March 26, 2008 by Christopher Born.

You may find this interesting:
Did you know that Concordia Seminary lost a valuable piece of art around the time of the Walk-Out, some 34 years ago? Did you know we recently got it back?

Well, we did. “Jacob and the Angel,” a hand-stenciled woodcut print by Japanese artist Sadao Watanabe, disappeared in early 1974. No trace, no clues, no proveable explanation. Watanabe was the first artist to use traditional Japanese styles and techniques on explicitly biblical themes, so he is a significant figure in modern Christian art, as well as a very popular artist in the U.S. But because he did his prints in sets of 50 or so at a time, we have succeeded – after years of trying – in locating and purchasing one of our lost print’s identical “sisters.”

And to celebrate, we have put all twenty of our Watanabe prints into an exhibit in the Library’s art gallery for the Spring Quarter. Our collection of Watanabes hasn’t been on exhibit in many years. The full set of 20 images hasn’t been together in 34 years. So we invite you to come in to see our entire collection – one of the largest Watanabe collections in the U.S. – and join us in celebrating the return of our “prodigal” piece.

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March 20, 2008 by Christopher Born.

Today, I got to remembering a poem we learned in high school Latin:

I’ve always understood Horace to be saying that he really had no use for the fancy, for the complicated, for the trumped up things.  He’d much rather, at least when he was addressing this particular youth, hang out and enjoy the simple things.

I rather like that idea.

We’re too bolluxed up with all the things going on that we rarely stop to “smell the roses” as it were.  In this season of Lent, it really hasn’t felt much like lent to me; too close to Christmas, too cold, too dark, too surreal as we go through one teething session after another on sleepless nights.

Yet, enjoying the simple things, like the truth of Lent makes life have more salt, don’t you think?

Aah, the teether calls….

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March 16, 2008 by Christopher Born.

So I am doing another presentation soon - but this time it’s going in different directions from where I’ve taken it before. See, last summer I used T.R.Reid’s book Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living In The East Teaches Us About Living In The West to walk the class through the idea the Confucian morality and philosophy still has great underpinnings in Japanese society. The thing is, from a postmodern perspective (I know, there I go again) the relationships look a bit different. The husband-wife relationship looks vastly different from that of husband and wife in the West in certain instances. The father-son relationship as well. The friend - friend and elder sibling-younger sibling have a huge impact on today’s younger generation, and the ruler-ruled? Well, the ruler tends to be the group that X-san or Y-san belong to. Not much attention is paid to the political leadership on day-to-day things. I’ll never forget my host family’s mother in 1994 saying that she really didn’t follow what was going on in the government, and that the emperor didn’t matter much to anyone anymore. This was so different from what we were led to believe from our global studies textbooks.

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March 7, 2008 by Christopher Born.

I thought I’d share the introduction I gave at Wash U before we watched Hanging Garden.  This movie is good in that it is a decent social commentary regarding  postmodern Japan, but it is quite jarring and hard to stomach. There are scenes of imagined violence and a lot of conversations about sexual themes.  Fortunately there is no nudity or otherwise R-rated content, but the movie is just over the top.  Most of the audience left pretty shaken; the movie is just a downer.  Some have compared it to American Beauty (which I haven’t seen yet, so I can’t say yet) but it at least has a bit of hope at the end.  Sadly, though, the idea of familial love at the end of the movie was very out of touch with what I believe true, self-sacrificing love to be.  It’s more than just paying the bills and keeping everyone together.  It’s actually caring for the emotional needs of those around you, even if you don’t feel like it, even if you’re empty from pouring yourself out all day.  At any rate, here’s the text:

Japanese society, much like our own, or any for that matter, has changed dramatically over the past 50, 20, even 10 years.  Many of us think of Japan as a fragmented scrapbook of images – geisha here, Mount Fuji there, zen here, samurai there, and sushi everywhere.  Sure, these are some of the cherished images of Japan that have intrigued the West over the past few centuries, only to be followed up with by Nintendo and Sony, anime and manga, fashion and economy.  On the outside, we think we know a lot about Japan because we experience the excellent technical, cultural, scientific, and artistic imports that can be picked up in most of our media outlets, restaurants, and boutique shops.  Japan is quickly becoming the progenitor of much of the cultural landscape in which we live; if I may be so bold, akin to Europe of the previous two centuries.

