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Japanese Encounters with Latin America and Iberian Catholicism

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Japanese Encounters with Latin America and Iberian Catholicism 【講演】“Japanese Encounters with Latin America and Iberian Catholicism: Some Proposals for Possible Directions of Research in Comparative Literature,” Respondent, ‘International Forum - Beyond the Border: Trends in Comparative Literature outside the US’ACLA, Puebla, Mexico, April 21, 2007. ACLA /Puebla Meeting, International Forum. Saturday April 21, 2007 16:00-18:00 Beyond the Border, Trends in Comparative Literature outside the US: Dorothy Figueira, Hotel Camino Real, Salon Rui( de Peña, 7 Poniente *105 April, 13, 2007. -er.03. .not yet /nati0ely1 chec3ed445 Japanese Encounters with Latin America and Iberian Catholicism (1549-197 ) Some Proposals for Possible Directions of Research in Comparative Literature Shigemi INA7A International Research Center for :apanese Studies 7raduate School for Advanced Studies, Kyoto, :apan. Prologue On the 28th :anuary 1 14, the :apanese delegation on board of San Juan Baptista doc3ed in Acapulco. The delegation, consisting of more than 100 :apanese members, was lead by Hase3ura Ro3u(aemon Tsunenaga .1571-16225, a 0assal of the Lord, Date Masamune .1+ 7-163 5. The ship had set sail on the 28th October 1613 from the port of Tsukinoura, and took nearly three months to cross the Pacific Ocean. Since Cortes@ conquer of Nuova Espana in 1519, almost one century had passed. On board was Luis Sotelo .1574-1624), a Franciscan priest from Seville, who accompanied the delegation. In Europe, he dictated his mission to an Italian archi0ist, Scipione Amati, who compiled the document Historia del Regno de Voxu. in 1 15 .1). In it, Luois Sotelo triumphantly reported that seventy-eight :apanese were bapti(ed in MeDico City. Howe0er, the eDtant church records ma3e no mention of such event, as -an C. 7essel remar3s .2). It is also reported that the group of twenty or so :apanese sailed from -eracru( on 10 :une 1614. One may presume that they passed Puebla in 1614 on their way to the 7ulf of MeDico. They were probably the first :apanese countrymen to ma3e the Eourney across the Atlantic Ocean. It was on the ,rd of No0ember 1614 that they finally had an audience with the Pope Paul - in -atican, but it produced little concrete result. The To3ugawa Shogunate, founded by Ieyasu .1543-161 5, had promulgated in 1 13, the year of Hase3ura@s departure, the notorious Christian eDpulsion edict. The goals of the Hase3ura mission had been entirely abandoned at home, while the delegation was abroad. On his way home Hase3ura was ordered to stay in Manila for years and it was only in 1 20 that the :apanese authorities allowed him to return home. F hen Hase3ura died two years later, in 1622, his diary seems to be confiscated and eventually destroyedG the loss of the first hand document ma3es it difficult to reconstruct the :apanese footsteps. It was also in 1622, that Luis Sotelo disguised himself and made his way bac3 to :apan. The priest was arrested and eDecuted. His martyrdom too3 place on the 25 August, 1624. Endo Shusa3u .1C23-19965, a :apanese Catholic writer, once nominee of the Nobel pri(e, was interested in this diplomatic mission and wrote a novel, The Samurai .1980, translated into English by -an C. 7essel in 19825.,5. The narrator in the novel, -elasco, is faithfully modeled after Luis Sotelo, and Endo tries to penetrate his psyche, while analy(ing the mental and spiritual suffering of the :apanese. Endô is as3ing: why did all those who were invol0ed in the mission have to surfer for the sa3e of ChristianityI F as their suffering redeemedI Indeed, the writer@s life-long concern was the human sufferings in front of the passion of :esus Christ. Recent studies in comparati0e literature re- eDamine Endo‘s novels from the post-colonial 0iewpoints. Let us briefly discuss three issues which are relevant to elucidate the historical and cross-cultural range of Endo@s literary creation in a larger conteDt .4). 1. Christian encounter with :apan was a challenge to the notion of uni0ersality. Firstly, the encounter with the newly discovered Oriental language raised fundamental Auestions as for how to incorporate it into the pre- eDisting system of 3nowledge. It is well 3nown that Saint Francois Ja0ier .150 "1552)@s letters from :apan lead 7uillaume Postel .1510-1581) to believe that :apan was the Kingdom of Prester :ohnG to this cabbalistic scholar, the :apanese language appeared as the 3ey to sol0e the Christian mystery .5). Half a century later, in 160 , :oan Rodrigue( .1561?