Donath str tyt.indd 1 2010-02-22 16:09:39

Diana Donath

Female Issues and Relationship Constellations The Literary World of Mori Yôko and Other Japanese Women Writers

Jagiellonian University Press

Donath str tyt.indd 2 2010-02-22 16:09:39 This volume was supported by the Jagiellonian University – Faculty of Philology

Reviewers Prof. Dr. Judit Arokay Prof. Dr. Noriko Thunman Prof. Dr. Paul McCarthy

Cover design Agnieszka Winciorek

Technical editor Robert Mitoraj

Proofreading Dr. Margarete Donath Grzegorz Korczyński

Typesetting Regina Wojtyłko

© Copyright by Diana Donath and Jagiellonian University Press First edition, Kraków 2010 All rights reserved

ISBN 978-83-233-2755-4

No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Author and the Publisher.

www.wuj.pl

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego Redakcja: ul. Michałowskiego 9/2, 31-126 Kraków tel. 012-631-18-81, 012-631-18-82, tel./fax 012-631-18-83 Dystrybucja: ul. Wrocławska 53, 30-011 Kraków tel. 012-631-01-97, tel./fax 012-631-01-98 tel. kom. 0506-006-674, e-mail: [email protected] Konto: PEKAO SA O/Kraków, nr 62 1060 0076 0000 3200 0047 8769 CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION: On subject, structure and methodological approach of the study...... 9 II. BIOGRAPHY: The author Mori Yôko...... 21 III. INTRATEXTUAL ANALYSIS of the novels Kizu, Shitto, Jôji, Yûwaku and Atsui kaze and of the short story collections Beddo no otogibanashi and Beddo no otogibanashi Part II...... 33 III.A. Formal criteria...... 33 III.A.1. Stylistic means of language ...... 33 III.A.2. Function of the dialogue ...... 41 III.A.3. Quickly progressing narration in the short stories 45 III.A.4. Slowly progressing narration by means of repetition and discussion in the novels...... 47 III.A.5. Temporal references in the short stories...... 51 III.A.6. Dissection of the plot through different temporal levels in the novels...... 55 III.A.7. Scenery and atmosphere...... 59 III.A.8. Stylistic means of depicting the eyesight and the individual perception...... 65 III.A.9. Conceptions of the ending ...... 69 III.B. Substantial criteria...... 73 III.B.1. The basic subject: Man-woman relationships...... 73 III.B.2. Female issues and feminist tendencies...... 87 III.B.3. Realistic depiction and psychological understanding...... 97 III.B.4. Portrayal of the prosperous and Westernized Japanese middle class during the “bubble era”...... 105 III.C. Additional substantial criteria of the five novels...... 111 III.C.1. Characterization of the female protagonists ...... 111 III.C.2. Relationship constellations and literary intentions of the novels...... 119 III.C.3. Confrontation with foreigners and foreign countries 131 III.C.4. Depiction of artists and homosexuals...... 137 III.C.5. Mental features of rivalry, egocentrism and masochism...... 141 IV. MORI YÔKO‘S WOMAN‘S IMAGE in the novels and the short stories...... 147 V. ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF MORI YÔKO‘S LITERATURE 159 V.A. Mori Yôko’s works as semi-autobiographical fiction...... 159 V.B. Mori Yôko’s writing as upper-level entertainment literature...... 165 V.C. Mori Yôko’s writing in the context of literature by women writers of the 1960s–1980s...... 179 V.C.1. General criteria of Japanese women’s literature...... 179 V.C.2. Female issues in the works of women writers of the 1960s to the 1980s in comparison to Mori Yôko...... 187 V.C.2.1. Female issues in the works of Setouchi Harumi...... 189 V.C.2.2. Female issues in the works of Tsumura Setsuko...... 195 V.C.2.3. Female issues in the works of Mukôda Kuniko...... 199 V.C.2.4. Female issues in the works of Saegusa Kazuko...... 203 V.C.2.5. Female issues in the works of Tomioka Taeko...... 207 V.C.2.6. Female issues in the works of Takahashi Takako...... 211 V.C.2.7. Female issues in the works of Ôba Minako...... 215 V.C.2.8. Female issues in the works of Kôno Taeko...... 221 V.C.2.9. Female issues in the works of Tsushima Yûko...... 227 V.C.2.10. Female issues in the works of Yamada Eimi...... 233 V.C.2.11. Foreign experiences and female issues in the works of Yamamoto Michiko...... 239 V.C.2.12. Foreign experiences and female issues in the works of Kometani Fumiko...... 243 V.C.2.13. Foreign experiences and female issues in the works of Ui Einjeru...... 245 V.C.3. Summarizing synopsis of the comparabilities of the women writers with Mori Yôko...... 249 VI. APPENDICES...... 257 VI.A. Summary of the study...... 257 VI.B. Japanese summary (Gaiyô)...... 263 VI.C.1. Book publications by Mori Yôko in chronological order... 269 VI.C.2. Book publications by Mori Yôko in alphabetical order...... 277 VI.D. Japanese magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko...... 285 VI.E. Bibliography...... 297 VI.F. Glossary...... 313 TITLES OF THE ANALYZED WORKS BY MORI YÔKO

THE FIVE NOVELS: 1. Kizu (Injury; Oct. 1981) Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 2. Shitto (Jealousy; Nov. 1980) Chapter 1 Nagisa no shi (Death on the Shore) Chapter 2 Piero (The Clown) 3. Jôji (Love Affair / Summer Love; Dec. 1978) 4. Yûwaku (Seduction; Feb. 1980) 5. Atsui kaze (Tropical Wind; Oct. 1982) Chapter 1 Oh Dad, please Chapter 2 Sausurando hoteru ni te (In the Southland Hotel) Chapter 3 Aru hatan (The Failure of a Marriage) Chapter 4 Meishen Sote no koto (The Vietnamese Woman Meishen) Chapter 5 Atsui kaze (Tropical Wind) THE 55 SHORT STORIES: I. The 34 short stories of Beddo no otogibanashi (1986) 1. Niwaka-ame (Sudden Shower) 2. Kurejitto kâdo (Credit Card) 3. Buradî merî (Bloody Mary) 4. Nijûgo-ji (The Thirteenth Hour) 5. Kinyôbi no otoko (The Friday Man) 6. Onna-tomodachi (Women Friends) 7. Uso (Lies) 8. Ofisu rabu (Office Love) 9. Yoru no henshûshitsu (At Night in the Editorial Office) 10. Dôsôkai (Alumni Meeting) 11. Tomodachi no otto (Her Friend’s Husband) 12. Onna-gokoro (A Woman’s Heart) 13. Kurisumasu iwu (Christmas Eve) 14. Kamikiriya (The Hairdresser) 15. Hisui no mimi-kazari (The Jade Earring) 16. Neko to Aregurîa (Alegría and the Cat) 17. Kûsha machi (Waiting for a Free Cab) 18. Sasayaka na kôfuku (Her Humble Happiness) 19. Koi no aite (Her Lover) 20. Kappuruzu (Couples) 21. Mae ni, doko ka de (Have We Met Before) 22. Kureijî naito (Crazy Night) 23. Kagami no naka no onna (The Woman in the Mirror) 24. Mayonaka no denwa (A Call in the Night) 25. Kekkon kinenbi (Wedding Anniversary) 26. Shimai (Sisters) 27. Haru no arashi (Spring Storm) 28. Bara no toge (Roses and Thorns) 29. Nioi (Smell) 30. Umi to kaze to (Sea and Breeze) 31. Shiawase no fûkei (Home, Sweet Home) 32. Ippô tsûkô (One-way Traffic) 33. Yogoreta tsume (Dirty Nails) 34. Beddo no naka e (Straight to Bed) II. 21 of the 40 short stories of Beddo no otogibanashi Part II (1989) 1. Jinsei-sôdan (Agony Advice) 3. Mi-shiranu tsuma (The Unknown Wife) 4. Sarasôju no hana no iro (The Colour of the Sal-Flower) 5. Kaika no tsuma (The Wife Downstairs) 6. Rikon-jidai (A Time for Divorces) 10. Hanamichi (Exit on the Runway) 11. Kyaria ûman (Career Woman) 14. Daburu shitsuren (Double Loss of Love) 15. Yûwaku (Seduction) 18. Fuyu no asa (Winter Morning) 19. Aru asa totsuzen ni (One Morning All of a Sudden) 20. Bitamin ai (A Vitamin Called Love) 21. Yuki (Snow) 22. Ha-burashi (The Toothbrush) 24. Futari (Two People) 26. Takarakuji (Lottery Card) 30. Kayôbi no onna (The Tuesday Woman) 31. Ko-zure no otoko (Man With a Child) 35. Jishin (Earthquake) 38. Azen (Dumbfounded) 40. Te (Hands) I. INTRODUCTION

On subject, structure and methodological approach of the study

The first aim of my study is to examine Mori Yôko’s (1940–1993) various depictions of gender constructions and to point out that the author has created a new woman’s image in several regards by describing the woman’s awareness of life, her self-esteem and her rebellion against suppression and discrimination in the Japanese male-dominated society, as well as her confrontation with the social standards and ideals of the West and with Western mentality. The content of Mori Yôko’s literature is the description of the things that matter in a woman’s life, which occupy a woman’s mind, and the depiction of Japanese everyday-life from a feminine point of view. The basic topic prevailing in all of the author’s works is the portrayal of human relationships, specifically erotic relationship constellations with an emphasis on entering into, dissolving, altering and scrutinizing a relationship or an extreme emotional situation before or after a turning point in a relationship, as well as problems in marriages or long-term man-woman relationships. At the same time, the author pursues the depiction of female issues, i.e. issues of importance to women (josei mondai). This term encompasses the entirety of mental, physical and social issues in a woman’s life: − physical problems like pregnancy, abortion, sterilization etc., as well as psychosomatically caused problems; − problems connected causally with their being a woman, like sexual harassment and rape;

 This term comprises all countries of Western civilization in Europe, North America and Australia; it does not mean “international”, e.g. Arabian countries, Africa, India and others are not included. 10 INTRODUCTION − relationship problems like infidelity and divorce; − and socially caused problems like the woman’s suffering from the emptiness in life as a housewife and in general her suffering from social disregard, which is a result of the problematic nature of Japanese society with the conventional role allocation and all its implications.

It is a second intention of my study to crystallize this subject from Mori’s works examined here, and to compare and contrast it to the writing of thirteen significant women authors of her time. This is imminently combined with the first aim of outlining Mori’s woman’s image.

The study focuses on the author Mori Yôko for several reasons: − First of all, Mori was one of the most well-known bestseller authors in Japan and is extraordinarily popular until the present day. In my study, I want to trace the reasons for this great resonance with her (predominantly female) readership and for her popularity. − Second, Mori’s strong point is the realistic and psychologically accurate depiction of Japanese everydayness, of the normal life of the average Japanese, without any scandals or strokes of fate, and she thus makes illuminating statements on the Japanese society, the change of values and the Japanese view of the world in the period of time examined here (from 1978 till 1989). − The third reason is Mori’s unobtrusive but sustained social criticism regarding the above-mentioned female issues. − As a fourth reason, through my personal acquaintance and conversations with the author, I have gained additional know­ ledge which forms a solid basis for the judgement of her writing (in particular of its autobiographical elements) and for an interpretation of her works, which proves to be even more useful because the literature on the author is not primarily aimed at an analysis of her works and is not sufficient to give substantial conclusions in important aspects.

Focussing on Mori Yôko as the main examined author is explained by the following criteria: − With her characteristic mixture of subjects and of structure and style, with which she has created distinctive works, Mori is a pronounced individual writer, and it is impossible to classify her as belonging to Subject, structure and method of the study 11 a certain literary group or current. In spite of common grounds with other women writers (see chap. V.C.2 and V.C.3), the differences are too great to allow an adequate juxtaposition to Mori. − In order to highlight the considerable differences between Mori’s novels and her short stories, and in order to illuminate her richness of ideas and varieties, it was necessary to exploit and analyze an extremely large amount of original Japanese texts, because outstanding examples of her novels as well as representative collections of her short stories had to be included, in order to do the author justice in judging her writing, and in order to avoid one- sided conclusions. This would not have been adequately possible in simultaneously examining several women writers as the main subject of this study.

Mori’s body of work can be devided into three creative periods: − Her first creative period from 1978 till 1983, with strongly autobio­ graphically influenced novels (starting with Jôji from 1978, up to Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô and Yakôchû from 1983), which contain the core of her writing regarding her style, her basic topics and her central literary messages; − her second creative period from 1983 till 1988 (comprising e.g. Kaze monogatari from 1983, Onnazakari from 1984, Sakebu watashi from 1985 and the biographical novel Bôkyô from 1988), with a number of more complex and thematically extended novels, her works showing a tendency to an undaunted view of life, with a direct way of depiction in the short stories, which partly have avant-garde female protagonists; − and her third creative period from 1988 till 1993, which contains more collections of essays, of short stories and short short stories, a greater share of separate depictions of the view of man and woman, and also several translations from English into Japanese.

As representative examples of Mori’s novels, for the following reasons I have selected five novels of her early creative period (published between 1978 and 1982):

− The five novels are known as Mori’s main works, they are regarded by Japanese critics and recommended by Japanese book sellers as such. − These novels (except for Shitto) were nominated for or awarded a literature prize. 12 INTRODUCTION − These novels show autobiographical influences, which are crucial for Mori’s writing, in an especially distinctive form, whereas they are less prevalent in later works.

The five novels examined here are: − Mori’s debut work Jôji (An Affair) from Dec. 1978 (Shûeisha, in illustrated form published at Gakugei shorin Dec. 1987), awarded the Subaru Literature Prize (111 p), − Yûwaku (Temptation) from Feb. 1980 (Shûeisha), nominated for the 82nd Akutagawa Prize (115 p), − Shitto (Jealousy) from Nov. 1980 (Shûeisha, new edition at Kado­ kawa shoten Feb. 2001) (163 p), − Kizu (Injury) from Oct. 1981 (Shûeisha, new edition at Kado­ kawa shoten Sep. 2001), nominated for the 85th Akutagawa Prize (203 p), − and Atsui kaze (Tropical Wind) from Oct. 1982 (Shûeisha), nominated for the 88th Naoki Prize (219 p).

I have published the German translation of Mori’s debut novel Jôji already in 1995 under the title Sommerliebe (Summer Love) at edition q publishers, Berlin. The work appeals personally to the reader and is still appreciated as one of Mori’s most significant works (see chap. II).

Apart from these five novels, I sometimes refer to the following works, which I have also worked through and made use of for my analysis, because they contain some of Mori’s essential literary messages in concentrated form: − the novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô (Every Night Cradle, Boat or Battlefield; Kôdansha 1983, 177 p); − and the three stories Nagi no kôkei (Scene at a Calm), Kanojo no mondai (Her Problem) and Iruka (Dolphins), all included in one volume together with Shitto, Shûeisha 1980, each 21 p.

 My analysis is based on the paperback editions published at Shûeisha: Kizu 5th ed. 1987, Shitto 21st ed. 1991, Jôji and Yûwaku (in one vol.) 23rd ed. 1990, Atsui kaze 7th ed. 1990. For references to Jôji, I refer to my German translation of the novel. I refer to all of Mori’s works mentioned in my study according to the paperback editions, only in the case of the Beddo no otogibanashi collections, I refer to the hardcover editions.  I discussed the title Summer Love with Mori Yôko in Tôkyô in 1992, and she liked it much more than the direct translation An Affair. Subject, structure and method of the study 13 In order to take account of the strong autobiographical influence, I have arranged the analysis according to the order of the stages of the author’s life reflected in the novels. As a consequence (as I explain in detail in chap. III.C.1), the novel Kizu is discussed first, then Shitto, after that Jôji and at last the two novels Yûwaku and Atsui kaze which are connected in terms of content.

As representative examples of Mori’s short stories, I have selected 55 short stories from the two collections Beddo no otogi­ banashi (Love Encounters, March 1986), representative of her second creative period, and Beddo no otogibanashi Part II (Oct. 1989), representative of her last creative period. The choice of these collections is based on the author-typical nature of the short stories and goes back on an impulse I got from the English translation of two stories of the first volume by the well-known American literature specialist Ueda Makoto from 1986 (see below), which contain in concentrated form Mori’s creative potential and the core constituents of her topics. The first volume (with a hardcover edition of 303 p, printed in two columns) consists of 34 short stories, which I completely examine and analyze. The term otogibanashi dates back to premodern Japanese literature, and in the Edo period it was used for works of popular literature. My German translations of three stories from this volume, nr. 1 Niwaka ame (Sudden Shower), nr. 3 Buradî merî (Bloody Mary) and nr. 6 Onna tomodachi (Woman Friends), which I already translated in 1991 and showed to Mori in 1992, were published in one volume together with my translation of Jôji at edition q publishers in 1995 (p. 101–142). The significance of the collections is explained by the following criteria: − Within Mori’s extensive and successful body of work, the two Beddo no otogibanashi collections can be considered as representative regarding Mori’s style and structure and her literary intentions as well as their response with the Japanese reading public, as they

 I chose this title because the direct translation Bed Stories is not suitable for the majority of the stories; the title Relationship Constellations would be more appropriate.  As a magazine serial publication already published more than one year earlier, from Oct. 4, 1984 until May 30, 1985 and from Aug. 6, 1987 until May 26, 1988. My analysis is based on the hardcover editions at Bungei shunjû. 14 INTRODUCTION have proven to be good sellers with their continuous new editions of both hard cover and paperback editions.  − Whereas no other works of Mori’s have been translated into Western languages, Beddo no otogibanashi is her only collection of which several stories have been translated into English, moreover in two different publications: 1) In the anthology The Mother of Dreams (ed. by Ueda Makoto, Kôdansha Int. 1986), which contains the two above-mentioned short stories 18 and 27, translated by Ueda Makoto, subsumed under the title Two Bedtime Stories (117–124; 125–132). 2) In the Kôdansha pocket book Bedtime Tales (1993), which comprises the short stories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 13, 15, 23, 24, 28 and 31, translated by Sonya L. Johnson. This translation, which roughens Mori’s fine humour, is very free (sometimes far from the text) and extended in an interpretive manner, as words, parts of a sentence or complete sentences have been made up. − Besides, Beddo no otogibanashi is the only work of the author which was followed by a second volume, correlating to the first one in terms of title, structure and layout.

The second volume was thus published in a hardcover edition in 1989 under the title Beddo no otogibanashi Part II  (317 p, in two columns) and comprises 40 short stories. In order to limit the extent of my study, but to have sufficient material for a profound examination, I have included 21 short stories of the second volume in my analysis.10

 The first volume reached 10 editions as a hardcover already in the first three years.  To give only a few examples: − anata shidai de wa (Japanese text p. 9) in Johnson’s translation (p. 11): if the man had anything more exciting in mind; − otoko no te no ugoki/ Johnson: the ceaseless motion of the bartender’s hands; − muhyôjô no mama bâtendâ ga itta/ Johnson: the bartender’s tone was as sullen as the expression on his face (both Japanese text 24, Johnson 36); − saenai otoko na no da (Japenese text 30)/ Johnson 47: …was a hopeless case… Who in the world could have picked such horrid-looking frames? (Johnson’s last sentence is entirely made up). 8 The first volume Beddo no otogibanashi is referred to without the addition I. In the follow-up volume, though, the addition Part II belongs to the title and is quoted as II. 9 Paperback edition (525 p) at the same publishing company in Sep.1992. 10 I have used some of the 21 short stories as teaching material in my lessons at Ruhr-University Bochum and at Humboldt-University Berlin. Subject, structure and method of the study 15 The 21 short stories have been selected according to the following criteria: − the variety of topics; − the gender confrontation in depiction and literary message; − an approximate balance between female and male protagonists.

The comparative analysis of the short stories of both volumes reflects a development of the author and outlines interesting differences between the first volume from 1986 and the second volume from 1989 (which I refer to in detail in the analysis), which are mainly: − The second volume has a considerably higher share of male protagonists: whereas 32 of the 34 short stories of the first volume (as well as the five novels examined here and the additional works I refer to) have female protagonists, almost half of the short stories of the second volume (10 of the 21 examined short stories) have male protagonists.11 – The second volume contains more sex-scenes, and these are more explicitly described.12 – Regarding topic and description, the stories of the second volume are written in a more distanced manner, they are tougher, sometimes ironical-satirical, mocking and cynical. – The stories of the second volume show a more discouraged, pessimistic view of life, with the description of marital arguments, insults, humiliations and bitter experience of life.

The short stories of the two Beddo no otogibanashi collections are linked by a numeration of the chapters which counts them as nights.13 With this auxiliary device of linking the titles, Mori has created a formal unit, which is matched by a unit in terms of content, because all the short stories address the topic of male-female relationships which

11 Specifically the short stories II 1, II 3, II 5, II 6, II 14, II 22, II 24, II 26, II 30, II 35. It has to be noted, though, that also the short stories with male protagonists are told from a feminine perspective. 12 In five of the 21 short stories:II 4, II 21, II 22, II 30, II 40. 13 In the first volume, the stories are only counted until the last but one as the33 rd Night, the last story is called Epilogue. This may hint at a Japanese preference for double figures which shows in celebrating the st1 day of the 1st month, the 3rd day of the 3rd month, the 5th day of the 5th month, the 7th day of the 7th month and the 9th day of the 9th month, or in the architectural measure of 33 ken for sacral buildings. Mori has 33 chapters in other works, too, e.g. in Toki wa sugite (1988). The number 34, consisting of 33 plus 1, recurs in story 27 of Beddo no otogibanashi (33 female co- applicants at a casting). 16 INTRODUCTION are associated with the term night in manifold aspects. The two Beddo no otogibanashi-collections thus deal with the basic subject prevailing in the author’s entire body of work.

The literary studies examination of these extensive Japanese texts (1452 p of text)14 is carried out according to the method of intratextual analysis regarding the formal criteria and the contents, based on my own insights gained by studying the texts in depth. The thorough micro-analysis of the original texts is enriched and sustained by the exploitation of further sources, most of all numerous essays by Mori Yôko as well as the expansive literature on the author published in Japanese literary magazines (see chap. VI.D).

On the level of the formal criteria, I analyze Mori’s language and stylistic means, the function of the dialogue, the narrative pace which differs considerably between the novels and the short stories, and her various conceptions of the ending. My investigation of the strongly differentiated temporal references, of the changes of the setting and the occasional changes of the viewpoint shows that the author creates a multi-layered specter of experience for the reader in both her novels and her short stories.

Regarding the contents, I discuss Mori’s above-mentioned basic subject of man-woman relationships, and as further human relationships the mother-daughter-dyad and friendships. With her seemingly endlessly new imaginative variations of relationship constellations, Mori addresses an essential sphere of the human existence. In the case of the novels, I track down the relations of each of the female protagonists, which also serves the purpose of outlining the author’s literary intentions.

In Mori’s literary messages of both the short stories and the novels, feminist tendencies are visible. The author demonstrates certain ways of escape for the women who suffer and wither away as a silent majority in the patriarchal Japanese society (see chap. IV). Mori’s primary interest is to set aims for women to improve their living conditions,

14 I.e. the paperback texts of the five novels as well as of the entire first volume and half of the second volume of the short story colletions. If I were to count the texts consulted in addition, i.e. of the stories Nagi no kôkei, Kanojo no mondai and Iruka and of the novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, too, the examined texts amount to 1700 pages. Subject, structure and method of the study 17 from the demand for re-educating men on more relationship capability, to the demand for a change of society. Though Mori’s work focuses primarily on women’s problems and on a basic lack of understanding between man and woman, in investigating female issues in her later work, Mori thoroughly tackles the mentality, the viewpoint and the problems of men, too.15

The social class which Mori portrays is the prosperous broad Japanese middle class which also constitutes her readership. In the literary-sociological examination of her readership, I refer to the Japanese society – in particular to the situation of women – at the time of writing and publication of the novels and short stories examined here, i.e. the late 1970s and the 1980s. The social progression which has taken place since then, which enabled the women to participate in and make use of the general change of values and the social trend to more individuality and to a pluralism of ways of life,16 when women achieved more influence and acknowledgement, is a development which Mori always strived for and stood up for.

The comparative analysis of the novels and short stories brings out the following differences: − In the novels, the author shows a much greater capability of emotional expression; she is able to depict more passion and sensitivity and exerts herself on a full scale, whereas in the short stories she keeps much more distance to the acting characters.17 − Further differences are discernible in the thoroughness of the characterization especially of the female, but also of the male protagonists (see chap. III.C.1 and IV). − Differences also lie in the view and estimation of the West (chap. III.B.4 and III.C.3).

A significant part of my study is dedicated to examining the author’s standing in the literary world. I investigate Mori’s position between autobiographical and fictional narration, and I try to assign the author a place as strictly limited as possible in the wide field of entertainment

15 Mori 1991, 5 as well as Mori/Shimizu 1994, 23; Mori/Yamada 1994, 49 f.; Mori/ Sasakawa 19911, 197; Hein 2008, 125. 16 See Lenz/Mae 1997, introduction 14. 17 See Nakamura 1988, 215 f. 18 INTRODUCTION literature, which stretches between the two poles of trivial literature and so-called pure literature (chap. V.B). I have made a comparison of Mori with thirteen further women writers of her time, mainly in terms of content, but also of stylistic means, in order to reveal a number of common grounds of Mori and these women writers (chap. V.C.2 and V.C.3). In selecting the women writers, I have omitted authors who, although they may be considered as precursers in regard of addressing female issues at an early point of time, do not have sufficient ground to be compared to Mori, either for reasons of age (being born more than twenty years before Mori), or because of a different special focus of their writing, e.g. in the case of authors of Proletarian Literature (puretarian bungaku), of Atomic Bomb Literature (genbaku bungaku) or of the new introvertedness (naikôsei) in literature.

My selection was made according to the following aspects: Ten of the authors were selected, − because they are reputed as prominent representatives of modern Japanese literature, and many of their works were awarded literature prizes (like Joryû bungaku Prize, Akutagawa-, Naoki-, Izumi Kyôka-, Noma-, Tanizaki- and Kawabata Prize); − because they are also known in the West through translations into English and other Western languages; − and because some of their most significant works have been published from the 1960s to the 1980s, meaning Mori may have been influenced by them.

Three further women authors were selected, − because regarding the integration of experiences with the West, which is an essential component of Mori’s literature, they form a background for the understanding of Mori’s assimilation and depiction of the West through similarities and differences in their approach to foreign experiences.

Altogether, I have discussed 134 works of these authors (novels as well as novellas and stories), and for a better evaluation, I have read them in Japanese or in English or German translation and analyzed them myself, because − in most cases the specific literature on the author was insufficient or barely existent; Subject, structure and method of the study 19 − and I did not want to rely on the judgement of other literature specialists who may be inclined to overinterpret or to draw conclusions which do not convince me because of a different understanding of the text.

As appendices, I give detailed summaries of the study in English and in Japanese. Furthermore, I attach a list of Mori Yôko’s works18 which comprises more than 100 book publications arranged in chronological order, also including works published posthumously or compiled in later years (chap. VI.C.1). In order to enable the reader to find the titles more quickly, I give an additional list of Mori’s works in alphabetical order in compact form (chap. VI.C.2). In addition, for this thesis I have compiled an extensive catalogue of Japanese magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko which lists more than 200 articles.19 The last appendix is the bibliography, followed by the glossary, in which I did not include titles of Mori’s works and essays.

On the whole, through a profound, detailed examination and a critical evaluation of the author Mori Yôko and a representative selection of her works published between 1978 and 1989, and through a comparison with a number of contemporary women writers, my study aims at making a contribution to the research on modern Japanese women’s literature.

18 In my frequent references to Mori’s works in this study, I do not give her name as the author of the respective work, and I give the translations of her works only upon mentioning them for the first time. I do not give the translation of the titles of her essays because this would bloat the text. 19 It was not possible to arrange this catalogue of more than 200 articles according to the alphabetical order of the contributors’ names, because in many cases they are not given. As there is often no indication of the author even in the case of articles probably written by Mori Yôko, a distinct separation between articles by Mori herself and articles on the author was not possible. For this reason, my catalogue follows the order which is common in Japan, according to the date of publication, going back from the most recent publication. The catalogue also includes book publications on Mori by her father Itô Mitsuo and her daughter Maria Brackin.

II. BIOGRAPHY

The author Mori Yôko

Mori Yôko was born on Nov. 4, 1940, under the name of Itô Masayo in Itô on the Izu-peninsula, Shizuoka-ken, as the eldest of three children.20 Her father Itô Mitsuo21 was a businessman who had had aspirations of a carreer as a writer himself. At a literary competition in 1934/1935, under the pen-name Fujikawa Shôgo, he was awarded the well-reputated Taishû bungaku Prize of the Sunday Mainichi Newspaper,22 but he could not realize his wish to become a professional writer.23 As an infant, from one to four years of age, Itô Masayo and her parents lived in the North-Chinese territory occupied by Japan during the war,24 where her father was transferred about one year before her birth. Her mother Kimie, who had travelled to Japan for the delivery, returned to him with Masayo soon after. Shortly before the end of the war, in March 1945, her family was repatriated to Japan, although her father went back to China one more time and did not return before 1947. The same year, they moved from Yûtenji to Shimo-Kitazawa in the district of Setagaya, Tôkyô. Her parents, who had foreign students from many countries, e.g. from the U.S., Germany and Kambodia, stay in their European-style

20 She had a younger brother, who received piano lessons, and a younger sister who learned to play the violin, like Masayo herself. 21 See Mori’s essay Watashi jishin no chichi no koto in her collection Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no (1986), 133–136. 22 Hayase 1989, 426. 23 Ibid., 426 24 Mainly in Zhangjiakou in Inner Mongolia, see Mori 1987 (7th ed. 1991), VII. She describes incidents of this time for example in her story Iruka (1980), see chap. III.A.4. – Shina, the name of the strongly autobiographically influenced protagonist of the novels Yûwaku and Atsui kaze and of the central character in the short story Shina to iu na no onna (A Famous Woman Named Shina, 1994), which is phonetically identical with a name for China, may contain a reminiscence of that time. 22 BIOGRAPHY villa25 for more than 15 years (1949–1965) and who associated with many foreigners, gave Masayo the opportunity to grow up in an open-minded atmosphere. In 1946, at the age of six, when she entered primary school, she began playing the violin, and when she entered Junior High School, her playing had progressed to such a level that she was called “the child prodigy26 of Setagaya”. After graduating from High School in 1958, she passed the entrance exam for the department of music at the Tôkyô Academy of Art (Tôkyô geijutsu daigaku, short: Geidai)27 and began to study in 1959. Mori describes herself28 as a student with a zest for life who spent her time with students from other departments29 discussing literature, theatre, cinema and arts in cafés, which made her father so furious that he was about to break off contact with her. During the four years of studying the violin, she had to acknow­ ledge that among her twenty or so co-students, an elite from all over Japan who were often offsprings of musician families and had started playing the violin at the early age of two or three years, she occupied nearly the last place,30 which was partly due to the fact that she did not have a keen ear.31 As she did not want to “bury herself in the orchestra”, but did not see much prospect in a career as a soloist either,32 in a painful inner process she came to the decision to give up playing the violin as her professional aim after graduating in 1963.33 She regards these student days when she was searching for her own identity,34 swaying between emptiness of life and the experience of emotional pain,35 as the most sinister time of her life.36

25 Hayase 1989, 429 describes her parental home. 26 Tensai-shôjo; see Hayase 1989, 424. 27 The exam was taken in five subjects: 1.+ 2. violin audition, 3.+ 4. piano, singing and a hearing test, 5. general education as it is customary at Japanese universities (incl. Japanese, history and mathematics), see Hayase 1989, 425. 28 Mori 1987, IV. 29 Poets, painters and e.g. the metal craftsman Watanabe Takashi; see Mori 1987, IV. 30 Hayase 1989, 425. 31 Miki 1986, 187; Hayase 1989, 425 ; this also applies to the protagonist Reiko in Kizu. 32 Mori/Agawa 1992, 95. 33 She was proud of her graduation; see her essay Ii otoko no jôken in Kaze no yô ni (1987), 61, where she compares herself to her husband. 34 Mori 1987, II–IV. 35 See Mori’s essay Shôshin to kûkyo, dotchi o toru ka in Ren’ai kankei (1988), 126–132 (also in Fukushû no yô na ai ga shite mitai, 1985, 150–158). 36 Hayase 1989, 425 f. The author Mori Yôko 23 At that time, she had her first serious relationship. Her engagement to the graphic designer Kamegai Shôji ended after one year, but led to a lifelong friendship (for example, she published three books together with him37). In her semi-autobiographical novel Jôji, Mori describes her bitter disappointment exemplified through the protagonist Yôko and her fellow student Shunsuke, who she had expected to marry and on whom she had relied, but who left her unexpectedly to study abroad (tr. 13 ff.): “In the beginning, I felt that due to the naïve misapprehension that I had lost the future and from now on was bound to shudder with bottomless emptiness, I didn’t even know how to handle myself… And as I did not know what to do, there was nothing left than to throw up my arms and to beat with them against the white walls of the rooms, to the verge of my physical strength, again and again, day after day… …. What I had learned from the bitterness of those days was not to hold on too strongly to love, of course, but also to human relationships, to friendship, to my art, and to all realms of human life in general any more.38 Then I reached the decision to try to fly with my own small wings somehow.” In 1963, after her graduation, she exchanged the world of sounds for the realm of words and started work at a public relations agency, where she worked for three years as an advertising copywriter with some success (winning a promotional film competition), and where she also experienced discrimination against women.39 In January 1964, against his and her parents’ will, she married the Englishman Ivan L. Brackin40 whom she had met in the summer of 1963. He had been on a trip around the world which should have ended in Australia, but after having travelled through 43 countries, he got stranded in Japan due to lack of money. Their first apartment was in Higashi–Ikebukuro, and when their income was sufficient, they moved to Den’en Chôfu. She gave birth to three daughters, Heather (b. 1967), Maria (b. 1971) and Naomi Jane (b. 1972). At the time of Heather’s birth, she retired from

37 Mô ichido, Okurahoma mikusa o odorô (Let’s Dance the Oklahoma-Mixer Once More, 1986), Roppongi saido bai saido (Side by Side in Roppongi, 1988), Oishii pasuta (Delicate Pasta, 1991). These are based on a series of essays published under the title Otoko to onna no ito-denwa in the magazine Savvy since 1984. 38 Several of her female protagonists voice the same decision. 39 Matsumoto 1990, 353. 40 Her sister also married a foreigner, a Frenchman who she had met while studying in America and who she later divorced, although they had a daughter. 24 BIOGRAPHY the Asahi advertising company and continued to work as a freelance copywriter, living in Misaki on the Miura peninsula for several years, leading the life of a Japanese housewife and mother (sengyô shufu) and in addition earning a considerable part of the living expenses for her family, because her husband failed to be successful in his business (partly due to his insufficient Japanese) and spent the money he earned on his pleasure.41 In this period of life, which she experienced as frustrating, she spent some time reading fiction, predominantly Western literature (in English as well as translated into Japanese),42 while at the same time expressing a kind of disparagement for Japanese literature.43 Already in school she had been a bookworm,44 and during her studies, she had dedicated herself to French literature, especially Françoise Sagan, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. She also loved Western movies. Upon Heather’s entry into the International Primary School in 1973, they moved to Roppongi to a house rented for her husband’s business. In 1979, they finally moved to Shimo-Kitazawa. Her marriage turned out to be problematic, because her husband proved to be authoritarian45 and at times even despotic.46 In numerous autobiographical essays and statements, Mori explains that she often thought of divorce but could not go through with it because of the children.47 Mori herself supposes that her conflict-ridden marriage,

41 Brackin 1995, 94, with reference to her mother’s diary. 42 Mori/Ono 1993, 112. 43 She considered it lacking in structure and “poor” (binbô-kusai) and critizised that some male authors only depict women as mothers or prostitutes (Mori/Yamada 1994, 51 f.). She regarded Kawabata’s depiction of the woman as the object of elevating esthetical admiration as well as Tanizaki’s depiction as the man-destroying femme fatale not as objective, true-to-life, but subjectively discoloured images of the woman. 44 Hayase 1989, 426. 45 See Mori’s essays Otoko no koken (in Onnazakari no itami, 1983) and Otto no honne to tatakau toki (in Ren’ai kankei, 1985/1988). 46 For example, he imposed a nightly curfew (mongen) not only on his daughters, but also on his wife, as Mori laments in her essays Mongen sensô (in Owari no bigaku, 1993, 240–243) and Musume yori hayai mongen o watashi ni kasu otto (in Fujin kôron 1985/5, 114–116). See also Brackin 1995, 52 f. and 56. 47 See Mori, Rikon no koto, in Onnazakari no itami (1983), 218; Mori/Sasakawa 1991, 196 f.; Mori/Kojima 1991, 364; Nagakawa 1993, 222 f. – Brackin 1995, 43–45 describes in detail that the parents had informed the daughters repeatedly of their decision to divorce (even with their father shedding tears), that the children refused to be involved or to be responsible, and that nevertheless the marriage was kept up with the same marital arguments. The author Mori Yôko 25 which she referred to as “a battle between man and woman”,48 had given her much inspiration for her creative work.49 It was only at the age of 35 when her daughters were in school that she began to write, giving in to an urge she had suppressed for years. In her marriage she gained proficiency in English (as it was the only language used in her family) as well as insiders’ knowledge of the West, and she got many impulses for her creative writing, in particular regarding the confrontation with the West (see chap. III.C.3). In the repeated detailed statements her protagonist Shina makes in Atsui kaze (chap. 3 and 5), which can be understood as autobiographical to a large extent, Shina says she has nurtured the burning wish to write for many years, but did not have the courage to realize it (Atsui kaze 111), not only because of outer obstacles, since her husband constantly discouraged her and tried to deter her (210),50 but also because she had qualms herself, of having to change her habits (109 f.), of not having sufficient material (110, 111), or of having to face difficulties with the publication (210). Mori herself admitted that she had self-doubts, because she had not studied literature.51 Mori explains52 she was encouraged to overcome her inhibitions and to start writing when she heard that Ikeda Masuo (b. 1934), known as a graphic designer, was awarded the Akutagawa Prize for a literary work,53 and this gave her the incentive to write down her first novel, in spite of her education as a violinist. An explanation of Mori’s use of explicit love scenes (e.g. in Jôji) which attracted considerable attention in the Japanese media,54 may be found in Atsui kaze in the example of Shina’s acquaintance R., whose works have been rejected for being too discreet and restrained.

48 Brackin 1995, 92, quotes from Mori’s diary: “My husband became my enemy more and more”. 49 Repeatedly in Ren’ai kankei (1985) and in Famirî repôto (1988); the auto- biographical references in her novels Yûwaku and Atsui kaze also confirm this. 50 This kind of attitude of the protagonist’s husband is depicted even more drastically in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, where he makes her writing responsible for the alienation between them. In Mori 1987, XIV, she quotes her husband who said he hates Mori Yôko and wonders where Itô Masayo has disappeared. 51 Mori/Shimizu 1994, 12; Mori/Agawa 1992, 96. 52 In her introduction to Kaze no yô ni (1987), V–VIII, in her essays Watashi no Karuizawa no ie (1983), 193, and Ikeda Masuo no koto in Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no (1986), 126 f.; see also Hayase 1989, 427. 53 Ége-kai ni sasagu (Dedicated to the Aegean Sea), 1977. 54 Yonaha 1998a, 450. 26 BIOGRAPHY The protagonist Shina in Atsui kaze refuses to follow a strict concept from the beginning of a work and to write a certain amount of pages every day (208), and propagates writing according to one’s mental and physical condition (217). Mori herself emphasizes that because of the demands of being a housewife and mother, in contrast to other colleagues, she could not dedicate herself to writing the whole day, but had to limit her literary productivity to a few hours a day.55 Mori describes the turn in her life from a housewife and mother to a writer in Katei Gahô 3/1988, 308. In the creative act of writing, she found much fulfillment. She says that in writing she felt the purpose of her existence for the first time.56 She chose her pen-name in reference to the well-known violin virtuoso Hayashi Yôko, a former fellow student, by expanding the character hayashi (grove) of her family name for another “tree”-symbol to the character mori (forest). Even though her pen-name was unfavourable because of its phonetic similarity to the Meiji author Mori Ôgai (1862– 1922) and because there are several other women writers with the same family name, e.g. Mori Michiyo (1901–1977), Mori Mari (1903–1987) and Mori Reiko (b. 1928), it proved not to be a disadvantage. I have previously pointed at the pre-eminence57 and the continuing significance58 of her debut work Jôji (1978, Subaru literature Prize, 2nd edition), which has a crucial position in her entire body of work. In Japanese literary criticism, Jôji is regarded as a new kind of literature.59 In many newspaper articles, Jôji is considered Mori’s most significant work, as a corner stone of her body of work.60

55 Mori/Yamada 1994, 45. 56 In her essay Bungaku to no deai in Onnazakari no itami (1988), 153. 57 As the titles indicate, e.g. ‘Jôji’ kara jûgo nen, in Aera July 20, 1993, 65, as well as in More 9/1993, 297–301; ‘Jôji’ no ato de… Please give me a break, sonna ni watashi o semenaide by Kawamura Jirô, in: Aera Mar.16, 1993, 53–57. 58 E.g. Jôji no hate ni iru hitozuma – Mori Yôko: …’Jôji’ ya ‘Kazoku no shôzô’ de furin suru hitozuma o kaita in Da Capo Mar. 1, 2006, 104–105; a book review on Jôji by Hayashi Mariko in Crea 11/2000, 270 (who had published together with and on Mori, e.g. in Crea 5/1990, 58–61, and in Classy 12/1989, 207–212). 59 For example, with the topic of a mixed marriage with a foreigner, with a mature woman (otona no onna) as protagonist, and with a modern, positive re-evaluation of terms with a hitherto negative connotation (e.g. the word jôji “an affair”). See Yamazaki 1995, 194; Hein 2008, 72. 60 Mori/Shimizu 1994, 7–30: ‘Jôji’ ga shôchô suru sekai.- Ôgata Akiko also discusses the main character Yôko of Jôji in her overview on female figures in modern Japanese literature, Gendai bungaku no onnatachi (1988). The author Mori Yôko 27 Mori’s second novel Yûwaku (1980)61 and her fifth work, the novel Kizu (1981), were nominated for the 82nd and the 85th Akutagawa Prize, and her novels Atsui kaze (1982) and Kaze monogatari (Story of the Wind, 1983) were nominated for the 88th and the 89th Naoki Prize.62 From 1982 until 1983,63 Mori subjected herself to five months of psycho-analytic therapy64 to support the treatment of her youngest daughter, which she integrated into her fiction repeatedly, most prominently into her novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô (Every Night Cradle, Boat or Battlefield, 1983), in which the I-narrator’s husband strictly opposes the psycho-therapy and does not only doubt the treatment, but considers it a negative outcome that both mother and daughter gain self-confidence and thus become more rebellious. Mori wrote down this novel while undergoing therapy. Two years later, she also integrated this experience into her novel Sakebu watashi (I am Screaming, 1985), which is based on the tapes of the treatment and is written in a non-fiction style. As a professional writer, in addition to seemingly endless creative productivity, Mori was obliged to keep numerous appointments for interviews, TV talk shows and social activities arranged for her by the Japanese publishing companies.65 Mori was a very prolific writer. With her considerable literary productivity she reached not only financial independence and auto­ nomy, but also an unforeseeable increase in her family’s living standard.66 In 1987, she commented67 that in writing four hours every day, she earned fifty million Yen per year, which even increased in later

61 Instead, Mori Reiko received the coveted prize in 1980 for a work comparable in content to Mori Yôko’s Yûwaku – the novella Mokkinbâdo no iru machi (The Town of the Mocking Birds), in which she describes the life of a Japanese woman married to an American, living in a small town in the U.S., where she encounters prejudice and feels estranged and lonely. 62 See Mori’s brief biography in Fukushû no yô na ai ga shite mitai (1985), 256. Sano 1985, 235, comments on Mori’s delighted reaction to the nomination. 63 According to information in her novel Sakebu watashi (1985), 6. 64 From the therapist Kôno Kiyomi. – See Mori’s essay Serapisuto no koto in Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no (1986), 137–140, and the last chapter of Sakebu watashi entitled Serapî no saishûkai, 331–347. 65 In her diary in Bungei shunjû 10/1999, 342, Kirino Natsuo says that her work- load since she was awarded the Naoki Prize “will shorten her life”; see also Yoshida- Krafft 1980, 200 66 Brackin 1995, 45 f. 67 In Shûkan Sankei Dec. 24, 1987, 93, and Jan. 21, 1988, 56–59. 28 BIOGRAPHY years.68 In her book Famirî repôto (1988), 217, Mori gives ten books per year as the limit of her writing. For example in 1991, two years before she died, she published seven books (first publications), and from April to October she wrote a daily short short story of approximately one thousand characters in the evening edition of the Asahi shinbun. She was one of the most well-known best selling authors in Japan. Her reputation brought her additional advertising revenues. For two years, she used to write literary advertising copies twice a month for the Takashimaya department store, which in 1991 set up a so-called “Mori-Yôko-corner” on the 4th floor of their Nihonbashi department store, where gift-articles were sold under her name,69 followed by a second branch in the Kyôto department store in 1992. Mori was regarded as a sophisticated woman and was interviewed on dishes70 and drinks,71 on fashion, perfumes72 and make-up,73 on ambience, trips and even on cars. In 1987, on her husband’s wish,74 she bought a Canadian island near Vancouver with the name “Norway Island” as a summer resort instead of Karuizawa. From the summer of 1989 until the summer of 1990, she rebuilt her home in Shimo-Kitazawa, at the time living in Higashi-Gotanda, and also built a Spanish-style villa in Yoronjima. Such a professional success demands a complete deferment of the writer’s private life. Although Mori employed a housekeeper and a secretary, her marriage, her family life and the education of her three daughters75 had to take a back seat.76

68 E.g. because some of her works were designed as television drama series, such as Onnazakari (1984; Nihon Terebi Apr. 9–Jul. 30, 1984) and Dezâto wa anata (1991; TBS Oct. 10, 1993–Mar. 20, 1994, in 20 parts). 69 See Asahi shinbun May 18, 1991. 70 See Mori’s publications Oishii pasuta, PHP kenkyûsho 1991; Mori Yôko no ryôri techô, Kôdansha 1994, and others. 71 E.g. on wine in Shûkan Asahi Sep. 15, 1989, 60–61. 72 E.g. in More 9/1989, 15; in Shufu no tomo 8/1989, 40–43. 73 E.g. in Croissant Mar. 25, 1984, 5. 74 See Brackin 1995, 45. 75 All her three daughters studied in England, Naomi also studied in the U.S. and in Italy (Florence). Heather married a Belgian in her first marriage, with whom she lived in Brussels for some time. Mori was proud of her daughter’s international marriage, as her report Berugî no kekkon shinfonî – Oyako ni-dai ni watasu kokusai kekkon in Winds 7/1991 shows. 76 Nakamura 1993, 222–224; see also similar quotations on the topic by Tsuboi Sakae and Enchi Fumiko in Yoshida-Krafft 1980, 201. The author Mori Yôko 29 In 1987, Mori wrote:77 “Whenever I look at my husband’s thin hair, I feel pierced by a feeling of regret that because of my writing, I have neglected my husband and treated him badly and let him down.” And regarding his wish to sail out into the world with a yacht which she bought for him,78 she adds: “So I am going to lose my husband one day.” However, she did not lose him, as she had feared, instead he lost her only a few years later through her untimely death.