Yet, there is another side to Japan.  Societally speaking, the rate of marriages and births is declining, the population is aging, deaths outnumber births each year, and the workforce is shrinking.  Only until a few years ago, Japan was in the midst of an economic depression. As the promise of lifelong employment waned with each layoff, many sarariman were demoralized.  After the bubble burst in 1993, productivity went down, and investments showed little promise.  The Bastian of economic power, the Japan as Number One, of the 1980’s languished as they experienced global marginalization in the 1990’s, and the rise of China as the new economic power on the block.

As Japan’s former identity as an emergent world economic super power was stripped away, many began to question their own identity.  No longer were they able to look back on their economic achievements which had sustained them through their post-war demoralization and ignominy.  No longer could everyonel enjoy expensive, high-quality goods; their savings dwindled.  Debt started to accumulate. Working hard no longer equated with success.   Large, formerly unshakable firms, closed their doors for good.  The promise of a better tomorrow was no longer a promise, but an empty lie.

Part of the post-bubble doldrums was the apparent unraveling of the social fabric; fathers still work long hours as is expected of all sarariman, often staying out very late to satisfy the communal code of drinking together with colleagues.  This leaves very little time for the family.  Some just cannot handle the pressure and end it all through suicide or just drop dead from exhaustion.  Mothers languish at home and are left to raise the kids on their own with little or no support from the fathers.  If they do join the workforce, it tends to be for low-wage, manual labor type jobs.

Young adults have also begun to question the demands of society.  Some have abandoned the system of  university-bound exams and cram school.  Some choose to become “freeter,” or “Free-Timers” who take part-time jobs and stay at home, in essence, never growing up.  Others flee Japan to study art, music, dance, makeup, and whatever else they have a passion for.  (Just visit the lower-east side of Manhattan if you doubt it!)

For some adolescent boys, the specter of “not fitting in” at school, and being bullied as a result of any perceived differences, paralyzes them in fear – a fear that causes them to never leave the house again.  According to Michael Zielenziger’s 2007 book, Shutting out the Sun, there are some 133,000 males who shut themselves up as hikikomori, essentially withdrawing from society and living in their bedroom, even into their 30’s and 40’s.  They are often highly intelligent, deep thinkers who strive to be accepted for who they are, not what they are expected to be.  They feel imprisoned in their own homes.

Social pressure also hits women, as they decide to not live a dreary life at home, alone to raise the kids and be under-appreciated by absent husbands.  In the late 1990s, the phenomenon of the “parasite single” (obviously perjorative term due to their choice not to marry and have children) came into existence.  These women actually enjoy themselves as they live with their parents, spending their salaries on luxury goods and high-cost vacations abroad alone or with other girlfriends.

And so, many Japanese families are living a life of quiet desperation.  The movie we are about to see seeks to bring some of these issues to the fore.  In Kuuchuu Teien, or “Hanging Gardens,” implosion of the family unit becomes a metonymy for society that seems to be a “hanging garden” – it has no roots and floats in the air.  It is unnatural, without any firm foundation upon which to build.  Themes of motherhood and pregnancy, sex and childbirth, estranged spouses, repressed anger, and shut-in boys are explored as the subtext to what seems like a perfect family life where there are to be no secrets, no facades, or tatemae.   Everyone acts as if there is abject honesty and frankness, with there being “no taboos” at the dinner table…yet…there are many secrets and lies… It is a tale of subsistence, of doing whatever you can to hang together under the guise, and in the semblance, of what looks like the perfect family. I won’t say more, since you are here to see this film, not hear a critique of it.

Now, just one more thing, as is true of any social commentary, it is entirely unfair to say that “all Japanese” are living in X way or in Y conditions; every family is unique.  While these issues are a growing concern for growing numbers of families, many families do not experience the levels of trauma found in this film…suffice it to say that Japan, just like any other society, is dynamic and is dealing with the vicissitudes of life, which to be honest, we must all experience, understand, and live with.  While it is quite easy for us, sitting in a Western, academic setting to pass judgment on what we will see, it is important for us to remember that this film by no means gives us the full right to do so.  While we can learn much from a culture through its media, seeing the whole societal picture is not possible.

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