sexism,conservatism,tradition- alism,snobbism,homogeneity,and so forth. I was an English major,and even in literary works I was looking for something “distinctively American,”different from my own country. ix
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