After I had been in correspondence with the author for some time and she had sent me forty of her books as a present,79 I first met Mori Yôko at the end of July 1991 when she came to Germany for the Munich opera festival. I spent four days with her, while she invited me to the opera, to several meals and included me in all her appointments. One afternoon, the Bavarian State Opera was reserved for a photo-shooting with her on behalf of two Japanese magazines,80 and she was photographed in elegant evening gowns in the opera halls, on the staircases and behind the stage. She was a youthful, attractive woman with charisma and a natural dignity. Personally, she was warm-hearted, frank and unpretentious. She liked Germany, which she visited for the first time, and said she would even like to learn German. She told me about the difficulties with her two younger daughters, the vivacious Maria and the withdrawn Naomi.81 She invited me to her elegant, rebuilt house in Shimo-Kitazawa,82 where I visited her in September 1992 and met her husband Ivan

77 Mori 1987, XVI. 78 Fulfilling all his requests, she had also bought him expensive suits, a car and then a Porsche, later even houses, and she financed his enterprises and his partner’s salary; see Brackin 1995, 45. See also the chapter Kôfuku na otto Aivan in Itô Mitsuo, Mori Yôko – Waga musume no danshô, Bungei shunjû 1989, 101–121. 79 I have marked them with an asterisk in the catalogue of Mori’s book publications. They may give a clue as to which books she valued personally at the time. 80 The photos were published in Bungei shunjû 10/1991, 91–93, and in Fujin kôron 11/1991, 38–40. 81 See Mori’s conversation with Naomi in Mine Jun. 25, 1988, 10–11. Ivan Brackin writes about his daughters in Fujin kôron 6/1989, 140–144. 82 Near the station Setagaya-Daita on the Odakyû-line; she sent me a description of the way in her handwriting per fax. 30 BIOGRAPHY Brackin, a charming and witty person.83 Her father who she used to take care of, lived in the adjoining house on the same property. I showed her my translation of the novel Jôji, which she was happy to see, and we also talked about her other early novels. She felt she did not look well that day because she had been crying over the movie Dead Poets’ Society.84 This was probably a hint that she already knew at that time that she was seriously ill.

Half a year later, in March 1993, she got the diagnosis that she was ailing from stomach cancer. While receiving medical treatment at the Tama City Hospital, she sent poems per fax to her friends. When her physical condition worsened drastically in early June, she prepared her farewell from her family and her work as well as her funeral. She received a Catholic baptism under the name Teresia Masayo Brackin. On July 6, 1993, she died at the age of 52. On July 8, she had a Catholic funeral in the St. Ignatio Church in Yotsuya, Tôkyô.

One of her last great works was her translation of the American novel Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley85 in 1992, on which she worked exclusively for about one year and made extensive studies on the original locations in Atlanta and Scotland, and for which she made an exhausting promotion tour through Japan. As a farewell to her readership, in May 1993 she published a collection of 48 autobiographical essays with the title Owari no bigaku (The Esthetics of the End, with the subtitle L’esthetique de l’adieu). One week before her death, the collection of essays Otoko-go onna- go hon’yaku shinan (Translation Guide on the Language of Men and Women) written by her and Horiike Hideto was published, where he presents the male view and Mori the female view in 24 chapters. Mori has compiled a selection of her own works in nine volumes at Shûeisha, which appeared posthumously.

83 I stayed in touch with him for a while after Mori’s death. The combining link between him and the protagonist Phil of the novels Yûwaku and Atsui kaze is that a world trip had brought him to Japan. – There are photos of him in Mori 1987, XV (with Mori) and in Brackin 1995, 165 (with Maria), 49 (with the daughters), 27, 137 and 211 (with the family). 84 Oscar-awarded movie, USA 1988, with a socio-critical message. 85 1934–2004. Scarlett (published in 1991 and made into a TV series in 1994) is the successor novel to Gone With the Wind (1936, made into a film in 1939) by Margret Mitchell (1900–1949). The author Mori Yôko 31 The collection Shina to iu na no onna (A Famous Woman Named Shina, published posthumously in June 1994), which comprises 16 short stories, starting with Namida no kubi-kazari (Necklace of Tears) and ending with the title story, is certainly written with the anticipation of death and is said to be her last work.86

Her father Itô Mitsuo continued to publish her works after her death: her uncompleted historical novel Kapitan (The Captain, 1994), on which she had been working since early 1993, and the volume Waga musume no danshô (Fragments From My Daughter, 1998),87 and in this context he also published several magazine articles.88

Several years after her death, her second daughter Maria Brackin used her mother’s undiminished popularity for publications of her own, mainly in her book − Chiisa na kaigara – Haha Mori Yôko to watashi (The Little Shell – My Mother Mori Yôko and I, 1995),

as well as in magazine articles, in which she describes the strained relationship to her mother, as some of the titles show, for example: − ‘Aisenai, aisarenai’ to nayami-tsuzuketa haha e (To Mother, Who Kept Lamenting ‘I cannot love and I am not loved’), in More 7/96, 340–346; − Mana-musume ga hajimete akashita ningen Mori Yôko-san: Haha o kogashita furin – ‘Jôji’ no moderu, hakken sareta nikki ni tsuzurarete ita! (Mori Yôko as a person, for the first time disclosed by her favourite daughter: The Unfaithfulness my Mother Yearned for – The Model for ‘Jôji’, Described in the Discovered Diary!), in Shûkan Josei, Jan. 30, 1996, 226–227; − Waga haha Mori Yôko to no ‘naguriai danzetsu no hibi’ to ‘byôshô de no bôda no namida’ – Shôgeki no shi kara ni-nen, jijo Maria-san ga hajimete akashita haha-ko sôzetsu hiwa (‘Days of Fights and Relation Brake-offs’ and ‘Streams of Tears at the Sickbed’ with my Mother Mori Yôko – Deep­ ly moving secrets on mother and daughter, for the first time revealed by her second daughter Maria), in Josei Seven, Jul. 27, 1995, 70–76.

86 According to Cosmopolitan 7/1994, 110 f. 87 In Bessatsu Bungei shunjû Apr.1, 1998, 356–444. 88 E.g. in Fujin kôron 9/1993, 206–211; Subaru 7/1994, 238–250; Hon no hanashi 6/1998, 76–79, the last-mentioned together with Maria Brackin. 32 BIOGRAPHY Mori Yôko produced her extensive body of work of more than 100 works – novels, short story collections and essay collections – in the relatively short creative period of fifteen years, which means she wrote an average of seven books a year. She gained new creative impulses on numerous trips abroad.

On the occasion of her death, several magazines published memorial editions (e.g. Madamu, Oct. 18, 1993) and more than thirty obituaries on her, among them a number by prominent critics and authors like Yamada Eimi (who had already published together with Mori in 1988 and 1990 and had written a commentary for her collection Hoteru sutôrî from 1986), Kuroi Senji, Nakamura Shin’ichirô, Kawamura Jirô and others. Magazine articles on Mori Yôko (see chap. VI.D) keep appearing up to the present day. III. INTRATEXTUAL ANALYSIS

of the novels Kizu, Shitto, Jôji, Yûwaku and Atsui kaze and of the short story collections Beddo no otogibanashi and Beddo no otogibanashi Part II

III.A. FORMAL CRITERIA

III.A.1. Stylistic means of language Mori’s spontaneous, often shrewd and witty language impresses by its naturalness and closeness to the language of the people (fûzoku­ sei), which shows mainly in her dialogues, with a large vocabulary, with its richness of nuance and its agility.89 Japanese critics describe her style as elegant,90 as intellectually stimulating91 and “as clear as the air in the heights”.92 Mori’s natural and lifelike depiction and her renunciation of artificial stylistic means are general characteristics of women’s writing (écriture féminine),93 common in the works of many women authors of modern Japanese literature, for instance in the works

89 In contrast to simple entertainment or trivial literature, which is marked by “standardized forms of language” and a “limited vocabulary” (restricted code), see Zimmermann 1972, 403 with footnote 43. 90 Horiike Hideto in his commentary to Mori’s collection Sasowarete (paperback 1990). 91 Horiike (see above) as well as Nakazawa Kei in her commentary on Mori’s collection Onna to otoko (paperback 1987). 92 Hayase 1989, 422. 93 Jurgensen 1982, 488; Frederiksen 1989, 89. 34 FORMAL CRITERIA of Tawara Machi94 and Miyabe Miyuki.95 In Mori’s novels, there is an increased use of metaphors and an unusually frequent use of English words and expressions. Mori sometimes makes use of idiomatic expressions and neologisms which are not listed in dictionaries and have to be made accessible by isotopic analysis through etymologically related expressions. In the colloquial passages, there are contractions of words, and sentences are sometimes left incomplete. Mori’s seemingly easy, fluid and smooth language is, however, difficult to translate. Mori’s language acquires musicality and a pleasant tone through poetical stylistic means like alliterations, internal rhymes and sequences of consonants or vocals. Mori frequently makes use of doubled adverbial expressions typical for the Japanese language, and her language gains popularity through puns and proverbial sayings. In the novels, we find plays on kanji and sometimes a preference for ruby readings which enrich the text with nuances of meaning, particularly in the novel Yûwaku which is written in a more scriptural style with longer passages of compact prose, probably because it was written in the hope of winning the Akutagawa Prize. In contrast, the novel Atsui kaze, which was nominated for the Naoki Prize, is written in a more colloquial style with much more dialogues and shows another difficulty: the complete lack of quotation marks and of paragraphs. Instead, a change of the speaker in the same paragraph is only indicated by a comma, which makes the text more difficult to read, especially when the speech of different persons of the same sex is not distinguished. Her novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô is written in this style, too, in the same way as Kurahashi Yumiko’s story Parutai (1960, Engl. tr. Partei) and Ôba Minako’s novel Urashima- sô (1977) (see chap. V.C.2.7) and others. These stylistic means serve to create a similarity with the fluid style of the court-ladies’ literature of the Heian period, and at the same time to depict a mental discourse in the protagonist’s stream of consciousness in the manner of the French Nouveau Roman. Stylistic means Mori uses to render her texts a certain lyricism are the use of comparisons, metaphors, images and of symbolism. In addition to common metaphors, she often uses original ones she has created herself. In the novels, these stylistic means are more frequent, more extensive and of more lyrical content than in the short stories.

94 See Mitomi 1990, 20 with footnote 4, who quotes Shioda Tsutomu. 95 See Diana Donath 2007b, 577–606. Stylistic means of language 35 Mori’s language achieves a particular firmness of expression through her use of double-expressions which appear like pleonasms, but serve to enrich the text with connotations and to emphasize her statements. In the same way, repetitions of kanji-combinations, phrases or sentences serve to stress certain aspects, and also to characterize persons and situations, or to structure the text. Mori’s language contains far more gairaigo than the average modern Japanese,96 mostly from English, but occasionally also from French, Italian and Spanish. In addition to those customary in Japa­ nese, she introduces new gairaigo from the Western cultural environ­ ment for the first time and is in this regard innovative in language and shows an international and transcultural attitude. Especially in the novels and stories which are set in England or in English speaking areas such as the former British colonies Hong Kong and Singapore, where she wants to characterize the foreign atmosphere, Mori introduces an unusually large number of English words, expressions and phrases in katakana or rômaji. Moreover, she often gives an English translation or transcription next to the Japanese text, thus making her reader familiar with English phrases and curses. Besides, especially in Atsui kaze, her text has a high density of katakana, for numerous names of persons and places are given in katakana. The following examples for Mori’s most prominent stylistic means are mainly taken from three selected stories (1, 3, 6) of Beddo no otogibanashi97 as well as from the five novels.98 a) Pleonasms, partly with enriching connotations: – arata ni kakekonde kuru shinkyaku 8 a 10–11 – atatakasa... atsuku kanjirarete 8 a 14–15 – hôbeni o tsukatte aka o haku 30 a 6–7 – aka o sashi... akabake de 30 a 11–12

96 On the topic of Mori’s use of gairaigo see also Moroi Kaoru 1988, 203–208. On the general Japanese use of gairaigo see Hijiya-Kirschnereit 2003, 1–2. 97 I give the page number of the edition mentioned in the introduction chap.I. Regarding the examples of the short stories, p 7–14 refer to Niwaka-ame, p 24–32 to Buradî merî, p 52–60 to Onna-tomodachi; a means above (the upper half of the page), b means below (the lower half of the page). Regarding the examples of the novels, I give the numbers of the page and the line (lbo = last but one, l = last line). In the subdivision of metaphors etc., I quote my above-mentioned German translation, Berlin 1995. 98 For the novels, the page number refers to the earlier mentioned paperback edition at Shûeisha: Kizu 5th ed. 1987, Shitto 21st ed. 1991, Yûwaku (in Jôji) 23rd ed. 1990, Atsui kaze 7th ed. 1990. For Jôji, I quote my translation, Berlin 1995. 36 FORMAL CRITERIA – moshikashitara …ka o shirenai to iu kanôsei ni; Atsui kaze 135/2 – soboku de kanari tanjun; Yûwaku 167/3 l – nomi-hoshite kara ni suru; Atsui kaze 167/2 – kotoba o saegitta …shitsumon ni warikomaseru; Yûwaku 149/1 b) Repetitions: Intensification: nigedaseru mono nara nigetai 32 b 8 sukuiageru yô na me de mi- 8 b 5 / sukuiageru metsuki de miageta 9 b 18 ôkiku me o mihiraite… mitsumeta 32 a 7–8 zen’in ga zen’in… 5 a 7 jibun ga jibun igai... 13 b 11 jikaku... jishin... shizen 56 a 5, 6, 7 (3 times the same kanji) honki... honne 58 a 19, 20 twice: omoidashita 59 b 19, 21 twice, intended as parallels: kaeshi-kaketa…sasayaki-kaketa 29 b 18–19, 20 Emphasis for the purpose of characterization: katahô no kuchi no hashi o yugamete… kuchi no katagawa o yugamasete 9 b 19 and 10 a 19 twice: ittaikan o musaboru 9 b 3, 10 a 17 twice: doko ni de mo iru 12 a 10, 13 b 11 twice mochiawase, and mochiawaseta; Atsui kaze 174/4+l, 175/12 4 times: uwaki 54 a 13, 14, 16, 16 4 times uku: ukiagari chû ni ukaite... uki-uki to... ukanda; Atsui kaze 176 ff. 5 times: nokisaki 7 b 14, 16, 8 a 2, 8, 10 7 times: kata 31 a 18, 21, 31 b 3, 8, 18, 19, 20 Ironical expressions: Asako to Asako no... 56 a 2 Igirisu ga ichiban Igirisu-rashii…; Atsui kaze 82 inaka no shukujo no shukujoburi…; Yûwaku 177/2 4 times (characterized as an empty phrase) shigoto ni ikiru (michi) 57 a 2–3, 7, 13–14, 16 5 times: nodobotoke (accumulation of the vocal o) 11 b 10, 11, 16, 20, 12 a 14 Connection of sentences: chiyahoya sareta. Chiyahoya sare wa 54 b 21, 55 a 1 Stylistic means of language 37 kanseiteki ni sugite chiteki de nai koto. Sore ni kanseiteki ni sugite chiteki de nai ningen ga…; Atsui kaze 132/8 f. c) Metaphors, comparisons, symbolism: Examples from the three short stories 1, 3, 6: The city lights twinkled like scattered shooting stars; tr.108 The red backlights of the cars became blurred on the wet asphalt; tr.135 The wave of cars in the traffic jam; tr.135 The wave of people streaming out of the station exit; tr.131 As many customers as grapefruits on a dripping tree; tr.131 People ran off like running ants; tr.139 Enduring everything like patient sheep; tr.135 Her hair stuck to her forehead and her neck like seaweed; tr.132 Her feet… cold as dead fish; tr.136 A woman like a dead fish; tr.137 The tips of her cold toes were a symbol of her divorce; tr.137 As if she was poured with a cold shower; tr.115 She ached as if her chest was laced up; tr.141 The feeling as if a hole had suddenly opened up in her chest; tr.128 As if her body was in iron chaines; tr.115 The words stabbed her like thorns; tr.124 She felt as if standing in front of a dizzy abyss; tr.134 A feeling as if the typical red autumn leaves were bleached; tr.136 (Scentless) as if he had come from the cleaner’s; tr.140 Kazumi, a blossom of the unattainable peak; tr.121 Inner brakes (as a moral support); tr.125 Examples from the novels: The black forest looked like the back of a dinosaur ducked along the horizon; Yûwaku 157 The raindrops banging on the windscreen of the car burst into transparent, formless amoebas which multiply, swell up and fade away; Atsui kaze 62 The shrieking of the tropical night birds sounded like eerie, hysterically shrill children’s laughter; Atsui kaze 191 Phil put down the phone as if he dropped a heavy anchor; Atsui kaze 196 The female protagonist feels like littered with silver dust (Reiko in Kizu 33, when she had the Guarneri violin) or with gold dust (Takako in story II 10) 38 FORMAL CRITERIA The man opens the woman’s clenched fist by unclenching her fingers one by one (as a symbol of decoding her secret); Shitto 78 and Kizu 179

Especially the feeling of being shut in and oppressed is often expressed by metaphors: In the plane which dives into dense white clouds, Shina feels like she is locked in a milk bottle; Yûwaku 115 Under the streaming downpour, Shina feels like she is imprisoned in the belly of a drum; Atsui kaze 60 The hotel, isolated under a cover of rain, seems to Shina as if it was filled with the screams of mute ghosts;Atsui kaze 72 During her studies of music, Yôko felt enclosed in music like in a hard, transparent shell from which she had to slough off; Jôji tr.15 d) Anglicanisms: Examples from Atsui kaze: konkurîto horikku (concrete-holic) 147 kyattsu ando dogguzu (cats and dogs) 62 uôkingu shûzu (walking shoes) 77 mantorupîsu (mantelpiece) 39 sukuramburudo eggusu (scrambled eggs) 81 ff. mirukutî (milk-tea) 81 kidonî to masshurûmu (kidney and mushroom) 82 ff. za taimuzu (The Times) 79 (often)

English as furigana or in the text: â sô da to mo / ô iesu ofukôsu (oh yes of course) 10 go-kigen ikaga / hau â yû (how are you) 15 genki / ôrai (alright) 11 (often) mochiron / ai betto (I bet) 65 shinjirarenai / ai kanto birîvo ito (I can’t believe it) 193 suteki na onnatachi / wandafuru uimen (wonderful women) 162 ude / tekunikku (technique) 161 teono / akkusu (axe) 63 jôdan mo ii tokoro / gurêto jôku (great joke) 68 hiniku de kurushisa / shinikaru ando sawâ (cynical and sour) 129 tôsuto wa dono yô ni / hau yû raiku yua tôsuto, followed by the correction in rômaji: how would you like your toasts 83 kôhi to kôcha wa dochira ni / kohî oa tî (coffee or tea) 83 Stylistic means of language 39 arigatai koto ni / sankusu Goddo (thank God) 159 nan te koto da / Gozzu seiku (for God’s sake) 42 Jîzesu (Jesus) / nan te koto da 53 (rômaji) Jesus Christ / (katakana) nan datte 53 (rômaji) oh Dad, please / â tôsan onegai da kara 43 (rômaji) smart lady she is / sumâto reidî 173 (rômaji) God knows why / yatsura ni kiite kure 145 English and French words in katakana: ueru (well), purîsu (please) 39, 40 (often) veri guddo / veri guddo indîdo (very good indeed) 171 (often) merushi madamu e musshû (merci madame et monsieur) 68 Jîzesu Kuraisuto (Jesus Christ) 80 Jîzesu Kuraisuto yû sutabun monsutâ (Jesus Christ you stubborn monster) 44

Examples from the other novels: hotte oite chôdai / rîvu mî arôn (leave me alone); Kizu 133 oyaoya, eigo ga dekiru n ja nai no / maimai yû supîku Ingurisshu (My my, you speak English); Kizu 134 chikushô, chikushô! / damudamu (damn damn); Yûwaku 199 sawatte mite. Totemo suteki yo / fîru, itsu naisu (feel, it’s nice); Shitto 25 (rômaji) I kill the Fucking Bastard (sic!) / yatsura o koroshite yaru; Shitto 25 (rômaji) fucking good… bloody nice; Kizu 149 (katakana) guddorakku ando guddotaimu (good luck and a good time); Kizu 134

One third of the titles of Mori’s works and many titles of chapters contain English words in katakana or rômaji, or she uses original English titles (e.g. of the chapters of the novel Daburu koncheruto, 1988). In addition to the above-mentioned function of conveying the atmosphere of her foreign settings, Mori sometimes uses English words as a stylistic means of characterizing the liberal Western way of thinking.99

99 In story 3, the woman confirms the man’s question if she would befree for an adventure, in a direct and frank manner with yes. In story 4, the protagonist’s younger lover answers her question if he considers the aged female singer desirable, with yes, etc. Yes (iesu) is also frequently used in Atsui kaze (e.g. 39 f.).

Function of the dialogue 41

III.A.2. Function of the dialogue

Mori Yôko’s preference lies in the depiction of life-like dialogues. As direct speech is the text form generally preferred by the reader,100 the large number of dialogues is an essential means for the popularization of the text. In the short stories of the Beddo no otogibanashi-collections, there are three types of stories regarding the quantity of dialogues: − Stories written in the colloquial style, which mainly consist of dialogues with only a few transition texts and which can partly be read like a stage play. Hereby, the dialogue has the function to characterize the acting persons as well as to carry the entire plot and thus the tension development. Prominent examples of the colloquial style are the stories 3, II 19 and II 20. − Stories written in the narrative style, though intermingled with dialogue. In this case, the protagonist’s thoughts often remain unspoken. The few spoken words characterize crucial turns of the plot and have the function to propel the plot forward considerably. Prominent examples of the narrative style are the stories 1, 27 and II 28. − Finally the mixed style, consisting of both forms, where the type of story with the narrative style in a shorter first part and the colloquial style in a longer second part of the story usually prevails. Here, the dialogue is predominant, both in its scale and its function, for it once again takes over significant parts of the plot. Prominent examples of this style are story 6 and II 24. The mastery of the development of the dialogue proves to be one of Mori’s main assets. The dialogues are sometimes written with such virtuosity and refinement that they reflect Mori’s capability as a writer, and they also show Mori’s psychological sense, for they seem so natural that the reader can easily identify with the acting persons.

100 Giesenfeld 1971, 315. 42 FORMAL CRITERIA Dialogues on the phone are frequent in the short stories.101 For example in the one-person-piece II 38 Azen (Dumbfounded), the con­ versation on the phone (with the protagonist’s boy-friend) is crucial for the plot and the literary message of the story.

In the novels, too, Mori designs the plot or the literary intention, wherever it is possible, in the form of a dialogue or an inner monologue. However, it is the nature of the narrative form of the novel that in comparison to the short stories it contains much more lyrical sequences, descriptions of locations and landscapes and detailed atmospheric images,102 which sometimes have a substantial function, as well as socio- critical and philosophical contemplation (see chap. III.A.4).

Depending on the degree of familiarity of the characters, the mode of expression differs in politeness or directness. The more familiar the protagonists are with each other, the more colloquial forms and linguistic contractions they tend to use in their speech, especially in arguments. In the dialogues of the novels, it is more clearly noticeable than in the short stories that the author characterizes the acting persons (among other stylistic means) by differing dictions and modes of expressions. A distinct example is the difficult language of the intellectual, arrogant and cynical journalist Al Spencer in Atsui kaze chap. 4 and 5.

One of Mori’s strong points lies in the depiction of dialogues among marital partners, mainly escalating arguments arising out of banalities and trivialities, which she writes with much psychological understanding (see chap. III.B.3), or conversations between people talking at cross purposes, or such describing misunderstandings and alienation. The author often creates conversations where the characters do not see each other’s point and do not really confront a certain problem, but where each one follows his own chain of thought and persists in his viewpoint or his topic of discussion even after an interruption

101 Mori’s preference for dialogues on the phone and for the motif of the phone are reflected e.g. in her collection of stories Anata ni denwa (1989), in the title story of Middonaito kôru (1984), in the stories Denwa in Manekarenakatta onnatachi (1982) and Mayonaka no denwa in Onna to otoko (1984). 102 E.g. Shimizu 1982, 231 f., points out some particularly atmospheric images in Jôji. Function of the dialogue 43 (especially in Yûwaku). Here, talking at cross purposes serves to demonstrate that the former way of living together has been replaced by leading one’s own separate life in a relationship. Sometimes an intended dialogue is shortened to a monologue, when one of the partners starts to utter words of apology, of gentle­ ness or of parting to the other one who cannot hear them anymore (because he has fallen asleep or for acoustical reasons),103 for example:

− Adam cannot know if Reiko has heard his fading words of sympathy (Kizu 184); − Mai does not hear her husband’s words of apology (Shitto 148); − In a torrential downpour, Shina is expected to repeat words which will not reach her husband anyway (Atsui kaze 60).

These attempts at contact which end in vain are another form of demonstrating isolation in a relationship.

With her partly excessive depiction of arguments, especially those of the protagonists Shina and Phil in the novels Yûwaku and Atsui kaze, it is Mori’s aim to introduce the Western culture of argumentation to her Japanese readers, which is unfamiliar to them. Although it is based on an open-minded readiness for confrontation, rather than solving conflicts, arguments can even exacerbate them, and Mori shows that they mainly serve to humiliate the female Japanese conversational partner. It is especially through the depiction of such marital arguments that the male protagonist of both novels, Phil, comes to life as a well- shaped character.

103 The motif of one-sided addressing someone is used repeatedly by Kirino Natsuo in her Naoki-prize awarded novel Yawaraka na hoho (1999) chap. 5 and 6 in the sense that a confession is made easier when the other one does not hear it to the end.

Quickly progressing narration in the short stories 45

III.A.3. Quickly progressing narration in the short stories

With great precision, the short stories of the two Beddo no otogi- banashi collections are of the same concentrated shortness. The strict limitation of the length may be due to a requirement of the magazine Shûkan bunshun in which the stories were published before they appeared as books at Bungei Shunjû.

Mori’s short stories do not show any shortcomings resulting from the limited length.104 On the contrary, Mori presents an amazing variety of topics, of problem constellations and of the viewpoint. Following a short introduction on the season or the protagonist’s personal or professional background, the problem constellation, unique in each story, is described in a quickly progressing development of the plot. Thus, Japanese publishing companies characterize Mori’s short stories as “speedy”.

In spite of the limited length, Mori always makes use of literary stylistic means in the short stories, too. There are comprised lyrical passages and poetic descriptions of the scenery, which appear like a splash of colour, and seasonal atmospheric images. For example: − autumn leaves swirling around in the cold November wind (7), − the steaming sea in winter which soaks in the whirling snow flakes (II 21), − the fallen cherry blossom petals washed away by rainpours in muddy roadside ditches in spring (II 31), etc.

104 Zimmermann 1972, 401 and 404, argues that both the restriction of the number of pages and the time pressure of periodical publishing can be regarded as negative factors, because these limitations enforced on the author by marketing aspects might be detrimental to the author’s creative spirit and to the esthetic qualities of his work. Weber 1984, 404 says that the outer standardization (the shortage of the amount of pages and of the time for writing) can result in an inner standardization. A proof of the contrary is the high literary quality e.g. of the works Charles Dickens’ wrote for magazines. 46 FORMAL CRITERIA Such images create a poetic atmosphere specific to each short story. Almost all stories contain references on the surroundings, on the weather, the climate and the season, and some of the stories stress this aspect in the title, like Sudden Shower (1), Spring Storm (27), Sea and Wind (30), On a Winter Morning (II 18), Snow (II 21) etc.

Furthermore, the short stories also contain contemplations, for example on reasons for the development of relationships, like emotional estrangement (II 18) and the waning of one’s own emotion (II 4), the brevity and frailty of life, or one’s aims in life (II 35), etc.

Moreover, Mori also raises social and political issues in several of the short stories. For example, she criticizes social abuses (II 10) and discusses social restrictions and reasons for female unfaithfulness (17). In one story alone (II 22), she addresses the issues of xenophobia, of Aids and of the non-smoker-campaign. She points at the perils of smoking (II 22) and denounces smoking as a bad habit (II 40).

The literary message of the short story is often conveyed with a surprising directness and frankness, intended as a provocation which has a special appeal. This is all the more striking in the stories of the second volume, many of which have a satirical nature and are written with a sharp and cynical undertone.

The fact that the problem constellation and the literary intention are conveyed in a suspenseful form on a few pages, which report essential events in a person’s life, shows that Mori’s short stories precisely match the definition of the literary category of the short story. Slowly progressing narration in the novels 47

III.A.4. Slowly progressing narration by means of repetition and discussion in the novels

Mori Yôko uses the technique of repeating key experiences and of enriching each repetition with additional information, thus gradually completing the picture. The description of the persons is usually vague in the beginning (they are only referred to as “the man”, “the woman”, “he/she”, “the other woman”), gaining more and more contours in the course of the novel, in appearance as well as in character, and their names are often given at a much later point of time. Two examples: − In Kizu, the reader only gets to know the first name of the I-narrator once the narration has progressed to a certain point, when her violin teacher addresses her (40). Her family name is revealed even later, through the hotel receptionist in Paris addressing her (63), and again on her first telephone call with Adam (70). − In Shitto, the protagonist’s rival is only referred to as “the other woman” or “that woman” for the greatest part of the novel, only in the last fifth of the novel (130) her name Yasuko is casually mentioned.

This narrative technique of giving information only scarcely in the beginning and extending and varying it later, has the disadvantage of leaving the reader to his own imagination, having to correct the picture later, when the author supplies detailed information. This is especially the case in Kizu where throughout nearly the entire novel, the reader is given the wrong assumption that the Guarneri violin has been taken from Reiko, until shortly before the end of the novel it turns out that she herself has refused it. The more didactic method to introduce a character right at his first appearance with his name, a description of his looks, and a hint at basic character traits, is used in Jôji, which is not about separation, but primarily about the beginning of a relationship, and where, after short introductory scenes, the protagonists are introduced to each other, and the female protagonist’s impression of the male protagonist is described vividly (tr. 25). 48 FORMAL CRITERIA A prominent example for enhanced repetition is Mori’s description of the process how the protagonist Shina in Atsui kaze comes to the decision to begin to write, against the discouragement and the repeated attempts at obstruction from her husband. In several approaches to the subject, in part with near word-for-word repetitions of her earlier text, she adds more and more reasons and justifications for her decision as well as counterarguments, doubts and uncertainties. In this way she emphasizes her literary intention. Thus, Mori makes use of a narrative technique which is common in upper level entertainment fiction, like in criminal stories and psycho­ logical thrillers, adventure stories, science fiction and fantasy.105

In the novels, the pace of narration is also slowed down because the author leaves room for discussions of general problems, of cultural and contemporary issues, which are often given in the form of dialogue. A few examples: − In 1980, Mori points to the risks of passive smoking, e.g. of contracting cancer (Yûwaku 152).106 − She introduces a pension debate, arguing that society is debited by the fact that several working persons have to pay into the social and retirement insurance in order to support one pensioner or unemployed person. She makes the remarkable comment that childless pensioners who have no descendants to pay for them, should accept less pension payments from society (Atsui kaze chap. 1). − She refers to the strict environment regulations in Singapore, where throwing away cigarette butts can result in drastic pecuniary penalties (Atsui kaze 165). − She criticizes that Japan is “being buried under concrete”,107 among other reasons because of concrete embankment for the purpose

105 Suzuki Kôji’s bestseller Loop (1993, Engl. tr. The Ring III 2005) gives a distinct example of this technique with the repeated hints at the mysterious localization of the subterranean research center in the American desert, enriching each repetition with further information. 106 Ôba Minako points to the danger of active smoking in her story Aoi kitsune (1973, Engl. tr. The Pale Fox 1985), where the protagonist says the cigarettes had killed her mother. Yamada Eimi also warns of the perils of smoking in her short story Body Cocktail in Hôkago no kînôto (1989, see chap. V.C.2.10). 107 Mori uses the expression konkurîto-horikku (concrete-addict, 147) which is also the title of an essay in her collection Puraibêto taimu (1986, 35–37). The subject of artificial land reclamation by embankment of the sea is also addressed by Murakami Haruki in Hitsuji o meguru bôken (1982, Engl. tr. Wild Sheep Chase 1989). Slowly progressing narration in the novels 49 of artificial land reclamation, and that profit-seeking Japanese construction companies are clearing the primeval forests in Indonesia (Atsui kaze chap. 4). − The overpopulation of the world is discussed, which could end in a war of famine, and the question is raised if the individual should forego having descendants by means of sterilization, which leads to the contemplation how much an individual counts and is worth with regards to entire mankind (Atsui kaze chap. 4). − Mori addresses the problem of the starving children in the world (Jôji tr. 54). − In her story Iruka (Dolphins), Mori incorporates experiences from her early childhood in China from the Second World War, e.g. memories of starving Chinese children. − In Jôji (tr. 54), she criticizes the Christianization of parts of Africa, which started with missionary activities, and in her short story Shishiza no onna (The Lion-Woman, in Horosukôpu monogatari, 1985), she comments in a similar way on the colonization of Tahiti which also began with missionary activities. − In her novel Daburu koncheruto (Double Concert, 1988), Mori introduces the repercussions of the inhumanity of a South-American totalitarian system as an element of the side plot. − She discusses the Jewish-German relationship after the Second World War with the example of Jewish artists (Kizu 157 ff.). − The benefit of space travel for mankind is debated Shitto( 67 f.). − As a continuous topic in Shitto, Mori deals with condominium owners returning from abroad, whose tenants can only be evicted through a lengthy lawsuit, forcing the owner family to rent an apartment at a much higher price than the rent they get for their condominium.108

With her political, social, cultural and contemporary issues, Mori Yôko is not only restricted to Japan but proves to be transnational and transcultural.

108 This is a pre-form of the problem underlying Miyabe Miyuki’s Naoki-Prize winning novel Riyû from 1998, which depicts the illegal practice of the manipulation of real estate by intentionally causing the apartment owner financial losses through so- called “bogus tenants” sen’yûya, who prevent him from using his apartment himself.

Temporal references in the short stories 51

III.A.5. Temporal references in the short stories

For Mori Yôko, the phenomenon of time is a basic element, and in contrast to other authors, in her works she gives significant hints on time and duration of events. Thus, in the short stories as well as in the novels, the temporal references are an important factor which creates a volume of experience as well as a narrative structure.

One of Mori’s main topics which is characteristic of her whole body of work is that of time passing by. Thus, both the novels and the short stories contain elaborate lamentations on the past or lost time (II 24) and on aging (especially 4 and 10, 14 and others).

Equally characteristic is Mori’s use of temporal references. In the short stories, the time of the related action differs: − from a quarter of an hour (II 19), − half an hour or one hour (1, II 8, II 31), − up to one week (5, 31), − or several weeks (II 5).

But most of the stories comprise the span of time − of an afternoon or an evening, − of a day or a night, − occasionally of two days (14, II 22, II 26), − or of a weekend (22, 24).

Almost all short stories contain a flashback interspersed into the time level of the action, on events which may be a short or a long time ago, which are causally connected to the plot and consist of streams of memory. The extensively described process of recollection is designed as a return to the past, containing dialogues spoken in the temporal level of the past. By mentally leaving the narrative time of the main plot, if only temporarily, the text acquires a temporal structure. In some stories, the retrospective has the form of an extensive flashback, so that a considerable part of the plot, which has a crucial function for the outcome of the story, is set in the past. 52 FORMAL CRITERIA The periods of time between the plot and the recalled incident differ in length: − The school-days remembered in the Class Reunion (10) are 25 years ago. − Former relationships now gaining in significance are about 15 years ago (4, 7, 16, 32, 33). − The author likes to address the critical period of time of 7 years109 (6, 25, 31). The length of a relationship (e.g. 4 years in II 22) can be an important aspect in the decision for marriage.

The divorce or separation remembered as a crucial turn of life may be − 2 years ago (1); − 1 year ago (17); − or 3 months ago (19). Relationships end after − 4 years (24, II 38); − 3 years (30); − or 2 months (18). In some cases the time mentally integrated into the story consists of several levels, e.g. as cause and effect of the plot, which leads to an even more differentiated structure. Apart from the past, sometimes the future is anticipated by prospects of further developments of the plot (see chap. III.A.9).

In addition to the temporal level, several short stories also have a change of the level of reference, that means primarily a change of the perspective between the female and the male view. Mori had a special preference for depicting both views separately.110

109 Similar to the Western phrase of the “cursed 7th year”. 7 years is the period of time between Yûwaku and Atsui kaze; the couple’s first trip to England takes place 7 years after Phil left his home country; Phil’s father seems to have aged 3 times 7 years. In Kizu, Reiko comes to see Rosé again after 7 years. Lane in Jôji is divorced after 7 years of marriage. In Ôba Minako’s story Aoi kitsune (1973), the female protagonist meets her ex-lover again after 7 years. In Tsushima Yûko’s novella Kusa no fushido (1977), the two women-friends have 7 years of age difference; etc. 110 In Tôkyô aijô monogatari (1987), Mori depicts the chapters Konyaku, Kekkon and Uwaki alternatively from the woman’s and the man’s point of view, and the 4th chapter Rikon from both points of view. See also Mori’s essay Otoko no naka no onna, onna no naka no otoko in Puraibêto taimu (1986), 194–195. Temporal references in the short stories 53 Most of the short stories are told from the point of view of the main character. Almost all stories of the first volume ofBeddo no otogibanashi have a female protagonist, with two exceptions: story 23, ironically entitled Kagami no naka no onna (The Woman in the Mirror), and story 29. In the succeeding volume Part II, there is a considerably higher percentage of stories with a male protagonist (II 1, II 3, II 5, II 6, II 14, II 22, II 24, II 26, II 30, II 35). Besides, in the second volume, there is nearly a balance in the depiction of the female and the male character (e.g. in II 19) and often an integration of the viewpoint of the other one, that means the focus of empathy moves from one person to another (II 24). Another change of the level of reference is the author’s shifting from describing a person’s marital to his extra-marital relationship (20, 29, 30, II 1, II 14), which gives the story several angles of view.

Such differentiation gives the stories a multi-layered spectre of experience, which leaves the reader fulfilled in spite of the brevity of the stories.

Dissection through different temporal levels 55

III.A.6. Dissection of the plot through different temporal levels in the novels

I have already pointed out that the short stories attain a structure through the creation of several temporal levels, usually by fitting flash backs into the text. In the novels, especially in Kizu and Atsui kaze, this technique is much more strongly developed. The cords of the plot are dissected through manifold extensive flashbacks, which leads to a segmentation of the plot. In Atsui kaze, this nearly comes close to the zuihitsu style. Sometimes a flashback contains further reviews on events set in the more distant past, e.g. on differing times of a past-time cord, that means on various levels of the past. A distinct example for such a flashback within a flashback is found in Atsui kaze, where the protagonist Shina, having lunch in the early afternoon heat in Singapore, thinks back on her quarrel with her husband Phil in the morning, when he did not allow her to wear a light dress with a deep neckline. This memory makes her think of the completely different attitude of her lover R., which leads to a further flashback on a discussion with him (ending in a sex scene), which returns to the present with a general contemplation on a physically perfect relationship. The flashbacks often go back to differing temporal levels, which are either arranged in a chronological order, starting with the earliest level of time, or anti-chronologically, starting at a later point of time and progressing to time periods growing earlier with each flashback, or disordered and with repetitions, sometimes going back to earlier and in between to later periods of time. For example: On the plane in Kizu, in a short span of time before the landing in Paris, Reiko continues to indulge herself in extensive contemplation on former periods of her life. Her contemplation consists of two different lines of recollection, which are examples of the chronological and the anti-chronological order: 56 FORMAL CRITERIA

first, flashbacks on her life together with the painter Akira (on different periods of time: before and after her accident caused by him), and second, flashbacks on her studies of music (again divided into several periods of time: her last meeting with her music teacher Rosé before his death, the time of her lessons under him, and her first encounter with him). The novel’s present-time plot relating current events is often dominated by the flashbacks in terms of length and of significance. The present-time action is thus sometimes scarce and drawn out, as in Kizu and Yûwaku, when the plot in the beginning merely consists of the landing approach to Paris respectively a flight from Paris to London, which seems to stretch on for several hours. Thus, the present-time plot which is the central thread of the novel, often progresses very slowly. The slow progress of the present time in comparison to the overabundance of the protagonist’s thoughts is illustrated by the scene where Shina constantly looks at her watch which almost seems to stand still (in Atsui kaze chap. 5). This narrative technique is a strong contrast to the speedy narrative pace of Mori’s short stories (see chap. III.A.3).

The segmentation of the plot involves occasional repetitions on the one hand, and gaps in the depiction of the main plot on the other hand. Two examples from Kizu for such information gaps: − The reader learns of Reiko’s disinheritance only in a subordinate clause. When Reiko’s mother passes the message of her former music teacher’s illness on to her, a casual remark informs the reader that this is the first contact between mother and daughter without knowledge of Reiko’s father. This way, the significance of the disinheritance is not done justice. In the repeated and extensive flashbacks on Reiko’s studies of music and her graduation, the circumstances of the breaking off with her parents should have been reported. (We only know from Mori Yôko’s biography that her father was angry with her for lacking in diligence and discipline during studying.) − When Reiko comes to collect the Guarneri violin she has inherited, which is the purpose of her trip, Edith Roche, acting as a trustee, ought to be present at the official handing-over and perhaps should get a receipt. The depiction of Reiko simply taking away the twenty-million-Yen-object seems inappropriate. Dissection through different temporal levels 57 The segment-like dissection and interspersing of parts of the plot sometimes lead to an inconsistent psychological depiction, although usually the psychological sensitivity is one of Mori’s strong points. The associations and mental transitions at the beginning and at the end of the inserted flashbacks sometimes seem a bit forced and arti­ ficial, often formally tied to certain phrasings. For example: − In an argument in Kizu, the tense atmosphere (97) reminds Reiko of another tense argument, taking up a completely different thread of action. − The grapefruit juice on the plane (which is part of Phil’s daily breakfast) reminds Shina of an argument before their departure which started at the breakfast table and which is now told in detail (Yûwaku 125 f.). − In a stand-up café in Paris, a stranger who stands obtrusively close to Reiko, reminds her of Akira because of his immobility, whereupon a long and significant scene with Akira is told Kizu( 66 f.).

The dissection of the plot, which enhances the reader’s spectre of experience, is a stylistic means which complicates the structure and is obstructive to the reader’s identification. Thus, it incorporates a demand on intellectuality and on a higher estimation of the literary quality of the novel.

Scenery and atmosphere 59

III.A.7. Scenery and atmosphere

In the same way as a change of the temporal level, a change of the local level, i.e. the setting or the local background of the plot, serves to structure the text, in other words: such changes have the function to structure the text according to divisional and compositional aspects, in order to enhance the reading quality.111 The setting illustrates the characters and their social environment and sometimes their awareness of life.

As to the stories, some of them are set in only one location (e.g. the couple’s home or apartment, II 18, II 19), which is made more interesting − by showing it from various angles (e.g. II 6) or by depicting several rooms in the same house (II 5, II 14, II 20); − or by expressing the female protagonist’s intention to leave the setting (II 11, without realizing the intention II 15); − or by describing the way which leads to and from the setting of the story (6, II 10 entitled Hanamichi like the way to the stage of Japanese Kabuki-theater).

Due to the topic of personal contacts or intimate relationships, a great number of short stories are set indoors: − bars, cafés, restaurants, hotel lounges and rooms; − working places like offices, a shop, a boutique, a hairdresser’s; − or private houses and living rooms.

