Channels, Fall 2016

Page 140 Parson • Drawing Is Where the Joy Is places his characters in conflict with the monstrous fantastic in reality, imagination, and art in order to expose the deep-seated anxieties of postmodern Japanese society and to suggest that aesthetic sensibility and artistic cultural contribution may be the means of mediating between the self and the tensions of cultural uncertainty. Monster Folktales in Japanese History Ishii’s film reflects a broader tendency of Japanese artists and storytellers to explore and explain culture through horror and the fantastic. Scholars of folk art and illustration like Zilia Papp and Michael Dylan Foster approach the subject of traditional monster imagery by categorizing the thousands of different monsters, demons, and minor deities that appear in manuscripts from the Heian period onward, based on their relationship to aspects of social custom. Foster organizes his “ Yōkai Codex” into lists of monsters that personify and were said to cause the typical events of the wilderness, the water, the countryside, the village or city, and the home (115-242). In recounting monster superstitions from the Edo period forward, he traces the specific connection between superstitious fears and cultural anxiety. For example, the kamikiri or hair-cutting demon, listed under village and city yōkai , has no impact beyond unexpectedly cutting off its victims’ hair at the point where it is tied or pinned. It is rarely seen and never threatening, but its actions constitute a threat to Edo- period society because at the time, women’s long hair symbolized both sensuality and privilege, while men’s topknots were arranged in order to communicate their status and vocation. As Foster puts it, “the kamikiri resonated meaningfully in Edo society: having your hair cut suddenly and without your knowledge would have been a violent physical and symbolic experience” (211). Similarly, Foster assumes some relevance to popular culture in the sudden appearance tōfu-kozō or tofu boy story during the An’ei period, although the exact origin is unexplained (212). Grumbach brings the connection between monster superstition and the construction of Japanese culture into the present day, explaining that “monsters ultimately represent the criticism of society, and it is their hybridity that enables them to do so” (97). In his discussion of the modern depiction of the Amida Budda, he discusses the role of monster folklore in “defining the Japanese ‘folk’ and ultimately Japaneseness” even as it created a backlash against this traditional identity and inspired the efforts of reformers like the Meiji emperor and Buddhist theologian Inoue Enryo, who sought to eradicate the influence of the non-rational in Japanese society and the Japanese identity. The influence and prevalence of culturally inspired monster narratives connected to Japanese cultural history justifies the use of monster theory not just as a sociological tool but also as a method of understanding the symbolism of the monstrous fantastic as it is depicted in literature. Modernization of the Monstrous The secularizing influence of Meiji-era (1868-1912) idealists failed to remove the cultural prevalence of monster stories. Instead, modernization and secularization simply adapted the cultural awareness of the monstrous fantastic to fit contemporary concerns. Japanese depictions of monsters and the supernatural still correspond with the specific unease present in Japanese culture today. In his novel, Kokoro , Natsumi Sōseki reflects on a shift in