-16,C5, :esuit priest and famous interpret who stayed in :apan, compiled and published rte da lingoa de Iapam in Nagasa3i. The boo3 was the first 7rammar of the :apanese language e0er written in European languages. How to describe grammatical structure of :apanese was far from self-evident. In this book, Rodrigue( first regarded the particles of :apanese language .so-called te-ni-wo-ha5 as eAui0alent 1 of infleDions in European languages. Following the standard model of Lui( Al0are(@s Latin 7rammar, Rodrigue( tried to put the particles into the mould of declension or conEugation table of European languages. In the process, howe0er, the :esuit was faced with impossibility .he was facing the challenge of comparing the incomparable, to use Emamanuel Le0inas@s formulation, indicated by Professor DEelal Kadir5 and forced to change his mind. He had to stri0e to in0ent a new grammatical category, in de0iation from the Latin model, so as to recogni(e the particles as a particular function of the nati0e language . 5. The shift in Rodrigue(@ methodology dramatically demonstrates the failed attempts at absorbing other- ness by reducing into one@s own familiar classificatory category. It also testifies to the moment when the putati0ely uni0ersal applicability of the Latin grammar to other languages re0ealed its limit. The lingua franca had to confront with incompatible grammar system. It was at the beginning of the 20th Century that Rodrigue(@s edition was redisco0ered. The redisco0ery certainly contributed to the reconstruction of phonetics and semantics of the :apanese language as they were at the beginning of the 17th Century, as Su(u3i Tae has shown. Howe0er, the importance of Rodrigue( grammar does not stop there. It is true that the newly disco0ered alien language was anneDed to the F estern territory of 3nowledge. But, li3e a TroEan horse, it began to sap the monolithic foundation of the F estern epistemological paradigm and in0alidated, partly at least, the norm of the F estern science of language. This incident may be counted among the problematical paradigm splits .if not shift5 in human intellectual and linguistic history. The F estern superiority as the conAuering/coloni(ing power was seriously put into Auestion, at least on a symbolic le0el, by the indigestible gift .in the sense of Derridian /pharmacon15 offered by the indigenous people, who were destined to-be-conAuered/coloni(ed. 2. Secondly, spiritual dimension must also be ta3en into account in cultural confrontations in thought. In her recent doctor dissertation, Orii Loshimi, who stayed in Salamanca, studies Luis de 7ranada .1504-15885@s impact in :apan .75. Curiously enough, some of Luis de 7ranada@s writings, including Contemptus mundi .15, 5 were recei0ed and read in contemporary :apan. Guia de pecadores .in Spanish5, for eDample was translated as Guia do Pecador .singular in Portuguese5 and published in mo0able wooden types in 15CC. Pre0ious studies on these Christian translations were mainly limited within the field of leDicology, historical- linguistics, Christian bibliography and missionary studies. The lac3 of general interest comes from the assumption that these translations ha0e eDercised only little and limited impact on the :apanese society, as the Christianity was forbidden shortly after the publication. Indeed, within one century after Francis Ja0ier@s arri0al to the archipelago in 154C, the Christianity was completely wiped away by 0oilent persecution from the surface of history. According to Orii@s hypothesis, howe0er, the inter-religious dialogue initiated by the translation deser0es more serious attention. Let us mention Eust one aspect in Orii@s demonstration. She points out the fact that the influential Sect of Pure Land, :Hdo-shinshM used to put only secondary importance on the notion of retribution and sal0ation. And it was not until the restoration mo0ement which was initiated by Renyo .1415-14CC5, the 8th abbot of HonganEi temple, during the Nnin ci0il war period of social turmoil that emphasis was once again laid on the Buddhist retribution. The passage to the Pure Land was promised as recompense for the fulfilled human ethical obligations. This teaching was widely welcomed by the population and the sect was de0eloping its influence in the first half of the 1 th Century. According to Orii, this popularity of the I33H Sect ser0ed as a con0enient seedbed for the reception of the Christian idea of redemption and hea0enly sal0ation, which had been particularly elaborated in Luis de 7ranada@s writings of ascetismo. It was Alessandro -alignano .15,C-1 0 5, 0isitor of missions, who chose wor3s by Luis de 7ranada as con0enient teDtboo3s to moti0ate the :apanese to the Christian con0ersion. -alignano is 3nown to ha0e formed a basic strategy for Catholic proselyti(ing in :apan, which is usually called /adaptationism.1 He tried to a0oid cultural frictions by ma3ing compromise with :apanese customs. It is not clear if -alignano was conscious of the affinity between these Christian ideas and that of the Rennyo Sect. Still the teDtual comparison proposed by Dr. Orii shows that crucial 0ocabularies of the Pure Land Sect were adapted so as to transmit Luis de 7rananda@s idea into :apanese. Instead of eDacerbating mutual incompatibility, compromises were searched for so as to propagate Christian belief. In this conteDt, two terms deser0e special attention.
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