Hotel lounges are frequently used as meeting points for a miai, bars and restaurants for meetings with acquaintances or as places where strangers can informally and casually make contact. Mori also likes to convey the fascination of great luxury hotels, as in Yûwaku, in story 16 and in her collection Hoteru sutôrî (1986).112

111 Schneider 2003, 34. 112 With extravagant characters: Arabian newly richs, an aged well-off American couple, a screen diva, a handsome gigolo and others. 60 FORMAL CRITERIA However, most of the stories have several changes of the setting between places located at distances, inside Tôkyô (5, 8, 14, 28, 29, 31, II 22, II 24, II 31, II 38) or between two cities (24, 30). Occasionally, far- away locations are mentally associated (11, 12, 33). Travelling in a car, a bus113 or a taxi (11, 15, 19, 22, II 1, II 21, II 31, II 40) or as a pedestrian (25, 27, II 38) is also described. The most frequently used means of transport in Tôkyô, the suburban train and the subway, though, are not used as a setting in the short stories and the novels,114 only streets in front of or near a station (story 1, Kizu) or the way back from the station (II 38) are described.

Especially impressive are the stories with exterior settings, which are frequently located outside Tôkyô or in holiday resorts, e.g. in Karuizawa (33), Hong Kong (22), on southern islands (34, II 4) or in Chamonix (16). In addition, stories beginning in the open air often contain one or several changes of the setting from outside to inside locations. Changes of the setting or departures, e.g. from a confined space to the outside (13, 17, 21, 32, II 10, II 24, II 35) or to the casual atmosphere of a restaurant or a bar (21, II 11), often form the ending of a story. Or the story ends with one of the two characters leaving the setting: in the stories of the first volume it is mostly the female, in those of the second volume mostly the male character who leaves (6, 12, 14, 26, 33, II 18, II 19, II 30).

In her novels and novellas, Mori shows a particular preference for open air, foreign and exotic settings:

− In Jôji, several scenes are set on the seaside, in an appealing con- trast to scenes set in a shadowy garden in Karuizawa. − Shitto has several changes of the setting between Tôkyô and the seaside spot Arasaki on the Sagami-bay, with central scenes set on or alongside the sea. − Yûwaku is set in England, and Atsui kaze is set in both England and Singapore, both novels containing detailed flashbacks to Japan.

113 In story II 8, the whole plot is designed as a conversation on the airport limousine bus on the way back from the wedding trip. 114 However, settings on a train are e.g. described by Tsumura Setsuko in her story Kaze no ie (1989, see chap. V.C.2.2) and by Takahashi Takako in her story Sasoi (1980, chap. V.C.2.6). Scenery and atmosphere 61 − After a beginning in and several recollections of Tôkyô, Kizu is set in Paris (and on the flight there). − In the story Iruka, some scenes are set in China. − The novel Sensuiwan no tsuki (1987) is set in Hong Kong. − The novel Jûgatsu no bara (1989) is set on the island of Capri, etc.

Mori also likes to integrate experiences from her numerous travels abroad in her essays, for example: − In her collection Wakare no yokan (1983, on Paris); − in her collection Puraibêto taimu (1986, on London, Switzerland, Micronesia, Phuket, Beijing and Shanghai); − in her collection Sasowarete (1987, on Shanghai and other places); − in her collection Owari no bigaku (1993, on Hong Kong, Bangkok, New York, etc.).

The novels (and some of the short stories, too, as in 30, 34 and II 4) often reflect the female protagonist’s emotional relationship to the sea, which she loves very much and regards as a symbol of the beauty of the world (Jôji tr. 45) and of the savagery of nature. For example: − In order to describe her love for the sea, Shina uses the metaphor that she feels she had been on a Micronesian or a Polynesian island in her former life and therefore always feels close to the sea (Atsui kaze chap. 2, 56). − The sea is depicted as a challenge to measure one’s own physical strength (Jôji tr. 69). − Yôko feels “let down by the sea”, because it was too cold and “did not take her in any more” (Jôji tr. 45). − The unpredictability and the threatening nature of the sea are described drastically on a young woman’s death by drowning in the first chapter of Shitto entitled Nagisa no shi (Death on the Beach). − In contrast, the story Nagi no kôkei (Scene at a Calm) depicts the calmness of the sea: at a calm, a married couple is stuck in a yacht on the sea – a symbol for their deadlocked marriage, with the conclusion that they both have to make some effort to bring fresh wind into the situation respectively into their marriage. − For no discernible reason, the novel Kizu which is not at all set on the sea, is dedicated “to the Sea and M-shi”. − Umi is also the title of a story in Mori’s collection Sayônara ni kanpai (1983) and is a component of many other titles of her novels or 62 FORMAL CRITERIA of chapters, as well as related terms which hint at the sea, like Yakôchû,115 Shio no nioi,116 Nami no oto117 and others.

The setting of the sea and the beach can also have a negative con- notation, for example: − as an unsightly scenery with ugly flotsam and jetsam washed ashore (Shitto 75); − or as the background for unpleasant memories (Shitto 71).

In most cases, though, the sea has an emotionally positive con- notation, for example: − A significant discussion between Shina and Satoko is set onthe coast (Atsui kaze chap. 3); − Yôko and Shina wish to drive to the sea with their (would-be) lovers (Jôji tr. 60 f. and Yûwaku 205); − Phil has taken Shina to the sea because he supposed it was her wish (Yûwaku 57); − In the middle of a conversation, Meishen abruptly declares she is leaving for the sea (Atsui kaze 162); − Reiko and Adam drive towards the sea (Kizu 187 and 189); − holiday homes at the sea have an important function in Shitto and Jôji and are also mentioned in Atsui kaze.

The main plot of Yogoto no yukrikago, fune, aruiwa senjô is set on a Malaysian beach, where one night the I-narrator continues swimming into the seemingly endless, eerie black sea, which she compares to the experiment of penetrating the dark chaos of her sub-consciousness in the psycho-analysis. In this novel, the author defines the sea as a symbol of the very first beginning, of the origin of life and the possibility of a fresh start, that means for her personally the beginning of a new chapter in her life, which she has become capable of through the psycho-therapy.

Almost as important as the role of the sea in Mori’s works is that of rain.

115 Marine Phosphorescence, title of a novel (1983) and title-component of a story in her collection Kare to kanojo (1987). 116 The Scent of the Sea, title-component of two chapters of the novel Kaze monogatari (1983). 117 The Roaring of the Waves, title-component of a chapter of Kaze monogatari (1983). Scenery and atmosphere 63 For example: − Mori repeatedly describes a tropical downpour as a phenomenon of nature which motivates the female protagonist to start writing (Atsui kaze chap. 5). − English country rain is described vividly (Atsui kaze chap. 2). − Mori gives various descriptions of Japanese rain (story 1, II 31, II 38). − Atsui ame is the title of the second chapter of the novel Kaze no ie (1985). − Hot rain on the Maldives (Morujîbu no atsui ame) is the topic of one of the 27 essays of Wakare jôzu (1986). − Sukôru (Scald), the term for heavy tropical rain, is the title of a story set on the South Chinese Sea, from the collection Onna to otoko (1984). − Many other titles refer to rain, like: Kumori nochi ame and Tôri-ame in Anata ni denwa (1989); Ame ni arukeba in Middonaito kôru (1984); Eapôto wa ame in Onna to otoko (1984); Uki (Rainy Season) in Isshu, happî endo (1985), and others.

Mori’s special liking for the sea and for rain indicates a love of water,118 which is a basic element of Daoism and which, according to the Chinese Yin-Yang-doctrine, correlates to the female element, that means to the woman.

118 The element water (the sea, lakes and rain) is also of significance in Kirino Natsuo’s novel Yawaraka na hoho (1999), where the author considers it a symbol of changeability (in Misesu 9/1999, 288).

Depicting the eyesight and the individual perception 65

III.A.8. Stylistic means of depicting the eyesight and the individual perception

For the depiction of the individual perception, Mori makes use of various literary stylistic means which have her own specific imprint, although they are also used in other works of literature and film.

For example, Mori likes to depict the gradually increasing visual acuity and clear eyesight. In the novels, she often describes how the male character wakes up from sleep and his blurred eyes gain in acuity, and in focussing on the woman next to him fill with sensuality (e.g. Lane in Jôji tr. 69 f.). The same process takes place when surfacing from deep concentration on mental labour (e.g. R. in Atsui kaze 197). In Shitto 75, the increase of visual acuity is described of the female protagonist, who rouses from a short nap on the beach. In a similar way, the author describes repeatedly how the scenery looked at by the female protagonist gains contours with the early light of dawn and how the objects in the room regain their true colour after undergoing several shades of grey (Kizu 185, Atsui kaze 190).

Another stylistic means is describing how two images overlap. Mori repeatedly uses the motif that the female protagonist superimposes two faces on each other in her imagination. For example: − Before her inner eye, Reiko sees the face of her life-partner Akira blend with that of her new love Adam (Kizu 201), comparing both mentally. − Shina superimposes the faces of her husband Phil and of her lover R. (Atsui kaze chap. 4). − Equally, Shina superimposes her own face in the mirror with that of the Vietnamese woman Meishen (an Asian woman who remains a stranger to her), as an attempt to put herself in her place (Atsui kaze 180). 66 FORMAL CRITERIA − Similarly, Mai superimposes her own figure as a five-year-old girl with that of her daughter (Shitto 71). − Glass panes are also superimposed: Reiko sees the windscreen of Adam’s car at his evasive maneuvre blending with the window- pane of her former accident caused by Akira (Kizu 196).

Mori also frequently describes reflections, preferably such in mirrors decorated with inscriptions or painted ornaments (e.g. in the stand-up café in Paris in Kizu 68, and on Phil’s visit to a pub in Yûwaku 139). Windowpanes, other glass and shining surfaces serve as reflectors. The self-reflection caused by one’s reflection in the mirror is a literary motif frequent in all of Mori’s novels.119 For example: − Shina regards her face in the mirror with satisfaction (Atsui kaze 17 f.). − In contrast, Mai sees her sinister face mirrored in the nightly windowpane as that of an inferior, dependent woman (Shitto 65 and 68), and in the bathroom mirror as that of a suffering woman, no longer young (112). − She sees herself again as a sorrowful woman in a mirror which reflects the wintry sea behind her (Shitto 163). − Yôko stresses that she used to regard herself in the mirror especially in times of suffering or fury or under streams of tears, which mercilessly reminded her that she is aging (Jôji tr. 44).

Reflections are also described in the short stories. For example: − Seeing her reflection in the mirror, the protagonist realizes self- critically that she is aging (14). − The female protagonist gives the man she is going out with a promise, which is not in accord with her emotion, while their eyes meet in the mirror (17). − The lover mirrored in the windowpane is deprived of the magic he exuded, and appears ridiculous (8). − Various mirrors give at first a positive and then a negative reflect­ ion of the male protagonist, according to his changed mental attitude (23).

119 The motif is also used by Murakami Haruki in his novel Afutâ dâku (2004, Engl. tr. After Dark 2007). Depicting the eyesight and the individual perception 67 − The male protagonist sees himself in a mirror behind a shop window as a shabby appearance (II 26), etc.

The reflection in the mirror is a common literary motif.120 Many inter­ national fairy tales, myths and literary texts121 have developed around the mirrored reflection, the object of the mirror122 and its alleged function as a pathway or entry into another world, a parallel world. Mori, however, foregoes any mystical embellishment of the motif of the mirror. Instead, she makes use of the stylistic means that reflections often do not show a correct image, but give rather grounds for deformations and disfigurations. Such distortions symbolize negative emotions, moral corruptness or the disapproval of a certain matter. For example: − When she has just realized Meishen’s deception, Shina sees her own face distorted in the uneven mirror of the chest of drawers – an expression of her anger and discomfort (Atsui kaze 180). − Out of rancour about her destroyed love, Yôko regards the faces of the men responsible for it through her filled glass, which reduces them to tiny caricatures (Jôji tr. 100). − Similarly, Shina regards her husband’s face through her empty glass which makes it appear shrunk to a miniature,123 because he kept ranting at her and abusing her (Yûwaku 121). − On the flight, Shina relieves the grudge against her husband by resentfully eyeing the overly slim models of a fashion magazine through her glass in varying deformations (Yûwaku 120). − The back-mirror of the car shows a pretty English village in a reduced format, soiled by rain, where Shina does not want to go (Atsui kaze 61). − As she starts to drive, the image of the man whom the protagonist has decided to reject, minimizes rapidly in the back-mirror of her car (story II 31).

120 E.g. in Setouchi Harumi’s novel Hôyô (Embrace, 1973, see chap. V.C.2.1), a mirror in the female protagonist’s bedroom is the combining link to the plot woven around three couples. 121 E.g. in Takahashi Takako’s novella Sôjikei (1978, see chap. V.C.2.6), the I-narrator and protagonist, a mother, sees her reflection in a dream as that of the mother par excellence. 122 E.g. as one of the three Japanese Imperial Insignia (sanshu no jingi). 123 The female protagonist in Kôno Taeko’s story Saigo no toki (1966, see chap. V.C.2.8) also sees her husband shrunk to a tiny figure on the bottom of her empty glass, and he follows her example. 68 FORMAL CRITERIA Clouding of glass panes also symbolizes deviations of normality. For example: − From the steamed-up washstand-mirror, Reiko sees her eccentric life-partner through the half-open bathroom door, which merely gives view of a restricted part of her limited world, in a grotesque deformation – a symbol of her disapproval of him and of their life together (Kizu 10 f.). − Windowpanes clouded grey-and-white with bizarre traces of running steam drops form the background of the scene of Reiko’s accident and thus the basis of the memory for her trauma: the fogged windowpane is a symbol for her overshadowed path of life (Kizu 20). − As a counter-example, the clouded kitchen windowpanes are the scenic background for the positive farewell scene between Shina and her father-in-law, where they indicate the comfortable warmth of the interior in winter and moreover the warming of the relationship between Shina and her husband, motivated by her father-in-law’s advice (Yûwaku 217).

These manifold stylistic means for the depiction of the individual perception, reminiscent of cinematic devices, demonstrate a certain poetic power and the suitability of Mori’s works to be made into films. Conceptions of the ending 69

III.A.9. Conceptions of the ending

In Mori’s short stories, the conflict constellation and the solution of the plot are not predictable. On the contrary, through endlessly new constellations and variations, they are characterized by surprising turns of the plot and amazing endings, which are a characteritic feature of the genre of the short story. It is Mori’s intention to create such astonishing turns of the plot.124

However, some of the stories end with a definite or an implied pro­ spect on the future development of the plot, for example: − that the protagonist might leave (story 8) or has decided to leave the company (28); − that a marriage is intended (28, II 22); − that a marriage is going to fail (27, II 18, II 19); − that a love affair ends (2, 9, 12, 13, 26); − that an intended affair or relationship does not take place (II 15, II 26, II 31); − or that a former relationship is taken up again on worse conditions (II 5).

Mori likes to lighten up a negative ending, which depicts a painful experience, with a comforting, positive prospect (25, 26, II 18, II 38, Jôji). Or the last sentence leaves the protagonist pondering on and coming to terms with a bitter realization, which is often expressed in her perception of reality125 or as an allusion to nature.126

124 E.g. the pointed ending of story II 19; also indicated by the title of story II 38 (Dumbfounded). 125 E.g. her coffee has a watery taste (31), her cigarette has become tasteless (33), the protagonist remains silent (3, II 4), etc. 126 E.g. the protagonist thinks of the sea (30), he or she looks into the snowfall outside the window (25, II 24), the cold winter air hits her face (14, 17), the road is slippery with frozen snow (Yûwaku), etc. 70 FORMAL CRITERIA Many of the short stories have a seemingly open ending (II 6, II 10, II 11, II 35), but these also contain a prognosis of the author for the further development, which can be positive or negative for establish­ ing or maintaining a relationship (3, 5, 9, 18, 21, II 1, II 24). An example: In story 15, an earring a woman has left behind on purpose in the car of her friend’s fiancé, is the evidence of the man’s unfaithfulness, which the bride will discover.127 Mori’s prognosis is that the fragile miai-relationship will last, but that a shadow will be cast on the happyness of the young couple, as it was intended by the evil-minded womanfriend. The conception of the open or seemingly open ending128 which Mori likes to use, contains a basic component typical of Japanese mentality. It correlates to the attitude that leaving a sentence unfinished gives the other person an opportunity for consent, which also shows in the language usage to let a sentence peter out on a thoughtful note, in order to give the conversational partner a chance for comment. In the same way, with the technique of the open ending, Mori gives her readers the possibility to bring his or her own imagination into the text, so that in further thinking about it, the reader will either find the ending intended by the author, or in considering several possible endings, he will ponder on the message of the story more thoroughly.129 In many cases, where the author guides the reader to find the intended ending, she hints on the development of the near future, whereas the distant future remains unclear. An example: The protagonist Akiko (story 30) concludes from her husband’s lack of reaction to the revelation of her long-term affair and from his unusual mildness, that he has an affair of his own, which he obviously intends to continue. The distant future, if her marriage can be sustained, remains unclear. Even seemingly definite endings leave the reader with a feeling of ambiguity about the unclarified future.

127 Equally, in the title story Iyaringu (1986) of Mori’s collection of the same title, an earring lost during loveplay is an indication of the protagonist’s unfaithfulness. 128 Also used in the novels Daburu koncheruto (1988) and Hansamu gâruzu (1988). 129 Not to offer definite solutions is regarded as a characteristic feature of female writing; see Swiatlowski 1982, 115; Schmid-Bortenschlager 1989, 46 and 48. Chista Wolf says the reader can add his own experience, self-questioning and thus a part of himself, which creates a link between the author and the reader (Jurgensen 1982, 489). Conceptions of the ending 71 Examples: − In the stories II 10 and II 11, the reader does not know if and in which way the the possible flirt will develop. − In story 30, it remains unclear if the protagonist can get rid of his unwanted fling for good, or if he will still be harrassed by her.

In the novels, too, Mori uses the narrative technique of the seeming- ly open ending and of the comforting note or positive prospect.130 But in most cases she gives hints on the further future, which the reader will understand. In her essay ‘Jôji’ no shûhen (218), Mori explains that she hates the so-called Happy end (which is the reason why there is actually no happy ending in her novels and stories)131, but on the other hand she doesn’t particularly like painful outcomes either. If she were to define her standpoint between the two possible endings, she would say she is much closer to an unhappy ending, but it always has to be an ending with a glimmer of hope. She does not want to express a definite decision in her endings, but to indicate “that the female protagonist is going to make it somehow” and is going to overcome any kind of crisis by herself. This attitude is demonstrated in the novels discussed here:

− At the end of Kizu, the details of Reiko’s further stay in Paris and of her trip to Japan remain unclear. But the conclusion of the novel is that Reiko has regained her self-confidence by accepting her injured hand which means an occupational disability. With this, the bottom line that she will get together with Adam has taken shape, and the hope of a happy future with him is the positive prospect of the novel. Regarding Adam, there is also a suggestion of a positive prospect that he will resume his law studies.

− At the end of Shitto, the protagonist Mai, who has to come to terms with the worsening of her marriage, has the prospect of a certain improvement of her situation when she and her husband will move to Switzerland in four months and he will leave his mistress.

130 Murakami Haruki makes use of this technique, too, e.g. in his novel Afutâ dâku (2004), which ends with the positive prospect that the protagonist’s sister might wake from her coma-like sleep. 131 Katô Taki (1987), 225, remarks that she has read Mori’s novel Isshu, happî endo (1986), wondering if the author should actually have once created a happy ending. However, this is already modified by the termisshu (a kind of). 72 FORMAL CRITERIA − At the end of Jôji, the protagonist Yôko, suffering painfully from the loss of the man she loves, recalls her inner strength by raising her glass to herself;132 she resigns to continue living with her husband, and imagines how she will walk through the city of Tôkyô sparkling with lights at night, in the hope of “being slowly and gradually comforted” (tr. 100).

− At the end of Yûwaku, there is the prospect of an improvement of the marriage of Shina and Phil, since sex returns to the relationship after two platonic years. However, in regard of the serious marital conflicts described throughout the novel, it is quite doubtful if this can have a lasting effect, which it does not have in the end, as the plot of the novel Atsui kaze shows. For this reason, the ending of Yûwaku is basically an open ending, in spite of the reconciliation of the couple in the last scene, which seems to indicate that they are going to stay together.

− At the end of Atsui kaze, the couple’s return trip to Japan means a significant turning-point in Shina’s life, the beginning of a more fulfilled life as a writer, though the outcome is still unsure.

In Mori’s conception of the more or less open ending,133 the solution enriched with the reader’s own fantasy will leave a stronger impression on the reader.

132 The gesture of raising the glass to oneself as a sign of self-encouragement also in the short stories 25 and 31. 133 The novel Onnazakari (1984) also has a half-open ending with the hopeful prospect of a possible reconciliation, see Hein 2008, 83. The basic subject: Man-woman relationships 73

III.B. SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA

III.B.1. The basic subject: Man-woman relationships

The basic topic of all of Mori’s works are human relationships, primarily erotic and long-term man-woman relationships, which the author portrays with endlessly new constellations and an imaginative range of variations. The prevailing topic in her work is that of mental and physical love (ai and koi) in marital and extra- marital relationships. Hereby her focus is on the crucial points of development of a relationship. Most of all in the novels, she makes the most significant phases of life the subject of her writing: falling in love, marriage, discrepancies in and the failure of a relationship, and – in particular in the second period of her writing – separation or divorce.134 The two short story collections of Beddo no otogibanashi have an attractive title which keeps its promise135 because the topic underlying all stories is that of erotic relationships. In the first volume almost exclusively, and in the second volume in about half of the stories with a female protagonist (and nearly in all cases seen from a female perspective), the author constructs the following relationship constellations: a) The beginning of a relationship with a stranger is wanted or attempted by the protagonist, but sexual contact is not realized (in story 1, 5, 10, 21, II 15) or takes place merely once and is not continued (11, 14, 34, II 4), or it results in a long-term extra-marital relationship (18) or nearly leads to a marriage (3).

134 Separation or divorce is not only the topic of collections which contain the key word in the title, such as Wakare no yokan (1981), Sayônara ni kanpai (1983) or Wakare jôzu (1986), but also of the novel Kaze monogatari (1983) and others. 135 In contrast to works by other authors like e.g. Kanai Mieko who used the title of her story Puratonteki ren’ai (Platonic Love, 1979, German translation by Diana Donath in Japan Erzählt [Japan Narrates] 1990, 166–176) only as a pretext for an entirely different content. 74 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA b) The beginning or resumption of a relationship with an acquaintance – who may be the protagonist’s ex-lover (31, 33), an old friend (10, 32), a friend’s husband (19, 20, 22, 24), a colleague (II 24) or a neighbour (II 31) – is considered or attempted, but sexual contact is not realized (10, 22, 24, 32, 33, II 24, II 31) or takes place only once and is not continued (31), or it ends in an affair (19). c) Advances by the department chief are turned down by his female employee in spite of possible professional repercussions (8, 28), or a male employee turns down an invitation by his female boss and insists on meeting her casually and informally (II 11). d) An existing relationship – a marriage (25) or an affair (4, II 21) – is questioned critically, e.g. caused by memory of a former affair, with the effect that it can nevertheless lead to a marriage (II 22). e) An extra-marital affair is dissolved, because of consideration for society (9, 12), because of disclosure (2, 20, 26) or because of disharmonies (13). f) A marriage (27, II 18, II 19) or a relationship (13, II 11, II 38) fails, a miai-engagement (15) or a love affair is put at risk, the protagonist realizes that she has missed a chance for marriage (6), she experiences the after-effects of a separation (17, II 10), or a separation turns out to be only temporary (II 5).

Thus all stories are about entering into, dissolving, altering or scrutinizing a relationship, that means a possible or actual change in the erotic-emotional sphere of life. Upheavals in this existential sphere of life are of crucial significance for a person both mentally and physically. Mori has devoted herself to this basic topic in all her works, and the statement of the protagonist Shina in Atsui kaze that she always wants to write on man-woman relationships (chap. 3, 111) can probably be regarded as autobiographical. This topic is of vital interest for a broad readership – this is one of the clues for Mori’s popularity and success.

That the author’s special attention is on changes in relationships, on the beginning and dissolving, the burgeoning and dying of an emotion, is a typically Japanese point of view which attaches more importance to alterations, transitions and development processes than The basic subject: Man-woman relationships 75 to conditions achieved,136 as it has adopted the Buddhist principle of fickleness and transitoriness which underlies all existence. Mori’s emphasis is in particular on the depiction of transitions, e.g. those of periods of age and of seasons.137 With her emphasis on upheavals and turning points in human life as they are presented in the short stories, the author shows a subtle psychological understand- ing for basic human situations. In erotic relationships, often referred to as love, the beginning of a relationship is essential – and the ending of a relationship is usually the start of a new period of life and equally significant even without a new emotional commitment. In such periods, a person is much more emotionally affected and deeply moved than in later stages of the relationship.

Although in the short stories of the Beddo no otogibanashi-collections a basic erotic atmosphere is prevailing and thoughts of erotic contacts are in the air, in contrast to some others of Mori’s works138 and to those of other modern writers,139 sexual acts are only rarely and not explicitly described (e.g. in story 7, 31, II 4, II 21, II 22, II 30, II 40). However, the invitation to have sex together, often in the suggestion to reserve a hotel room, is expressed in dialogues with provocative frankness. In several short stories, the plot takes the protagonists To Bed, as the title of story 34 Beddo no naka e indicates (in story 11, 12, 14, 18, 31, 34, II 4, II 22, II 30), or the open ending suggests that this is going to happen (15, 16, 17), or – at the beginning of the plot – the actual act is already over. In some cases, the (sometimes multiplex) climax of the man (12, 14, II 21), the woman’s sexual fulfillment II( 4, II 22) or sexual activities consuming the whole night (II 24) are mentioned or hinted at. In most cases, though, bed scenes are not depicted, but contemplations and considerations on the erotic-emotional sphere of experience are

136 In contrast, the occidental mentality estimates the values of having a goal and a zenith, of maturity and magnitude, continuation and permanence. Some influence of this philosophy was integrated by authors of the Meiji era into their work, like Kôda Rohan in his novel Gojûnotô (1891/1892); see D. Donath, Kôda Rohan, in: Kindler’s Literaturlexikon, Stuttgart (Metzler) 2009, and D. Donath, Kôda Rohan und sein repräsentatives Frühwerk Fûryûbutsu, Bonn (D. Born) 1997, 70 f. 137 E.g. Mori’s protagonist Mai always feels an inner disquiet on seasonal transitions (Shitto 8). See also Shimizu 1982, 229. 138 E.g. to Jôji (tr. 38 ff., 50 ff., 82, 91 f.). 139 In particular to Murakami Ryû’s Akutagawa-Prize awarded novella Kagiri naku tômei ni chikai burû (1976, Engl. tr. Almost Transparent Blue 1977). 76 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA interwoven in all stories. The text thus creates an atmosphere revolving around sexual contacts, but the concrete, detailed description is left to the reader’s imagination.

In her short stories, the author expresses the attitude that beginning an erotic relationship is more about conquering and seducing, which is rather motivated by the demand for self- affirmation, by pride and the wish to possess, by the thirst for adventure and the quest for human warmth, than by sensuality and the subconscious instinct of falling in love. The title Yûwaku of one of the short stories (II 15) and of one of the novels should be comprehended in this sense.

The French theorist Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007) who has commented on the topic of seduction several times,140 sees a separation between seduction which he regards as pagan, and love which he classifies as Christian. In a “dual… strong and mysterious attraction”141 as depicted in short story 1, he sees the basis for seduction which is cast “in a vague immoral light”142 in the Christian cultural environment. Baudrillard himself regards the act of seduction in a positive way, as a possibility for the sexes to live together in equality, for in his opinion “it is only the seduction, which ends the prerogative of one sex towards the other one.”143 Two of Baudrillard’s contemplations are applicable to Mori’s short stories: − First, the love relationships described in the short stories are usually not what is understood as love in the Occidental- Christian cultural environment (see below), but rather represent the sphere characterized by Baudrillard’s understanding of seduction; − Second, Mori’s intention in her depiction of man-woman relationships is actually to raise the issue of the equality of women (see chap. III.B.2). In her essay Ai no kusari dô nukedasu ka (1989,

140 Baudrillard, L’écliptique du sex, in: De la séduction (Paris 1979), quoted after Eifler 1989, 32 (footnote 53), 33 (footnote 56), 34 (footnote 58). 141 Quoted after Eifler 1989, 33. 142 Ibid., 32. 143 Baudrillard, Lob des sexuellen Objekts, in: Die fatalen Strategien (Les stratégies fatales 1983, Ger. tr. Munich 1985), 154, quoted after Eifler 1989, 34 (footnote 59). How­ ever, Eifler regards Baudrillard’s way of thinking sceptically. The basic subject: Man-woman relationships 77 7–14), she defines that the basis for a real love relationship lies in the equality of both man and woman, that means in economic and mental independence from each other.

The Western understanding of love, the idea of an overwhelming, deep, eternal emotion, of being hit by a fateful force beyond will or reason (as Baudrillard defines: “Love remains the only serious and awe-inspiring finality, the one and only absoluteness”144) is not applicable to Mori’s short stories. However, it is described in the novels, where the author depicts convincingly both being hit deeply and the long-lasting pain of love (in Jôji) as well as burning jealousy (in Shitto), and where she discusses the phenomenon of love and asks, for example, if sexual gratitude can be a partial component of love (Jôji tr. 39). She conveys an idea of the gravity and the possible tragedy of love, which her protagonist in Jôji is afraid of (tr. 44). Mori emphasizes that love, which touches deeper emotional layers, makes a person vulnerable and complicates a relationship, and she points out (e.g. in Jôji and repeatedly in Atsui kaze) that a relationship can run more smoothly and that there will be more understanding for each other “when there is no close emotional tie” or “only when you do not love him” (Jôji tr. 80). In contrast, Mori’s short stories show a matter-of-fact attitude towards man-woman relationships, as in story II 35, where the male protagonist finally considers marrying his miai-partner in spite of his spontaneous rejection and a remaining feeling of uneasiness – a rational point of view which is not rare in Japan.

The novels, too, are dominated by the basic topic of erotic and long- term man-woman relationships and deal with a variety of problem constellations in this area. A problem which was publicly a taboo topic but was ocasionally addressed or discussed in literature since the 1960s and was treated more openly in the literature of the 1980s, is the woman’s demand for sexual fulfillment. In Mori’s works, the complaint about the lack of the female orgasm in marriage is a main topic of the novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô and of the story Nagi no kôkei, and it is also a topic in Jôji (tr. 45) and in Atsui kaze (218), where Shina decides to postpone the discussion on the matter, whereas the I-narrator in Yogoto

144 In L’écliptique du sex, quoted after Eifler 1989, 32. 78 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô confronts her husband with the confession of her faked orgasms and has to face his dismay and his reprimands, and discusses the matter in detail with her psychotherapist. The same motif that the female protagonist discusses the problem with her psychotherapist, recurs in Mori’s novel Onnazakari (1984).145 This topic also underlies Mori’s novel Kana no kekkon (1986), where the 27-year-old protagonist Kana who is married for two years, experiences physical pleasure neither with her immature husband nor with her self-confident lover, but only in a relationship with her mother’s lover. Thus, Mori is one of the courageous authors who addressed the problem of orgasm deficiency at a relatively early point of time. It was one of her aims to draw the reader’s attention to the women’s basic need for sex, discussed in detail in story II 6 and e.g. in the words of the protagonist Yôko in Jôji (tr. 45) who says: “While… my youth was torn away from me, on the other hand my sensuality and my craving for sex increased. There were times when I could not get the naked desire for overabundant sex out of my mind for a single moment. That my husband never really satisfied me is something I considered unchangeable…” It has to be seen in this context that several of the female protagonists of the short stories demand from their lovers ample sexual activities by humorously expecting “6000 times” and afterwards “another 5999 times”(story 31) or “another 5997 times” (story 14), referring to statistics which give this figure as average sexual acts in a person’s married life. This is part of Mori’s soft rebellion against the social convention that the woman was expected to oblige to male needs in the sexual regard, too.

Another delicate topic which Mori addresses is the depiction (in Yûwaku 117–119) and discussion (Yûwaku 145 f.) of masturbation as practiced by a large number of women, although officially denied and concealed, together with the description of the husband’s dismayed and disbelieving reaction to his wife’s confession of doing so and his fearful realization that her self-satisfaction can be more subtle, pleasurable and effective than sex with a man and could thus impair the man’s significance as a sex-partner.

145 Hein 2008, 92. The basic subject: Man-woman relationships 79 Furthermore, Mori depicts the soiled act of love which can become physically discordant and even aggressive or brutal because of mental differences or a lack of trust. In Jôji, through Lane’s suspicion and distrust, as he has become aware that Yôko has been lying to him, he lives out his rancour by hurting and humiliating her (tr. 90–92), and their mutual love is soiled. In the same way, Mai in Shitto fears that because of her knowledge of being betrayed and because of her bitter­ ness about it, sex with her husband would be soiled, and thus refuses herself to him.

In Atsui kaze (chap. 5), Mori discusses the paradox phenomenon that a woman may regard the sexual act which is combined with body secretions such as sweat, mucus and sperm, as something dirty which she cannot impose on her husband, but rather wants to live out with an unloved sex-partner. In this case, sexual excitement can be heightened by verbal obscenities, which would not be possible with a loved and respected man.

In all her novels, Mori addresses the issue of physical violence in a relationship: − Reiko lives in constant fear of her life-partner Akira’s mental and physical violence (Kizu). − Phil slaps his wife in the face (Yûwaku 116). − The text says that Phil cannot beat his wife now, implying he would otherwise do so (Atsui kaze 33). − Phil has slapped one of the daughters in the face (Atsui kaze 31). − In a quarrel with his wife, Phil twists her hand painfully (Atsui kaze 61). − The husband twists Mai’s arm with such force (after she started beating his chest) that their daughter intervenes screaming (Shitto 130). − In Onnazakari, too, the husband Haruo physically abuses his wife Noriko several times (Hein 2008, 90, 94 f.).

Occasionally, women exert violence, too, for example: − Satoko beats her husband and scratches him in the face (Atsui kaze chap. 3). − An Englishwoman slaps her husband in the face (story 22). − A woman warns her admirer that she could defend herself with Karate and could scratch and bite him (story 34). 80 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA − The female protagonist comments that a woman in a Western movie would slap a man in the face for his cheeky words (story 3).

With the depiction of such behaviour, it is Mori’s aim to strengthen the women’s self-confidence and to encourage them to assert them- selves against men.

Mori describes repeatedly that a female character expects physical violence against herself, which is avoided in the last instant. For example: − Reiko is afraid that Akira might use his scissors to attack her face instead of the canvas (Kizu 7). − Reiko anticipates that her fellow-student Akeo, out of grudge that she has been given the precious Guarneri violin, is going to throw a stone on her, which he drops however (Kizu 9). − Meishen fears that her life-partner Al is going to beat her with his furiously lifted fist, which indicates that he usually beats her Atsui( kaze 159). − Shina reckons that her desperately aggressive friend Satoko is going to throw a lump of sand in her face, which flies over her ducked head (Atsui kaze 115).

Another topic addressed in the novels is the rape of a woman by her husband, e.g. in Yûwaku (143) and Atsui kaze (chap. 4) as well as in Onnazakari.146 The novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô de­ scribes the humiliating rape of the I-narrator by a shabby Malaysian and relates in retrospective a rape the I-narrator endured at the age of 16.147

Sexual harassment is also frequently addressed by Mori, often in marginal scenes. For example: − Mai’s 12-year-old daughter is accosted and pursued by a man at the station (Shitto 27 f.).

146 Here, in addition to reality, described in the form of a dream of the female protagonist Noriko, whose original disgust partly turns into pleasure (Hein 2008, 92, 95). A similar ambivalence is described of the female protagonist in story II 40. 147 Sexual violence in families is described by Uchida Shungiku (b. 1959, who made a name for herself as a cartoonist) in her semi-autobiographical novel Fazâfakkâ (Father Fucker, 1993), where the protagonist, after an enforced abortion at the age of 15, is continually raped and abused by her stepfather. The basic subject: Man-woman relationships 81 − Reiko experiences a number of annoyances in Paris: in the stand- up café (Kizu 66 f.) and twice in the Pigalle district (133 f.). − In Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, the I-narrator is pestered by an old man, etc.

With these topics Mori emphasizes again the degrading situation of women.

Mori’s female protagonists try to maintain their dignity in another regard: by valuing clear separations of relationships.148 They have the basic moral attitude that a new relationship should only be begun after the former relationship has been brought to a definite end, if possible on mutual consent, and not out of the desire for revenge or out of an emotional turmoil. For example: − This moral attitude is the reason why Shina resists a possible adventure with her husband’s friend Mike (in Yûwaku). − Reiko wants to leave Akira for good before starting a new relation- ship with Adam in Paris (in Kizu).

As regards the depiction of the female protagonists’ male flirt- or life-partners, they are portrayed as less capable of emotion than the female characters149 in both the novels and the short stories (except for story II 11 and II 24). This may be one of the reasons that Mori’s literature is less popular with male than with female readers. Mori explains her critical view of Japanese men in detail in her essay Jôji no shûhen (211 f.) and e.g. in story II 22, where the female protagonist comments that young men in the West are more mature at the age of only fifteen than Japanese men at the age of thirty, and Mori brings up the topic of the mother-complex of Japanese men (in II 15, II 20 and in several essays). She also criticizes that Japanese men are aware of their socially established privileges and insist on them (II 22).

148 Some of Yamada Eimi’s female protagonists show a similar attitude (see chap. V.C.2.10). 149 A similar depiction is found in the works of Japanese male authors, e.g. in Kawabata Yasunari’s novel Yukiguni (1947, Engl. tr. Snow Country, 1956). 82 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA In the short stories of the two Beddo no otogibanashi-collections, Mori portrays primarily the following types of men:

− the unfaithful man who takes it for granted to have steady or alternating mistresses beside his wife (2, 5, 8, 9, 29, 30, 34, II 1, II 14, II 19, II 20), and who intends to sustain his extra-marital affair even after it has become known to his wife (5, II 20, Shitto), or who ends up having an affair (19, 20, 26); − the patriarchal man who is convinced of himself and expects the woman to run after him (16); − the sponger who exploits a woman financially and is rather interested in her purse than in her person (2, 13); − the braggart who values the social prestige of a successful woman (4, 7); − the boastful aging playboy who has lost his former erotic attractive­ ness (33); − the undynamic, lethargic man who does not fight for a woman (30), who lacks in energy to conquer a woman (5), but leaves the decision to flirt up to her (16); − the weakling who gives up his affair easily out of social considerations (9, 12), out of convenience (13, 31), or because his wife has found out about it (29); because for him a woman is an “exchangeable object” (II 18); − the man who depends on his wife in several regards (in house keeping etc.) and who cannot cope with living alone (II 5, II 6); − the feeble-willed man manipulated by a woman (II 26, II 30); − the shirker who is not willing to take responsibility for his sex- partner (II 21); − the apathetic run-of-the-mill man who is a strain on the nerves of the more vivacious woman (25); − the dreamer who misses the chance to realize his dreams (II 26); − the devoted, lovesick man who mourns after his unworthy girl- friend (II 24), etc.

In the novels, the male figures are characterized much more dis­ tinctly, which highlights their negative features, although they are also granted a few positive character traits (see chap. III.C.1). The basic subject: Man-woman relationships 83 The husbands and male life-partners are mainly characterized as: − domineering, chauvinistic, patronizing, despotic and prone to vio­ lence (all male protagonists insult, beat and occasionally rape their wives); − unfaithful (all male characters); − arrogant, unloving,150 emotionally cold (Phil in Yûwaku and Atsui kaze), indifferent (Paul in Jôji) and ignorant (the husband in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô); − egocentric, selfish (Akira in Kizu, Shunsuke in Jôji), obstructive to the woman’s professional activities (Sôichirô in Shitto, Paul and Phil) and thus antagonistic; − condescending, discriminating (Phil, Sôichirô), contemptuous and cynical (Al in Atsui kaze); − stingy, petty, pedantic, prudish, stiff and formal (Phil, Paul).

The lovers are characterized as: − passionate or even obscene (Lane and David in Jôji); − inconsiderate, ruthless or even brutal (R. in Atsui kaze, Lane in Jôji); − condescending (David in Jôji).

The male flirt-partners are sometimes depicted in a positive way as: − understanding and sympathetic (Alain in Shitto, Adam in Kizu); − interested in the woman as a person (Mike in Yûwaku); − kind and gentle (yasashii: Noriko’s first love Shûhei in Onnazakari, Hein 2008, 97).

The female protagonists’ ideal image of a male partner151 extracted from the novels and the short stories as a whole shows what is con­ sidered inexcusable in a man’s behaviour:

− if the man does not respect or does not even know his wife’s pre­ ferences and likings, neither her habits nor her taste nor the size of her clothes and hats (as Shina enumerates in Yûwaku 188 f.);152

150 It is particularly unloving when the man does not give her “merely a single rose” in return to her generous Christmas present (story 13, Yûwaku). 151 See Mori’s essays Otoko no jôken in Wakare no yokan (1981), 201–208, and Ii otoko no jôken in Kaze no yô ni (1987), 59–65. 152 Gössmann 1997, 106, quotes a passage of the TV drama series Onna no iibun, where the wife protests: “What do you know about me at all? My size? My weight? My blood type? My favourite colour, my favourite food? …How can you say I am your wife when you don’t know a single thing about me.” 84 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA − if he patronizes her and does not consider that she develops her- self, e.g. regarding her view of the world or her likings (story 33); − if, instead of talking to her, he barricades himself behind his news­ paper over the meals (as the husbands in Shitto, Jôji, Yûwaku and Atsui kaze do throughout the novels); − if he ignores her problems and hardly takes notice of her as a human being, but takes her presence for granted and regards it as perfectly normal “to have her at his side” (Jôji tr. 94); − if he treats her like a servant (Satoko in Atsui kaze chap.3); − or like his possession (Jôji tr.79, Kanojo no mondai, stories 21, II 3 and others).

Mori’s message is that indifference towards the female life- partner, restriction and humiliation are inacceptable and fatal for a relationship.

Indispensable criteria from the female protagonists’ point of view are:

− The man should have an erotic attraction or charisma (see ‘Jôji’ no shûhen 210–213); − he should possess a kind of ferocity, a thirst for adventure, a willingness to take risks, a certain lasciviousness, and he should feel and express a strong sensual desire; − he should not be prudish (as described in Jôji tr. 28, 82, 84 and in Atsui kaze 135–136 and 192); − he should not be pedantic (examples in Jôji tr. 34 and 61, in Yûwaku, in Atsui kaze 76, 92, 97 etc., in stories 8, 33, II 31); − cleanness in a man’s outer appearance is essential (see ‘Jôji’ no shûhen 211, stories 1 and 8).

Regarding physical criteria of male attractivity, there are two main characteristics: First, the experience of suffering makes a man attractive: the male protagonists usually gain in attraction through a hurt expression on their faces (Lane in Jôji, Alain in Shitto, Adam in Kizu, Phil in Atsui kaze 95 and 168, the flirt-partner in story II 4), because this shows that the man is capable of a deeper emotion, and it makes him appear more mature and more suited for love; besides, the man’s experience of pain appeals to a woman’s sense of sympathy. The basic subject: Man-woman relationships 85 Second, the man’s hands are of prime importance, as they indicate a man’s suitability for sexual contact and give a clue to his character in general (David in Jôji tr. 47 ff., Atsui kaze 209, a main topic in story II 40 with the title Te, also addressed in the stories 8, 14, 18, 33). In ‘Jôji’ no shûhen 210 f., Mori elaborates that beautiful male hands indicate an attractive man: they should be well-shaped and expressive, masculine, slender and strong, and they should seem intellectual.153

As mentioned above, Mori’s female characters are depicted as capable of deeper emotions than the male characters. Emotions of joy and enthusiasm are reported of them, as well as negative emotions like shame (story 3), remorse (6), disappointment (II 21), dismay and passionate behaviour such as outbursts of rage (13, II 18, II 38, Atsui kaze chap. 3), crying (9, II 3, II 14) and despair (18), hysteria and suicide attempts (19), feelings of loneliness and desertedness (5, 18, 31, II 18, II 31), of fear (II 35) and helplessness (26), and a yearning for comfort and human warmth (31, II 3, II 24).

As an expression of loneliness, of self-protection upon experiencing emotional coldness and of a recollection of oneself, Mori repeatedly describes the female gesture of the self-embrace, in the short stories (II 20, II 38) and most of all in the novels, often as an after-effect of arguments.154 However, Mori’s female figures, particularly those of the short stories, are definitely not always likeable and nearly never flawless in character. Instead,

153 Other women writers have an emphasis on male hands, too, e.g. Ôba Minako in her debut work Sanbiki no kani (1968, Engl. tr. The Three Crabs 1982, Tanaka/Hanson 1982, 111, see chap. V.C.2.7). In the works of the Akutagawa-Prize winning author Ogawa Yôko (b. 1962), this even takes on the dimension of finger-fetishism, e.g. in Yohaku no ai (Marginal Love, 1991). 154 E.g. Shina inYûwaku naked in the bathtub after a marital argument (118), after Phil’s visit to a pub (142), and after a discussion in Atsui kaze (88); Yôko in Jôji in retrospective after the separation from Shunsuke (tr. 14) and after her husband left her alone for the weekend (tr. 12). – This gesture is also described in other works of Japanese literature, e.g. in Ôba Minako’s story Rôsoku-gyo (1971, Engl.tr. Candle Fish 1991, see chap. V.C.2.7), where the I-narrator says after a depression: “I would sit with my arms wrapped around my knees.” (Tanaka 1991, 24). This is probably an age-old trans-cultural female posture, as that of the ancient Egyptian burial objects Ushebti. It can be compared to the fetal position, which symbolizes utmost security for a human being. 86 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA − they are thoughtless, coquettish or seductive-evil (II 30); − they behave in a businesslike-cool (II 11), calculating manner (II 5, II 6), they take advantage of others unashamedly (II 24) or at least have a materialistic basic attitude (6); − the wives are unfaithful (2, 4, 6, 16, 18, 20, 21, 29, 30, 31, 34, II 1, II 4, II 14, II 19, II 21 as well as in Jôji and Atsui kaze); − they conceal their infidelity from their husbands (2, 6, 30, II 14, II 19), and they lie in other regards, too (6, 7). − Mori also portrays the scheming woman who sets up malicious traps out of distrust (24); − or the saboteur who destroys other people’s relationships out of envy and jealousy (15) or out of naiveté (10); − or the hysterical egoist who asks for pity (19) or pretends to be superior (26) and steals her friend’s husband.

In such character depictions, the author sometimes tries to derive her female protagonists’ immoral conduct from their biographical circumstances (esp. in story 15 and in the character of Meishen in Atsui kaze). And in the short stories Mori alludes to something she elaborates more in detail in the novels: the fact that the female protagonists’ emotional coldness towards their life-partner as well as their unfaithfulness and dishonesty are in most cases a result of the man’s earlier infidelity, the basic evil which shadows the relationship over years.

In this way, the author skillfully gains the reader’s understanding for the way her female protagonists act in life-like situations, and thus enables the reader to identify with them. Female issues and feminist tendencies 87

III.B.2. Female issues and feminist tendencies

The classification of Mori’s work – her novels, novellas and short stories – into the literary category of women’s literature (in the field of Japanese literature termed joryû bungaku155), is underlined by several criteria: − First, the author is a woman. − Second, she writes for women, that means she aims primarily at a female readership. Although Mori herself said156 she doesn’t write for men, she was read by a broad male readership, too,157 who wanted to acquire more knowledge about the woman as “the unknown being” and who had easy access to her publications in monthly magazines. − Third: the contents of her works are specifically women’s concerns and problems158 or the depiction of reality from a specifically female point of view (which also applies to the short stories with a male prota­ gonist), her works are carried by a socio-specific consciousness and thus represent the awareness of life of the modern woman159 in Japan. − As a fourth component, her works are written in a typically feminine style and are characterized by a feminine literary estheticism. The French literature theorist and writer Hélène Cixous (b. 1937)160 who uses the term écriture féminine to invalidate Sigmund Freud’s

155 Hijiya-Kirschnereit 1984, 392, enumerates the same criteria for the term joryû bungaku. She criticizes (414 f.) that male literature theorists like Takeda Tomohisa insist on a strict separation of joryû bungaku from literature in general (bungaku), although they concede joryû bungaku equality with general literature, i.e. male literature. – The more modern term is josei bungaku. 156 In a conversation with me on July 28, 1991. 157 See Samuel 1994, 245: “In a significant contrast to Western woman’s fiction, …Mori’s works are avidly read by men, too… Thus Mori effectively communicated women’s feelings and desires to men.” 158 Frederiksen 1989, 87. 159 Criteria for women’s literature, see Swiatlowski 1982, 110. 160 In her works Die unendliche Zirkulation des Begehrens (The Endless Circulation of Desire, 1977) and Weiblichkeit in der Schrift (Femi­inity in Writing, 1980), quoted after Geisenhanslüke 2003, 114. 88 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA theory of phallo-centrism, sees the nature of female writing in connection to the male discourse of acquisition and the female discourse of convergence. Male rigidity is opposed to femininity as the principle of openness, pluralism and fluidity. Female writing which is associated with the idea of a specifically female physical awareness, contains special features like psychological sensitivity and sensibility, emotionality and under-evaluation of intellectuality, the striving for authenticity, sincerity and a closeness to everyday-life. Further features are the preference of an associative style, a way of writing reminiscent of film-like sequences, as well as a satirical view, in particular on men and so-called masculinity.161 All these criteria apply to Mori Yôko’s writing. The fact that it belongs to the category of women’s literature is in itself a guarantee for success, because at least since the 1970s it is the most widely read literary category.162

When women’s literature in some way pursues the aim of an im­ provement of the woman’s social position or the restriction of patri- archal social structures respectively the predominance of the man, we can classify it as feminist literature. The most common feminist course is the one of opposing, protesting and rebelling against the prevailing social conditions, with the aim of reforming and abolishing them. In this case, literature tries either to break up existing hierarchical structures explosively or to undermine them subversively.163 It aims at supporting women to find their authentic identity (not one imposed on them by men), to become autonomous personalities free of role-specific behaviour, and at strengthening their self-esteem and what they demand of life. This is Mori Yôko’s aim, too, and although she presents this in a much more moderate form and often conveys it subliminally, in the discourse of Japanese literary criticism, she is regarded as a rebel against society.164

161 However, some of the female authors of the 1990s write in a non-gendered style, like the Naoki-Prize winning women writers Takamura Kaoru and Miyabe Miyuki and others, and are not considered as authors of women’s literature. 162 Domagalski 1981, 62. 163 Frederiksen 1989, 93 and 98. 164 See Schierbeck 1994, 293: “Mori writes about female rebellion against conventional marriage…”. Female issues and feminist tendencies 89 Mori did not regard herself as a feminist. For example her prot­ agonist of story II 10, a writer, expresses that she does not want to be linked to the women’s liberation movement or to be regarded as a specialist for female issues. She disapproves of the prefixjosei or joryû (“woman-“) because she detects in it a patriarchal demand on certain professions as male domains. Other woman writers voice the same kind of criticism.165 Mori explains that the motivation for her writing lies in outrage (ikidôri) on the existing system, anger (ikari) about the dominating and demanding men, and bitterness about the decay of women in this system. In her essay ‘Jôji’ no shûhen Mori says:166

“When a woman has no means of expressing herself, because she never got a chance to or missed it, she will feel desperate, and pain, fear, outrage and remorse build up inside her and condense to a heavy, dark, bitter Black Hole in her soul.” (213)…. “Although the woman’s awareness towards society has improved, her situation where a wife is basically not a woman any more has not changed. As long as the system of married life does not change, women will be unproductive. Only when man and woman make a move towards each other, only then the woman will be liberated in marriage… which will also mean a true liberation for the man.” (214).

Furthermore, Mori says167 what drives a woman to have affairs with other men, is

“her fury, her outrage at her husband and outrage at herself, anger and lamentation (nageki) about time passing by and the feeling of absence from oneself (jibun jishin no fuzaikan).”

Mori gives a similar explanation in the short stories, e.g. in the form of the dialogue in story 17:168

165 The same criticism of the prefix joryû is expressed e.g. by Kirino Natsuo, who points out that it is used in a restrictive sense and that men’s literature is not termed danryû either (Crea 12/1994, 195), similarly stated by Kanai Mieko in Bunrui suru (in Chûô kôron 11/1983, 39 f.); Yamamoto Michiko opposes the label shufu sakka (housewife author) and raises the question why male authors are not called teishu sakka (husband authors) (Wilson 1994, 465). 166 Also quoted by Matsumoto 1990, 353. 167 Continuation of the quotation above, also in her essay Sanjûgo-sai no yûutsu, where the last sentence is added (quoted after Matsumoto 1990, 354). 168 Beddo no otogibanashi 10th ed. 1989, 152. 90 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA

“According to the statistics, sixty percent of all married women have experiences with extramarital sex…” “On the contrary, the number is even considerably larger…” “Is the unfaithfulness a revenge on the man who doesn’t do anything for them?” “That’s not the reason. They are rather tired of the passive attitude to wait and not to be able to do anything, while time is passing by. The things they wish to do – what they don’t do now, they will never be able to do, but would begin to wilt away.”169 Mori’s intention is, as mentioned above, to strengthen the women’s self-confidence and to help them to find an autonomous female identity.

The novels are, of course, full of underlying as well as explicitly expressed criticism of Japanese society with its many prerogatives for men. Examples: − The husband argues frankly that in Japanese society, commonly known as a men’s society, the woman is educated to tolerate her husband’s extra-marital relationship and even to let him continue it with her knowledge, whereas the husband has the right to be jealous, to reprimand his wife and to object on the slightest occasion, even on a merely platonical approach of his wife to another man (Shitto 155). − The husband even blames his wife for his adultery, with the excuse that she had not offered him a cozy home any more (Shitto 65), and that he had needed distraction (Shitto 107). − Shina’s husband demands that a woman should generally take a subordinate role for the sake of marital harmony (in Yûwaku). − The female protagonist is willing to leave the leading position up to her husband in order to avoid unnerving marital rows (Atsui kaze chap. 4). − The husband in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô insists that concerning their unfulfilling sex life, she is the one who hasto change and not him. − Reiko’s life-partner Akira makes the male demand for hegemony explicit by proclaiming that on a ship there is only one captain (Kizu 11).

169 The three female protagonists of Mori’s novel Onnazakari (1984) feel the same pressure. – In the same way, Gössmann 1997, 106, quotes a 35-year-old woman from the TV drama series Otona no kisu, who leaves her husband because she “wants to feel like a woman again” before it is too late. Female issues and feminist tendencies 91 − In Atsui kaze chap. 4, the typical macho-male Al is presented, who repeatedly forbids his life-partner Meishen to speak (148 and 159), who denies her the wish for a child (159) and who obviously beats her (160).

The negative example of the husband in Shitto, who, instead of appreciating that his wife has given up her occupation for her family, regards her housewifely activities with disdain (143), makes the reader realize that the social injustice resulting from the traditional role allocation with a subordinate role of the woman is unbearable and no longer tolerable. Therefore it is no wonder that the female protagonists impulsively intonate they would like to kill their husbands (Mai in Shitto 120; Satoko in Atsui kaze chap. 3; Meishen as well as Shina in Atsui kaze chap. 5).

The female characters complain about the men’s behaviour:

− Yôko says it is always the man who is responsible for a woman’s unhappiness: “When a woman is petrified, it is always because of the man … I hate men, the enemies of all women.” (Jôji tr. 23). − In the psychoanalytical examination of the conflict with her mother in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, the I-narrator reproaches her mother for having given birth to her as a girl, “the inferior sex”. − Out of bitterness about her existence as a woman, Mai wishes to be reborn as a man in her next life (Shitto 156). − In the direct confrontation with her rival, Mai comes to the conclusion that this woman, too, is only a victim and that the man has the responsibility and is the only one to blame (Shitto 103 ).

Mori also addresses the miserable and humiliating situation of the mistress repeatedly in the short stories (9, 12, 21, 26, 28, II 21 and II 24).

In her short stories, Mori presents literary models of women who take the initiative with female means (see chap. IV). This correlates to the social development of the time that with the consent of 92 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA society, women may look for a life-partner on their own,170 even past the common marital age,171 until they find the right man. The self-confident female characters portrayed in the short stories know how to assert themselves in life: − They save their marriage by unmasking the adulteress (26); − they make contacts of their own (II 30, II 31); − or they fight for their status as mistress even in a humiliating relationship (9, 12, 18, II 3) and assume a self-assured posture toward the betrayed wife (the mistress Yasuko in Shitto, Kazumi in Onnazakari).

Mori does not always depict the self-confident and self-assured woman, though. Occasionally the woman feels uneasy about the free­ dom of decision and the responsibility laid on her (16).

The author wants to sharpen the women’s awareness not to be treated with disregard by men (like a piece of furniture, 21, II 3) or to be misused in any way (2, 4, 13).

With the conservative institution of the miai (3, II 35, II 40, also addressed in 12, 15 and others), Mori has depicted a phenomenon of the reality of Japanese life of the 1980s. The institution dominated by rational calculations and economical considerations, which made both the marriageable woman and the man to sale objects,172 where in former times photos, CVs, certificates and character references were added and private detectives were engaged to examine a person’s background and reputation, was often discredited in the media as unmodern, but did still exist in a much more casual and modernized form. Whereas in the past both parents or at least one parent of each candidate were present at the first meeting and had a say in the matter, later the candidates were merely introduced by a mediator (like

170 Rau 1980, 224; Crome 1980, 132. 171 Around 1970, this was given as the age of 24 and around 1990 as the age of 26; the marital age for men shifted from nearly 27 to 28,4 years (see Minoura 1995, 44). This corresponds to a continual increase of life expectancy: in 1993, the figure for men was 76,25 years of age, for women 82,51 years (Inoue/Ehara 1995, see Hein 2008, 57 f., 113). 172 As depicted in Jibun no mune by Sata Ineko (1956, Ger. tr. by H. Gössmann in M. and D. Donath, ed., Japan erzählt, 1990, 117–130); on the topic see also the short story Miai no hi by Inoue Yasushi (1963, Engl. tr. A Marriage Interview in Ueda 1986, 31–45). Female issues and feminist tendencies 93 in story 3). In the modern age of computer-based dating agencies, the candidates meet alone (II 35, II 40). With dry irony, Mori exposes the plays of the miai (3), but she also points out that even without much enthusiasm for the miai-partner, it is possible to consider marrying her (II 35) or having a fling with him II( 40), and the author thus confirms the long-term success of this institution,173 but she also implies that an arranged marriage without love can turn out unhappy and thus be a deception of one’s marital partner.174

Mori also gives various images of the social reality on the topic of divorce, which was regarded with disapproval until the 1970s, whereas in the 1980s the number of divorces increased continually, in particular those submitted by women.175 The author contemplates on the unfortunate situation of the divorced woman who was, guilty or not, subjected to social disregard and to a sudden economic and social decline, from a human and psychological point of view, e.g. that through a divorce, a woman loses her social standing (II 10) and her husband’s circle of acquaintances. Fom another point of view, a divorced woman may be a threat to her female friends, because their husbands might be tempted to flirt with her (story 19). Mori discusses that the chances of divorced women at remarrying are low, especially of women with a child (12), and also that divorced women have subjective mental difficulties in beginning a new relationship (1). On the other hand, with a sarcastic undertone, Mori also criticizes the tactics of women planning to come to prosperity through a rich marriage and several succeeding divorces (II 6, Edith Roche in Kizu). The author traces back the reasons for a separation or divorce, which are intolerance (11), the man’s emotional coldness (1, II 18), indifference and disregard (in the novels), his envy of the woman’s professional success (27), and unfaithfulness (II 19, II 38). In social reality, unfaithfulness,

173 Fukao 1989, 10, states that at the end of the 1980s, the majority of the clients of the booming miai institutes were not women anymore but men, because at that time two thirds of the marriageable part of the population were men. 174 Exemplified inOnnazakari on Noriko and her husband Haruo, see Hein 2008, 86. 175 See Hakuhodo Institute 1984, 6; Rau 1980, 234; Yoshida-Krafft 1987, 282: The rate of divorces, including marriages of many years’ standing, has increased for 250% between 1963 and 1983. 94 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA which is the most common reason for divorce for women, is usually not admitted officially. Although it was one of the five legally acknowledged reasons for divorce, in actual divorce proceedings, male unfaithfulness – even in serious cases – was by far more mildly evaluated than merely a small misdemeanour of the woman.176 Further reasons like stinginess, alcoholism or the man’s mother fixation mazâ-kon( ) are often covered under the common phrase of “serious differences in character”, which conceals the man’s fault. Mori also rouses the topic of divorce because of sexual differences (II 8).177 She deals with the topic of divorce in other works, too, e.g. in her essay Rikon no koto (On Divorce, in Onnazakari no itami, 1983, 205–218) and in her essay Rikon kyôshikyoku (Divorce-Rhapsody, in Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no, 1986, 55–58), and she considers divorce one of the most significant upheavals in a person’s life, next to engagement, marriage and adultery (e.g. in Tôkyô aijô monogatari, 1987). The particular prone­ ness to divorce of mixed marriages with foreigners is addressed in Jôji, Yûwaku and Atsui kaze as well as in story 11. In every kind of separation, Mori’s sympathy is usually on the woman who is left behind alone (II 10, II 11, II 18, II 38). In works of her second period of writing, Mori also creates female characters who experience the divorce as a liberation and lead a happy life on their own.178

Mori also considers the effects of divorce on the man who is burdened with maintenance payments (which can be so high that he cannot afford to remarry), and who in her opinion often copes with life as a single person and the problems of self-sufficiency, of the involuntary sexual abstinence and of loneliness much worse than the woman (II 5, II 6).

However, Mori does not advise her female readers to divorce. In her realistic depiction of Japanese everyday reality, the author often has a conventional stance in this regard, for example: − that a marriage should be sustained (26) or should not be jeopard- ized (25); − that affairs with married men do not make a woman happy (8, 9);

176 See Matsuo 1991, 200. 177 Mori used the pun seikaku no fuitchi (differences in character) and sei no fuitchi (sexual differences). 178 E.g. the side-character Mitsuyo in Onnazakari (Hein 2008, 100). Female issues and feminist tendencies 95 − that a marriage to an unloved man can be better for a woman than an affair without any future perspective (28) or than the loveless life as a single career-woman (kyariâ uman: 6, II 31); − or that for the sake of social pretence a so-called “divorce within the family” (kateinai rikon) is possible, with the couple living apart but still under the same roof, and leading their own separate lives (in II 5, in Onnazakari and others).

In spite of her feminist attitude and apart from a few ironical, drastic exaggerations and a daring manner of speaking of some of the female protagonists of the short stories, Mori’s writing remains realistic and true to life and gives insights into the mentality of a broad Japanese readership.

Realistic depiction and psychological understanding 97

III.B.3. Realistic depiction and psychological understanding

Mori’s writing gives depictions of the banal everyday-life in which the reader can recognize his or her sphere of life. The author describes situations the reader has likely experienced and can comprehend easily, and average characters with whom the reader can basically identify.179 In her depiction of everyday events, Mori usually avoids sensations such as crimes, catastrophes and deaths.180 What happens to the female protagonists while shopping, on their way home from work, at a bar or a restaurant, on a normal office day or on a special day like the wedding anniversary or Christmas, on a drive or on a holiday trip, is nothing unusual or exotic. Coincidences do not occur more frequently in her works than in the works of other authors and are in fact a part of real life (e.g. when the protagonist happens to bump into an old acquaintance on the street). Though Mori’s literature depicts actual circumstances of life to a large extent realistically, through occasional ironical or sarcastical exaggerations or through the depiction of protagonists with an avant­ garde attitude, there is sometimes no exact congruence with reality. What makes Mori’s depiction of everydayness gripping and meaningful is her emphasis on the basic topic of heterosexual contacts and relationships.

It is Mori’s special feature that crucial events of an alteration of a relationship often merely take place in the protagonists’ thoughts. Especially the short stories present, in a concentrated form, mental

179 Horiike 1990, 312, regards this as a characteristic feature of Mori’s writing. 180 However, in Shitto a young woman’s death by drowning in a huge wave is described. The suicide of the former fellow student Akeo, reported at the end of Kizu, of which Reiko is informed many years later, does not have any significance for the plot. A minor earthquake as described in story II 35 is an everyday incident in Tôkyô. 98 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA processes which unfold in a person’s mind, inner experiences like the sudden rising and fading of erotic desire in a short span of time (story 1) or the gradual growing and wearing off of emotions, as well as mental processes and crises which stretch on for a long time and consume several sequences of events. The author often describes that a person’s mental world is not transferred from the mental realm to reality, for example when the contemplated beginning of a relationship is not realized (5, 10, 21, 22, 24, 28, 32, II 15, II 26, II 31).

Psychological sensitivity and understanding is one of Mori’s strong points. The author’s profound psychological interest is reflected in the selection of the problem constellations, in the structure of the plot, in the characterization of the acting persons and especially in the life- like and psychologically accurate dialogues. Mori’s richness in psychological nuances shows in the depiction of gradually comprehending unpleasant facts or in coming to terms with a severe experience of reality. She describes quite forcefully the intense agony of love (in Jôji, story 9 and others). Another one of her psychological topics is the attempt at helping someone to get over the initial pain of a separation or a loss of a person, which does not alter the fact that in the long run he or she will have to cope with it alone (as Alain in Shitto 162, Satoko in Atsui kaze 115 f., the female protagonist of story II 24). The problem to get through the day in a situation of acute pain is discussed e.g. in story II 10.

Further examples which give proof of the author’s subtle psycho- logical understanding are the following observations: − that liking and affection can grow into love, ignited by compassion181 (in story 19, 21, Adam in Kizu 184); − that a harmonious friendship which is based on mutual acceptance of one’s weaknesses and respect of one’s strong points (as in Kizu) can lead to love; − that comradeship between the sexes conceals sexual appreciation of each other (story 32); − that in a happy, steady relationship, a woman is inclined to have an affair, probably because of her heightened self-esteem (5, 20, 31).182

181 This motif is also integrated in Mori Ôgai’s novella Maihime (1890, made into a film by Shinoda Masahiro 1988). 182 Mori comments on this motif in her essay ‘Jôji’ kara furin e (Mori 1986a), 191 and 201. Realistic depiction and psychological understanding 99 Mori’s fine psychological sense also shows in her depiction that when an emotional relationship comes to an end, a woman attaches importance on a last sexual encounter as a final farewell (12). In a similar way, Mori characterizes the female attitude to sever the separation of a long-term relationship by seeking a sexual encounter consciously planned as a once-only experience, either with an acquaintance (who she does not consider a possible partner for a new relationship) (17) or with a stranger (II 24). In story 24, one of the side-characters says: “When I broke up… I went to bed with a different man every night.”183 Mori’s observation of mental conditions is also apparent in the description of recollection processes, like in her repeated description (explicitly explained in Kizu 186) that in remembering life at home from a distance, the things that come to mind are minor details of everyday- life, unconsciously perceived habits and gestures of one’s life-partner and outstanding household duties (like mending Akira’s sweater in Kizu 186 or hemming the daughter’s school uniform skirt in Shitto 87), whereas strong emotions and mental distress are not given in the form of visual images of recollection (Kizu 75).184 Mori depicts the complexity of emotions e.g. with her description of the female protagonist’s overflowing joy (story 27), which rises in her like bubbles of champagne and which is mingled with swelling and subsiding bewilderment and with an inexplicable pain. Mori discusses the phenomenon that people end up in unplanned situations and do things they certainly did not want to do (18, II 26, II 38), which is not simply a sign of weakness of will or of malleability, and she gives a detailed description how it could come to this, in the case of a woman (II 40) or of a man (II 30, II 35). Drastically, the author goes so far as depicting a rape (II 40, Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô). Mori also considers the question of guilt, wondering to what extent people may be partially responsible for their own misfortune,

183 Beddo no otogibanashi, 209 f. – The same is reported of the female protagonist of Uno Chiyo’s novel Aru hitori no onna no hanashi (1972). 184 In a similar way, Sono Ayako describes in Tenjô no ao (1990, Engl. tr. No Reason for Murder 2003, 161): “He sometimes couldn’t remember vital things, but he could recall every detail of things that didn’t seem so important.” – In his novel Afutâ dâku (2004), Murakami Haruki writes: “The human memory crams its drawers with the last useless junk, but it forgets the vital, necessary things by the dozen.” 100 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA because out of overstrain and exhaustion, they may not have been careful enough about something (esp. the female protagonist in II 38). Mori also makes the problem of distrust, which can burden and even destroy human relationships, the topic of some of her stories (24). And she conveys the emotion of embarrassment, disgrace and shame (haji), which has an important function in Japanese education, realistically to her female reader, who will probably feel empathy for the shamed person (2, 3). An attempt at understanding the male psyche shows in repeatedly referring to an inexplicable diffuse sadness of the man after sex (II 15, II 22), also addressed by Ôba Minako (see chap. V.C.2.7). Mori eyes critically the male way of driving a car. On a drive together with the female protagonist, the man’s increasing anger about having to let a car pass (in spite of several attempts to prevent it), is related repeatedly (Adam in his Porsche in Kizu 195 f., Phil in his rented Alfa Romeo in Atsui kaze 54, in a similar way in story II 21).

An astute psychological observation is that feeling annoyed by banal, petty things (of which the author enumerates several in story 11) is a significant symptom for the fact that a relationship is not in concord and that the other’s individual personality is not accepted, which is all the more evident in case of disparagement and deception (13) or of open criticism and arguments (Yûwaku). In the same way, it is Mori’s psychological approach to describe that serious arguments, which can result in a crucial turn of life, are sparked off by minor, trifling matters. A few examples: − The title-giving toast in story II 7 is the cause for an argument with far-reaching consequences. − A trivial detail on the way home from the wedding trip leads to an argument which brings about the decision for divorce of both protagonists (II 8 Rimujin basu, p 61). − A harmless conservation between Shina and Phil in the car ends in talk of divorce, with Phil being relieved not to have had an accident at the unexpected turn of events (Yûwaku 152–156). − An argument between Adam and Akeo, which began with casual remarks, ends in a row (Kizu 191), which finally is the reason for Akeo’s disappearance, followed by his suicide soon after. Realistic depiction and psychological understanding 101 The author presents a psychological experiment with a socio- critical message in story 23 about a young actor who, dressed up as a woman, achieves the success and recognition he could not attain in men’s roles, who thus empathizes with a woman’s life and experiences the disregard and disparagement that women daily have to suffer at the hands of men, and he becomes aware of his better social position as a man. Psychological empathy also underlies the observation that depend­ ing on certain weather conditions, e.g. a heavy downpour, people may react unusually, because of the feeling of struggling with the elements of nature (II 38) or because of the sensation of wet clothes sticking to their body, as the female protagonist of story 1 puts into words: “All that because of the rain.”185 An interesting feature is Mori’s emphasis on smells and scents, which contribute to creating a special atmosphere (Atsui kaze chap. 4, story 31) and in evoking memories (7, 18, II 3). One of her most frequent topics is that a certain body odour indicates an extra-marital fling (26, 29, II 20; Atsui kaze 155), or that the lack of a person’s individual odour rouses the suspicion of infidelity (5, 20,II 19, Atsui kaze chap. 4). Perfume is used as an indication of a person’s identity (7, II 3). Striking and disgusting smells are mentioned, too: − mouth and foot odours (II 35); − the stench of the mother-in-law’s excreta (Atsui kaze 13 f.); − the body odour of the elderly hotel guests (Atsui kaze 72); − the peculiar smells of the cooking stands in Singapore (Atsui kaze 126 ff.); − the fragrance of exotic plants in moist tropical air (Atsui kaze 190), − the animal smells exuded by wet bodies and wet clothing (Kizu 201 and stories 1, II 38); − the specific smell of big cities like Paris (Kizu 201); − and the typical smell of the sea (mentioned in all novels, esp. in Jôji and Yûwaku).

In contrast to Mori’s distinctive sense of smell, an under-estimation of the acoustic sense is noticeable (which is surprising, regarding the fact that the author is a trained musician), e.g. when characters are not recognized by their unmistakable individual voice but only by their manner of speaking (7, II 1).

185 Beddo no otogibanashi, 13. 102 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA Even when Mori relates actual events, her literary intention is to reveal the female protagonist’s inner development, a mental process. In the novels and in the short stories, such developments usually lead the protagonist to an experience of life or to a new understanding of her­ self, of the nature and quality of her relationship or of an alteration of her living conditions. The depiction of this mainly disillusioning, painful realization (e.g. in II 1, II 14, II 38) – as the conclusion of the problem constellation – is actually the author’s literary intention.186

The short stories present various forms of such insights: − A well-known actress187 comes to the realization that in spite of her fame and social status as well as her well-groomed female attractiveness, she cannot bind a man who is twenty years younger than her (14). − A female protagonist realizes that she once made the wrong decision in rejecting a man and thus is responsible for her unsatisfying present situation (6); − or that she missed former opportunities which do not exist any more (32); − or that after a year, she has not yet achieved emotional independ- ence from her former husband (17).

The realization can also concern insufficiencies in her relationship or her life-partner’s character (the latter in II 21): − that the marriage to an apathetic or immature man is unfulfilling (25, II 4); − or that for various reasons her marriage (27, II 8) or her relation- ship (9, 12, 13) cannot be sustained any longer, etc.

Many stories are about the revelation and disclosure of un- faithfulness or of a breach of confidence (5, 19, 20, 30,II 20). The protagonist’s realization can also refer to insufficiencies in her life situation, e.g. her emptiness of life as a housewife (18, 31), or

186 Examples from the novels see chap. III.C.2. Developments in character, in consciousness and even in outer looks are also described in Onnazakari of both the female and the male characters; for example, the husband Haruo, in the beginning a patriarch prone to violence, who awards more rights to the man than to the woman, later becomes capable of self-criticism and feels remorse and regret, which even shows on his face (Hein 2008, 88, 90 f., 107, 109, 117). 187 The formerly famous, but now aging actress is a recurring figure in Mori’s works, e.g. the protagonist Natsuko in the novel Jûgatsu no bara (1989). Realistic depiction and psychological understanding 103 to the experience how she is viewed by her social environment (II 10, II 11).

Male protagonists gain insights, too. For example: − they realize that their marriage (II 19) or their relationship (II 24) has failed; − they acknowledge flaws in their marriage or relationship, in most cases their wife’s infidelity (29, II 1, II 14, II 18), or other deficien- cies of their relationship (II 3); − a male protagonist feels uneasy with his extramarital partner (II 30), − he renounces an affair (II 31), or it does not take place (II 26), − or a protagonist resignedly decides on a marriage although he has recognized its problematic aspects (II 22), − or he can imagine ending up in a problematic marriage (II 35).

Mori’s realistic depiction of everyday-life makes it easier for the reader to benefit from the protagonists’ insights. For the reader, too, the process of recognition is a mental development process. Here, Zimmermann’s phrasing from 1979 (65) is applicable: “Recognition… is the intention of the narrator’s efforts: to attain a realization which can be reached by no other means than in the depiction itself; a realization which cannot be reduced to one sentence of ideological or scientific nature.” In this way, Mori achieves a sharpening of her female reader’s problem awareness which can give her reader impulses to change her own life. The reader can draw conclusions how to lead her own life. Mori was aware of this function of her writing and made it the topic of story II 1 with the slightly ironic title Jinsei-sôdan (Life Advice). The so-called life-advice of her stories contributes to their vividness (see chap. V.B.).

Prosperous and Westernized middle class 105

III.B.4. Portrayal of the prosperous and Westernized Japanese middle class during the “bubble era”

As Mori’s works are primarily written for women, they have a broad readership in this half of the population. Four of the female protagonists of the novels are wives of men who are relatively well off. They have given up their former profession, and some of them have an additional income (Yôko in Jôji, Reiko in Kizu and Shina in Atsui kaze). The short stories are mainly aimed at working women, a constantly growing social group,188 who particularly in the Japanese “bubble- era”189 had plenty of money at their disposal and had manifold interests. The housewives are not neglected in the short stories either (depicted in 2, 6, 18, 21, 26, 30, 31, II 3, II 14, II 21). While at the beginning of her career as a writer, Mori addressed women in their mid- to late thirties of about her own age who had already fulfilled the duties of marrying and giving birth to a child, later on her reader target group expanded in age and included younger women, too.190 Mori’s works are not exclusively aimed at a female readership, but on the very broad social segment of the middle class which constituted the highest share of the Japanese population of the 1980s (Samuel 1994, 244 gives the rate of 90%).

188 According to Fukao 1989, 9, the rate of working women had amounted to 40% in 1989 (Samuel 1994, 244, speaks of 50%, including part time work); the rate of married women, who returned to their professional life after raising their children, was app. 60%. Besides, women had better access to higher professional positions. The formerly common view that a woman’s happiness lies in marriage and not in professional activities, was supported by only 28% of the interviewed women. 189 According to Hara 2006, 17, it is limited to the years 1986–1991 in the field of economy, but in the field of culture, the whole decade of the 1980s is referred to as the “bubble era”. 190 Young working women are portrayed e.g. in her story Shishiza no onna in Horosukôpu monogatari (1986), in her novel Hansamu gâruzu (1988) and others. 106 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA In Western societies, too, the largest social segment is the middle class, which can be divided into several subsections:191 the broad level of the petty bourgeois and of the advancement-oriented environments, a new employee environment as well as narrow social levels of an alternative and a so-called hedonistic environment. All these social segments have in common that they have average or good income levels and financial circumstances, completed school- and professional education and relatively steady social relationships.

In the 1980s, Japanese society was in a state of transition. Tanaka Yukiko 1991, VII f. refers to this decade as “the era of women in Japan. The 1980s were years of transition in the lives of Japanese women – there were changes at home, in the workplace, and in society… The number of working women rose dramatically… The presence of women in society was felt as it never had been before… a turbulent time… a society in flux.” Around 1990, almost three-quarters192 of the Japanese population were content with their living conditions which they considered as financial prosperity yutakasa( ). The era, founded on the unsolid nature of the “bubble economy”, which lasted until its breakdown (baburu no hôkai) in the early 1990s, was called “the Golden Age” of “affluent Japan”.193 Since 1983, among the wishes people had for their future, the desire for more free time continually occupied the first rank, and the new ideal of the Japanese was a life with more leisure (yutori).

What is thus reflected in Mori’s writing is the urban awareness of life of the broad middle-class who lived in a prosperity attainable for a large part of the population and therefore praised as “democratic wealth” (minshuteki na tomi)194, and who could enjoy the pleasant aspects of life:

191 Schneider 2003, 100 ff., with reference to the SINUS-model applied to Ger- many of the 1980s, quoted after Schmitz-Kölzer 1996, 180–204. 192 72,1%, according to an opinion poll of the Japanese Prime Minister Office from 9/1990 (Neues aus Japan nr. 332/1991, 6–9). 193 Pauer 1990, 228 with footnote 106. 194 Pauer 1990, 226. In contrast to this view, the breakdown of the “bubble” in 1991 had the after-effect that Japanese society showed tendencies of development towards a division into rich and poor. Prosperous and Westernized middle class 107 − who could afford to wear brand clothing (mentioned in Jôji and Atsui kaze) and real jewelry (story 6, II 6); − to go to the hairdresser’s and to beauty parlours (14); − to go out to bars and restaurants (mentioned frequently); − to keep up expensive hobbies like tennis (20, II 3), golf (33, II 19) and skiing (16); − to make weekend or holiday trips in Japan (24, 33) and abroad, e.g. to Hong Kong (22, Jôji), Singapore (Atsui kaze), Beijing or Shanghai (Puraibêto taimu), Malaysia or Bali (34, II 4), to England (Yûwaku, Atsui kaze) or France (Kizu).

Mori Yôko who had originally belonged to the same social class as her readership, integrated in her writing the wish of her readership to acquire Western life-style which was considered fashionable, modern and progressive. As Mori had been strongly oriented on the West since her early youth, and as she had a good proficiency in English and insider- knowledge through her mixed marriage195 with an Englishman, she could convey the Western way of life in a natural manner to her Japanese readers. She did so by repeatedly portraying love affairs (34, II 4) and mixed marriages with Western men (story 11, Jôji, Yûwaku, Atsui kaze)196 and by depicting half-Japanese and other half-Asians, or Japanese with a Western circle of acquaintances and living environment (see chap. III.C.3).197 Another sign of Mori’s pro-Western attitude is her use of language, which contains more English words and expressions than the average of the modern Japanese language (see chap. III.A.1). As indicators of the Western life-style, Mori presents Western branded articles, accessories and ambience known in Japan.198 She

195 She was proud of her international marriage, see chap. II. 196 See Mori’s essay Kokusai kekkon in Onnazakari no itami (1983), 47–56. 197 In a similar way, in her article on Yamada Eimi, Samuel 1994, 463, regards as an asset that Yamada introduces to her readers a mixed world of Japanese and black Americans (which is much more rare in Japan); see chap. V.C.2.10. 198 For example: Italian sports cars (6, 33, II 15, Kizu, Yûwaku), branded clothing (4, 6, 13, II 18, II 21) and furs (Atsui kaze chap. 1; see also her essay Onna no kegawa in Puraibêto taimu 1986, 204–206), diamonds and Rolex-watches (6, II 6), French wine glasses (13, II 18) and English porcelain (6, Atsui kaze). – Sano 1985, 235–236, refers to Mori’s frequent mention of prestige objects in her kaisetsu on Mori’s collection Manekarenakatta onnatachi (1982), which should not be understood as a clue to Mori’s personal attitude. 108 SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA depicts the consumer society of the “bubble culture” of the 1980s, still unclouded by the economical recession of the 1990s. Even the dream to have a house of one’s own199 appears as an aim in life, achieved with much effort, and in several stories she comments sarcastically on the protagonist’s own house far away in the suburb, with a garden small “like a handkerchief” (31) or “like a stamp” (II 3). The protagonists are typical middle-class couples who quarrel about money on the one hand (Yûwaku, Atsui kaze), and on the other hand own an apartment (Shitto), a holiday home (Jôji, Atsui kaze) or a yacht (Jôji, Atsui kaze). Although a basic materialistic attitude which is typical for the bubble era underlies such depictions (Mori mentions high prices with a satirical undertone), her works, which focus on the main topic of relationship constellations, are seen as questioning the materialistic set of values,200 and Mori herself is described as an unmaterialistic person.201 In addition, Mori propagates Western life-style through allusions to Western film stars or through their specific presentation. Inthe works examined here, she mentions for example: Marlene Dietrich (21, 23) and Romy Schneider (II 4); Judy Garland (27), Clark Gable (8), Vivian Leigh (4); Humphrey Bogart (1) and Lauren Bacall (23); Burt Lancaster (Atsui kaze), Cary Grant (II 2); Audrey Hepburn (II 30), Marilyn Monroe (II 5), Elizabeth Taylor (Jôji); Ingrid Bergman (II 40) and Roberto Rossellini (27); Jean Gabin (28), Catherine Deneuve (in Mori’s essay Onna no kegawa); Vanessa Redgrave (in the essay ‘Jôji’ no shûhen); Warren Beatty and Farah Fawcett (4); Peter Falk in the role of inspector Columbo (II 7, II 11, II 26); Mickey Rourke and Meryl Streep (II 38); John Lone (II 35), John Denver (II 4); Elvis Presley and Jane Birkin (Jôji); Johnny Cash (Yûwaku), Kenny Rogers and the Beatles (Atsui kaze); Madonna (II 35); the director Visconti (14); as well as politicians like Margret Thatcher (II 11) and further internationally known personalities such as Jackie Onassis (14).

199 In the 1980s, the price for a house had increased to 20 times of an average annual income instead of 6 times in former years; see Pauer 1990, 224. 200 Yonaha 1998b, 452. 201 E.g. Umihara 1988, 212 f. Prosperous and Westernized middle class 109 Mori wants to convey to her readership knowledge of the inter­ national entertainment industry:

− In her collection of essays Toki wa sugite (1988, with the subtitle Cinema Essay), she presents a nostalgic parade of 22 international film stars of the 1950s and 1960s with photos, and discusses 11 well-known old movies. − In her collection of essays Bijotachi no shinwa (1989, with the subtitle Legendary Beauties), she gives 15 illustrated portraits of early screen goddesses or ladies of the high society, mostly idols of her own youth. − In her collection of short stories Horosukôpu monogatari (1986), she introduces Western politicians, artists and actors, who are staples of the Western world, as exemplary personalities of the respective signs of the occidental zodiac.

In the two Beddo no otogibanashi-collections, Mori mentions the following movies: Morocco from 1930 (story 21); Casablanca202 from 1943 (II 40); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof from 1958 (II 10); Heartburn from 1986 (II 38); 9½ Weeks from 1986 (II 38); Fatal Attraction from 1987 (II 30); and the TV series Columbo running in the U.S. since 1971 (II 7, II 11, II 26). Mori considers Simone Signoret, Monica Vitty and Jeanne Moreau her personal favourites.203

By propagating the Western way of life, Mori proves to be an advocate of its ideals of more personal freedom and informality, of individualism and equality. Mori’s tanscultural character of writing gives her readers knowledge of various elements of Western culture (see chap. III.C.3).

202 See Mori’s essays Kasaburanka no ‘Toki wa sugiyukite’ (“As Time Goes by” in Casablanca) and Kasuba no kyûjitsu (Holidays in the Kasbah) in Owari no bigaku (1993), 125–137, which report incidents of her trips to Morocco. 203 Hayase 1989, 426.

Characterization of the female protagonists 111

III.C. ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE FIVE NOVELS

III.C.1. Characterization of the female protagonists

In all novels, the description of the female characters shows a strong autobiographical influence. Regarding the female protagonists‘ age, their being educated as professional musicians, their being married to an Englishman and their having children, I examine the resemblances between the prot­ agonists and the author in chapter V.A. Other autobiographical features may be seen in the depiction that most of the female protagonists of the novels smoke (in Kizu, Yûwaku and Atsui kaze) and have a strong inclination to drinking alcohol.204 For example, Yôko in Jôji, Reiko in Kizu and the I-narrator of Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô drink whisky, as well as Noriko in Onnazakari (Hein 2008, 92); and Shina in Yûwaku (176) is described as nearly an alcoholic, which is also discussed in an argument with her husband. The fact that all female protagonists of the five novels published between 1978 and 1982 complain of stomach problems and stomach-ache, lack of appetite and an unability to eat, tend to skip meals quite frequently, replaced by drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes, reminds readers today that the author died of stomach cancer one decade later. In spite of the autobiographical references of all five protagonists, they all have differently modeled and individually shaped characters. One of the reasons may be the fact that for each novel the author goes back to a different stage of her live and draws on different situations, respectively varying stages of development of her own personality.

204 In Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no (1986) Mori says about herself that drinking makes her feel enraptured and blissful, but also empty and lonely in the end. She also describes the appeal of wine in one of her essays in Aru hi, aru gogo (1989). 112 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS In Kizu, with the violinist Reiko who carries around an incredibly expensive violin everywhere she goes in the metropolis of Paris (although at the time of action at the age of 27, she is not a violinist any more because of her injured hand),205 Mori has created an impressive character. With this I-narrator and with the countless flashbacks on her time as a violin student, Mori has certainly made use of her own experience as a student of music. This means that Kizu, compared to the other novels discussed, turns the author’s earliest phase of life into a novel, the time of a young woman who is still unmarried and does not yet have any children. For this reason, I have placed this novel in the beginning of the analysis, because I wanted to arrange the novels according to the autobiographical references regardless of the year of publication. As the I-narrator and protagonist Yôko in Jôji is thirty-five and has an eleven-year-old daughter, and Mai in Shitto is thirty-seven and has a daughter of almost twelve years, it would seem reasonable to place Jôji before Shitto. However, Jôji describes the unfaithfulness of the female protagonist herself, whereas Shitto deals with the severe and continuing unfaithfulness of the female protagonist’s husband, and Mori has frequently emphasized (e.g. in Jôji tr. 73, Yûwaku 147, Atsui kaze chap. 3, in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô and in her novel Kaze monogatari from 1983), that the reason for a woman to have an affair always lies in the preceding deception of her husband. Accord­ ing to Mori, a woman can never really get over the experience of being betrayed; it leaves her with a feeling of uncertainty and a broken confidence in her husband and in the life she took for granted. In trying to cope with this, a woman needs some time until she becomes capable of having an extramarital affair herself. In Shitto, the protago­ nist Mai is not yet ready to retaliate with unfaithfulness of her own. For this reason, I have decided to place the novel Shitto before Jôji in my examination of the novels. The two novels Yûwaku and Atsui kaze are combined in terms of content and have the same protagonist couple Shina and Phil, with Atsui kaze taking up the storyline of Yûwaku at a later point of time. The protagonist Shina, childless in Yûwaku, has two children seven years later in Atsui kaze. As the two novels doubtlessly show strong references to certain stages of Mori’s own marriage and to trips to her husband’s

205 The protagonist of Mori’s novel Yakôchû (1983), an I-narrator named Reiko, is also a violinist who has given up playing the violin; see Miki 1986, 187. Characterization of the female protagonists 113 home town in England, and as both novels portray the marriage at later stages and question why a ruined marriage is sustained, I have placed them at the end of my analysis.

In contrast to the active female protagonists in the short stories who are often self-assured, sometimes with an avant-garde attitude, and who counteract the prevailing male demand for predominance, the female protagonists of the novels behave partly in a quite passive manner. Particularly Reiko in Kizu presents herself as a passive character who lets herself be bullied and mistreated by her life- partner Akira, be humiliated by her fellow student Akeo and mani­ pulated by her most recent acquaintance Adam (for example in not pursuing her needs like returning to her hotel because of fatigue). As victim of intrigue, she foregoes self-justification and does not demand a clarifying discussion with her violin teacher Rosé, she refrains from expressing her own opinion206 and behaves like an inexperienced naive girl.207 In the end, however, she takes her life in her own hands, frees herself of Akira’s patronizing influence and achieves inner and financial independence. Another example is the protagonist Yôko in Jôji. In the beginning of the novel, upon the separation from her first love Shunsuke, when she decides to „try to fly somehow with her own small wings“ (tr. 15), and when she retaliates against her husband’s infidelity with affairs of her own, she demonstrates inner independence. But in her love to Lane, she behaves in a fatefully passive way. Aware that her lie about being unmarried cannot be kept up any longer and will be revealed by her former lover David, she falls into a state of numbness, as if she were paralyzed, and is unable to change the course of events, which culminates in the meeting between Lane and her husband and in the situation that she has to introduce the two men herself – the thing she wanted to avoid the most. In order to prevent losing Lane so suddenly she ought to have taken action before, for instance by explaining things to Lane carefully and remorsefully, then she would have had a chance at self-justification and perhaps even at a reconceiliation with

206 E.g. in the case of Akeo’s contradictions against Rosé’s abuse of Jewish musicians in Germany, his disagreement with the Tôdai students on Mozart operas, and his difference of opinion with a music critic on atonal music. 207 Interestingly, with this Daoist attitude of Doing nothing or Non-interference (Chin. wu wei), she gets the precious violin. 114 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS him. Instead, she even lets a friend keep her from explaining and justifying herself to Lane.208 Whereas Mai in Shitto and Shina in Yûwaku and Atsui kaze address problems and pursue discussing them, Reiko in Kizu and Yôko in Jôji, who forego self-justification, are representatives of the traditional Japanese pattern of femininity, which made a woman suffer in silence and thus urged her into verbal isolation (see chap. V.C.2.7). A pro- minent representative of this attitude is Noriko in Onnazakari, who refers to herself as someone who “resigns easily“ (akirame-yasui).209

The female protagonists of the novels discussed here lack in adventurous spirit, and they show no initiative in discovering foreign cities. For example: − Reiko in Kizu, newly arrived in Paris, sleeps away the whole first day, and the following days she doesn‘t show much interest in the sights and the atmosphere of the metropolis. − Shina in Yûwaku stays in her hotel in London after her arrival, until she leaves town the next morning together with her husband by car. The female protagonists (particularly Reiko in Kizu) also lack in talent for organizing their everyday-life practically. For example: – Instead of going to the trouble of carrying around the Guarneri violin through Paris the whole day (into the Louvre, where she probably has to leave it in the cloakroom), Reiko should have found a possibility to store it away safely. − Instead of letting Akira endlessly rob her of her sleep and thereby ruin her health and risk their relationship, Reiko could sleep on her own futon in the studio. In addition to their impractical nature, the female protagonists have various anxieties and uncertainties. For example: − After her arrival in Paris, Reiko has problems adjusting to the European time and switches her watch to French time only at

208 In her essay Jôji no shûhen (1981, 217), Mori offers the explanation that secret love deprives of courage and of words. 209 Hein 2008, 83–84, quotes Noriko’s words: “When I want to say something, the resignation (akirame) gets the better of me… And when I just manage to be patient (gaman sureba), it will be all right… to endure it (taeru).” Characterization of the female protagonists 115 the end of the novel (which symbolizes a change of her inner attitude). − Yôko in Jôji has a fear of the telephone, so that her lover Lane worries how she will get ahead in life with this phobia (tr. 75). − Reiko in Kizu (64) and Shina in Yûwaku (132) are both afraid of not being able to keep pace in a throng of people in a Western metropolis like Paris or London, which moves too quickly for their standards, and they are relieved that they don’t have to go shopping there. − The female protagonists don‘t want to overstrain themselves as front-seat passengers in a car, like Yôko in Jôji (tr. 61), or like Shina in Atsui kaze (chap. 2, 55), who wants to drive more slowly and to stay longer in the same place. The female protagonists of the novels, wives who are financially dependent on their husbands, are not yet emancipated. This socially imposed lack of independence is discussed in detail in Atsui kaze chap. 3, 116 (see below chap. IV).

Although the female protagonists of the novels gain more self- confidence with progressing age, the protagonist Shina in Atsui kaze, the latest one of the five novels discussed, is again a woman who is emotionally dependent on her husband and incapable of leaving him. In chapters 4 and 5 of the novel, the Vietnamese woman Meishen gives a drastic example of Mori’s theory that a woman can only assert herself against her husband or partner by acting behind his back and by deceiving him. Meishen does not have any other choice to achieve the separation from her life-partner Al, as an open discussion with him is impossible. And Shina’s seemingly passive behaviour in allowing the inferior Vietnamese woman whom she hardly knows to swindle her of a considerable amount of money, and in not trying to get the money back, is her instinctive support for Meishen’s decision to break off her relationship with the domeneering and overbearing Al. By refraining from interfering, Shina assists her escape. This is a subtle rebellion on Shina’s part, too, which also shows in her now wearing the revealing dress which her husband previously forbid her to wear. Her coming to terms with the considerable loss of money, and in addition her willingness to put up with her husband’s shocked reaction, signifies taking sides with Meishen as a fellow Asian woman, which surprises herself. This attitude is expressed distinctly in Shina’s comment that the money is 116 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS better used for Meishen’s separation from Al than for supporting her unfriendly English mother-in-law.

Out of fear of separation and of being left alone, the female protagonists endure considerable tortures in a relationship. The main reason for this fear is that they regard themselves primarily as sexual beings; they find their identity in their life-partner and see the basis of their self-esteem in being desired by a man (see also chap. IV). There­ fore it is a horrible thought for them to lose their partner (for instance through divorce, which Shina in Yûwaku openly addresses, but in- wardly fears), or not to be desired by him any more one day (like Mai in Shitto after her husband’s confession of infidelity; and like Shina in Yûwaku, when one morning her husband’s hand doesn‘t reach out for her any more), because then they lose the basic constituent of their life and “don‘t know what to do with themselves“ (Yûwaku 144) or “how to deal with themselves anymore“ (Jôji tr. 14). As they lose an essential support with their life-partner, they feel “shuddering with bottomless emptiness“ and “being without a future“ (Jôji tr. 14).

In Mori’s opinion,210 for the woman the mother role can never offer a compensating fulfillment in life.211 The children (always daughters) who appear in the novels (except for Kizu and Yûwaku) are only mentioned superficially (like Erika and Sarah Jane in Atsui kaze), or are described as annoying (like Erika in Jôji, a nice carefree girl, who is sent to her grandparents when her mother goes out secretly and who disturbs the mother’s meeting with her lover). The child with the greatest share of character depiction and emotional life of her own is Mai’s daughter Yôko in Shitto, who her mother worries about and who tries to comfort her mother in her sorrows, but who also disturbs by overhearing her parents‘ quarrel (130) and by experiencing their marital crisis (134). In the short stories, the children of the female protagonists have a shadow existence and are only mentioned briefly (stories 10, 12, 20, 21, 26, II 1, II 14, except for story 19 where a child utters a few words), or they serve to demonstrate the unbearable emptiness of life of the mothers who live to raise their children (stories 18, 31, II 3, II 21).

210 Explicitly expressed in her essay ‘Jôji’ kara furin e in Wakare jôzu (1986, 195). 211 Other women writers share this viewpoint, such as Yamamoto Michiko in several of her short stories (see chap. V.C.2.11). Characterization of the female protagonists 117 In Mori’s opinion, expressed in her early works and in some of her short stories, having a job cannot be a substitute for happiness in love (stories 4, 7, 14), or it even impedes it (story 27). In novels from her second period of writing, though, the woman’s occupation is much more distinctly developed (see chap. IV).

As to the female protagonists‘ outer appearances, some details are given in Yûwaku 168, where Shina describes herself as tall and of im­ pressive appearance, which is more clearly defined in Atsui kaze 163 as a height of 160 cm (which approximately applied to Mori herself). In Kizu 68 and in Yûwaku 117, Reiko’s and Shina’s high cheekbones (also referred to in Atsui kaze 212) are explained as the reason why they consciously regard themselves as Asians and feel solidarity for other Asians (like the Vietnamese woman in Atsui kaze and the half- Chinese Adam in Kizu). Therefore it matches Shina’s self-estimation when Mike in Yûwaku 212 describes Asian women as slim and neat, sensual and mysterious.

Closely linked to the charactrization of the female protagonists is the literary intention of the novels.

Relationship constellations and literary intentions 119

III.C.2. Relationship constellations and literary intentions of the novels

Both the novels and the short stories are about various constellations of human relationships, most of all about man-woman relationships.

Another important topic is the problematic nature of the parent- child-relationship, specifically the mother-daughter-dyad. Again autobiographically influenced,212 Mori likes to portray the protagonist’s relationship to her mother as well as to her daughter, examining their mutual influence. In Shitto, this double structure is underlined through the fictive plot of a novel the protagonist reads, which contains the same mother-daughter-conflict, even more distinctly developed with drastic details. The repeated discussions of this subject in the novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô (1983), which is known to be based on personal experiences,213 in the novels Yakôchû (1983) and Sakebu watashi (1985, see below),214 and in several essays in her collection Onnazakari no itami (1983, 219–234) indicate the autobiographical influence. The mother of the protagonist Mai in Shitto is described as an emotionally cold person who discouraged her daughter at the early age of eleven with the prediction Mai would not find a husband and should instead take the piano as her life partner (151). Mai’s mother is also characterized in a flashback partly set in the form of a dream of a walk on the beach (71 f.) when Mai was five years old, her mother always walking ahead of her215 as if rejecting her, so that

212 This is evident in two essays by Mori in Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no (1986) on her mother and on motherhood (Haha to no wakai, 193–195, and Hahaoya ‘tte nani, 196 f.), and in six essays on her daughters (240–261). See also Kan 2004, 161 ff., who examines the identity of Mori’s female protagonists as mothers and daughters. 213 See Mori/Nakamura 1990, 179 ff. 214 See Miki 1986, 189–192. 215 See also Ogawa Yôko’s novel Hoteru Airisu (Hotel Iris, 1996), where the I-narrator remembers that her mother, an austere person, used to walk ahead of her. 120 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS Mai was afraid of being left behind and abandoned, and afterwards her mother scolded her because of her wet clothes. A very similar scene with the I-narrator as a four-year-old girl is described in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, which is enriched with condemning remarks of her mother like ”I dislike you” or “I loath you”, which the I-narrator sees as an explanation for developing a disgust at being touched by her own four-year-old daughter. The novel Yakôchû, too, describes that the touch of the protagonist’s daughter gives her goose bumps, and that the child feels rejected and expelled. Mori concludes that a woman who did not receive any maternal love in her childhood, will not be able to pass this emotion on to her own daughters, and this pattern will be carried on from one generation to the next.216 As already mentioned in chap. II, Mori underwent a psychotherapy of six months accompanying her daughter’s treatment in 1982/1983, an experience which she turned into fiction in her novelSakebu watashi and most of all in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô. The reason for the treatment, her daughter’s nightmares, which made her scream, are also attributed to Mai’s daughter Yôko in Shitto (19).

Another human relationship which is occasionally discussed in the novels is friendship.217 Aspects of the friendship between two men are described in Jôji, where Yôko’s former lover David ends the affair with her in order not to jeopardize his friendship to her husband Paul, telling Yôko that the men’s friendship is not only more important to him than an affair, but that without friendship he could not live in a foreign country. His loyalty to Paul is so strong that Yôko is afraid he would reveal her most recent affair to her husband, which makes her panic and brings her affair to an abrupt end. By contrast, in Atsui kaze chap. 4 and 5, Phil’s friendship to Al is described in a more reserved way, as a friendship of former drinking buddies. A women’s friendship is described at greater length between Shina and Satoko in Atsui kaze chap. 3, but Mori draws the conclusion that in a serious crisis like a divorce, a female friend can share the problems by listening and giving advice, but cannot really help in the end, because she cannot replace the male life-partner.

216 See Yonaha 1998a, 452. 217 On this topic see also Mori’s essays Otoko no yûjô in Wakare jôzu (1986, 62–69) and Yûjô no oku ni aru mono in Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no (1986, 79–81). Relationship constellations and literary intentions 121 The main subject of the novels, though, is the male-female relationship. In all the novels except for Kizu, these are marital or extra-marital relationships of women, that means to their husbands and to their flirt partners. In contrast to the short stories which are often about entering into a relationship, the novels are mainly about the problems of a separation or of extracting oneself from an existing partnership, or about the problem of loneliness of both man and woman in marriage. A vivid example for this kind of loneliness is Satoko’s husband in Atsui kaze chap. 3, 119 whom the loneliness is written all over his face in her presence, to her frustration and bitter­ ness. And it is also described with the pointed image of loneliness in the marital bed, he and she sleeping on his and her side of the bed, turned away from each other – a repeated motif in Jôji, Yûwaku and Atsui kaze as well as in Kizu (14, with the metaphor of two rolled-up crabs). The subject of loneliness is also discussed several times, for example in Shitto 134, when Mai tries to explain the marital crisis to her daughter as loneliness in marriage. Another part of this range of problems is living separate lives within a marriage. The depiction of this phenomenon is Mori’s main concern in Yûwaku, but also in Atsui kaze, where the attempts of both husband and wife to respond to the other’s needs constantly fail, and their good intention is permanently misled. Failed attempts at com­ munication and permanent misunderstandings accumulate and build up to anger, frustration and a deep grudge. A further aspect of this problem area is that the inclination or the timing for sexual contact is nearly never in accord with the marital partner, and that the initiator quite often feels rejected. This is, as an exception, discussed extensively in Atsui kaze chap. 3, 85–88; but in general both partners, most of all the women, do not have the courage to talk about their emotions openly, or they feel unable to find the right words (once again a form of verbal isolation) and are thus forced to pretend which is expected of them. In this context Mori points at the discrepancy between faked and true emotion (tatemae and honne). The novel Atsui kaze demonstrates that the loneliness in a dull, dispassionate marriage, where both husband and wife live their own separate lives, is only endurable through an extra-marital affair which is so vitally important that the wife does not know how she could survive without her lover (as Shina says hypothetically about her lover R. in Atsui kaze chap. 4, 182, and Yôko about her first love 122 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS Shunsuke in Yôji, tr. 14, as well as in the short stories 18, II 3 and II 14). By comparison, Yôko’s agony about losing Lane in Jôji is even more intense, because her affair has proven to be true love.

However, as mentioned earlier, all female protagonists avoid a separation from their husband or life-partner like a taboo topic,218 even when life together has become unbearable. Basic reasons are: − their fear of loneliness which increases with progressing age and the fading hopes on a new, satisfying relationship; − financial dependence on her husband, when the woman does not have a profession any more; − and the sense of obligation to the child or children who she has to raise and to educate (in Shitto, Jôji and Atsui kaze).219 The author does not advocate the principle of present-day psycho­ logy that for the personal development it is better to be alone than to put up with disharmonies, arguments, mental cruelty (like Akira’s fits of madness in Kizu, which are a way of exercising power) and even physical violence, and that a solid separation is also more to the children’s benefit than an enforced painful staying together. The subject of separation from the protagonist’s life-partner220 is examined in all novels from various points of view, as I would like to explain in detail as follows.

The novel Kizu depicts four relationships of the protagonist Reiko: − to the eccentric, egocentric painter Akira, her life-partner in Tôkyô, who beats and torments her and who has caused the accident which resulted in the injury of her hand which means occupa- tional disability and, as a consequence, the dependency on him; − to her former fellow student, the highly gifted violinist Akeo, who she originally had fallen in love with in spite of his arrogance and emotional frigidity until he proves to be malevolent and scheming, and who finally turns out to be homosexual;

218 In Mori’s novel Kaze no ie (1985), though, the 35-year-old female protagonist and her lover both abandon their families and live together on a South Pacific island, both of them struggling against becoming unhappy in their seclusion from society. 219 In her essay Hatan no fûkei in Wakare jôzu (1986, 155–160), Mori comments that this is what keeps a marriage together. 220 This is also the subject of the twelve stories of Mori’s collection Manekare- nakatta onnatachi (1982), her novel Kaze monogatari (1983) and others. Relationship constellations and literary intentions 123 − to her former violin teacher, the bisexual Russian Jew Joseph Rosé,221 who taught her the violin from 11 to 17 years of age in spite of her meager talent, and who preferred her to his other highly gifted pupils, because she appealed to his protector’s sense, because they harmonized in questions of style, and because he was fond of her; − and to Adam who she meets in Paris, the adoptive son of Rosé’s sister Edith Roche, probably (as is revealed later) the son of Joseph Rosé and his Chinese housekeeper and adoptive mother Mrs Zhang. In the encounter with Reiko, he admits to his illegitimate descent as a half-Jew and half-Chinese, and he gains self-esteem and maturity and probably becomes capable of a real love-relation­ ship with her.

As an artistic device, in order to give the novel a distinctive feature, Mori has given Reiko’s relationship-partners of about her age names beginning with an A (Akira, Akeo, Adam), whereas her own name and the names of the older respectable persons begin with an R (Reiko, Rosé, Roche).222 The literary intention of the novel Kizu lies in the development of the female protagonist, who does not manage to extract herself from an unbearable relationship in the beginning of the novel, but is brought to accept herself (in spite of her hand-injury and the con­ sequential occupational disability) and to have more confidence in herself, through meeting another possible life-partner, who helps her to get over her past by remembering it and talking about it. At the same time she has found a financial basis for existence by inheriting the Guarneri violin and by convincing herself to sell it, which will bring her financial independence. This makes her actually go through

221 Mori’s model for this family name was obviously the Jewish violinist Alma Rosé, daughter of Arnold Rosé, concert master of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and head of a string quartet of his own; her mother was the sister of Gustav Mahler. Alma Rosé became known as the leader of the camp orchestra of the concentration camp of Auschwitz, where she died on April 4, 1944. Her discipline and strictness which her co-prisoners described as relentlessness, has probably influenced Mori’s depiction of Joseph Rosé’s sister Edith Roche (see A. Lasker-Walfisch, Inherit the Truth, 1996, Ger. tr. 2000, 122–132 and 140 f.). 222 In a similar way, the protagonist in Sono Ayako’s novel Tenjô no ao (1990, Engl. tr. 2003) is surrounded by women whose names begin with a Y: his antagonist Yukiko, his sister Yasuko, his mother Yôko, and his first victims Yôko and Yoshiko (although later on, women with other names appear). 124 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS with the separation from Akira, a step which she has finally realized as necessary, which is prepared by the distance between Tôkyô and Paris, and which is the precondition for beginning a new and equal relationship.

The novel Shitto is also about the problems of separation, but the other way around, because the protagonist Mai wants to sustain her marriage and to avoid a separation from her husband at all costs, although he betrays her over a long period of time. When she was young, she could leave her life-partner regardless of the consequences, whereas now, at the age of thirty-seven and as mother of an adolescent daughter, she finds herself forced to give in to an unacceptable compromise in order not to lose her husband. In the novel, Mori describes the protagonist’s rebellion against the situation with an image: “When she realized that she could not act as freely and independently as before, a wild animal awakened inside her that howled soundlessly.” (48 f.).223

The novel Shitto describes three relationship constellations of the protagonist Mai: − to her patriarchal, unfaithful husband Sôichirô (whose traditional name hints at his traditional attitude); − to the young half-Frenchman Alain, who she first meets when his girlfriend drowns and he barely escapes death himself. A bond ensues through shared suffering, but in spite of an erotic attraction a physical relationship does not develop; − and (in retrospection) to her former life-partner, the French art student Raymond Leblanc, with whom she lived together for three years during her studies of music in Paris, but whom she left abruptly when he confessed his infidelity to her.

The intention of this novel is to describe in many facets and nuances the unbearably painful basic experience of being betrayed by one’s husband, which in Mori’s opinion almost every woman in Japan has to go through. In order to demonstrate this experience in the novel, the author chooses the particularly severe form of an open affair, the wife being

223 The motif of soundless crying as a sign of utmost mental pain is also seen in the betrayed wife Noriko in Onnazakari (Hein 2008, 83). Relationship constellations and literary intentions 125 forced by her husband to endure his affair over a long period of time with her knowledge. In Yûwaku, too, it is a topic of discussion that the female protagonist considered her husband’s confession as an acknowledgement of his affair and thereby felt dominated by the other woman, which was unbearable for her (147). With psychological sensitivity, in Shitto Mori depicts the painful feelings of the betrayed wife, her feelings of uncertainty which result from the breach of confidence, the loss of her perception of a stable and harmonious life which is exposed as a lie, the reinter­ pretation of the past which becomes necessary after the confession of unfaithfulness, and most of all her desperate rebellion and her excruciating suffering, leading to self-doubts and even to the loss of self-respect. In her essay Shitto no jôkei,224 Mori refers to this novel, in particular to Mai’s repeated persisting interrogations of her husband and her confrontation with her rival in the other woman’s shop (60 f., see also chap. V.A). In the novel, neither Mai nor her husband bring up the idea to live apart for the next four months (until they move together to Geneva) to decrease the daily tensions, because he wants to sustain his marriage and to spend time with both women alternately, and Mai does not want to leave him completely to the other woman. In this novel, too, the female protagonist undergoes a develop­ ment, although a painful and negative one: she realizes that an escape of the situation forced on her by her husband is impossible, neither through a divorce (in order to maintain her living environment and out of responsibility for her daughter), nor in the form of a temporary erotic adventure with the attractive young stranger (as she cannot yet summon the emotional lightness because of the severity of her suffering), nor by taking up the battle against her rival, as the open confrontation remains unsuccessful (because of the other woman’s self-assertiveness and her sticking to her alleged rights, which is due to Sôichirô’s strong willpower). Seeing that her situation is unalterable brings her to accept her emotional suffering (like it is possible to accept a hard fate) and to come to terms with the reduced quality of life and her worsened awareness of life, in the vague hope of improvement, although she is aware that her marriage, maintained with a difficult compromise, will never be as carefree as she had presumed.

224 In Wakare no yokan (1983, 53–66). 126 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS The novel Jôji, although written and published two years earlier than Shitto, is about the woman’s counter-reaction to the painful experience of being betrayed and to her husband’s callousness: it describes the female protagonist’s break-away from her marriage and her escape into extra-marital love-affairs.

Jôji depicts four relationships of the protagonist Yôko, who is a housewife and mother and in addition works as a part-time English translator: − her passionate affair described as true love with the American journalist Lane, which lasts for one summer from their first meeting to its sudden, bitter end; − her love affair of the previous summer (told in retrospective) with the Englishman David, who ended the affair because of his friend­ ship to her husband Paul, but has stayed a close friend and con­ fident to her; − her dull and cold married life with the British businessman Paul, which leaves her sexually unsatisfied and which is overshadowed by habit and stolidity of everyday life, so that Paul does not notice her affair with Lane in spite of a few doubts; − and the flashback on her first love to her fellow student Shunsuke, who left her for studying abroad, but, back in Japan, has become a good friend and advisor and at the same time is still interested in an intimate relationship with her.

In her essay ‘Jôji’ no shûhen 214 ff., Mori explains that in order to make clear that the affair in Jôji is an escape from reality into love, she has not given her female protagonist an awareness of the conflict between her husband and her lover and no feelings of guilt. Mori consciously wanted to distinguish herself from the “conventional novels with their trite ranting and raving about unfaithful wives” (216). In this novel, too, the subject of divorce remains a taboo topic in spite of the mutual love between Yôko and Lane, which ends painfully because Yôko has hidden from him the fact that she is married. Reasons for not discussing a divorce are not only the responsibility for her daughter, but also the fact that Lane as a newspaper journalist with alimony payments for his ex-wife would not be able to offer Yôko the same standard of living as her husband Paul, with an apartment in Tôkyô, a holiday home on the shore and a yacht. Relationship constellations and literary intentions 127 In Jôji, Mori’s main literary message lies in depicting Yôko’s criticism of her husband’s disregard for her and his arrogant indifference225 in taking her presence for granted, in ignoring her needs, and in wanting to let things go on like this forever (tr. 46; also depicted forcefully in Kanojo no mondai on the protagonist Kukiko). Mori’s socio-criticism lies in describing the woman’s frustration about growing older and having to face the weakening of her physical and mental energy and in denounc­ ing the professional and sexual unfulfillment of a married woman in her mid-thirties, as determined by the Japanese role allocation.

Whereas in Jôji a substanceless marriage is sustained without any actual improvement, the novel Yûwaku is about the resumption and renewal of a marriage which was failing in the beginning of the novel. The protagonist Shina, who has almost become an alcoholic out of despair about her frustrating marriage and out of anguish about her English husband’s cold and degrading behaviour, has agreed to accompany him on a trip to his English home, as he wants to see his aged parents again for the first time since he left England seven years before, but is anxious to face them alone. Shina has tried in vain to refuse travelling with him, because she is seriously thinking of divorce and does not want to pretend to be the happily married couple for parents-in-law she has never met, and because she would rather save the money of the expensive trip for the time after the divorce. The novel describes the development how the trip causes Shina to change her mind and leads to an unplanned deepening of her relationship to her husband Phil: through getting to know his home, his parents, his relatives and friends, and most of all through an opportunity at a casual sexual encounter, through the thoughts of breaking away from her marriage, and through contemplating and discussing her situation in life. As a consequence, in spite of all the tensions, the novel ends with the couple resuming their sexual contact which has been non-existent for two years.

The novel depicts three relationships of the protagonist Shina: − To her English husband Phil, to whom she is married for four years, but from whom she has physically and mentally distanced herself since his affair two years ago;

225 See Sono Ayako in her novel Tenjô no ao (1990), Engl. tr. 393: “But isn’t indifference the highest form of cruelty?” 128 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS − to Phil’s English friend Mike, to whose nature, his free, hedonist life-style, his acceptance of her as a person and his unconcealed desire she feels strongly attracted, but in the end does not give in; − and to Phil’s father, a relationship set in the background of the plot which progresses from disconcertment to mutual liking and caring. The main subject of the novel is thus once again the questioning of a hardly sustainable relationship and the problem of separation, as well as the vivid depiction of constantly missing and misunderstanding the other’s well-meant intentions and their return to the contrary. Another issue of the novel is the confrontation with the West, here with a part of England, with its geographical and climatic, ethnic and mental otherness.

The connecting link of the chapters of the succeeding novel Atsui kaze is a second trip to and through England of the protagonists Shina and Phil with a stopover in Singapore on their way back to Japan. A common ground of the trip in Atsui kaze with the one in Yûwaku is that the female protagonist did not want to go and was again persuaded by her husband. However, both novels differ in the starting point and thus in the development. In Atsui kaze, where Shina is seven years older and the mother of two daughters, because of having a family and thanks to a permanent extra-marital affair, she has no thoughts of divorce and no doubts of maintaining her marriage, in spite of many insufficiencies like the patronizing behaviour of her conservative-correct and pedantic husband, and most of all the deplorable situation of not understanding each other and thus the continuing loneliness of both marital partners. However, on this trip Shina finds an essential way out of her unsatisfying situation by making the decision to find her mental outlet in writing fiction, which can help her reach an inner liberation. Here Mori autobiographically turns into fiction her own considerations on her decision to start writing, which were opposed by her husband. The protagonist’s view of England which was disrespectful in Yûwaku, has become even more critical in Atsui kaze, where Shina has grown older and gained in maturity and self-assurance, and the pretty English scenery seems soiled by rain. As an effective contrast to the English countryside, for the last three chapters of Atsui kaze, Relationship constellations and literary intentions 129 the author has chosen the setting of the vivid Asian metropolis of Singapore.226 She regards the tropics with their flora and fauna and with their climate and weather conditions as a symbol of vitality and of the elemental force of nature. The basic subject of the loosely linked chapters of the novel are variations on the topic of separation or of ending insufferable relationships, and in this context the problem of loneliness in marriage and the fear of being alone.

Atsui kaze depicts three main relationships of the protagonist Shina: − to her husband Phil, a relationship which in spite of well-meant efforts from both sides and in spite of discussions on the insufficiencies of their marriage and of their sexual life, remains burdened with a serious lack of understanding and with his disapproval of her decisions because of his arrogance and indifference; − to her lover R. in Tôkyô, of whom she often thinks because he offers her the sexual fulfillment which is still missing in her marriage; − and again to her aged, understanding father-in-law.

Further relationships are described of a few side characters who stand out in certain chapters of the novel: − the relationship of the Vietnamese Meishen to the Englishman Al,227 an acquaintance of Phil’s in Singapore. Al represents the typical macho, who tries to make her accept his sterilization, which drives her to leave him by deceiving Shina for a large amount of money to buy an airplane-ticket to Europe to leave Al and to start a new life (see chap. III.B.2 and III.C.1); − the relationship of Shina’s friend Satoko to her unfaithful husband whom she has driven away by her continuous hard-hearted and uncontrolled behaviour and thus has lost against her will.

Moreover, in Atsui kaze chap. 2 In the Southland Hotel, some peculiar relationships among the eccentric hotel guests are described. For example:

226 This is also the setting of Mori’s novel Kafe orientaru (Café Oriental, 1985), which begins in Bangkok; see Kageyama 1988, 171. 227 The similarity in sound of the names R. and Al is certainly used as an artistic device, like the names beginning with the same initials in Kizu. 130 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS − an old couple who appear to be an elderly son with his very old mother, but turn out to be a wealthy old lady with her lover, who lives at her expenses; − a quirky old widower who cannot accept the recent death of his wife, but is still waiting for her to appear any minute, in a relation- ship transcending death; − two nuns as an example of a couple of female friends; − an unmarried old woman teacher, who illustrates what it means to stay alone (after a separation) and that living alone can lead to crankiness.

In Atsui kaze, the most important statement among the variations on the topic of separation is finding mental liberation through writing fiction, which means a significant turning point in the protagonist’s life. Confrontation with foreigners 131

III.C.3. Confrontation with foreigners and foreign countries

It is generally one of Mori’s most important aims to discuss the confrontation of Japanese with foreigners and foreign, primarily Western countries. Her intention is to scrutinize the foreigners’ mental and cultural peculiarities in order to achieve an understanding and tolerance for each other and to diminish prejudice on both sides.

For this reason, in her novels she depicts many foreigners as well as half-Japanese and half-Asians: − in Yûwaku and Atsui kaze the protagonist’s English husband Phil and his English friends Mike in England and Al in Singapore (Atsui kaze chap. 4 and 5); − in Jôji the American Lane as the novel’s main character, the female protagonist’s English husband Paul and his English friend David, as well as five further English and French side characters; − in Shitto the half-Frenchman Alain and the protagonist’s former French life-partner Raymond; − in Kizu the half-Jewish Chinese Adam.

Using the example of such Western foreigners or personas of mixed parentage, Mori wants to depict life in a mixed Western-Japanese world. This is a literary intention of the author, primarily in Jôji, and in the other novels, too. This kind of mixed world is represented e.g. in Yôko’s and Paul’s holiday home with a mixture of Western and Japanese furnishing- style in Jôji, and in a couple of side-characters in Shitto: the Japanese Kitahara with his Canadian wife Eve with an Irish heritage. In this way, Mori’s female Japanese protagonists are surrounded by or associate a lot with foreigners (e.g. with the international neighbours and party guests in Shitto), or they like to visit districts frequented by foreigners (in Jôji, Shitto). In addition, several of the male characters are Japanese businessmen who live abroad with their wives at regular intervals. 132 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS The discussions on the daughter’s international school (described in Shitto several times and touched upon in Atsui kaze), are not at all embellishments, but convey one of Mori’s literary intentions. In Shitto 28 f., she compares Western and Japanese attitudes towards children and points out that the Western way of intervening (e.g. when children are exposed to harassment) and at the same time of setting up educational restrictions (e.g. regarding reading material and television) gives the children more protection, but on the other hand Westerners feel free to reprimand other persons’ children, which is not customary in Japan.

Mori also repeatedly deals with the discrimination of Japanese by foreigners and demonstrates that her Japanese or half-Asian prot- agonists are treated condescendingly, disparagingly and contempt- uously by Westerners both abroad and in Japan. For example: − Yôko is being called “a stupid woman228 with a poor vocabulary… who writes unprofessional, bad articles” by her former lover David (Jôji tr. 49); − In Yûwaku, Shina does not meet with any approval and acknowledge- ment from her English mother-in-law and the other female relatives; − her mother-in-law admits that she would have much preferred a white woman for a daughter-in-law, even if she were from New Zealand (166); − her mother-in-law expected a yellow-skinned bride clad in a ki- mono, with doll’s hands and a pattering way of walking (168); − the English parents-in-law ignore the photos of their half-Japanese granddaughters and mix up and forget their names (Atsui kaze chap. 1). − Together with Phil, the male guests at the Christmas party laugh about an obscene joke which discriminates against East Asian women (Yûwaku 192 f.). − On the airplane, Shina is being stared at obtrusively, hostilely and indeed with hatred by a white stranger (Yûwaku 122). − In Paris, in addition to the above-mentioned sexual harassment, Reiko is abused verbally several times by a gypsy woman as well as by Frenchmen in an open-air café (Kizu 80 and 81).

228 Gössmann 1997, 107, qotes a wife from the TV drama-series Onna no iibun who protests against her husband: “You just take me for a stupid woman who doesn’t have an idea of anything.” Confrontation with foreigners 133 − Meishen explains that when she lived in Paris as an underage maid, she came to have an affair with the husbands of the two families she worked for, and each time was therefore fired by the wife (Atsui kaze chap. 4).

Regarding the confrontation of Japanese with foreigners, Mori also depicts encounters with members of other races, which gives her novels a transethnic orientation. These are for example: − Jews (Rosé in Kizu and further well-known Jewish musicians, mentioned in discussions, and their historical background); − Arabs (Kizu 133 and Shitto chap. 2) and an Algerian (Kizu 134); − Gypsies (Kizu 78–81); − Chinese (old Mrs. Zhang who is openly despised for her crippled feet229 in Kizu 24, and Chinese prostitutes in Hong Kong, story 22); − Vietnamese (Meishen, an important side-character in Atsui kaze chap. 4 and 5, whose biographical background is reported); − Koreans (Meishen’s female friend Kyongho, Atsui kaze chap. 4–5).

Mori also discusses a racist or xenophobic attitude of Japanese traditionalists or provincial people, e.g. when the fishermen make disparaging remarks about the drowned Japanese woman who got involved with “the foreigner rabble” (Shitto 74).

On the other hand, the author presents a negative view of foreign, primarily European countries, e.g. by commenting critically on certain social conventions unfamiliar to her and on the foreign mentality which lacks the Japanese principle of harmony and politeness.

The French are described: − as condescending and impertinent: the French hotel staff (Kizu 63), the waiter and a fat Frenchwoman on the staircase of the restau- rant (Kizu 142, 144); − as avaricious, stingy and cheating: the taxi-driver and the cashier in Adam’s suburban theatre in Kizu; − as vulgar and obtrusive, grumpy and snobbish, e.g. the waiters in Yûwaku;

229 Footbinding in China is prohibited since 1911, but was continued inofficially and was finally abolished in 1949. 134 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS − as simple-minded and arrogant: the disgustingly fat Frenchman and his French girlfriend (Jôji tr. 20).

The English are depicted (mainly in Yûwaku and Atsui kaze): − as petty-minded: the English in-laws and relatives; − as old-fashioned, narrow-minded and obstinate: Phil’s father; − as selfish, adipose and feeble-minded: Phil’s mother; − as eccentric and decadent: the aged hotel-guests; − as strangely arrogant: the hotel-boy waiting for his tip (Yûwaku 131); − as snobbish: the hotel manager and the French-speaking waitress, (Atsui kaze 62, 68).

Instead of expressing any kind of admiration for Paris as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in Kizu, the city is mainly depicted in a negative way: − with streets and places full of garbage; − with house-fronts peeling off; − with the stinking refuse collection; − and with traffic noise and air pollution. − In a similar way, in Atsui kaze 149, the only recollection of Paris are the surly faces of the French and the dog feces on the streets.

Equally, England is depicted in a negative way: − Pre-Christmas London is described as grey, dirty, worn-down, noisy and full of exhaust fumes, with cold and miserable people hurrying around, and with a traffic chaos with both inconsiderate drivers and nasty pedestrians (Yûwaku 131); − the pale English scenery seems nearly crushed by the heavy, gloomy winter sky (Yûwaku 152); − Phil’s hometown with narrow and small-mindedly furnished row houses drowns in pettiness (in Yûwaku). − On the inter-European flight from Paris to London, the toilets cannot be used because of heavy soiling (Yûwaku 129), and the stewardesses are curt and greedy for money (130).

Foreign food is often criticized: − French food is described as untasty (Kizu 77 etc.); − the French-labeled food in South-England is considered indigestible (Atsui kaze 68); − the English breakfast is described as a heavy meal (Yûwaku 149); Confrontation with foreigners 135 − the consumption of the pork of dirty pigs, of black pudding made of pig’s blood (Yûwaku 182) and of mince-pie is depicted as re­volting; − the English national dish served in a traditional British hotel in Singapore is exposed as imported deep-fried and canned food (Atsui kaze 83); − American fast food is despised (Atsui kaze 82); − and American meat is ridiculed as half-done (Jôji tr. 86).

In this context, it is remarkable that Mori has a positive attitude towards Germany and Switzerland.230 For example: − Mai’s daughter Yôko who is born in Hannover, has a German playmate, Andrea, whose kind parents often take care of Yôko and put her up for the night (in Shitto). − Among several other guests at breakfast who are depicted in a negative and mocking manner, the German businessmen with their intellectual air stand out in a positive way (Atsui kaze 77). − Mike describes his life in Geneva as quite pleasant (Yûwaku 206 and 208). − Mai and her husband welcome the approaching transfer to Geneva (Shitto 28 and 32). − In both novels Jôji and Atsui kaze, the daughters have the German first name Erika (which is also known in Japan).

By way of conclusion, it can be said that Mori Yôko, who saw herself as an intermediary between Japan and the West and was regarded by Japanese critics as such, in the beginning of her writing shows a quite critical view of the West and further foreign countries, which is strongly reflected in the novels of her first creative period, whereas in the short stories of her second creative period, she puts more emphasis on the positive, i.e. progressive aspects of the Western way of life (see chap. III.B.4), in particular regarding the better social position of women.

230 Mori’s positive attitude to the German-speaking area probably results from a high estimation of the composers who come from Germany and Austria, like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner and others.

Depiction of artists and homosexuals 137

III.C.4. Depiction of artists and homosexuals

In the novels as well as in the short stories, Mori attaches much importance to giving her characters individuality, for which purpose outstanding personalities are most suited, not only foreigners who distinguish themselves through their different heritage, their difference in appearance and their different mentality, but also artists. Three female protagonists of the novels, Reiko, Yôko and Mai, are, as already mentioned, educated musicians (see chap. III.C.1), and Shina in Atsui kaze decides to become a writer. (In the short stories published from 1986 when Mori already had a name as an author, there are a writer [story 7] and two actresses [14, 27] among the female protagonists.231).

These are attracted to and surrounded by other artists and indi­ vidualist personalities. Thus, there are impressive artist personalities among the male characters: − the Russian-Jewish violinist Rosé in Kizu; − his talented favourite student Akeo; − the eccentric painter Akira; − and the half-Chinese Adam who appears on stage as a singer; − the Paris art student Raymond in Shitto; − the architect Shunsuke in Jôji; − the lovers of the female protagonists in both Jôji and Atsui kaze (Lane and R.) who try their hand at writing stories or novels. With all her musician characters, Mori emphasizes that in order to achieve mastery in playing an instrument, it is necessary to start study­ ing it at the tender age of three years. Grievous accusations against parents and mediocre teachers who are to blame that the child did not achieve the best possible results, are frequent in Mori’s novels (esp.

231 Some of the female protagonists in Mori’s novel Hansamu gâruzu (1988) are artists, too; two of the five protagonists are from the world of theater, and another one performs in a piano bar. 138 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS in Kizu 114–117, and in Shitto 141). On the other hand, Mori also complains about the all too strict “education mother” (kyôiku mama, Akeo’s mother in Kizu), who does not allow the music student a carefree childhood and self-development.232

In depicting otherness and unusual persons, Mori also deals with sexual deviates, especially homosexuals. In contrast to lesbian love, which Mori mentions only marginally (story II 6), she treats male homosexuality more often (II 10, Kizu, Jôji, Atsui kaze). Here Mori integrates a trend of the 1980s which correlates to the change of social values, which did not regard the conventional heterosexual relationship as the only socially acceptable form of life any more and which also brought about the formation of a Lesbian and a Gay liberation movement.233

In her adaption of this subject, Mori shows a conservative attitude which is a specific feature of her individual personality. In Kizu she depicts homosexuals (who are termed as “perverse”, tôsakusha) with indignation as reprehensible, and she elaborates that they even degrade persons who come into close contact with them. This problem-constellation is the origin of the main conflict in Kizu: the protagonist was not done an injustice by having to give back the precious Guarneri violin because of her “deception” (in taking lessons from another music teacher). Instead, it was her own conscious decision: out of disgust for the homosexual relationship between her teacher and her co-student (“I looked into an abyss”, 171) and out of fear “to lose her own moral integrity” (171) and “to have to feel like a criminal” (173) if she stayed with these profligate persons, she felt forced to leave her teacher and to refuse the violin he still offered her, which she now considered “a shameful hush-money” (173). Thus it seems illogical that Reiko uses the phrase “the violin was taken away from her” (toriagerareta) throughout the novel (e.g. 16) and that she also uses the comparison the violin had been like a present with the wrong address which was collected from her (176).

232 Mori herself was admonished by her father to practice playing the violin every day, as she reports in her autobiographical essay Chichi no yume in Onnazakari no itami 1983, 156 f. 233 These issues had already been addressed by the pioneers of liberalization: Hiratsuka Raichô depicts lesbian inclinations in her magazine Seitô, as well as Tamura Toshiko in Haru no ban (1914). Depiction of artists and homosexuals 139 In Kizu, it is described as a logical consequence of his homosexuality that the young violinist Akeo does not find happiness in life, neither in the professional nor in the private sphere, in spite of his talent and the best possible promotion, but commits suicide.

Something which is described as particularly reprehensible is to disguise homosexuality through a marriage or through presenting a girlfriend, as well as bisexuality. In a sub-plot in Jôji (tr. 20–22), a wife’s self-destructive despair about her homosexual husband, who publicly flirts with his lover in her presence, is described. In Kizu, the moral corruptness that the homosexual Rosé shows off a girl-friend, is enhanced even more by the fact that he has a son with his adoptive mother, who he has lived with since he was five and who he regards as his mother, so that the relationship is nearly incestuous, for which reason Rosé is referred to as “a monster” (146).

America and Western Europe of the 21st century have undergone a development of a much more liberal and tolerant attitude,234 which has gradually taken influence on Japan, beginning as an after-effect of the sexual liberalization which reached Japan in the 1970s, so that a predominantly liberal attitude prevails in Tôkyô today. However in the early 1980s, Mori was among the first Japanese authors who addressed this topic in their writing and thereby questioned the attitude of the 1980s. In this regard, she was progressive for her time.

234 In Germany, relationships between homosexuals are publicly acknowledged (although legal equality with marriage has not yet been achieved), and several high-rank personalities of public life have admitted openly to their homosexuali- ty, like the First Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit (whose phrasing “I am gay and that’s okay” has become a common quotation), the Mayor of Hamburg, Ole von Beust, the Chairman of the Liberal-Democratic Party, Vice Chanceler and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, and many others. – However, there is still a strong aversion towards homosexuality in the public attitude of some other countries. The former Polish Prime Minister Kaczynski declared on his state visit in Berlin on March 9, 2006, that for him an official acknowledgement of equality of homo- sexual and heterosexual relationships is not debatable. For the former U.S. Presi- dent George W. Bush, too, the rejection of marriage-like relationships between homosexuals was an important factor in the election campaign for his re-election in November 2004. In 2009, in the State of California, there was a strong move- ment for equal acknowledgement of homosexual and lesbian partnerships.

Mental features of rivalry, egocentrism and masochism 141

III.C.5. Mental features of rivalry, egocentrism and masochism

Especially among sensitive artists like the ones Mori depicts, there is often competitive thinking and envy of the other one’s success.235 In the plot of the novel Kizu, a crucial conflict is caused by the co- student Akeo’s envy of the protagonist Reiko: of her being prefered by the teacher and her temporary possession of the precious violin, which allowed her to play better and thus achieve more artistic success. This jealousy makes him act in a malevolent manner in the form of a skilfully planned scheme, which brings about the intended result that Reiko loses the Guarneri-violin or has to give it back. In Shitto 84 f., the female protagonist is envious of her own daughter when she gets her first period without any feelings of shame and with hardly any pain, because when she herself was young, she had a much harder time.236 This kind of comparative thinking lacks the natural sense of well-meaning and of protection towards one’s own daughter. The already mentioned lack of motherly feelings is a topic of discussion in the novels Shitto and Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô. Envy among women friends is addressed in Atsui kaze: Satoko whose marriage is about to fail, reacts with fierce resentment to Shina’s attempt at comforting her, because Shina who can return to her husband any time, is in a better situation than Satoko who has to “waste away every night in the dark hole of loneliness” (115).

Mori tends to bring up the topic of envy in marginal things, too. For example:

235 Conflicts arising from egoism, ambition, competitious thinking and envy among the participants of a film production are also described by Kirino Natsuo in her novel Kôgen (Sources of Light, 2000). 236 The rivalry between mother and daughter is also discusssed by Takahashi Takako (in her story Sôjikei, 1971) and by Ôba Minako (in her story Yamauba no bishô, 1976), see chap. V.C.2.6, V.C.2.7 and V.C.3. 142 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS − Phil envies Meishen the pleasure she has eating the East-Asian specialties which he doesn’t even like (Atsui kaze 141); − Shina is jealous of the slightly taller Meishen walking next to her for attracting men’s glances (Atsui kaze 163); − Shina detests Phil’s cheerfulness because she has nothing to laugh about herself (Yûwaku 173); − Sôichirô sets up the hypothesis that mankind undertakes space travel merely out of competitious thinking: in order to prove that there are no other intelligent beings in the universe who might be possible rivals (Shitto 67 f.).

Envy is also a topic in the short stories. For example: − the divorced woman envies the young girl-friend of her ex-hus- band (II 10); − the single woman is jealous of the wife of the nice man with whom she would like to have an affair (II 31); − out of envy, a young woman disrupts her female friend’s happiness in love and thus destroys the women’s friendship (15); − a husband intends to get a divorce because he envies his wife’s professional success (27).

Furthermore, it is noticeable that Mori’s female characters occasionally have an emotion of superiority (yûetsukan)237 instead of sympathy towards elderly, sick and disabled persons.238 For example: − Reiko towards her seriously ill, aged violin teacher Rosé (“this once, I wanted to see him as a loser who had lost the battle for his health”, Kizu 35); − Shina towards her adipose mother-in-law with a mobility handi­ cap, which in contrast makes Shina aware how young and healthy she is and that the future holds much in store for her (Atsui kaze chap. 1); − Shina towards the frail old hotel guests. In addition, she feels “a cruel sadistic joy” because she makes them envious by announcing

237 This way of thinking is contrary to both the Western values of compassion and care for the weak and the Confucian virtue of respect for the elderly. 238 Which is not too rare in Japanese literature, e.g. in Enchi Fumiko’s story Fûfu (1962), the 70-year-old husband mocks his wife because of her dentures and feels superior to her because he still has healthy teeth. Mental features of rivalry, egocentrism and masochism 143 loudly that she is going to travel on to Singapore, a tropical dream destination which is unattainable for the elderly persons because of their age (Atsui kaze 72). − In a similar way, Shina feels “a sadistic joy” towards her husband, because social conventions keep him from exerting pressure on her (Yûwaku 184). The term “sadistic joy” which is used repeatedly, reminds of Taka­ hashi Takako’s hypothesis (see chap. V.C.2.6) that everyone has sadistic inclinations in his sub-consciousness, i.e. possesses an evil disposition by nature.239 In Kizu 167, Reiko describes in detail how her feelings of inferiority change into feelings of superiority when her co-student Akeo’s attempt at seducing her fails and he cries miserably in the bathroom, because now she is the one in the superior position who causes him anguish. Even when her much-respected music teacher bursts into tears unrestrainedly before her eyes (171 f.), the idea doesn’t occur to her to comfort the crying man, instead she leaves him for good without a word of farewell. Feelings of superiority which are based on a lack of respect play an important role in the balance of power in marriage. In Atsui kaze, Mori depicts the differing attitudes marital partners have towards each other: Shina regards her husband as unmanly, childish and in need of protection, and she looks down on him like a mother on her son (197), whereas he feels superior to her as the breadwinner (202), who can advise, reprimand, patronize and even punish her (in Yûwaku).

In many cases, the female protagonist reveals a strong egocentrism. For example: − Mai is less affected by a young woman’s death by drowning which she has witnessed with her own eyes, than by her husband’s confession of infidelity Shitto( ). − On the occasion of Adam’s minor accident, Reiko does not waste a single thought on the car or the driver, but is only preoccupied with herself and the recollection of her former accident (Kizu 196 ff.). − Yôko proves to be egoistic and vain, e.g. by leaving her lover over night in order not to look disheveled the next morning (Jôji tr. 76).

In Yûwaku, Shina is abused by her husband as selfish and snobbish (184), and in addition, Mike, while trying to seduce her, calls her

239 See Yoshida-Krafft 1987, 297. 144 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS an egoistic and cool woman (211) – a rather unusual compliment as a pick-up line. Yôko in Jôji refers to herself repeatedly as a cool woman, which shows that the female protagonists admit to character traits like egoism and emotional coldness. Mori explains this as a self-protective function of her female protagonists who are easily hurt inside.240 In a similar way, Ôba Minako calls herself “a cold, selfish woman”.241 (On female, especially motherly emotional coldness caused by social constraints see also chap. V.A. and V.C.2).

Emotional coldness is attributed primarily to some of the male characters: − In particular Phil in Yûwaku is characterized throughout the whole novel by his unfeeling and disparaging remarks, his arrogant behaviour and his cold laughter. − Akira in Kizu is characterized by his cold eyes which are described repeatedly (e.g. 154). − Akeo in Kizu is characterized by his cold and curt comments (e.g. 156). − Sôichirô in Shitto with his patriarchal demeanour behaves gruffly, with a disregard for others that is nearly inhuman. − Al in Atsui kaze treats his life-partner in a brusque, patronizing and tyrannical manner.

Apart from the men’s dominant behaviour discussed in chap. III.B.2, the male characters are frequently depicted as being outright egoistic. As they are primarily concerned with their own freedom and convenience, they like having affairs with married women (like David in Jôji, R. in Atsui kaze, the protagonist of story II 21), because these relationships are free of responsibility.

Another feature of Mori’s writing is her frequent depiction of masochistic tendencies. For example: − Alain says explicitly that he indulged himself in being jealous (Shitto 112).

240 Coldness and rigidity as a means of exercising self-restraint are also described of Noriko in Onnazakari (Hein 2008, 86 and 93). 241 In her novel Mae mae katatsumuri (1990), ger. tr. Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Tanze Schneck tanz, Frankfurt/M., 1995, 40. Mental features of rivalry, egocentrism and masochism 145 − Phil asks his wife with “a bitter voluptuousness” if there is an- other man in her life (Yûwaku 145). − Mori discusses seriously and without a touch of irony if the quarreling couple can only feel really happy when they “roll on the floor tearing at each other’s hair” in a violent battle (Kizu 12). − Akira does not want to be freed of the self-reproach of being guilty for Reiko’s accident (which meant occupational disability for her), because he “likes to carry this burden” (Kizu 21). − Akira internalizes the negative image Reiko has of him and maso­ chistically magnifies it into a grotesque image of himself Kizu( 126). − In many marginal and trivial matters, masochistic motivations are insinuated, e.g. the married couple extends their argument “in a masochistic way” (Yûwaku 129).

The motif of deliberate, intentional self-injury is treated repeatedly. For example: − Out of despair, Mai injures herself seriously by fiercely grasping a shard of glass, which leaves fifteen deep cuts that have to be stitched in hospital (Shitto 76–77). − In the story Kanojo no mondai, the protagonist Kukiko, crouching on the floor and crying bitterly because of desperation about her husband’s lack of understanding and his disregard for her, cuts deeply into her hand with the shard of a drinking glass. − The author discusses in detail if Reiko subconsciously fell so as to injure her playing hand and thus to free herself from playing the violin and all evil that goes with it (Kizu 197).242

Another phenomenon which is considered masochistic is that of deliberately exposing oneself, “making a fool of oneself” in front of others or of prostituting oneself. For example: − In the chapter with the title Dôke – Pierrot in Shitto, the protagonist Mai feels she is making a clown of herself in going to see her rival in spite of the humiliating situation (93), and in trying in vain to take up the battle with her.

242 However, in another context (68) the author argues that only after the operation did Reiko realize that the injury of her right hand means occupational disability. – There is a strikingly similar scene in Tsushima Yûko’s novella Kusa no fushido (1977), see chap. V.C.2.9. 146 ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL CRITERIA OF THE NOVELS − Adam admits he is making a fool of himself with his shameful job as a chanson-singer in a primitive suburban theatre because he feels guilty for having driven his housemate Akeo to suicide, and he declares that he wants to do what tortures him most as a kind of self-punishment (Kizu 188 and 189). − The protagonist Akiko of story 21 Mae ni doko ka de consciously humiliates herself by accosting strangers; Kayo in Onnazakari , too, is said to undertake attempts at seduction in order to hurt herself (Hein 2008, 106).

A part of this problem area is self-hatred or self-loathing: For example: − Shina is reported repeatedly to dislike herself (Yûwaku, e.g. 138) or to detest herself (172). − In Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, the I-narrator says she has had a strong self-hatred in her youth, which her psychotherapist explains as a counterpart to self-love.

These mental features of her fictional characters which carry features of the self-reprimanding nature of the shishôsetsu, are a characteristic part of Mori’s writing. IV. MORI YÔKO’S WOMAN’S IMAGE

IN THE NOVELS AND THE SHORT STORIES

A resumé of the analysis so far draws the reader’s attention to a strong ideological distinction243 in Mori’s literature: men and women are seen as warring factions, and their opposite points of view are not only described in a realistic way, they are also evaluated by the fictitious narrator respectively the author, who supports the position of women and criticizes that of men as out-of-date and wrong. The female protagonists of Mori’s novels published between 1978 and 1982 are wives (in four of five novels) or live together with a man on a permanent basis (in Kizu). Although their relationships have become nearly unbearable because of the men’s lack of interest, disregard and sometimes violent behaviour, the women are emotion­ ally and financially dependent on their husbands,244 and therefore they lack independance and behave in part in an insecure and passive manner (see chap. III.C.1). This dependency on the domineering men imposed by society is discussed in Atsui kaze 116: ”We women are miserable creatures whose wings have been torn off by men, first by our father with his love and caring, and then in his place by our husband245 …We cannot do anything on our own, but instead we have to watch the moods of the men patronizing us if we dare to ask them something, and without their permission we cannot do what we

243 See Schneider 2003, 61. 244 In Watashi no hirointachi (1983), 143, where Mori emphasizes the aim of women’s financial independence, she even calls the wives parasites (otto ni kisei shite iru tsumatachi). 245 See Gebhardt 1996, 41: “Thus the woman constantly finds herself on enemy territory, surrounded by father, brother, husband, lover and teacher. The dominance of the male sex is all too overwhelming.” 148 novels and short stories

want to, or we can only do it secretly behind their back.246 It has become our habit to await their reaction anxiously, and in the end we cannot decide anything on our own and have no alternative than to exist in an environment built by men…” Mori’s female characters often feel so restricted by the man suppressing them, that they urgently strive to get away from him (Reiko in Kizu 98 f., Shina in Atsui kaze 97, Meishen in Atsui kaze 163). The narrator remarks several times that even short, agonizing sleep serves to free the woman at least temporarily from the man (e.g. in Yûwaku 133). A particularly drastic restriction is depicted in the story Nagi no kôkei, where the protagonist couple, sitting in a small sailing boat with their knees touching, is forced to wait for the wind.

Although the women are sexually unfulfilled and frustrated, they see their reason for existence (sonzai riyû) mainly or entirely in their existence as the man’s life- and sex-partner, as they regard themselves primarily as sexual beings (e.g. Shina in Yûwaku 134 emphasizes the essential significance of being desired and of the sexual act, seiai no kôi), which correlates to the traditional Japanese woman’s image.247 They define themselves through their male partner, who constitutes the materialistic as well as the idealistic basis of their existence. They see themselves only in the eyes of their partner, as Reiko in Kizu expresses (126, similarly 59): “…I found my identity not in myself, but in Akira’s eyes.” In this way of losing oneself in their partner, the women give up their own identity, their personal preferences and individual features. This does not only apply to the sexual relationship with their husbands, but also with a lover, for which reason the extra-marital relationship, even when it takes place without love, gains such a vital importance for the woman that on the prospect of losing her husband or her lover, she suffers mortal fears (see chap. III.C.2).

246 See Gössmann 1997, 106: “What is new about the wives’ attempts at escape [of the TV dramas of the 1990s] is most of all that they do not necessarily take place secretly, like in the… dramas… of the 1970s and 1980s, but that the wives voice their criticism… openly.” 247 See Mae 1996b, 10: “The new women’s movement… the Lib.-movement since the 1970s…Their essential contribution was to elucidate that women were reduced to their sexual nature through the prevailing woman’s image.” Mori Yôko’s woman’s image 149 As with the process of aging the women’s physical attractiveness fades, their position in marriage worsens and makes them suffer more humiliations (as exemplified on Mai in Shitto). They also lose the possibility of gaining independence, especially when they are tied to their husband because of a child (like three female protagonists of the novels). Thus, they live in constant fear of losing the man, of separation and of loneliness. At the same time, while they have to endure passively the merciless “incessant passing of time“, their despair about aging (described in story 4 and 14) and about the weaken- ing of their emotional capability (exemp­ified on Yôko inJôji tr. 44) and their reduced motivation in the relationship (on which Shina laments e.g. in Yûwaku 122), brings about an emotional restlessness, which Mori describes repeatedly with much forcefulness. As the women cannot make use of their hidden energies neither for self-realization nor for non-familial purposes, they feel virtually crippled, and they rebel against their oppressive living conditions. Mori also deals with the topic of the wives‘ rebellion in her essay Tsumatachi no hankô (in Onnazakari no itami, 1983, 173–186), where her criticism of the social system which gets the women in this situation becomes evident.

For these women, Mori demonstrates the following patterns of escape: The most common possibility of escape in her works is unfaith­ fulness (Mori speaks of “place of refuge“ nigeba): a casual sexual encounter or a permanent extra-marital relationship. In her essay ‘Jôji’ no shûhen 214 ff. (see chap. III.C.2), Mori explains in detail that in the socially established marriage system, where the woman is humiliated, exploited and deprived of her womanhood, as long as society doesn’t change, a woman has no other outlet than infidelity. Steady or changing affairs do not only serve to satisfy the woman’s sexual needs and her self-confirmation, they also demonstrate the demand for the woman’s equality to the equally unfaithful man (see below). The female way into infidelity rarely proves to be a serious threat for a marriage, though.248 In her essay ‘Jôji‘ kara furin e,249 Mori protests against being regard- ed as an advocate of infidelity or as an “author of immorality“ (furin

248 See Yonaha 1998a, 450 f. 249 Mori 1986a, 190–202; on the term nigeba see 195. 150 novels and short stories sakka, 197)250 and states that female adultery is a topical phenomenon frequently addressed by TV dramas and women’s magazines (196). It is generally Mori’s intention to point out the Japanese women’s need for sex251 and to underline their role as an active sex-partner with equal rights.

Another form of escape is writing fiction, allowing a mental retreat and at the same time filling the emptiness of life. It serves to make oneself aware of one’s problems, and it is the first step in coping with them. Thus it is an outlet for mental relief,252 what Mori calls “crying out“. If writing does not remain a private matter, and the accounts are published, this can result in a socially significant public denouncement of abuses in the private sphere of life. In addition, writing can also lead to establishing a professional existence for the woman with financial independence from her husband.

The pattern of escape into pursuing a career in order to become economically independent, is less pronounced in Mori’s early novels, where the protagonists have lost or given up a profession (although Reiko in Kizu as an orchestra violinist had financially supported her life-partner up to her accident); they only earn some money of their own with side jobs as English translators (in Jôji, Yûwaku und Atsui kaze) or as a music critic (in Kizu, see chap. III.C.1). In Shitto, the female protagonist does not have a job at all and envies her rival who runs an antique furniture store, and especially in this novel, the significance of a woman’s occupation for her emancipation is discussed and under­ lined, regarding both the protagonist and her daughter. In the novels from Mori’s second creative period and most of all in the short stories (13, 17, 20, 22, 26, II 10, II 20, II 22, II 38), the woman’s occupation is more strongly developed and even attains a crucial position. She depicts female characters who engage themseles very much for their profession.

250 She contributed to this reputation herself, e.g. through a provoking series of articles in the magazine an-an on Apr. 5, 1985 (26), May 9, 1986 (108), Jul. 7, 1986 (46), Aug. 15, 1986 (28–29). 251 See the chapter Sei e no gensô …Otoko to sekkusu o yatte yatte yari-nukitai of her novel Sakebu watashi (1985, 127–150). See also Jôji tr. 45. 252 Atsui kaze 216; the motif, which Gössmann 1996a chose for the title of her PhD thesis Schreiben als Befreiung (Writing as Liberation) on the authors of Proletarian Literature Sata Ineko, Hirabayashi Taiko and Miyamoto Yuriko. Mori Yôko’s woman’s image 151 For example, in her novel Ai no yokan (1985), with her protagonist Kei, Mori has created a strong woman who, when her lover is transferred to a distant place, has to choose between her work and her love and decides for her career.253 The 34-year-old protagonist Kayoko in Kaze monogatari (1983) makes a similar decision. In Onnazakari (1984), all three female main characters prove to be quite profession-oriented: Noriko, a self-employed entrepreneur, who resolutely and devotedly runs her husband’s futon business which officially belongs to him; Asako, a single woman still living with her father and representing the career woman (kyariâ uman), who as a television presenter strives for an improvement of the program against the dictate of the audience ratings; and Kayo, who represents the traditional model of the housewife and mother and finds an occupation in literary writing,254 like Mori did herself. But Mori also depicts female protagonists who have become lonely and unhappy with their work (stories 6, II 11, II 38). In the short stories, the author portrays the financially independent and, what’s more, professionally successful woman who has achieved a good income and social respect in artistic professions such as a writer (story 7), an actress (14, 27), a fashion designer (4), an advertising agent (17), or in entrepreneurial or commercial occupations like a manager of a boutique (II 31) or head of a department (II 11). Mori often emphasizes the importance of the woman’s financial independence gained by an occupation, because it means female autonomy (jiritsu).255 A woman’s gaining autonomy is one of Mori’s foremost literary aims.

As further patterns of escape, in her essay ‘Jôji‘ kara furin e (199) Mori also mentions voluntary work or further education, which are however not pursued in the novels examined here.256

Mori calls for influencing, manipulating and re-educating the man. He ought to be educated to be more capable of partnership, that means he is expected to show more interest in his wife’s life257 and to allow her

253 See Ôta 1985, 196. 254 Hein 2008, 81, 104 f., 107–109, 113. 255 E.g. in her essay ‘Jôji’ kara furin e 1986, 199. 256 Shinoda Setsuko gives an example of social commitment in a suburban community in her novel Onnatachi no jihâdo (1997) on one of her five female prot- agonists. 257 The wife’s agony about her husband’s lack of interest in her, which is her “problem”, is demonstrated in Mori’s story Kanojo no mondai (1980). 152 novels and short stories more participation in his life, and to regard her and treat her as equal.258 Until this is achieved, the women’s infidelity will not come to an end.259 Of course a Japanese man will hardly forego his hegemony position of his own free will in order to maintain the relationship to his wife. But with the depiction of the women’s suffering and the injustice they experience, Mori sharpens the reader’s awareness that both partners have to put much effort into their marriage or long-term relationship, and that the social basis has to be set to get men to actively participate in the relationship.

Thus the female protagonists of the novels try to get their partners to cooperate, and for this purpose they use the following means of exerting pressure: 1. Threatening him with separation and divorce (like Shina in Yûwaku), which the men usually fear. 2. The sexual denial: a questionable method, which in Yûwaku has a positive outcome, as it makes the husband realize that he does not want to lose his wife. 3. The refusal to do housework and the resistance against the man’s demands in a direct confrontation: this rebelliousness, which is not only inconvenient, but also disgraceful for him and damages his social prestige,260 is risky and results rather in an unwanted definite separation or divorce than in the husband’s inner reversal. For example: With Shina’s friend Satoko in Atsui kaze chap. 3, Mori introduces a woman who rebels furiously against having to continue to serve her unfaithful husband as a housemaid and cook,261 while he does not take notice of her as a person and instead has expected an implicit self-denial on her part (100) in tolerating his various long-term affairs. In the novel, this constellation leads to a divorce.

258 He is also expected to put more effort in fulfilling her sexual needs, exemplified on the lovers R. in Atsui kaze and David in Jôji who ask about the woman’s wishes. 259 As mentioned above, see ‘Jôji’ no shûhen, 214. 260 E.g. the husband in Onnazakari pretends towards his mistress that he had had dinner at home in order to conceal his wife’s refusal to do housework. 261 See Gössmann 1997, who quotes a wife from the TV drama series Onna no iibun in her chapter Escape from the role of housewife and mother, 106 f.: “For you, I am nothing else than an unpaid domestic servant… I am just a stupid housekeeper in your eyes.” Mori Yôko’s woman’s image 153 4. The confrontation with the man in an open discussion, dispute or argument: this is the way Mori recommends. However, in her frequent depiction of arguments she emphasizes that it is a thorny way (which often remains unsuccessful) to explain the insufficien­ cies of the relationship to the man and thus to convince him to alter his behaviour. Mori points out that arguments do not always serve to clarify problems but can instead bring out the man’s belligerence (Yûwaku 138, 139),262 who misuses the argument as a means of exerting power and of humiliating the woman. In this case, the argument does not result in achieving a real compromise, but in subjugation on the part of the woman. For example: – The husband in Yûwaku (and in a similar way the life-partner in Kizu) puts the blame on his wife several times after arguments extended by himself, by concluding there was no need to argue, if she had given in in the first place. – The husband in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô blames his wife on all accounts and does not accept any criticism of himself.

But most of all Mori wants to encourage women who are not used to confrontations to address problems openly (e.g. in their intimate life, like in Atsui kaze), thereby gradually improving their relationship. From her own experience, Mori concludes that it is possible to achieve this aim with the professional help of a psychotherapist or a marriage counsellor.

Mori advises against divorce as the last resort (see chap. III.B.2), although the woman’s self-discovery and autonomy are of particular importance to her. Even if a woman would be willing to put up with all the consequences of a divorce such as the often unjustified feelings of guilt towards the children,263 the social decline and financial losses up to economic plight – she still has one main reason to avoid divorce (as Mori describes again and again): the loss of the life-partner and the impending desertedness, which makes the bed a “dark hole of lone­ liness“ (Atsui kaze 115).

262 Mori expresses it as: the man is wearing his “battle mask”. 263 The parents’ feelings of guilt towards their daughter are a topic e.g. in the 4th chapter of Mori’s novel Kaze monogatari (1983). 154 novels and short stories A special feature of Mori’s writing is her depiction of relationships between Japanese women and Western men, who she describes as more virile, more mature and open-minded, more willing to discuss and to compromise and therefore more capable of a relationship than the inconsiderate Japanese men who insist on their social privileges. Mori’s view of marriage as a battle of two strong self-centered egos (as depicted in Yûwaku and Atsui kaze) becomes even more distinct in international marriages between Japanese women and Western men, because in these marriages the women develop more individualism and put up more resistance than in Japanese marriages. By depicting Western husbands as domineering, too, Mori emphasizes the patriarchal attitude of Japanese men all the more, and she points out the universality of the problem of the male demand for hegemony. Her literature thus makes a claim on transculturality.

Another particular feature of Mori’s writing is that three of the four female protagonists of the novels are musicians who come into touch with artist personalities. However, Mori does not confirm the assumption that the unconventional and individualistic artists might offer the women a more liberated relationship. She rather describes that on the contrary, relationships to egocentric and eccentric artists (like that of Reiko and Akira in Kizu) can be particularly oppressive and obstructing.

With increasing age, the female protagonists in Mori’s novels gain in self-confidence, and in Yûwaku 179 f. an Englishwoman states that Japanese women are no longer as subservient, obedient and feminine­ ly reserved as before.264 From the specific relationship constellations in Mori’s novels, a new woman’s image takes shape: in her early work, we see an image of women who are still unemancipated but strive for mental autonomy, in her later works one of strong women who find their own way and assert themselves in life even without or against the man. In her essay Watashi no hirointachi (1983, 143), Mori herself speaks of “a new type of woman“ (atarashii taipu no onna); in regard of Mori’s female protagonists, Ôta 1985 (196) speaks of atarashii onna and Kaneda 1990 (270) of atarashii joseitachi.

264 See Muramatsu/Watanabe 1990, 354 f., ”Mori’s writing indicates that Japanese women, too, distance themselves from the conventional (image of the) strong woman with her passive attitude and her readiness for self-sacrifice, and become women who truly have an independent consciousness.” Mori Yôko’s woman’s image 155 Many of the short stories examined here, published between 1986 and 1989, construct a specific new woman’s image. Mori’s female protagonists often represent a modern, sometimes avant-garde type of self-confident woman265 who has overcome to a large extent the posture of humility and servility, the inhibited and passive manner towards the male sex and who takes the offensive against the domineering men by resolutely ignoring the male supremacy.

Japanese critics understand Mori’s female protagonists as re- presentatives of their time (Mori/Ono 1993, 111). They are described as individuals with the ability to think (Shinoda 1993, 275), as free- spirited and independent, intelligent, determined and vivacious, but also as frail and easily hurt (Aki 1993, 272). With a self-assertiveness still unusual for Japanese women of the time, she takes the initiative to make acquaintances with men (stories 21, 31, II 30, II 31). The author reverses the traditional patterns of behaviour in a provocative manner: whereas normally the man looks at a woman disparagingly or addresses her in an unambiguous way as the object of his desire, here it is the woman who gives him a scrutinizing look if he will meet her requirements (1, 3, 18, II 40), who addresses him (21), invites him (11, 15, II 24), courts him (14), begins a flirt (3) and pursues it purposefully (II 30, II 31). Occasionally, Mori also depicts the man’s surprised or even dismayed reaction to the woman’s direct approach (3, 21), which makes him call her an “unusual woman”, a slightly disapproving expression which she returns immediately (II 31, II 40). In consequently pursuing an ideal of equality and equal rights, which Mori demands explicitly in the short stories (II 10, II 20), she reverses the old-established custom to accept that the man will have extra-marital affairs. The female characters of the short stories repay their husband’s unfaithfulness in the same coin (2, 6, II 19) or argue that they are entitled to just as much unfaithfulness as the man (II 20), and even the married woman who is not betrayed by her husband, has a lover to fill the emptiness in her life (6, 18, 30, 31, II 3, II 21). Mori opposes the male demand that his mistress has to belong to him alone and to be faithful to him. Instead, the married woman demands that her lover cuts loose other ties on her behalf to make himself available

265 A similar type of woman, portrayed in the 25 essays of Mori’s collection Ren’ai kankei (1988), is described in the paperback blurb as courageous and undaunted, proud and elegant, generous and witty. 156 novels and short stories for her (30), so that she, the woman, sets the terms of the extra-marital encounters (31).

By way of propagating the Western ideal of a relationship with equal rights for women and men as well as better working conditions, Mori suggests for example: − Instead of serving her husband, a woman should demand an equal division of the housework (II 20). − A housewife could receive regular payments for cooking (II 5). − In Yûwaku and Atsui kaze chap. 1, the female protagonist’s English father-in-law is portrayed as an astonishingly positive example for Japanese men, as he leads the household alone and in addition takes care of his ailing wife instead of sending her to a nursing home, in spite of his own restrictions due to his age. − Mori also raises the issue of the women’s discontent with their work, that they do not want to continue indefinitely an unsatisfying job like as an “office lady” (28) or as a stewardess (II 22). − She criticizes the poor treatment of female employees by their boss (II 38). − And she brings up establishing flexible working hours (6).

The protagonist’s male partners (in the short stories always Japa­ nese men) are often looked down on with a feeling of superiority, with disrespect and disapproval (see chap. V.C.3). In this regard, the short stories with male protagonists, who appear pitiful or ridiculous, also deal with female issues of life. This corresponds to an international trend which became apparent about a decade later. Schneider 2003, 108 speaks of an epoch-typical flexibilization, which was perceptible primarily in the realm of the conception of the gender roles: “In the criminal stories of women writers like Joy Fielding, Sara Paretsky or Ingrid Noll as well as in the works of women authors like Irmgard Keun, Hera Lind, Doris Dörrie, Andrea Parr or Elke Heidenreich,266 we are confronted with a new type of independent, quick-witted, active female character who takes the initiative and conquers male preserves one by one, and the authors often use a new style of expression which is marked by demonstrative sauciness, naughtiness, flippancy and informality and which elucidates the self-evidence of female demands for equality.“

266 Fielding b. 1945, Paretsky b. 1947, Noll b. 1935, Keun 1905–1982, Lind b. 1957, Dörrie b. 1955, Parr b. 1960, Heidenreich b. 1943. Mori Yôko’s woman’s image 157 With her progressive woman’s image, Mori attempts to strengthen her female readers‘ self-confidence, to sustain their self-esteem and to encourage them to develop autonomous female identities. She also wants them to develop more self-competence: the ability to judge oneself objectively, to accept oneself and to strive for a further develop­ ment of one’s personality. It is always Mori’s aim, both in the short stories and in the novels, to make the women aware of the unfair role allocation and their inappropriate social position, to support them to alter their situation and to create a feeling of solidarity among the women. This mission is expressed for example in the dedication of her novel Atsui kaze “to the women in general“ (onnatachi ni subete no). By depicting and dis­ cussing her ideal of equality in various ways, the author wants to subversively undermine the male-dominated social system and thus to contribute to restructuring it, without explicitly expressing this in words.

V. ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF MORI YÔKO’S LITERATURE

V.A. Mori Yôko’s works as semi-autobiographical fiction

It is a basic element of many literary texts,267 especially by female authors,268 that personal experience is being turned into fiction, com­ bined with the force of creative imagination. All of Mori’s five novels discussed here contain autobiographical elements in the depiction of their female protagonists, which are fictionalized. In her essay Watashi no hirointachi (1983, 140), Mori says that this is the general estimation of her literary critics. She explains that although she uses a lot of imagination and fiction in the development of the plot, the female protagonists, however, do in fact have certain resemblances with her in regard of their personal features. Thus, Mori fits the criteria of semi-autobiographical writing, which can be found in the works of numerous women writers of her time. Mori also expresses her point of view on her writing through the voice of the female protagonist of story 7, a writer, who says it is her credo to render personal experience into fiction and to take the material for her writing from her own life. In the same way, the male protagonist of story II 14, another writer, writes down what he has just experienced himself. According­ ly, in Watashi no hirointachi (143), Mori explains that she can only desribe what she knows for sure and what she has seen, heard or

267 Geisenhanslüke 2003, 7; Frederiksen 1989, 89; see also chap. V.C.1. 268 Matsumoto Tomone (in her afterword to Mukôda Kuniko: The Name of the Flower, Stone Bridge Press 1994, 152) quotes Kawabata Yasunari, “that Japanese women writers reveal more of themselves in their works than men writers do, and that this tendency can be found even among those women writers who ostensibly did not write about their own lives and personal experiences.” 160 classification of mori yÔko’s literature felt herself. Thus, she incorporates into her work incidents and experiences from her childhood, her college days and her time as a copywriter, as well as from her marriage, from the relationships to her British in-laws and to her daughters, and from her numerous trips abroad. In the novels, the autobiographical influence is underlined by the author’s dedication to her husband in Yûwaku, and to her mother and her eldest daughter in Shitto. Kizu and Jôji are I-novels. In Jôji269 as well as in Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, the protagonist’s name is Yôko (like the name of the author herself). In Shitto this is the name of the protagonist’s daughter (although written with a different character, the one for “light” or “weekday”). The female protagonists of Jôji, Yûwaku and Atsui kaze, as well as the one of story 11, are married to Englishmen. The female protagonists of Shitto, Jôji and Atsui kaze have daughters but no sons. In contrast to the author, the protagonists usually have only one or two daughters. Only the protagonist of Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô – the I-narrator with the name Yôko – has three daughters like Mori herself. The female protagonists of the novels and the short stories are between 27 and 38 years old, an age which Mori preferably uses in her fiction with strong autobiographical elements. In her essay ‘Jôji’ no shûhen (209),270 she explains she has no interest in the depiction of women who are in their teens or early twenties, as she did not like herself at that age, because she regarded herself as fat and pale and not fully developed in her personality, as “immature in her ego”. She only wants to portray the grown-up woman (otona no onna) who has gained in maturity, who has deeper emotions and more secrets and whose face has sensuous and thoughtful wrinkles from the sadness and grief about the beginning of physical decline. Mori uses this term usually for women in their mid- to late thirties.271 Autobiographical features also lie in the fact that the protagonists of three novels are educated as musicians, like the author herself:

269 E.g. Hayase 1989, 423, is convinced that the protagonist Yôko in Jôji is to be identified with the author (Mori) Yôko. 270 Ueda Makoto 1986, 116 also refers to this passage: “The central character is usually a mature Japanese woman... Thus the heroines of her stories are usually women who have outgrown their youth, mentally if not physically.” 271 For example the three female characters of Isshu, happî endo (1985), the wife Asako, the mistress Natsuko and the woman friend Kôko, are all 33 years old. Semi-autobiographical fiction 161 a violinist272 in Kizu, a cellist in Jôji and a former pianist in Shitto. Mori’s knowledge of music is a key-element in her other novels, too. In the short stories, autobiographical features are visible in the figures of famous and successful women in artistic professions (stories 4, 7, 14, 27).

Most of all, the novel Jôji is seen as largely autobiographical by the Japanese critics. Similarities between the protagonist and the author lie for example in the name of the protagonist’s English husband (McBright, instead of Brackin), and in the fact that the I-narrator used to be a cellist (instead of a violinist, like the author).

The autobiographical influence is even stronger in the novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, which was designed with the purpose of turning Mori’s personal experiences of the above mentioned psychotherapy into a novel.273 Here, the 38-year-old I-narrator Yôko is a writer, married to an Englishman who opposes and impedes her career. The novel consists of (at least) three basic time levels: the present, where the couple is on holiday in Malaysia in an attempt to save their marriage, and two further time levels in the form of flashbacks: the protagonist’s psychotherapy, and her childhood experiences, which come to the surface in the treatment. The main topics analyzed in the therapy are the protagonist’s difficult mother- daughter-relationship and her problematic relationship to her father. In the plot of the present, the I-narrator confronts her husband openly with the problem that he never satisfied her sexually.274 He accuses her of neglecting the three daughters because of her dedication to her writing, blaming her for the fact that one of the daughters has withdrawn herself nearly to the point of autism. This was the main reason for the protagonist’s psychotherapy, of which the husband also disapproved. Such autobiographically-based aspects of a problematic mother- daughter-relationship are also treated in the novels Yakôchû (1983)

272 See Mori’s story Vaiorinisuto in Middonaito kôru (1984, 157–175). – Whereas Mori herself studied the violin at the Tôkyô Academy of Music (Geidai), with her protagonist Reiko in Kizu she demonstrates the tragic circumstances and after-effects caused by failing the difficult entrance exam. 273 See Nakamura/Mori 1986, 11th ed. 1990, 179 ff. 274 A problem which the protagonist Shina in Atsui kaze leaves unsolved at the end of the novel by delaying the discussion with her husband. 162 classification of mori yÔko’s literature and Sakebu watashi (1985)275 and in the story Iruka (1980), as well as in several essays of the collection Onnazakari no itami (1983, 219–234). In her essay Shitto no jôkei (1983, 53–66), Mori draws parallels between her life and the plot of the novel Shitto. She confesses that in the course of her long-lasting marriage, her husband has given her reason for jealousy several times, but that he was also jealous. She writes that although he tried to hide it, she noticed it through his false cheerfulness and his unjustified outbursts of rage. Mori emphasizes that she herself used to avoid her husband’s jealousy by simply leaving her lover, which she actually did more than once. In the novel Atsui kaze, Mori’s repeated descriptions of how the protagonist comes to the decision to start writing in spite of her husband’s opposition, certainly contain autobiographical statements on the inner inhibitions and outer obstacles she herself had to overcome. The protagonist represents Mori’s conviction that there is something which only she can convey (Atsui kaze 210). She is aware that she will always write about the relationship between man and woman, and that she will not be able to comply with her husband’s wish (111, 181)276 not to write about their relationship (215), but that she has to shout out everything, all the frustrations and humiliations which have built up inside her throughout her marriage (216), in order to reach an inner liberation through writing (see chap. IV).277 She is also aware that for this purpose she will have to muster the courage to disclose her core being, and she compares the act of writing to a difficult birth where something warm and slippery, smeared with blood, emerges (110). She also admits that she will need a lot of courage to confront the outer world – publishers, critics and readers. With such statements, Mori comes close to the confessional nature of the traditional Japanese I-novel shishôsetsu,278 but these statements are usually only found sporadically, woven into the plot of a novel which, while based on the author’s own experience, is essentially a fictional narration.

275 See Miki 1986, 189–192. 276 In her essay Bungaku to no deai (1983, 151), Mori explains she has been urged repeatedly by her husband and also by her father to write about something else, but this was impossible for her. 277 Here the reason for Mori’s writing appears as an attempt at self-therapy; see Mori/Agawa 1992, 96; Yonaha 1998a, 452. 278 See Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Selbstentblößungsrituale, Wiesbaden 1981. Semi-autobiographical fiction 163 Mori comes near the confessional nature of the shishôsetsu particularly in places where her female protagonist or I-narrator regards herself in a negative way. The female protagonist’s self-critical view is actually characteristic of Mori’s novels. The author has male characters pass negative judgements on women several times, which the female protagonist acquiesces to in a self-critical manner. For example: − The sharp-tongued journalist Al compares women with cats and calls Japanese women unintellectual and irrational, dull and listless, unpredictable, gruff and cruel, to which Shina inwardly consents, thinking he was right, and that she as well as her friend Satoko and all women in general fit this characterization Atsui( kaze 132, 133). − When the party guests criticize the unpleasant character of their hosts’ spoilt cat as cold-hearted and malicious, apathetic and arrogant, Shina concludes silently that these features apply to her, too (Yûwaku 170). − Shina also deems the assessment of herself by her husband’s friend Mike appropriate, who regards her not only as pert, cool and sensual, but also as critical and selfish Yûwaku( 211).

The female protagonists are often insinuated to be emotionally cold. For example: − Shina is called unfeeling and “cold like a fish” by her husband (Yûwaku 200). − Equally, the female protagonist of story 1 (tr. 137) used to be called “a woman like a dead fish” by her ex-husband. − Shina describes herself as “a difficult woman who doesn’t do any­ thing essential in life and doesn’t love anybody” (Yûwaku 172). − Yôko says of herself that she has a cold heart (Jôji tr. 122), and another time (12), she says a cold flame is glowing at the bottom of her heart; and her ex-lover tells her that she has a cold face (49). − In Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, the I-narrator complains that her husband and her daughter accuse her of emotional coldness, and that this stems from her mother’s lack of emotion and her cold treatment of her when she was a child.279

279 This is also the subject of her essay Itami (where she explains that the first three of four months of her therapy were spent examining her hatred for her mother, 231) and of her essay Innâ (torippu) e dai-2-shô (236 ff.) in Onnazakari no itami (1983). 164 classification of mori yÔko’s literature − The same thoughts are reported of Mai in Shitto: she is not able to give love to others, as she never received love herself as a child. − In Watashi no hirointachi (144), Mori explains once again that her lack of emotional capability is rooted in her childhood. − In Sakebu watashi, Mori has entitled the first chapter (17–32):Watashi no hiyayakasa wa, doko kara kuru no darô ka (Where does my coldness come from?). − In Watashi no hirointachi (140), Mori explains that because her female protagonists are emotionally insecure and easily hurt, they have to steel themselves against the outside world and cannot give themselves to their partners unreservedly; therefore they cannot avoid hurting them.

Another aspect which correlates to the self-critical attitude characteristic of the shishôsetsu is the description of the female prot­ agonist’s feelings of guilt and shame. Even when she is clearly the victim of her partner’s aggressions, she feels guilt or at least a partial culpability towards herself. Self-centered or cruel thoughts immediate­ ly make her feel ashamed and regretful. For example: − When her husband slaps her face, Shina blames herself for having provoked him, and she regards the physical pain as a welcome penalty (Yûwaku 116). − When Shina becomes aware of her own line of thinking that it would be best if her mother-in-law fell down the staircase and died, she is at once ashamed of her thoughts (Atsui kaze 43). − On her husband’s diving into the life-threatening huge wave, Mai instinctively wonders who would provide for her and her daughter after his death, and regrets this thought immediately (Shitto 37 f.). − In Sakebu watashi, Mori discusses the female protagonist’s bad conscience (ushirometai kimochi and ushirometasa), as the titles of the chapters 4 and 8 indicate (83 and 175).

Mori’s works gain an authorial distance to the protagonist, which objectives affects and fictionalizes facts. The novels and short stories discussed here, although rooted in the author’s personal experience, are not autobiographical writing but fiction with strong autobiographical elements. Upper-level entertainment literature 165

V.B. Mori Yôko’s writing as upper-level entertainment literature

According to the typology of Japanese literary critics, Mori Yôko’s writing belongs to the large field of middlebrow literaturechûkan ( shôsetsu), which resides between the two fields of pure literature280 (junbungaku) and popular literature (taishû bungaku281). Whereas the term taishû bungaku, translatable as popular or mass literature, also encompasses simple trivial literature, the term chûkan shôsetsu, translatable as “middlebrow fiction”, specifically refers to upper-level entertainment literature. With reference to this, Wuthenow 2001 (277, footnote 7) writes: “After the end of the war in 1945, a kind of interim area developed between junbungaku and taishû bungaku, the so-called chûkan shôsetsu (translatable e.g. as ‘upper-level entertainment novel’). This development resulted on the one hand from the increasing popularization of pure literature, and on the other hand from the fact that in the field of popular literature, more and more works with a high artistic and ideological demand were written.” In the Japanese literary discourse since the 1980s, the separation of these two literary categories, in particular the segregation of junbungaku, which faded in attracting readers, partly because of experimental techniques and plays of thoughts, has dissolved more and more and is considered questionable, untainable or even non-existent any more,282

280 Schneider 2003 speaks of mountain crest or elite literature (e.g. 51) and considers the term “serious literature” para-scientific. Wuthenow 2001 translates junbungaku as highbrow literature. The term junbungaku exists parallel to Yokomitsu Riichi’s expression junsui shôsetsu “pure novel” (in reference to André Gide’s roman pur) in his essay Junsui shôsetsu ron (1935, in Kindai Nihon hyôron taikei vol. 7, Kadokawa 1985, 143–154). 281 The term was used for the first time in the title of the seriesGendai taishû bungaku zenshû, published at Heibonsha in 60 volumes from 1927–1932; see Wuthenow 2001, 276 with footnote 6; see also E. May 1985, 2 f. 282 Upon receiving the Naoki Prize in 1993, Takamura Kaoru said that, as her novels do not match the conventional genre pattern, she concludes that the range of assessment of the Naoki Prize has expanded in recent years (Sunday Mainichi Aug. 166 classification of mori yÔko’s literature especially since at the same time numerous works of upper-level entertainment literature with socio-critical contents, which reflect the spirit of the time and are characterized by complicated structures (as in the so-called encompassing novel zentai shôsetsu) keep increasing their literary standard. Western literary historians, referring to literature in general, make a clear distinction between entertainment literature and trivial literature. Entertainment literature serves the reading demand of the broad middle class, which applies to Mori Yôko’s works (see chap. III.B.4). In contrast, trivial literature, which is characterized by simple means of language, as regards the choice of words and the syntax, as well as by stereotypical representations and an overall simplicity of thought, correlates primarily to the reading preferences of the lower social classes. These consist of the traditional working-class with petty bourgeois values, and of the large section of the socially weak with unfinished school education and disrupted social relationships, with problems of drug addiction and with a materialistic attitude towards life283 – parts of society which are basically removed from literature and are more apt to solely partake in action movies and TV shows. As for this group reading only serves the purpose of killing time and of cheap thrills, in trivial literature emotionality is exaggerated into sentimentality, eroticism into pornography, and suspense into horror. The hypothesis, however, that the degree of triviality is increased by the amount of murders or acts of atrocity,284 by the brutality of the exactness and realistic content of the depictions e.g. of sexual acts, does not apply for Japanese literature, for here, works with particular­ ly cruel descriptions are often estimated as “expressive” and are awarded literary prizes.285

1, 1993, 24). In the ensuing debate, the literary critic Ikegami Takayuki voiced that the division into certain literary categories has become pointless (Shûkan Post Sep. 2, 1994, 144); Akutagawa-prize awardee Okuizumi Hikaru stressed that for some novels, a discussion about pure and entertainment literature is not applicable (Shûkan Bunshun Sep. 8, 1994, 113), etc. 283 See Schneider 2003, 104 f. 284 E.g. Sono Ayako’s novel Tenjô no ao, which describes four murders, a fatal injury, a rape etc., or Kôno Taeko’s works Fui no koe and Yôjigari (see chap. V.C.2.8) were classified as pure literature. 285 E.g. Akutagawa Prize for Murakami Ryû’s novel Kagiri naku tômei ni chikai burû (1976), Naoki Prize for Kirino Natsuo’s novel Out (1997); and Murakami Haruki depicts bloodthirsty scenes in his novel Umibe no Kafuka (2002) etc. Upper-level entertainment literature 167 There is also a distinct separation between trivial literature and simple entertainment literature. Simple entertainment literature is usually marked by a clearly structured plot, comprehendible time structures and plain character constellations. At the same time it renounces intellectuality, unnecessary artificiality and means of identification obstruction such as coherence disruption and complicated structural techniques. In sticking to petty bourgeois values such as orderliness, discipline, diligence, honesty, reliability, politeness and most of all a conservative conception of the gender roles, simple entertainment literature eschews the breaking of taboos. In contrast, upper-level entertainment fiction, which in Japan includes works awarded the Naoki Prize, also comprises the neo-realistic socio-critical novel, the new woman’s novel, the highbrow love story, the ambitious criminal and adventure novel and the historical novel. These show an openness towards modernity and a progressiveness which allows for the breaking of taboos, the consciousness of and commitment to social issues and a quest for the solution of such problems. Multi-layered plot constructions, interlocking time con- structions and segmented structural techniques are common in works of upper-level entertainment fiction. In the case of Mori Yôko, I have already discussed in detail her progressive basic attitude, her avant-garde female characters and her openness to breaking taboos like the justification of female unfaithful- ness, the reversal of gender-specific behaviours, the discussion of topics like homo- and bi-sexuality. In Japanese literary criticism, the fact that two of Mori’s works were nominated for the Akutagawa Prize, two works were nominated for the Naoki Prize and already her first work actually received another literature award, demonstrates that Mori’s literature is highly estimated.286 For such reasons, it is classified into the category of upper-level entertainment fiction. Mori clearly stands above simple entertainment fiction. In her works, avoiding the peril of two-dimensionality,287 she achieves a multi-layered structure through changes of the temporal levels (to the complicated time structures of her novels see chap. III.A.6),

286 What Yamamoto 1994, 370, wrote about the nomination of Sono Ayako’s story Enrai no kyakutachi (1954) for the Akutagawa Prize should be applied to Mori as well: “The nomination singled out Sono as a competent writer and launched her literary career.” 287 See Zimmermann 1972, 405. 168 classification of mori yÔko’s literature as well as through occasional alterations of the narrator’s point of view (e.g. in story II 19) or through changes in the pace of narration, between passages of in-depth detail and compact accelerated narration (II 40).288 In regard to a certain schematizing of the characters, though, which is sometimes regarded as a distinguishing feature of popular literature,289 Mori remarks herself290 that in some of her short stories, she used symbolic figures on purpose, who she merely refers toas “the woman” and “the man” or as “she” and “he”, in order to stress the general nature of the problem constellation. This applies in particular to her short story collection Kare to kanojo (1987). Especially in regard to the predictability of the ending in trivial literature or simple entertainment fiction, Mori stands out in sharp contrast with her wide range of imaginative, unexpected turns at the end of her stories, and with varied conceptions of more or less open endings. In trivial Western women’s literature of the 1960s to the 1980s, the predictable ending was usually the coming together of the lovers, which culminated in marriage.291 As this was criticized for being stereotyped and kitschy, it was sometimes endowed with alienation effects292 in order to enhance the literary quality. In chap. III. A.9, I have already explained Mori’s disapproving attitude towards happy endings, which almost never occur in her work.

However, Yoshiko Yokochi Samuel 1994 (242–248) passes a mis­ judgement on Mori through mistaken assertions, which consists of an accumulation of incorrect statements and misled conclusions, and which is marked by superficiality, lack of knowledge and mis- understanding. Serious mistakes are for example the classification of Mori’s novels Yûwaku, Shitto, Kizu and Atsui kaze (as well as her novel Ai ni meguriau yokan) as “collections of short stories”. Samuel also classifies further

288 Criteria listed by Weber 1984, 296. On the narratival means of the condension or expansion of the plot see Schneider 2003, 36. 289 To the peril of schematizing the plot to a pattern of events with a foreseeable ending, called structure préétablié, see Škreb 1984, 17. 290 In Mori/Shimizu 1994, 16, and in her essay Rasuto messêji in Ai no kioku, 1996 (posth.), 170. 291 See Giesenfeld 1971, 334. 292 E.g. by depicting the wedding as an unvoluntary or unwanted ceremony, as in novels of the English author Penny Jordan in the series Bestseller (no. C 611, C 613, 1998) and Romance (no 3184, 1991), Mills & Boon, Richmond. Upper-level entertainment literature 169 works by Mori incorrectly,293 and Mori’s nominations for renowned literature awards are unknown to her. In an unscientific manner and without giving a reason, without enumerating certain titles of Mori’s works, and without limiting the periods of publication, Samuel vaguely constitutes three categories of Mori’s works merely according to the contents: the first group on love affairs of married women, the second group on career-aspiring women and their unsupportive husbands, and the third group on Japanese women with a British husband and British in-laws (a small group of works to which Samuel concedes the greatest literary content because of their proximity to the “traditional I-novel”). This attempt at a categorization is untenable and incorrect from the start, because Mori’s works discussed here (as well as further works of hers) either fit into several of these categories at the same time or into none of them at all. Moreover, Samuel did not understand the essence of Mori’s writing, as she declassifies Mori’s main intention of pointing out the pattern of a woman’s way out into unfaithfulness as simple love affairs or adultery. In addition, obviously out of a prejudice against bestselling literature, Samuel (244) makes the grave mistake of imputing to the first category (in which she mainly includes Jôji) too much fantasy. She even goes so far as to twist facts. Thus, in story 18 Sasayaka na kôfuku (with the provokingly exaggerated depiction that a woman can only make her miserable life bearable through affairs with men who she meets at the supermarket), Samuel finds more realism than in Jôji, which is known for its autobiographical content and which describes the living environment of Western foreigners in Tôkyô in a very realistic way. Of Mori’s works, Samuel has only dipped into Jôji, and in a very superficial manner (246). For this reason, Samuel makes many factual errors,294 such as mistaking the male protagonist’s name.295 Another result of Samuel’s incorrect categorization is her mis- taken conclusion to regard the portrayal of the main characters in

293 E.g. she refers to Mori’s introduction of well-known movie-stars in Bijo-tachi no shinwa (1986) as “Mori’s personal essays” (243). 294 E.g.: The female protagonist is not “a translator of Western television drama”, but for example of round-table discussions; her husband’s house is not a beach house but is located on the steep coast; he doesn’t own a cottage, but the house in Karuizawa belongs to her parents, and so on. 295 She refers to Lane Gordon with the name Bradberry, but Ray Bradbury is an author who the I-narrator mentions just once on the first page of the novel. 170 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Jôji as “two-dimensional” (246). This does not apply in the least to the strongly autobiographically influenced female protagonist Yôko, and neither does it to her lover Lane. These two main characters – and even side characters like Yôko’s former lover David and her husband Paul – are characterized plastically, profoundly and with psychological depth through descriptions of their outer appearance, their speaking habits and behaviours, their motivations, emotions and thoughts. This even applies to the male characters of the short stories: Mori describes for example that the man feels a lingering affection for his lost mistress (II 14, II 20) or that he still thinks of the woman he just left behind (29), that he ponders on losing his joie de vivre (II 4), that he regrets the time he has lost (II 24), that he wants to conceal his mistakes (23) or does not want to sacrifice himself for his job (II 11). Mori consciously avoids any kind of black-and- white depiction, as she expresses through the words of the female protagonist in story 30. Samuel’s incorrect and grossly exaggerated characterizations of Mori’s types of men, where Samuel for no reason mingles those of the novels and those of the short stories, is another example of her stereotyped thinking. Samuel is also completely wrong in her attempt to insinuate that Mori’s dialogues are subjugated to the influence of Western fiction (244 and 246, by referring to the conservative literature critic Okuno Takeo [b. 1926], whose ambivalent and subjective view of women’s literature is already underlined by Hijiya-Kirschnereit 1984, 393).296 However, the lifelike dialogues which convey the feeling of life of her time, and the arguments, written with much expertise, are on the contrary Mori’s special feature; she reproduces party conversations and pub discussions as she has experienced herself, and she addresses current conversational topics of her time (wadai), such as artificial land reclamation or the statistical frequency of huge waves, and it is unthinkable that Mori has copied this from Western literature. It is also completely far-fetched to see in Mori’s writing further “Western influence” in “the enticing foreign names of cocktails and music numbers” (Samuel 244). For international names of cocktails like Bloody Mary or Kir, which Mori certainly tried herself, she used the fashionable drink names of her time and didn’t need any literary models in this field.

296 She speaks of Okuno’s ambiguity and denouncement of joryû bungaku. Upper-level entertainment literature 171 As for “music numbers”, Samuel must have gone as far as confusing the author with someone else,297 for Mori’s writing is in fact characterized by her manifold allusions to classical music which show her expert knowledge, whereas “music numbers” from the realm of pop music are very seldom in her work.298 Equally, the “catchy pet names” criticized by Samuel (244) cannot be found in Mori’s texts.299 For the purpose of justifying her mistaken estimation of Mori, Samuel tries to construct the accusation of using trivial stylistic elements, by allegedly quoting from Jôji the examples “raven black hair” and “silky smooth hands”, which she has, however, completely made up and which do not appear in all the texts examined here. Besides, this shows that Samuel has not in the least grasped Mori’s characteristic feature of a strong aversion against soft and “silky- smooth” male hands and her preference for sinewy hands. Equally bizarre is Samuel’s criticism of Mori’s portrayal of her main characters as “physical beauties”.300 The contrary is true for Mori Yôko: she specificly describes her female protagonists usually only as average in physical appearance and as not particularly pretty. If once in a while a woman is described as good-looking (as in story 6), this merely serves to highlight the contrast that such a woman does not find a partner for a relationship. And when a Vietnamese woman is allowed a few attributes of beauty, it is not without the simultaneous enumeration of her shortcomings. As for the protagonist in Jôji, one of her physical flaws is discussed frankly with her lover on their first meeting, and neither she nor her lover, whose weaknesses301 sometimes make the female reader smile, are depicted as “magnetic personalities” (Samuel 244).302

297 Very likely with Yamada Eimi, on whom Samuel has written an article in the same book (1994, 457–464), where she explicitly praises Yamada’s “use of blues motifs” (462) and where she appreciates the author’s “uniquely high quality”. 298 Apart from mentioning the Beatles’ songs Let it be in Jôji and Hey Jude in Atsui kaze (the last one depicted as nerve-rackingly loud), and the French song Tombe la neige in story 16. 299 They are present, however, in Yamda Eimi’s works, e.g. the male protagonist in Bedtime Eyes is named “Spoon” (see chap. V.C.2.10). 300 This applies to Yamada Eimi, who describes several of her female characters as strikingly beautiful and very self-assured (see chap. V.C.2.10). 301 E.g. taking a nap usually before having sex, leaving his apartment and his car untidy, listening to music too loudly, drinking too much, easily feeling offended, etc. 302 Only the 38-year-old protagonist Ariko of Mori’s novella Aki no hi no vioron no tameiki no (1987) is said to have a pretty face, which is not meant to characterize her as an extraordinary beauty. 172 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Samuel positively evaluates the novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, however, which she acknowledges a synthesis with elements of pure literature because of its interchanges of realistic and dreamlike narrative sequences.

For her classification into upper-level entertainment fiction, Mori’s writing is endowed with several qualities: Primarily, there is her realistic narrative style which aims at an exact depiction of everyday-life and of the average person. This is acknowledged even by Samuel three times in her article (244, 247, 248). In her depiction of the banal, everyday reality of life, Mori’s foremost interest lies in adequacy, authenticity and sincerity. In favour of her desire for authenticity in the depiction of normal life, 303 the demand for formal esthetic qualities is put behind. Mori regards the possibility of renunciation of certain literary stylistic means as one of the preconditions that she found the courage to dedicate herself to writing. The fact that the graphic designer Ikeda Masuo was awarded the Akutagawa Prize304 made her realize that it was not expected, as she had thought, to describe literary scenes such as “how the bristles of the tatami-mats stand up when the west sun sets on four and a half mats”.305 Renouncing such artificial literary means, Mori pursues her credo of authenticity and banality. What Tawara Machi says about herself,306 applies to Mori, too: “The fiction is interwoven in such daily acts as every Japanese performs every day, so that the result can be regarded as a kind of intensified truth; a combination of ‘actuality’ (jitsu) and ‘appearance’ (kyo).” This facilitates the reader’s identification with the fictive characters. In this way, Mori supplies her female readers with adequate possibilities for identification. The controlled identification of the female recipient with the fictive character enables her to remember and relive her own problems and her suppressed mental impulses, and can have a liberating, therapeutic effect. The basis for identification is the correspondence of the emotional conflict. The finding of

303 Termed as characteristics of female writing, e.g. by Jurgensen 1982, 488 and by Frederiksen 1989, 89. 304 For his novella Ége-kai ni sasagu (Dedicated to the Aegean Sea), mentioned in chap. II on Mori’s biography. 305 Quoted after Hayase 1989, 427. 306 Quoted after Mitomi 1990, 12. Upper-level entertainment literature 173 one’s identity by way of pleasant reading, which is considered as entertaining, serves the purpose of easing the emotional strain and of a stabilization for the reader.307 The more the female reader integrates herself into the text, the more self-confirmation she is going to experience.308 The identification of the reader with the fictive character used to be considered dangerous, because it could lead to a loss of the sense of reality and to escapism. And so the representatives of pure literature constructed the ideal of identification prevention through detachment and alienation, which would make the reader observe the characters and the plot of the novel from the safe distance of the analyzing intellect, and perceive them as constructions and simulations. This would heighten the reader’s awareness of the artistic artificiality of the text. Stylistic means for enhancing the awareness of fictivity, such as dissecting objectivation, illusion fracture, coherence obstruction, despecification and the inoculation of uncertainty, were supposed to improve the intellectual level and the social respect of the literary text. Nevertheless, there are no objections against an identificational, self-confirmational way of reading, if there is nothing disconcerting in the text and if the risk of turning to escapism does not exist.

However, the divergence of the tendencies towards identification promotion or identification prevention can not at all serve as a means of distinguishing the border between pure literature and entertainment fiction, − first, because in the same way as entertainment literature, the major part of the canonical pure literature is read in an identificational way;309 − and second, because certain currents of alternative fiction which are classified as pure literature, postulate a particularly intense identification, a participation in the plot and an involvement close to symbiotic reading.

On the other hand, literature which strongly aims at identification prevention, can lose social respect because of being intellectually

307 Schneider 2003, 15, 25, 50, 130; Groeben/Vorderer 1988, 15. 308 Dahrendorf 1971, 305 and 307 f. 309 Already in 1875, Theodor Fontane supported identificational reading in his review on Gustav Freytag’s Die Ahnen (The Ancestors, 1872–74); see Schneider 2003, 130 with reference to Steinecke/Wahrenburg 1999, 376. 174 classification of mori yÔko’s literature overloaded, or because of its closeness to playful and experimental literature and the so-called l’art pour l’art. In spite of the identification possibilities Mori provides in her novels, she does not forego objectivizing and intellectualizing stylistic means, such as multi-layered complicated time structures (esp. in Kizu and Atsui kaze) and the ambitious interlocking of parts of the plot (see chap. III.A.6). On the other hand, Mori avoids structural means of identification prevention such as indirect circumscription, of encoding and alienation effects. This is generally considered a characteristic feature of female writing,310 which primarily aims at authenticity.

As for the classification of Mori’s fiction as upper-level entertain- ment literature, Mori is endowed with a fair gift of observation and an extraordinary psychological sensitivity, which shows in her lifelike dialogues, in the realistic characterization of her figures and in further examples (see chap. III.B.3).

Another criterion which justifies Mori’s fiction being classified as upper-level entertainment literature is her socio-critical commitment, which is always present in her works, if sometimes subliminal (as explained in detail in chap. III.B.2 and IV). I have already pointed out Mori’s numerous taboo breaks in regard to the prevailing social morals and to her progressive ideals.

Ambitious literary prose always fulfils an educational and life- enhancing function. Mori’s female protagonists (and sometimes her male protagonists, too) undergo mental development processes (see chap. III.C.2) and come to often disillusioning and hurtful realizations. It is an intrinsic motivation for the reader to apply such experiences to himself and thus to gain a kind of self-realization.311 By giving insights into Western lifestyle and the Western way of thinking, by conveying Western idols and ideals (like personal freedom, individualism and self-responsibility), by introducing foreign settings (like England, Paris and others) and by including a lot of English words and phrases as well as French, Italian and Spanish expressions, which demonstrates her cosmopolitan attitude,

310 Eifler 1989, 21 f., Swiatlowski 1982, 117. 311 Schneider 2003, 20 and 43. Upper-level entertainment literature 175

Mori enlarges her reader’s mental horizon, enabling him to become a more knowledgeable, cultivated, tolerant and understanding person.312 Mori satisfies a demand for education and background information also by introducing her profound knowledge in the field of classical music – from mentioning the names of composers like Vivaldi, Bach, Händel, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Mahler, Wagner, Franck, Hindemith and Schönberg, giving a critical evaluation of well-reputated performers of classical music, to discussing works of classical music and operas – topics which belong to the fund of knowledge of the Japanese and the international educated classes, and thus are transnational.

Furthermore, Mori’s works fulfil the function of upper-level entertainment literature of giving life-supporting advice313 with her many remarks on practical life-matters, which the reader can make use of. In particular, some of Mori’s works can serve as an advisor in lovematters.314 Examples which are to be understood in this sense: – Her work Koi no indekkusu (1987); – her collection of 105 short short stories, in which Mori gives various examples from seduction up to ending a relationship; – her collection Ren’ai kankei (1985/1988) with 25 examples for effective methods of seduction and the playful use of tactics in manipulating a man; – her collection Wakare jôzu (1986), comprising 27 short stories on the topic of separation; – her collections Otoko jôzu onna jôzu (1986) and Otoko-zanmai onna- zanmai (1987) and others.

Mori’s works are also classified as belonging to the genre of everyday stories (nichijô shôsetsu). Whereas so-called pure literature is rarely devoid of descriptions of the unusual,315 a peculiarity of Mori’s works is that, in spite of their concentration on everyday events, they do not lose tension, because they are written with refined narrative techniques, with humorous-satirical connotations and surprising turns at the end.

312 Ibid., 127, 129, 138. 313 Schneider 2003, 130. 314 Sakurai 2000, 48 f.; Mori/Yamada 1988, 44. 315 Schneider 2003, 28. 176 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Mori’s writing is occasionally referred to as “City-Literature” (tokai shôsetsu316 or shiti-ha shôsetsu317), because her works predominantly convey an urban atmosphere and address readers who know the described settings in Tôkyô and its vicinity. The characters are rooted in Tôkyô, and when a novel or story is set on the coast318 or in the mountains, it describes the vacation of city dwellers.

Mori Yôko didn’t like her works be classified into literary cate- gories.319 She saw her strong point in psychologically accurate, realistic depictions and loved psychologically deep novels, especially the French psychological novel. She regarded Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras (who is also mentioned in story II 30) and Françoise Sagan (in particular with her work Bonjour tristesse) as her literary models. She has published on both Duras and Sagan several times,320 who she estimated highly for their depictions of female characters, who indulge in the fulfillment of their individual needs and face the consequences of their doing so without any feelings of guilt. Mori was once asked if she wanted to be the Japanese Sagan, and she denied.321 Umihara Junko (1988, 211), though, says about Mori that she is the only woman in Japan who writes in the manner of a Duras or a Sagan.

Concerning authors she likes to read, Mori mentions Roald Dahl322 and Ray Bradbury323 (in Jôji); William Melvin Kelly (Jôji), Somerset

316 This term is used e.g. by the editor of the female protagonist in story 7 for her writing (Beddo no otogibanashi, 61). 317 In the blurbs of Sasowarete (1987, Shûeisha bunko 1990), Horosukôpu monogatari (1983, Bunshun bunko 1986: Shiti-kankaku afureru shôsetsu), Kare to kanojo (1987, 22nd ed. 1991: kodoku na tokai na… sutôrî); Tôkyô aijô monogatari (1987, Kadokawa bunko 1991). 318 E.g. Shitto and Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô. 319 E.g. the protagonist in story 7 (see above) does not want her works be classified into categories like “easy writing” or “serious literature”. 320 An essay on Sagan in Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no (129–132) and one on Duras in Kaze no yô ni (Kadokawa 1987, 172–176). 321 In Mori 1983 b, Bunkagu to no deai, 152. 322 Roald Dahl (1916–1990), author of short stories, children’s literature (e.g. Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory) and screen plays (e.g. for the James-Bond-movie You Only Live Twice). In Jôji Mori has probably alluded to his collection of short stories Switch Bitch from 1974. 323 Ray Bradbury (b. 1920), literature awards and filming of his novels; about half of his body of work is classified as SF-literature; also emotional novels. In Jôji Mori may have referred to his work A Medicine for Melancholy (1958). Upper-level entertainment literature 177 Maugham, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller, Agatha Christie (Atsui kaze), Tennessee Williams (story II 10), Truman Capote, John Updike324 and William Faulkner.325 She appreciated William Golding particularly for his descriptions of the open sea. In Shitto she refers to Marie Cardinal in regard of a mother-daughter-conflict. In Jôji (tr. 76), Mori criticizes James Joyce’s Ulysses as boring reading for teenagers. As for Japanese authors, she mainly refers to Nakajima Atsushi.326

324 Mori 1981c, ‘Jôji’ no shûhen, 211. 325 In her introduction to Kaze no yô ni (1987, II). 326 In Bungaku to no deai (1983, 152); see Hayase 1989, 426, Umihara 1988, 211. Naka­ jima Atsushi (1909–1942), son of a family of scholars of Chinese studies, travelled through China, worked as a school teacher in Yokohama and as a government official in Palau; author of historical novels such as Kotan (1942), Hikari to kaze to yume (on R.L. Stevenson’s life in Samoa, 1942), Deshi and Riryô (set in China of the Early Han- Period; 1943), the stories Gojô shusse and Gojô tan’i (1942, on motifs of the Chinese novel Xiyouji of the 16th century). The most recent publication on the author is Sekai bungaku no naka no Nakajima Atsushi by Paul McCarthy and Nobuko Miyama Ochner (209 p.), Tôkyô, Dec. 2009.

Japanese women’s literature 179

V.C. Mori Yôko’s writing in the context of literature by women writers of the 1960s to the 1980s

V.C.1. General criteria of Japanese women’s literature

It is commonly known that literature written by women has a much stronger tradition in Japan than in other national literatures, because the most significant works of ancient Japanese literature were written by women writers, who thereby helped establish a specifically Japanese esthetic sense, which integrated features of feminine sensitivity. According to the not-uncontroversial theory327 which regards the woman generally as the primary source of literature, poets and writers orient themselves on the authority of their mother as a feminine ideal borrowed from nature, because the child who may become a writer later on is usually introduced to speaking and writing by his mother, using the “mother language”. Since the beginning of literary modernity at the end of the 19th century, women writers were present in all currents of Japanese literature. Parallel to the internationally increasing flood of women’s literature since about 1970,328 the number of women writers and their works rose steeply in the second half of the 1970s in Japan, too. This is also the time when Mori Yôko began to write.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the field of women’s literature in Japan has grown even more. This considerable rise of women’s literature is due to several complex factors which are related to each other:

327 Kittler 1987 understands “the alphabetization of a child as an erotization of the letters by his or her mother”, quoted after Geisenhanslüke 2003, 137. 328 Jurgensen 1982, 485 points out that in Germany many anthologies and numerous articles on women’s literature have been published in the 1970s. 180 classification of mori yÔko’s literature − First, women’s literature with its predominant orientation towards a female readership and with its depiction of specifically female problems serves a hitherto unfulfilled demand. − Second, within this market, the needs of the female readership underwent a significant growth, because – particularly in Japan – women’s reading ability had increased through improved formal education. − Third, as housekeeping was made easier for women (through the use of household machines, household chemicals, frozen foods etc.), and as the burden of children’s education lessened (due to all-day schools and preparatory schools), women had more time to spend on reading. − Furthermore, through a generally advanced standard of living and a better financial background, women’s possibilities for the purchase of books had improved. At the same time, women’s rising reading interest was supported by the general sense that a new era had just begun.

Last, but not least, the rise of women’s literature is also correlated to the second political and social women’s movement in Japan329 (which also resulted in establishing Gender Studies as a discipline of its own in Japan330). This has to be seen in the international context of worldwide endeavours of enhancing the status of women, part of which was the declaration of the “International Year of the Woman” in 1975 and the “Decade of the Woman” 1976–1985 by the United Nations, as well as the U.N. resolution at “Abolishing all kinds of discrimination against women”, which the Japanese government signed in 1979. The “Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL, Danjo koyô kikai kintô-hô), passed in 1985, though, which guarantees women professional equality of opportunity and equal treatment at work, was circumvented in Japan through introducing a differentiated mode of employment (with a “general track” ippanshoku mainly for women, and a “career track” sôgôshoku, generally for men) and, in

329 There had been a first emancipation movement in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century represented by Ehara Yumiko, Ueno Chizuko and others. – The Women’s Lib was followed by a pro-feminist Men’s Lib, which rejected male striving for power and readiness for violence and demanded an equal share of child raising and housework of both man and woman; see Itô 1993. 330 See Schulz 2001, 291; Hof 1995 gives a survey over the development of Gender Studies. Japanese women’s literature 181 spite of revisions in 1999 and 2007, is not yet fully practiced up to the present day. The second political and social women’s movement in Japan sharpened the public awareness of gender-specific problems through public performances and political activities, through discussions in the media and the circulation of feminist treatises331 etc. A great deal of the ideas thereby made public were integrated into women’s literature. Besides, in the course of this social movement, more and more women managed to acquire influential positions and offices. This was also the case in the literary world and in the mass media, where they could promote other women and provide them with commercial support. All of this contributed to the increasing sale and the far-reaching moral effects of women’s literature.

In Japan, the female readership of women’s literature was in a specific social situation, because marriage used to be regarded from a much less emotional and much more pragmatic point of view, which is explained by the historical development. The system of the greater family (ie-seido),332 though established in the Meiji era under this term, had been predominant in Japan for several centuries333 and had integrated the Confucian principle of “respect for men and contempt for women” (danson johi). It did not foster the emotional interrelation of a monogamously living couple, for the wife was forced primarily into another role as that of her husband’s lover. Fixed into the role of “good wife and wise mother” (ryôsai kenbo),334 the wife mainly served as a maid for her husband and

331 In Germany, Alice Schwarzer’s emancipation magazine Emma has been pub- lished since 1977, a Japanese magazine of the same title has been published since 1985. 332 See Lenz/Mae 1997, introduction 12; furthermore Hendry 1981. The ie-seido was officially abolished in the constitution which came into effect in 1947, butit continued to have a long-lasting influence on society. 333 Although other forms of family life also existed (see Neuss-Kaneko 1990). E.g. Miyabe Miyuki deals with the solidly united living community in a tenement house (nagaya) in the Edo era in her novel Higurashi (2 vol., 2005) and in the title story of her volume Bonkura (2000), see Donath 2007 b, 599 f. 334 This term, coined in the Meiji era upon re-defining the gender relations, is based on an invented tradition (see Antoni 1997, Vlastos 1998), which was created with the purpose of manipulating the woman into her role as a reproductive force. – The discussion of the concept of the ryôsai kenbo led by Ôba Minako, Kôno Taeko and Sono Ayako is examined by Satô-Diesner 1985. 182 classification of mori yÔko’s literature her in-laws,335 and for the purpose of giving birth to and raising as many descendants as possible, who – through motherly devotion and profound education – should be enabled to provide for the family and thus for their mother later on. In the solidification of gender roles in the Meiji era, the woman was restricted to the private sphere (uchi) and was excluded from the public area of activity (soto), which was reserved for the man. A woman was educated largely according to the ideal of self-sacrifice. She had to accept the social convention that for her husband’s erotic- emotional needs, other, often professionally educated women were available.336 The wife had to suppress her emotions and her sexuality or to sublimate them into motherliness. The husband was educated to regard his wife as a substitute for his mother and as a kind of servant, whose job it was to insure his continued ability to work, as his mother had before. This means she supported him in his function as the breadwinner. The ideologies prevailing in Japan over the centuries all supported a suppression of emotions. Confucianism, which is the ideological basis of the ie-seido, demands the neutralization of personal desires and their subordination under the entirety of society, which is euphemistically called “harmonization”. The ancestral worship rooted in Shintôism gives the vertical relationship between parents and children priority over the horizontal relationship between husband and wife, which prevails in the West.337 And Buddhism requires that the individual person exterminate all instincts and extinguish all emotions. Together, these factors constitute the foundation for the social demand of the deferment of individual emotional needs. Thus, the Japanese woman saw marriage (which she regarded as an essential aim in life338) primarily as the means to financial security and social prestige.

335 Her life was full of hard physical labour and of humiliations, which could degenerate into “tormenting the daughter-in-law” (yome-ijiri), see Linhart 1980, 100. 336 The socially accepted affair of a husband with his mistress is a frequent topic in Japanese literature, e.g. in Enchi Fumiko’s novel Onnazaka (1957, Engl. tr. The Waiting Years 1971). 337 E. Lokowandt, Eine Annäherung an die Shintô-Ethik (An Approach to Shintô- Ethics), in OAG Notizen 11/2006, 26–32. 338 See also Herold 1980, 123: Until app. 1980, Japan had one of the highest marriage rates in the world. However, according to the Hakuhodo Institute, 1984, 6, the willingness to marry decreased, along with an increasing public tolerance towards women living alone. According to Neues aus Japan no. 334, 1991, 12 f., the majority of the population no longer considered marriage and family a precondition for a fulfilled life. Japanese women’s literature 183 Because of the separation of the sexes from childhood on, which means that men and women socialize almost exclusively with persons of their own sex, the natural behaviour of an emotionally interrelated couple was missing. Insufficient sexual education and the general opinion339 that sexuality had to do with reproduction and served the purpose of fulfilling one’s duty rather than pursuing sexual pleasure, led to a matter-of-fact attitude towards marriage on both sides. For the man, too, the moral tie, which kept a marriage together, consisted in the shared obligation to raise children and to provide for them. The Japanese psychologist and marriage counselor Narabayashi Yasushi340 hence refers to both men and women by saying: “… for the Japanese man, eroticism is at best an appendix to his personality. In this regard the sexual act is nothing else than a separate supplement to marriage.”341 The interest in sensuality seemed to be blunted so much that Edith Rau stated: “A physical encounter seemed to have no more meaning than eating and drinking.”342 Until the mid-seventies, among reasons for marriage for women, “the possibility for sexual activity” had low priority, with a share of only one percent.343 At that time, however, the international movement for sexual liberalization reached Japan. This was reflected in the media, most of all in TV, where former taboo topics, such as extra-marital affairs, relationships of partners with a large age difference, triangular relationships and mate swapping, were now addressed more openly. This also manifested itself in Japanese women’s literature, where from then on sexual relationships became the main subject.344 Mori Yôko, too, belongs to this kind of literature since her debut in 1978.

339 Which was supported by the state, e.g. the low-dose oral contraceptive got approved in Japan not before 1999 as the last country of the world. 340 Quoted after Crome 1980, 131. 341 In a different sense, Tsushima in Yama o hashiru onna (1980) also regards the man’s desire as an unorganic appendix to his personality: “Maeda’s desire seemed not to belong to Maeda himself”, quoted after Lewell 1993, 453. 342 Rau 1980, 228 f. 343 Quoted after Herold 1980, 124. 344 See Yoshida-Krafft 1980, 216; see also chap. V.C.2. 184 classification of mori yÔko’s literature In this development process, literature has a double function. On the one hand, it can have innovative and avant-garde effects, it can give new ideas and impulses, it can influence the reader’s awareness and bring about a reformation of the way of thinking, and then of the social norms and circumstances. On the other hand, literature, especially bestselling literature such as Mori’s, which addresses a broad readership, at the same time always mirrors the collective mental needs which exist in a society.345 It mirrors the mentality of the masses and thus “contributes to forming a national psychology”.346

Regarding modern Japanese women writers, Lisette Gebhardt states:347 “An aversion against the expectations of society, which demand of a woman impeccable behaviour as a self-sacrificing mother and devoted wife, is to be observed in many younger Japanese women. They are not willing any more to play the role of the naively seductive Lolita which is so popular in Japan, or to be at a man’s disposal as a quietly admiring and motherly mistress.” Gebhardt (18 f.) further explains that the female protagonists of the avant-garde women writers illustrate that the Japanese woman rebels against sexual indifference, heartlessness and orgasm-deficiency in marriage. Gebhardt refers to the poets Sakakibara Junko348 and Itô Hiromi,349 quoting that the latter shows us “that the sexual act is basically absurd. It is absurd because it is conducted habitually, always following the same pattern, full of the triteness which is innate in all the other daily activities… because it really doesn’t have anything to do with the individual who cherishes the illusion of a personal emotion… because it is insidious and promises pleasure, but means procreation. Therefore, the sexual act means violence, rape and even murder for the woman…” The same definition of the sexual act as a trivial, daily repeated pattern is given by the Akutagawa Prize winning author Ogawa Yôko in her novella Kanpeki na byôshitsu (The Perfect Sickroom, 1989).

345 See also Škreb 1984, 24 f. 346 Bausinger 1963, 210. 347 Gebhardt 1994, 16. 348 Her poem Death in Dependency 2 from the collection of poems Seikimatsu ôgazumu, Shinchôsha 1983. 349 From her prose poem TOPS from 1980 (Gebhardt 1994, 21) and from her text Ikita otoko no hito bubun (1982), in: Itô Hiromi shishû, Shinchôsha 1988, 32 (Gebhardt 1994, 24). Japanese women’s literature 185 By far less outspoken and provocative is Mori’s literature, which starts from the same point and discusses repeatedly and extensively the man’s lacking interest in his wife’s physical and mental problems, as well as the woman’s lacking of sexual pleasure (esp. of the female orgasm) in marriage.350

Mori is to be seen in the succession of women writers of the 1960s and in the context of women writers of the 1970s and 1980s, whose aim is the deconstruction of obsolete patterns of thinking, the removal of taboo values, the liberalization and humanization of various forms of living together, and “whose female characters… can actually be regarded as saboteurs of hitherto valid social and artistic norms.”351

350 E.g. in Atsui kaze, Nagi no kôkei and Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô. 351 Gebhardt 1994, 17.

Female issues in the works of women writers 187

V.C.2. Female issues in the works of women writers of the 1960s to the 1980s in comparison to Mori Yôko

In the following, I want to point out time-relevant female issues in individual studies on thirteen outstanding women writers who were awarded literature prizes and who are representative of certain ideological currents of their time. In this way, I want to highlight similarities and differences with Mori Yôko. However, because of the individual natures of the women authors, which are reflected in manifold aspects, comparisons can only be made in partial respects. I understand the term female issues as the entirety of gender related issues, of problems determined by being a woman, or topics from the specifically feminine sphere of life. This includes all areas of a woman’s life, of her professional and official as well as her private life. Apart from the main topics of female sexuality, of a woman’s self- image and self-esteem, these are most of all issues of motherhood and of the mother-child-relationship. Criteria for my selection of the women authors are comparabilities to Mori, the influence they had on Mori and her generation, as well as the far-reaching ethical effects of their writing. Other aspects are the authors’ personalities and the degree to which they can be regarded as characteristic for their time. Ten of the authors are older than Mori, and even Tsushima Yûko, who is seven years younger than her, began to publish earlier than Mori. Mori may have known the works of these predecessors, or at least the contents and the intentions of their works, and she may have been influenced by them. With Yamada Eimi, born 1954, the case may rather be reversed, and she may have been influenced by Mori (see chap. V.C.2.10). I have selected three additional women authors, Yamamoto Michiko, Kometani Fumiko and Ui Einjeru, because of their depiction of a critical confrontation with Western countries, in order to compare and contrast them to Mori. Although for a critical assessment of the authors, their age and the question how old they were at the end of the Second World War 188 classification of mori yÔko’s literature (already grown up, in school or an infant like Mori, or if they were born in the postwar period) is not insignificant, it would be too formal to arrange them according to their dates of birth, and it seems more adequate to arrange them according to their artistic comparabilities, although in regard of the authors’ individuality, any kind of grouping is problematic.

For the discussion of the authors, it is also necessary to have a glance at their biographies, because these contain clues to under- standing the authors’ strongly autobiographically influenced works. Rather than summing up what kind of female issues are treated in a general conclusion, I want to substantiate the results on certain works of the women writers in order to give a clear, exact image of the incorporation of female issues. Female issues in the works of Setouchi Harumi 189

V.C.2.1. Female issues in the works of Setouchi Harumi

One of the women writers who questioned and rejected the traditional woman’s role in her work, and partly in her life, too, and thus pointed the way to a better future life, is Setouchi Harumi (recently Setouchi Jakuchô, b. 1922), a pioneer of modern Japanese women’s literature. Urged into marriage by her parents when she was still studying Japanese literature in Tôkyô, she followed her husband, who was almost ten years older than her, to Peking in 1943, and was repatriated together with him and their 2-year-old daughter in 1946. However, a year and a half later, she broke away from her marriage because of her love for a younger man, which remained unfulfilled. After her divorce in 1951, she was utterly destitute (as she describes in Nusumu, 1967), until she made a living from writing for children’s and girls’ magazines, as well as writing entertainment fiction. Like Mori, she makes the reader susceptible to the women’s desire for sex. In her early story Kashin (The Pistil, 1957), she describes a respectable housewife who reduces herself to a high-class prostitute because of her sexual needs. As Setouchi had used medical terms for the female sex organs instead of the usual paraphrases, she had difficulty publishing for several years, although in 1957, she received the Shinchô dôjin zasshi Prize. In addition to her autobiography Izuko yori (Whence, 1968), her writing is in general strongly autobiographically influenced, like that of many other women writers including Mori’s. Examples of her semi-autobiographical fiction are most of all the two series of stories with the protagonists Makiko and Tomoko, emotionally insecure women between two men, and the stories include mundane incidents of the protagonist’s life. The most well-known of the Tomoko-series is the novella Natsu no owari (1963, Engl. tr. The End of Summer 1989, Joryû bungaku Prize), 190 classification of mori yÔko’s literature which depicts the protagonist’s relationship to a married man, whom she tries to leave unsuccessfully, and to another lover. Setouchi’s female characters consciously break with the social norms, but they are not immoral or unscrupulous. Instead they are full of qualms and feelings of guilt (something Mori avoids on purpose, see chap. III.C.2). According to Setouchi, the fact that her protagonists follow an inner need352 emphasizes the depth of their emotions, their sincerity and their sense of self-loyalty.353 The succeeding story, Miren (1963, Engl. tr. Lingering Affection 1982), with the protagonist Tomoko and the same male characters, resumes the topic of the futility of Tomoko’s repeated attempts at ending her relationship with her married lover. However, this open affair has lasted for eight years (with his wife’s knowing). This is a counterpart to Mori’s novel Shitto, where the husband divides his time between wife and mistress in the same way, without leaving wife and daughter – however, in Setouchi’s story seen from the point of view of the mistress who suffers under the situation but fails to go through with the separation, because of her lingering affection for him and his attitude of non-interference. This attitude of not wanting to change a thing is what Mori’s protagonist Yôko in Jôji holds against her husband.354 At that time, divorce could result in extreme poverty for a woman, as Setouchi drastically describes in the above-mentioned semi- autobiographical story of the Makiko-series, Nusumu (The Theft, 1967). Set in the late 1940s, it is the story of a wife who becomes utterly destitute when she leaves her husband, who is ten years her senior and regards her dowry as his own possession. He snatches her clothes from her (which were bought by her father and belong to her), so that she has nothing left but the food ration card, which she has come to get back in her economic plight. The story also describes a humiliating rape, but most of all the complete lack of sexual

352 Kokubo Minoru (and others) in Setouchi Harumi no sekai (Sôrinsha 1980, 88) regard literature in this sense as a catharsis, quoted after Yoshida 1994, 348. 353 Originally a Heian era value, which Setouchi particularly esteemed because of her devotion to classical Japanese literature. She translated some works into modern Japanese, such as the autobiographical confessions of Lady Nijô, Towazu-gatari (app. 1313–1324) in 1973, and the Genji monogatari (1001–1010) in 1998 (with more than two million copies sold). 354 The accusation of non-interference also lies at the bottom of Tomioka Taeko’s novella Meido no kazoku (1974, see chap. V.C.2.5), here voiced by the female protagonist against her boyfriend and his parents. Female issues in the works of Setouchi Harumi 191 and emotional pleasure in a marriage,355 as the protagonist, upon experiencing a passionate bedroom scene of her female friend, comes to realize after six years of married life, how joyful and arousing sex can be – something which her own frigid husband never offered her, who said of sex:356 “It is like brushing your teeth or chewing white rice – stale of taste, but healthy.” The previously published, semi-autobiographical story Kiji (1963, Engl. tr. Pheasant 1986) gives varying informations and contemplations on Nusumu, enriched with allusions to premodern literature.357 It touches upon the subjects of menstruation, pregnancy, giving birth, nursing and abortion. In particular, it discusses the 10-year-long yearn­ ing of a mother for her daughter, who she left behind at the early age of four when she left her violent husband. Her daughter’s growing-up is mirrored in that of her male friend’s daughter, who by coincidence has the same name and is of the same age as her own daughter. In Setouchi’s works, illicit love does not only cause suffering, which is the price of independence, but often results in death (e.g. it leads to suicide by falling out of the window, by jumping from the roof of a highrise building or into a waterfall, or to double suicide358). In her novel Hôyô (Embraces, 1973) with its hallucinatory, surrealistic elements, which ends with the suicide of the 54-year-old female protagonist, the author illustrates several kinds of emotional and psychological variations of hetero-sexual relationships, exemplified through the relationships of three couples, including sexual rejection due to an extra-marital affair (like in Mori’s novel Yûwaku). Setouchi, who took the tonsure as a nun of the Tendai-sect in 1973, sees an alternative to the solution of emotional turmoil through death in the dedication to spirituality, as she describes in her novel Hiei (On Mount Hiei, 1979).359 The female protagonist, who seeks salvation in Buddhism

355 See the quotations above by Rau 1980 and Gebhardt 1994. 356 Ger. tr. by S. Schaarschmidt in his anthology Das große Japan-Lesebuch, Gold- mann Munich 1990, 275. 357 E.g. the title of the story refers to a Haiku by Bashô on paternal love; the substitution of a lost person by another one refers to a motif of the Genji mono­ gatari; the ending of the story refers to Saikaku’s Kôshoku ichidai onna (1682). 358 An influence of Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1724), who Setouchi liked to read and to quote, in particular of his drama Sonezaki shinjû (1703). 359 Here she uses a figure from the Genji monogatari as a model, Lady Ukifune, who finally becomes a nun out of regret for her illicit love to Prince Niô. 192 classification of mori yÔko’s literature after a life as a well-known writer with many love affairs, experiences in the sixty days of ascetic training a lessening of her focus on sexual relationships and a widening of her perspective towards more general human relationships. Setouchi provides profound personality profiles in her well- researched and detailed biographies of avant-garde women of the Meiji period who influenced Japanese society by breaking free from imposed marriage, by rejecting their familial ties and their traditional roles, or by having affairs and writing about their quests for liberation. This series of biographies, written with much sympathy for these women, includes:

− Tamura Toshiko (1961, awarded the newly-established Tamura Toshiko Prize) on the international-minded, progressive author (1884–1945; promoted by Kôda Rohan), who was the first one to propagate the demand for women’s independence;

− Kanoko ryôran (Kanoko in Bloom, 1963) on the writer Okamoto Kanoko (1889–1939), who, influenced by her long-term studies of esoteric Buddhism, had been established as a waka-poet and a writer of essays for twenty years, before she spent the last three years of her life writing on her emotion-oriented life, revealing that her husband, who had betrayed her for many years, accepted the presence of her lover in his house to support her literary productivity;

− Bi wa ranchô ni ari (1965, Engl. tr. Beauty in Disarray 1993) on socialist Itô Noe (1895–1923);

− Ochô fujin (Madame Butterfly, 1968) on soprano Miura Tamaki (1884–1946);

− Tôi koe (Faraway Voice, 1968) on anarchist Kanno Suga (1881–1911), who was executed along with eleven men, among them her leftist life-partner, because of an alleged plot to assassinate the Meiji Emperor;

− Jitsu getsu futari (The Sun and the Moon in a Pair, 1975) on the women’s historian Takamure Itsue (1894–1964); Female issues in the works of Setouchi Harumi 193 − Seitô (Bluestocking, 1984) on feminist Hiratsuka Raichô,360 founder of the magazine Seitô (1911) which became the symbol of the new Japanese woman; who experimented with free love, tried to commit double suicide with novelist Morita Sohei and wrote about a lesbian affair in Seitô.

With these biographies, which draw the reader’s attention to the beginning of female disobedience and rebellion against social conventions, Setouchi (who received the Order of Culture in 1997 and in 2006)361 contributes to changing the role of women in society.

360 Tsushima Yûko sees common ground between Hiratsuka Raichô and Deguchi Nao, illiterate founder of the Ômoto religion, in her collection of essays Onna to iu keiken (The Experience to Be a Woman, 2006). 361 Further literature awards: Tanizaki Prize for Hana ni toe (Ask the Flowers) 1992, Noma Prize for Basho (The Place) 2001.

Female issues in the works of Tsumura Setsuko 195

V.C.2.2. Female issues in the works of Tsumura Setsuko

A strong autobiographical influence shows in the work ofTsumura Setsuko (b. 1928), who writes from a definitely female perspective. After running her own dressmaking store for two years as a trained seamstress until 1950, she studied Japanese literature at a junior college and married the writer Yoshimura Akira. In her semi-autobiographical novel Omoi saigetsu (The Difficult Years, 1980), Tsumura describes the difficulties of their early time, when both of them tried to establish themselves as writers, until Yoshimura finally received several awards for his documentary- historical novels and until Tsumura, who had been publishing psychologically deep stories since 1956 while raising two children, finally received the Akutagawa Prize in 1965 for her story Omocha (The Toy), after three nominations for the Naoki Prize and one for the Akutagawa Prize.

Tsumura can be compared to Mori in several aspects: − her easily understandable standard language; − her narrative technique with many flashbacks; − her graphic and even drastic way of description; − and the use of narratival means of holding back information in order to increase tension.

In tightly woven stories362 which are full of ideas, and in her novels which are classified as upper-level entertainment fiction (with plots which sometimes make use of the triviality of coincidence363), Tsumura discusses socio-critical issues and primarily women’s problems. A typically female topic, the difficult decision between a life as housewife and mother and a professional career, is the subject of her story Honoo no mai (The Dancing of the Flame, 1974) about a female potter who decides in favour of her profession to live her life as

362 Yoshida 1994, 426 and 428 compares them to Maupassant and Poe. 363 Yoshida 1994, 426. 196 classification of mori yÔko’s literature a single woman without any familial encumbrances. Ten years later, in the story Umi no seiza (Stars above the Sea, 1984), which probably reflects Tsumura’s own development, she depicts a jewelry designer who pursues her career in addition to marriage with good future prospects. Tsumura examines the problems of pregnancy, motherhood, sterility, miscarriage, the birth of a deformed child, the sudden infant death syndrome and overprotective education. She illustrates a woman’s double suffering under infertility, who in addition to her own anguish is burdened by the social pressure of her relatives’ unfulfilled expectations, in particular those of her parents-in-law, so that she puts all her efforts into remedying this defect. A child born on such a precondition will again be exposed to pressure because of his mother’s immoderate expectations and her overzealous education (as a so-called kyôiku mama, who is also criticized by Mori in Kizu). This conflict is portrayed, for example, in Tsumura’s novel Fuyu ginga (The Milky Way in Winter, 1982), in which a child commits suicide because of the pressure of competition in the educational system. In the story Tanjôbi (The Birthday, 1977), a woman cannot cope with the fact that the baby she gave birth to after a long period of infertility, dies shortly after birth. In Usagi no mimi (The Rabbit Ear, 1980), the child born after a difficult pregnancy has a conspicuously short ear, which the mother tries to pull, because of the silent accusations of the family. In Minomushi (The Bagworm Spinner, 1980), a boy hangs himself because he feels crushed by his overprotective mother. As she makes his death look like an accident, she is accused of being inattentive, whereas ironically her extreme caution for the child drove him to end his life. In the story Mishiranu machi (In an Unknown Town, 1976), two women confront each other: an impoverished divorcée who has abandoned her child at a railway station, and a childless woman who takes the child with her, making the mother furious, who still clings to her child. In these stories, Tsumura reveals a fine psychological sense for the mental situation of women and expresses sharp criticism of society for the pressure it exerts on mothers and children. A contribution to the topic of the mother-daughter-relationship popular among many authors is Tsumura’s semi-autobiographical story Haha no heya (Mother’s Room, 1980), which is told from the point of view of the 6-year-old daughter, and depicts how the mother always Female issues in the works of Tsumura Setsuko 197 shuts the girl out of her room and rejects the girl’s attempts to win her love. This is similar to Mori’s description of a lack of motherly feelings in Shitto, but here for the purpose that the mother can continue her attempts at becoming a professional writer. A particularly strong autobiographical influence is reflected in Tsumura’s collection of five stories364 Sai hate (To the End of the Land, 1972), which are linked by the same characters and are chronologically arranged:

− Haru tôku (Spring is Still Far Away, 1965); − Kazabana (Flowers of the Wind, 1967); − Sai hate (1963, Shinchô dôjin zasshi-Prize and Akutagawa-Prize nomination); − Omocha (The Toy, 1965, Akutagawa Prize); − and Aoi mesu (The Blue Scalpel, 1971).

The first three are first-person narrations which describe the arduous trip of a newly wed couple to Hokkaidô in order to sell the remains of their failing clothing business. The moody, unpredictable husband is juxtaposed to his naively trusting wife, whose fear of the future is matched by the dreary winter landscape, redolent of Mori’s depiction of the English winter in Yûwaku. In the fourth story, the pregnant woman, full of good-naturedness, tries to understand her husband’s preoccupation with small animals, in spite of her aversion to them. This only makes his insensitive behaviour worse (similar to Mori’s depiction of the failure of good intentions in Yûwaku), but when it comes to the delivery, he feels as helpless as a child. In the fifth story, the woman who is pregnant again (her first baby having died soon after the birth), is victimized even further by his inconsiderate behaviour when he has a drinking bout next to the newborn child right after her home birth, and when he invites his new acquaintance, a 15-year-old abuser of animals, to have a look at the baby. Tsumura treats the subject of the financial plight of a single woman with a child with the urgency of naturalist pessimism in her story Yakô­ dokei (1969, Engl. tr. Luminous Watch 1982). The female protagonist, left by her husband for a younger woman without maintenance payments, earns a meager living for her daughter and herself by

364 A structure similar to Mori’s novel Atsui kaze, with the difference that Tsumura’s stories were published over a period of several years. 198 classification of mori yÔko’s literature washing tabi-socks. Her husband, who by now has a child with the other woman, asks her for a divorce, but still is not willing to pay. When she has found the comfort of human solidarity in a relationship with a man from the park, she is mistaken for his wife after his suicide. She receives his luminous watch and finds out that he was unemployed for the last four months because of his physical condition, and that he had led his wife to believe that he was still leading a normal life. Here Tsumura also addresses the social problems of unemployment and of the lack of trust in marriage. Her story Kaze no ie (The House in the Wind, 1989) examines the fragili- ty of marriage and the problem of not accepting the failure of a life- time dream. The professionally successful female protagonist thinks she has a good marriage, in spite of her husband’s lone decisions in significant matters, until he vanishes one day without a trace. In search of him on the train to northeastern Japan, she wonders why their relationship has cooled off (a question Mori’s protagonists ask themselves time and again, primarily in Yûwaku). She sees the primary reason in the differences of their likings (which Mori emphasizes repeatedly, too): “…with suppressing one’s own needs in favour of the other’s wishes, the feeling of being discontented soon increased… to do things right for one of us required a maximum of self-denial from the other one. This brought about arguments again and again...”365 The husband’s mistress turns out to be her former fellow student who pretends even to herself he were still alive, although he died in an accident shortly after his arrival (Mori, too, portrays a man who deceives himself into believing his wife was still alive and living together with him, in Atsui kaze chap. 2). Death and suicide are common subjects in Tsumura’s writing, as in the works of other women writers, in contrast to Mori, who by and large omits such dramatic incidents in her writing.

365 Ger. tr. by L. Gebhardt in Klopfenstein 1993, 143. Female issues in the works of Mukôda Kuniko 199

V.C.2.3. Female issues in the works of Mukôda Kuniko

Mukôda Kuniko (1929–1981), who had a short life and great popularity similar to Mori Yôko, died in a plane crash at only 52 years of age, after she had conquered breast cancer, diagnosed at age 46. Like Mori’s work and that of many other writers, much of her writing is semi-autobiographical. Further common grounds with Mori are the indirectness and unobtrusiveness of her social criticism, as well as her affinity to the English language, which she studied in evening classes as sup- plemental training to becoming an English correspondent, after having studied Japanese literature at Jissen Joshi University, Tôkyô.366

Mukôda is an example of the pattern Mori describes (see chap. IV) that a Japanese girl is first patronized and dominated by her father and then usually by her husband. As the eldest of four children, Mukôda suffered particularly under her originally poor and badly educated, career-oriented and domineering father. As she had to change schools often (as described in her collection of autobiographical essays Chichi no wabijô, A Letter of Apology from Father, 1978), she became shy of emotional ties, as Mori describes in Jôji (tr. 15 etc.). As an equivalent to the mother-daughter-conflict in the works of Mori and other women writers, Mukôda confronts again and again the subject of an overpowering father in her works, e.g. in her debut novel Terauchi Kantarô ikka (The Family of Tera­ uchi Kantarô, 1975), which was first broadcasted as a TV drama. It depicts a family set-up which Mukôda has experienced herself,367 with a tyrannical father and a self-sacrificing suffering mother. The author portrays the daughter as having become crippled by a falling stone from her father’s stonemason-yard, an image for the mental injury inflicted on her by her father.

366 The same university where I have studied Japanese literature for three years. 367 She explains the autobiographical reference in her essay Terauchi Kantarô no haha (1974), quoted after McGrath 1994, 252. 200 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Mukôda remained unmarried, and it was only at the age of forty, after her father’s death in 1969, that she could finally find herself as a writer of novels. She has written TV dramas since 1952, and she owes her success largely to their stylistic quality and their humorous note. One of her works was the model for the TBS-series Shichinin no mago (The Seven Grandchildren, 1964). With a fine psychological sense, she depicts the struggle between the sexes and the tensions between parents and children, e.g. in her semi- autobiographical story Daikon no tsuki (1980, Engl. tr. The Daikon Moon 1992 and Half-Moon368 1994), where a woman realizes her husband’s weaknesses in character through his response to their daughter’s illness.

In 1980, she received the Naoki Prize for the following three short stories from her collection Omoide toranpu (1983, Engl. tr. A Deck of Memories 1992):369 − Hana no namae (1980, Engl. tr. The Name of the Flower) on a woman who is better educated than her husband, but is betrayed and suppressed by him; − Kawauso (1980, Engl. tr. The River Otter) on the balance of power in marriage, with a wife who can only assert her business interests after her husband has had a heart attack; − and Dauto (1980, Engl. tr. I Doubt it) on an emotionally cold, com­ placent man.

In her story Manhattan (1981, Engl. tr. Manhattan 1992), she describes the negative effects of divorce on a man with a mocking undertone (like Mori in story II 6).

In Hamegoroshi mado (1980, Engl. tr. The Upstairs Window 1992), she criticizes society for applying double standards to the morals of men and women.

368 The white slice of the daikon is rather a metaphor for the full moon. See E. Klopfenstein, A Dialogue between modern Poetry and Haiku – The Bashô-Poems by Hoshino Tôru (in German), HOL (Hefte für ostasiatische Literatur) 40/2006, 9 f. 369 There are actually two English translations of selected stories from the collection, only partly comprising the same stories: the translation by Adam Kabat 1992 under the title A Deck of Memories, Kôdansha Int., and the translation by Matsumoto Tomone 1994 under the title The Name of the Flower, Berkeley, containing three additional stories from Mukôda’s collection Odoki, medoki (Good Luck and Bad Luck, 1985). Female issues in the works of Mukôda Kuniko 201 She discusses the importance of female self-esteem, of how a woman is regarded by others and its reciprocal effect in her stories Otoko mamie (1980, Engl. tr. Men’s Brows 1992) and Daradara-zaka (An Easy Slope, 1980).

Her semi-autobiographical story Ringo no kawa (Apple Peels, 1980) contains contemplation on the difference between the cultivated life of a single woman and the banality of family life. The literary intention of the story lies, as in Mori’s stories, in the hurtful realization of the female protagonist, in this case in the realization that her life as a single woman is unfulfilling. Besides, the story also addresses the topic of female orgasm in a relationship.

Mukôda’s novel A Un (1981370), originally written as a successful TV-drama, describes a longstanding platonic relationship between the mother and a friend of the family in the presence of her petty husband, and both sacrifice themselves for the sake of social convention. In the words of the daughter, this constitutes a sharp criticism of a society in which nobody is willing to take responsibility and to summon the courage to change a thing.

370 Named after the two Buddhist gate guardians with their mouth opened or closed.

Female issues in the works of Saegusa Kazuko 203

V.C.2.4. Female issues in the works of Saegusa Kazuko

Specifically feminine problems and decidedly feminist features characterize the work of Saegusa Kazuko (1929–2003). Like Mukôda, she was the oldest of four children. Educated by her traditional father to worship the emperor and, at the same time, influenced by her Protestant mother in a Christian-humanistic-egalitarian view of the world, she studied philosophy at Kansei Gakuin and specialized in Hegel and Nietzsche. In 1951, she married the literary critic Sae- gusa Kôichi known by his pen-name Morikawa Tatsuya, who became a professor of Japanese Literature in Kôbe and also the hereditary head of a Shingon temple in Hyôgô Prefecture. Together with her husband, she edited several literary magazines,371 where she published some of her own works. Her works from the 1970s372 show an influence of European authors (such as Kafka, Robbe-Grillet, Butor)373 but also of classical Japanese literature, of the Nô theatre and of Buddhism.374 Since the early 1980s, the subjects of her works have become increasingly feminist, as shown in her collection of essays Sayônara, otoko no jidai (Goodbye to the Age of Men, 1984) and especially succinctly in her study Ren’ai shôsetsu no kansei (The Fallacy of Romance, 1991), in which she analyzes texts by ten modern Japanese male authors,375 proving to what extent the representation of the love theme is influenced through patriarchal ideologies.376

371 1956–1957 Bungeijin (The Literati); 1958–1964 Mushinpa bungaku (Free Writers’ Literature; 8 editions), 1964–1973 Shinbi (Esthetics, 16 editions, with articles and fiction by Noma Hiroshi, Nakamura Shin’ichirô, Shimao Toshio, Yoshiyuki Junnosuke, Akiyama Shun and others). 372 E.g. Kôhikan mokuyôsha (1973), Ren’ai shôsetsu (1976), Omoigakezu kaze no chô (1980) and others. 373 E.g. her first acknowledged collectionShokei ga okonawarete iru (The Execution is in Progress, 1969, Tamura Toshiko Prize). 374 Buddhist influence is reflected inHachigatsu no shura (Asuras in August, 1972). 375 Natsume Sôseki, Tanizaki Jun’ichirô, Dazai Osamu, Kawabata Yasunari, Nagai Kafû, Tokuda Shûsei, Mishima Yukio, Takeda Taijun, Ishikawa Jun and Murakami Haruki. 376 See Monnet 1994, 322. 204 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Saegusa’s story Rokudô tsuji (1987, Engl. tr. The Rain at Rokudô Crossroad 1991) portrays a male protagonist who is seduced on a dark rainy night by a mysterious ghost-like woman in an unusually pro­ vocative way. As it turns out, the woman has just left her husband, which makes the man question his own situation in life and his marriage of twenty years, and he wonders if he can take the existence of his wife and daughter for granted as he used to. Similarities to Mori can be seen in the woman’s provocative behaviour, in the man’s attitude to regard his wife as a possession (like in Jôji, in the stories II 1, II 3, II 6), and in his realization that he has to reassess his life.

Saegusa also examines the psychosexual, cultural and political ramifications of the construct “woman” in those novels in which she depicts mythical-archaic rural communities, because in the traditional, antiquated villages with their feudal-paternalistic structures, the oppression of women is more clearly visible than in the cities. One of these complex village stories is the novel Tsuki no tobu mura (Village of the Flying Moon, 1979),377 in which several women who are being discriminated against, harassed or outcast from the community for various reasons, commit suicide. For example, one of them throws herself into the well because of her childlessness and the cruel treatment of her in-laws, and another woman, who has had two children with her mentally retarded brother,378 hangs herself. The novel’s main literary intention is to demonstrate that it is not possible for a woman to live in a village379 because she has to work too hard and to sacrifice herself for others. In this novel, Saegusa also addresses the topic of men’s envy of women’s sexual energy and of their reproductive function.380 Saegusa continues her praise of the biological, intellectual and spiritual superiority of women in other novels as well.381 In pursuit of her feminist ideals, several of her works deal with supporting the matriarchal system, for example Onnatachi wa kodai

377 With reminiscences of Ueda Akinari’s (1734–1809) Ugetsu monogatari, e.g. in its trivially romantic moonlight scenes. 378 A depiction of incest alluding to the Japanese myth of Izanagi and Izanami. 379 See Monnet 1994, 324 f. 380 Ibid., 326. In a continuation of Monnet’s line of thinking, this could be interpreted as male uterus-envy and thereby could be regarded as an equivalent to the Freudian theory of female penis-envy. 381 E.g. in Onidomo no yoru wa fukai (Deep is the Devil’s Night, 1983, Izumi Kyôka Prize), Hikaru numa ni ita onna (The Woman in the Shining Marsh, 1986) and Murakumo no mura no monogatari (Story of the Clowdy Village, 1987). Female issues in the works of Saegusa Kazuko 205 e tobu (Women Flying to Ancient Times, 1986), where three women speculate about the transition from a matriarchal society to a patriarchal one in ancient Greece.382

Saeguasa’s ideal of a strong woman is represented in her fictional- ized biographies of the classical women writers Sei Shônagon383 and Michitsuna no haha.384

In several works (e.g. in Hôkai kokuchi, Announcement of the Breakdown, 1985), Saegusa confronts the subject of Japan’s defeat in World War II, but here again she takes the female point of view and describes archetypical women’s situations like rape and prostitution. The same subject is examined in the trilogy of novels Sono hi no natsu (The Summer on That Day, 1987): the first novel (which gives the trilogy its name) describes the acknowledgement of defeat from the perspective of an uninformed 16-year-old girl and her roommates; Sono fuyu no shi (Death in That Winter, 1988) gives accounts of the fates of people harmed and uprooted by the war; and Sono yoru no owari ni (At the End of That Night, 1990) discusses the suffering of women who had to serve as army prostitutes in Southeast Asia during the war, told from the perspective of a woman who takes her life twenty-five years after the experience. The same subject is discussed in Saegusa’s earlier work Eguchi suieki (The Port of Eguchi, 1982).

Common ground with Mori lies in Saegusa’s preference for dialogue, which encompasses a great deal of the text and often has the function of carrying the plot.

382 Saegusa used to travel to Greece since 1983 and to read Aeshylos etc. 383 Born app. 960, author of Makura no sôshi (app. 1000). Title of Saegusa’s novel: Sei Shônagon: Nagako no koi (1988). 384 Mother of Fujiwara Michitsuna and wife of Fujiwara Kane’ie (929–990), author of Kagerô nikki (on incidents from 954 to 974). Title of Saegusa’s novel: Michitsuna no haha: Yasuko no koi (1989).

Female issues in the works of Tomioka Taeko 207

V.C.2.5. Female issues in the works of Tomioka Taeko

One of the authors who like to try something new and provoking is Tomioka Taeko (b. 1935), who has received many literature awards.385 Although only five years older than Mori, she began to publish twenty years earlier and depicts her topics of the female quest for identity and autonomy, of sexuality and family issues more force­ fully, but also more obtrusively and sometimes in a provocatively over­ drawn manner. Although the author, who was born in Ôsaka, began with poetry and also made herself a name as a dramatist and is therefore still very close to traditional Japan (particularly to classical Japanese theatre), Tomioka has a modern, open-minded and critical view of Japanese society, because she studied English literature, she worked as a high school teacher of English for about a year, and she travelled abroad a lot, mostly to the U.S. and Europe. Her inclination towards the English language shows in her occasional use of English for the titles of her works or the titles of chapters.386

Like her first publication, the long poemHenrei (Courtesy in Return, 1958), her works are about the depiction of everyday life, as displayed in their realistic settings and merciless character portrayals, and about human relationships, mostly of couples coming together or drifting apart, although she describes love without sensuality and depicts intimate incidents (even of her own private life) with a studied detach­ ment, which makes her works elusive.

Like most other women authors, she integrates autobiographical influences, particularly in her early works, in which she herself sees

385 Apart from the awards mentioned below, she was awarded e.g. the Murô Saisei Prize for her second collection of poems, the Kawabata Prize for her short story Tachigire (Quitting, 1977) and others. 386 E.g. her collection of poems See you soon (1968), with the poem Just the two of us. 208 classification of mori yÔko’s literature a certain closeness to the traditional I-novel shishôsetsu.387 Her female protagonists are (like Mori’s protagonists) mostly middle-aged women.

Tomioka protests against the conventional marital age for women, which was at that time set for a woman in her mid-twenties. In her story Kekkon (Marriage, 1979), in which a 50-year-old maid is thinking of marrying an unsightly bachelor of the same age, who she was introduced to through a miai, she declares that a woman is marriageable at any age. On the example of the protagonist’s elder sister, who had been left by her husband twenty years before388 without any alimony payments and has since lived in poverty, Tomioka discusses the subject of divorce with its social and financial implications. In emphasizing possible funeral costs, her female characters show a basically materialistic attitude (as do the female characters of Mori’s short stories, too, see chap. III.B.1).

Like Mori and many other contemporary Japanese women writers, Tomioka discusses the conflict of a grown-up woman and her mother, as exemplified in her novella Meido no kazoku (1974, Engl. tr. Family in Hell 1982, Joryû bungaku Prize), which portrays two relationships of the pregnant female protagonist: to her own callous mother, who disregards and abuses her but supports her after her miscarriage, and on the other hand to her boyfriend’s single-minded, selfish mother, whose attitude of non-interference and lack of support finally results in the separation of the protagonist from her boyfriend, because nobody has the courage to pursue the divorce from his clinging ex-wife. In this story, the author discloses the social attitude of restraint as cowardice and criticizes a lack of self-responsible action as prevalent in society.

In her story Sûku (1980, Engl. tr. Straw Dogs 1991),389 Tomioka describes a shockingly provocative reversal of the relation of the sexes, by reversing the typically male behaviour of regarding every woman

387 In her essay Shiseikatsu to shishôsetsu (The Private Life and the I-Novel) in her collection Hyôgen no fûkei (Landscapes of Expression, 1985), quoted after Yoshida 1994, 409. 388 The description how the man was persuaded into marriage with a woman ten years older than him, resembles passages from Tomioka Taeko’s Meido no kazoku, and in both cases the man left the older woman in the end. 389 The title refers to a medieval Chinese ritual, for which straw dogs were used as sacrificial offerings and were discarded after use. Female issues in the works of Tomioka Taeko 209 as a sex object (concerning Mori’s writing, I have pointed at more harmless and unobtrusive approaches to such a kind of gender- specific behaviour in chap. IV). The 40-year-old female I-narrator, who maliciously stresses her own age and considers herself cruel, approaches young men from a child-like youth to a high-school student, and seduces them with an outright directness to casual sex encounters, taking all the initiative herself, selecting the men and sizing them up. Two other men, who she addresses even more directly than the manner men accost women, reject her. As she is not interested in the man himself but merely in the moment when he enters her, and in observing objectively his behaviour, her underlying intention is to destroy male pride and to humiliate and degrade the man through the one-off experience. Making the men sex objects brings about a reversal of values, so that the protagonist regards sincerity as unpleasant, sensuality as loathsome, romanticism as repulsive and a marriage proposal as infuriating. This attitude takes the magic away from sex as the greatest human intimacy. By depicting sex in its simplest form, it appears as something absurd and ridiculous.390

Tomioka likes to shock her readers by breaking taboos, as with the depiction of incest between brother and sister in her novel Shoku­ butsu-sai (Feast of Vegetation, 1974, Tamura Toshiko Prize)391 or with depictions of sexual relationships between an older woman and a much younger man in Tôi sora (Faraway Sky, 1982). Here, a 55- year-old woman agrees to casual sexual encounters with a deaf-mute young man out of good-naturedness (again the subject of sex in its simplest form). When she finally rejects and avoids him, he kills a 70- year-old woman and violates the corpse, whereupon she gives in again to the next man392 on her doorstep. The same motif recurs in Byakkô (White Light, 1988, see below), where the female narrator has sex with a young man who wants to become her son in a family of elected affinity (s.b.) – an approach to the oedipal theme.393

390 The sarcastically detached depiction of sex and the same ridiculing effect reminds one of Sakakibara Junko. 391 A present-time tale which borrows from the legend of Queen Himiko from the 3rd century who had a relationship with her younger brother, a conflict which is also the subject of Tomioka’s screenplay Himiko to iu onna (A Woman Named Himiko, 1974). 392 A parallel to Mori’s story 18, where the female protagonist gives in to an unworthy man right after the separation from the previous one. 393 See Yoshida 1994, 413. 210 classification of mori yÔko’s literature In contrast to Mori, but in a certain thematic proximity e.g. to Ogawa Yôko (b. 1962), Tomioka often depicts (mostly male) disabled characters, who are mentally retarded, driven by their instincts, sexually promiscuous, who have venereal diseases or are compulsive gamblers, and thus appear more primitive. The author intentionally magnifies human weaknesses as an artistic device of identification obstruction,394 like in her novella Oka ni mukatte hito wa narabu (1971, Engl. tr. Facing The Hills They Stand 1982), a portrait of an obtuse worker’s family leading a dull life, with six children who are all mentally handicapped because of the father’s venereal disease, a result of his dissolute life. Each member of the family, whose life is described over two generations, has a vice, like one of the daughters who gets pregnant easily.

Tomioka regards sexuality as a vital, fateful power in the circle of death and rebirth, and her characters fall under its spell inevitably. For this reason, in her novels Byakkô and Sunadokei no yô ni (Like an Hourglass, 1985),395 she tries to point out the futility and dispensability of sex by depicting families who came together without sex and re- production, but by choice and adoption, and in which sterilized men play a role. Already in 1971, Tomioka depicted families with adoptive sons in her story Ibara no moeru oto (The Cracking Sound of Burning Thorns).

As the title Sunadokei no yô ni indicates, similar to Mori, Tomioka, too, ponders on the inexorable passing of time with its daily routine suffocating the things that make life worth living.

394 Ibid., 409. 395 The same constellation of characters with the (adoptive) mother as the main figure and her former classmate who lives with her is found in Yoshimoto Banana’s novel Amurita (1994, Engl. tr. Amrita 1998). Female issues in the works of Takahashi Takako 211

V.C.2.6. Female issues in the works of Takahashi Takako

An author whose attempts at writing professionally were (like Mori’s) hampered by her husband is Takahashi Takako (b. 1932). Since 1954 married to the writer and sinologist Takahashi Kazumi (Bungei Prize in 1962), idol of the revolting students’ generation of the 1960s, only after his death in 1971 was she able to establish herself as a writer, although she had published her debut work, the story Kodomo-sama (Honourable Child) already in 1969. In her reminiscenses of her husband in 1977, she complains about the offences and impediments she suffered in her marriage and says: “I never got round to things that really mattered.”396 Takahashi, who studied French literature and was awarded several literature prizes,397 who converted to Catholicism in 1975 and has since lived in a convent near Paris, examines man-woman relationships in numerous works and sensually describes the dreams of lonely women to escape from the monotonous reality of their lives.

Like Mori and many other authors of her time, Takahashi depicts the mother-daughter-conflict398 and the mother’s emotional coldness, especially in her novella Sôjikei (1971, Engl. tr. Congruent Figures 1991), where she resumes: “Maternal love? It is nothing but an illusion manufactured by men.”399 The mother, the I-narrator, harbours a kind of grudge against her daughter, who grows up to become her rival and who appears like

396 Quoted after Yoshida-Krafft 1987, 297. 397 E.g. Tamura Toshiko Prize for Sora no hate made (To the End of the Sky, 1973), Izumi Kyôka Prize for Yûwakusha (The Seducer, 1976) and Joryû bungaku Prize for Ronrî uman (Lonely Woman, 1977). 398 The relationship of mother and child is also the subject of her story Ikari no ko (Child of Anger, 1985). 399 Translated by Noriko Mizuta Lippit in Lippit/Selden 1991, 191. 212 classification of mori yÔko’s literature a miniature version of herself because of striking physical and personal similarities. The I-narrator regards her daughter as stealing her social recognition and living out her unfulfilled longings. She feels as if her vitality has been drained from her and transferred to her daughter, and as if she were losing her own identity. Therefore she fantasizes about shooting her daughter in a dream. When the daughter, who has always suffered under her mother’s rejection and has been sent far away to college, comes to visit her after six years without contact and brings along her own little daughter, the I-narrator regards the passing on of genes as a continuation of life after death. But she predicts her daughter will experience the same competitive thinking with her daughter – a vicious circle generated by a society that gives sons precedence over girls, who are regarded as the inferior and unloved sex and are educated with emotional coldness,400 toughness and severity. Mori, too, discusses the mother’s envy of her growing-up daughter in Shitto.

In Takahashi’s as in Tomioka’s writing, there is a tendency towards breaking taboos, for example in the depiction of relationships of older women to very young, delicate male figures, which comes close to the Oedipus topic. In her novella Ningyô ai (1976, Engl. tr. Doll Love 1982), the 38-year-old I-narrator, who believes she has driven her partners to death, because her former life-partner and her husband both committed suicide,401 has a relationship alternating between fantasy and reality, with a barely 18-year-old boy respectively a wax doll, which she can mould as she likes, and which she warms and brings to life through sexual stimulation. This is a satirical allusion to the male thirst for young girls and a reversal of the socially determined passive role of the woman toward an active person. The novella, in which Hijiya-Kirschnereit (1984, 395) sees esthetic “approaches to Kawabata and to the symbolist art of the turn of the century”, is enriched with contemplations on relationships as a life-and-death struggle and marriage as the origin of the negative development of a woman’s life.402

In a way similar to Ningyô ai, where the identity of the characters becomes indistinct through the blurring of the border between dream

400 In the confessional manner of the shishôsetsu the I-narrator says: “My emotions dried up and I became coldly bright like the dried-up bottom of a swamp where the dirt remains.” (Translation in Lippit/Selden 1991, 192). 401 One after a three-year relationship, the other one after ten years of marriage. 402 Transl. by Mona Nagai and Yukiko Tanaka in Tanaka/Hanson 1982, 203. Female issues in the works of Takahashi Takako 213 and reality, the story Tôku, kutsû no tani o aruite iru toki (As I Walk Endlessly Through the Valley of Sorrow, 1983) describes the merging of identities, due to the blurring of memory and consciousness, with the conclusion that finding and maintaining the female identity – one of Takahashi’s central topics – is not possible any longer.

Takahashi discusses topics similar to Mori in her story Sasoi (Tempted, 1981; the title has the same meaning as the word Yûwaku in the title of Mori’s novel and of her story II 15). The I-narrator, although supposed to lead a happy life with her husband and two children, is dissatisfied with her fixed daily life which doesn’t give herany opportunity for development. Stimulated through the transmission of intense erotic-emotional power by catching the eye of average men hidden behind the correct outer appearance of a school employee or a salesman, she becomes aware of her own suppressed sensuality. Like Mori’s, Takahashi’s message is that family life cannot be everything for a woman, especially when her husband has remained a stranger to her and when she has withdrawn from her children already during pregnancy.403

Takahashi relates loosely-connected, episodic everyday incidents, like Mori, with a strong emphasis on flavours (see chap. III.B.3).

In her Kawabata-Prize winning story Kou (To Love, 1986), Takahashi’s love for God seems to replace any other love in her life.404

403 Ger. tr. by Edith Rau in Yoshida-Krafft 1987, 159 and 163. 404 See Gessel 1988, 415.

Female issues in the works of Ôba Minako 215

V.C.2.7. Female issues in the works of Ôba Minako

A contemporary of Mori Yôko who has been influenced through her contact with America is Ôba Minako (1930–2007). In contrast to Takahashi, she agreed to marry her husband, the engineer Ôba Toshio, in 1955 under the precondition that she would be allowed to pursue a career as a writer. However, it was not before 1968, thirteen years later, that she could establish herself as a writer, because she gave birth to a daughter in 1956 and went to Alaska with her husband for eleven years. For her self-development, she studied art and painting, literature and creative writing at several American universities and travelled extensively through the U.S., to Europe, Africa and India. This versatile author, who was awarded many literature prizes and held several important offices in the literary world,405 is a representative of pure literature, with her erudite, poetic style, with artificial structures406 and an integration of folk culture and legends. In a way similar to Mori, she describes a great variety of human relationships, the staleness of man-woman relationships, the loneliness in marriage, the emptiness of a woman’s life and the pattern of escape into marital infidelity. All these characteristics of her writing are already integrated in her Akutagawa-Prize and Gunzô shinsakka-Prize winning story Sanbiki no kani (1968, Engl. tr. The Three Crabs 1982; considered her debut work in spite of two earlier attempts at publication), where the female protagonist, like in Mori’s novels, is reminded of happy times of her early marriage407 during a casual sexual encounter with a local. Statements such as

405 Since 1987 together with Kôno Taeko one of the first women in the Selection Committee for the Akutagawa Prize; Vice President of the Japanese PEN Club, Speaker of the Japanese Association of Women Writers, member of the Academy of Arts etc. 406 E.g. the otherwise unmotivated juxtaposition of the topics illicit love and death in Aoi kitsune (1973, Engl. tr. The Pale Fox 1985); see Lewell 1993, 321. 407 See translation by Tanaka Yukiko in Tanaka/Hanson 1982, 108. 216 classification of mori yÔko’s literature

“Once a man and a woman start hurting each other, the damage only becomes worse as you try to do something about it”408 could as well be made by one of Mori’s female protagonists.

Ôba, who assumed a new individual identity with a cosmopolitan view in the long years of living abroad by deferring her own national identity,409 also – like Mori – depicts a confrontation with the West. For example, the first two-thirds of her autobiographically influenced story Sanbiki no kani, set in Alaska, are taken up by the superficial and incoherent, spiteful-caustic conversation of party guests consisting of Americans and Japanese – similar to the party conversation Mori describes in a more concentrated form in Jôji, Shitto and Yûwaku.

Ôba criticizes the intolerant attitude of the Japanese towards returnees from abroad and the mistaken, exotic ideas parents have of their children’s foreign marital partners (like Mori depicts in Yûwaku) in her story Umezuki-yo (Plum Blossoms on a Moonlit Night, 1981), where the protagonist’s mother refuses to meet her daughter’s American husband, and when it comes to the divorce, badmouths him as a degenerate psychopath – in Ôba’s like in Mori’s works, this is a psychological quest for the origins of xenophobia.

In her novel Garakuta hakubutsukan (1975, partly tr. into Engl. as The Rubbish Museum 1981, Joryû bungaku Prize), which consists of three largely independent chapters (like the five chapters of Mori’s novel Atsui kaze), Ôba describes a melting-pot society of unusual individuals which is quite strange for Japanese readers. With the detached view she gained in America, and in a merciless, sarcastic tone, she criticizes that in Japan a woman is not supposed to say what is on her mind and has to restrain herself constantly. This socially imposed lack of articulation or verbal isolation makes her feel a deep grudge (urami),410 a term also used by Mori concerning the restricted role of women in society.

408 Ibid., 103. 409 Giving up one’s own national identity is also the topic of her story Koku-i no hito (The Man in the Black Garment, 1988), where a Japanese ex-soldier has refused to be repatriated to Japan after the Second World War. He has decided to give up his Japanese family and has remained in Thailand since, has founded a new family with children and grand-children, and has become a Thai. 410 See Wilson 1994, 291. Female issues in the works of Ôba Minako 217 In her subsequent complex, futuristic novel Urashima-sô (The Urashima Plant, 1977), the female protagonist returns to Japan after eleven years in the U.S. and feels alienated and unwelcome in her own homeland. In giving numerous accounts of bizarre individuals, Ôba again eyes Japan, the dragon palace of the fairy tale, with a sceptical, satirical look. With her esteem for individualism, which she acquired in the West, and with her liberal attitude towards life, Ôba is one of the most open-minded critics of modern Japanese society.

Her novel Naku tori no (1985, partly tr. into English as Birds Crying 2000, Noma Prize) describes several models of relationships, in particular a Japanese-American marriage with international adoptive children, and a progressive, modern marriage with reversed roles, with a liberated woman writer, whose husband runs the household, an early pensioner who has freed himself of the social expectation to provide for his wife and children. Again, the novel depicts many unconventional individuals (the “birds” referred to in the title), international marriages and female characters who live out their desires to the full.

A parody of conventional marriage411 is Ôba’s story Yamauba no bishô (1976, Engl. tr. The Smile of a Mountain Witch 1982). With dry irony, Ôba denounces a woman’s complete devotion to her husband, her life- long restraint and self-abnegation for the sake of her effeminate hus- band who, dependent on her and utterly helpless without her, is a social- ly privileged, domineering, selfish and unfaithful hypochondriac. His demands result in the woman’s untimely death of exhaustion, who, when about to die, uses up the last of her feeble strength to accelerate her death in order to comply with her children’s expectation not to become a burden for them,412 especially as her daughter has a family of her own to take care of. Ôba skilfully disguises the feminine sensitivity of adjusting to the expectations of others as the magic capability for mind reading of the mountain witch Yamauba.

That the woman cannot only survive in the transformation of the Yamauba, but can also take her revenge on men, is also a topic of

411 Ôba also presents a critical view of conventional marriage in her works Funakui mushi (Ship-Eating Termits, 1970), Tsuga no yume (Dreams of the Hemlock Tree, 1971) and Kokyû o hiku tori (The Bird Playing the Fiddle, 1972). 412 In her story Aoi kitsune, Ôba describes that seven grown-up children are not willing to take care of their aged father but instead put him in an old people’s home. 218 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Ôba’s story Rôsoku-gyo (1971, Engl. tr. Candle Fish 1991). With a realistic storyline set in Alaska, and with a mystic-fantastic frame-work, the story is about a women’s friendship between the I-narrator and the native Olga who, having left her husband, a selfish, alcohol-addicted and violent rock-musician, provides for her two children alone. Years after their lives have taken separate directions, Olga still appears in the I-narrator’s daydreams as a comforting “fairy of the moon”. The I-narrator then sees herself as a Yamauba, running through the mountains and chasing a young man, until she catches up with him and eats certain parts of his body – a substitute for sex which leaves her unfulfilled, though, and in a melancholy mood.413 This is again a reversal of the sexual roles, with the man assuming the passive part, and it is also an allusion to the common opinion that sex doesn’t give a woman fulfillment.

In contrast to Mori, whose depiction of sex-scenes does not have an arousing effect on the reader, Ôba occasionally integrates effective pornography in her writing. Her novel Katachi mo naku (Shapeless, 1982, Tanizaki Prize), which unquestionably contains pornographic elements (in an interspersed internal narration in the form of a novel by one of the characters, as well as in two realistic parts of the plot, in retrospective and in the present time action), is considered “the finest of pornographic art”414 and “a masterpiece of pornography”.415

In her early works, Ôba understands sexuality as a basic instinct that breaks through the veneers of civilization.416 In her story Higusa (1969, Engl. tr. Fireweed 1981) which is set in the raw nature of Alaska and conveys a sense of wildness and ferocity, the strong and passion- ate female protagonist has been expelled from two village communi- ties, and in the end has been murdered for living out her desires.

Particularly impressive are Ôba’s female characters, strong in- dependent women, or women who can be uncompromising, spiteful, capricious and even eccentric in their quest for independence.417 This

413 Mori (Atsui kaze) describes sadness after sex from the male point of view. 414 Berndt/Fukuzawa 1990, 76. 415 Wilson 1994, 289. 416 See Lewell 1993, 319. 417 Ôba herself had to change the school several times because with her free spirit, she was accused of being defiant, and reading fiction was considered anti-patriotic during the war. Female issues in the works of Ôba Minako 219 is evident in her novels Ôjo no namida (Tears of a Princess, 1988) and Mae mae katatsumuri (Dance, Dance, Snail, 1990), a portrait of her own family over several generations. In her collection of essays Josei no dansei-ron (Female contemplations on men, 1979) and Onna, otoko, inochi (Women, Men and Life, 1985), Ôba explains her own opinion on gender issues.

Apart from the similarities with Mori regarding the subject of human relationships, further similarities between them can be found:

− in a predilection for portraying musicians (in Ôba’s case in Rôsoku- gyo and in her surrealistic-satirical story Tanko from 1978, Engl. tr. The Sea Change 1980, on a famous cellist); − as well as in details such as in the motif of a woman embracing her self (in Ôba’s story Rôsoku-gyo418); − stylistic resemblances in the preference for a colloquial style, which in Ôba’s case stems from her admiration for the “eloquence... of Western rhetoric”,419 which she became familiar with in the U.S.A.; − in carelessly and associatively stringing together autobiographical and fictional elements, memories and reflections (in Ôba’s case sometimes with sudden changes of the subject); − in frequent flashbacks and changes of the temporal level, and in the formal structure of Ôba’s novel Urashima-sô, with its omission of quotation marks, parallel to Mori’s novel Atsui kaze.

418 Translation by Tanaka Yukiko in Tanaka 1991, 24. 419 Yoshida-Krafft 1987, 245.

Female issues in the works of Kôno Taeko 221

V.C.2.8. Female issues in the works of Kôno Taeko

Another personality of modern Japanese literature who is four years older than Ôba and fourteen years older than Mori, and who also received several literature awards and held important posts,420 is Kôno Taeko (b. 1926), who initially attracted attention in the 1960s. Though her works are completely individual in style, structure and message, on closer inspection, there are several similarities to other women writers and also to Mori, in regard to contents and the incorporation of autobiographical references. Autobiographical experiences reflected in Kôno’s writing are for example her tuberculosis, which she suffered from for several years since 1957, and many impressions from the time of the Pacific War, which she consciously experienced and perceived as an obstacle to the development of her personality.

From a feminine perspective, Kôno depicts banal everyday-life, although in an irritating synopsis with things extraordinary and scandalous that at times verge on sensationalism. Like Mori’s female characters, Kôno’s protagonists are women in their thirties who have outgrown their youth. In Kôno’s Akutagawa-Prize winning story Kani (1963, Engl. tr. Crabs 1982), where the protagonist temporarily breaks away from her frustrating marriage life to get some recuperation from her illness at the sea, her marriage is described as “the days when she had annoyed Kajii and had been annoyed by him”.421 In the form of the female protagonist’s satirical self-criticism, Kôno denounces the socially founded male expectations dictating that a woman is supposed to hide weakness and illness from her husband, that she is not to disfigure her outer appearance through

420 Along with Ôba one of the first women in the Selection Committee for the Akutagawa Prize, President of the Association of Women Writers etc. 421 Translation by Ph. Birnbaum in Birnbaum, Rabbits, Crabs, etc., 1982, 109. 222 classification of mori yÔko’s literature postoperative scars, and is not to require a single thing for herself, even in an emergency. Her frequent changes of mood due to her tuberculosis make her reject her husband, although on the other hand she can only experience sexual pleasure through more forceful means, which annoys him up to the point that he avoids looking at her.422

In her story Saigo no toki (1966, Engl. tr. The Last Time 1982, Joryû bungaku Prize), Kôno critically questions the nature of marriage and the agonizingly dull existence of a housewife. Triggered by her friend’s funeral, the female protagonist believes that she has only 26 hours to live. Convinced that everybody has to take care of certain matters before one’s death, she spends the time clearing away things, tidying up, and writing down notes for her dependent husband and his possible future wife, as he will not be able to manage on his own for long. In her contemplation on her marriage, she concludes that hers was not a real marriage,

− because of the missing achievement of having built something up together; − because of having led separate lives next to each other and a mutual indifference disguised as magnanimity; − because of the uniformity without joy and sorrow, dragging on forever; − because of the convenient attitude to leave problems unsolved; − and because of her own loss of identity through subordination and adaptation to her husband’s needs.

All are things she wants to change now, and many are aspects which Mori frequently criticizes, too.

A main subject of Kôno’s writing is female sexuality, with an emphasis on shocking topics like female pedophilia or female masturbation stimulated by sadistic fantasies. Both are depicted in the story Yôjigari (1961, Engl. tr. Toddler Hunting 1996) which brought her final recognition as a writer with its drastic descriptions of sado- masochism (which are represented both as pedophilic fantasy and as actually experienced by the female protagonist).

422 Ibid., 104 f. Female issues in the works of Kôno Taeko 223 Cruel, detailed descriptions of sado-masochism, juxtaposed to the banality of everyday-life, are typical of Kôno’s writing. The role of the subjugate partner can be assumed by either the man or the woman. The sado-masochistic relationship of a couple with a great age difference, which leads to mutual surrender in manifold cruelly refined love-games with the risk of self-destruction, is described in her novel Miira tori ryôkitan (Mummy Hunting: A Story of the Grotesque, 1990, Noma Prize), set in the scarce background of the Second World War.

Erotic masochism and sadistic feelings towards an imagined daughter are the topics of Kôno’s earlier story Ari takaru (1964, Engl. tr. Ants Swarm 1982/1991), with a 31-year-old female protagonist, whose complex world of experience is described in both realistic and surrealistic narration.

Violent fantasies (which are intended to break down the barriers of everydayness) are also a part of the story Fui no koe (The Unexpected Voice, 1968). The female protagonist, frustrated with the stagnation in her life, hallucinates the voice of her dead father, instructing her to murder three persons who have had a negative influence on her life – her mother, her lover’s son and somebody unknown. These actions, although only imaginative, are described in graphic detail, which can be interpreted as an expression of Kôno’s existential rage,423 and as her protest against the manipulation and determination of a woman’s life by others.

Kôno’s motif of child-hating as well as the above-mentioned sado-masochism symbolize the rejection of natural instincts and the objectification of a woman because of her anatomical ability for reproduction, which leads to her being fixed into a subordinate social role, whether as a mother or as a socially disrespected childless woman. This may serve as an explanation for Kôno’s statements that life and love can only be experienced in moments of highest sado-masochistic pleasure,424 and for Hijiya-Kirschnereit’s interpretation to regard this as a typical expression of female sexuality.425

423 See Gessel 1988, 413. 424 See Yoshida-Krafft 1987, 289 (who sees this as “an expression of the infirmity of the modern human being”); Berndt/Fukuzawa 1990, 50. 425 Hijiya-Kirschnereit 1988, 144. 224 classification of mori yÔko’s literature The subject of Kôno’s story Hone no niku (1969, Engl. tr. Bone Meat 1978426) is the reversal of the social constraint of a woman’s subordination under the man into voluntary humiliation and self- restraint by depicting a woman hungrily licking out the oyster shells and gnawing off the chicken bones the man has left over. After he has left her, she loses her appetite and stops eating altogether, and unable to cope with the separation and to dispose of his belongings, she succumbs to her psychosis.

Parallel to Mori, who speaks of self-hatred, who found herself loath­ some as a girl and who refers to women as the “inferior sex”, Kôno’s female protagonist in Yôjigari (who calls herself a “disgusting woman”427) says that she detests girls at the age of three to ten, and that she finds the thought “disgusting and repulsive” that she herself once was such a girl (p. 5 and 6). In contrast, she considers boys the superior sex, the epitome of a sound world and the object of her desire, particularly when they wear a school uniform, which indicates their growing up to become a man (tr. 52). The female protagonist repeatedly describes her remarkable lack of motherly instincts (tr. 5 and 20), and she envies men for being allowed to behave like irresponsible fathers.

Kôno’s work Sômu (Double Dream, 1973) contains an existentialist contemplation on the difference of the sexes, and in her novel Ichinen no bokka (One Year’s Idyll, 1980, Tanizaki Prize), she investigates the mystery of sex in a woman’s life with the stylistic means of alienation.428

A certain parallel to Mori’s novel Shitto is Kôno’s novel Kaiten tobira (The Revolving Door, 1970), in which the author examines the mental condition of a woman who is betrayed by her husband, but is unable to react with unfaithfulness of her own.

In connection with the topics of motherhood and childlessness addressed in Yôjigari, Kôno brings up the topic of menstruation, which Mori addresses in Shitto and Atsui kaze. In other aspects, too, there are certain similarities to Mori, such as the female protagonist’s dislike for cherry blossoms, a protest

426 There are three German translations under different titles, 1981 (translated from the English version), 1985 and 1987. 427 Ger. tr. by Hijiya-Kirschnereit 1988, 16 and 144. 428 On the two last-mentioned titles, see Berndt in Berndt/Fukuzawa 1990, 50. Female issues in the works of Kôno Taeko 225 against traditional Japanese esthetics (Kôno in Miira tori ryôkitan, Mori in story II 31), or when Kôno reveals her love for Western classical music which she regards as a “deepening of humanity… and an attitude of affirmation”,429 or in the fact that Kôno’s female protagonist in Yôjigari is a former musician, an opera choir singer, who supports herself with translations of Italian texts (similar to Mori’s female characters, particularly the former cellist Yôko in Jôji who translates English texts). Something else the two authors have in common is their love of the sea, which strengthens energy and health just by looking at it (especially in Kôno’s stories Kani and Michishio, The Tide, 1964).

429 In her essay Yôroppa to no deai (Encounter with Europe, 1993) in Hijiya-Kirschnereit 1993, 134.

Female issues in the works of Tsushima Yûko 227

V.C.2.9. Female issues in the works of Tsushima Yûko

One of the authors who certainly had an influence on Mori Yôko is Tsushima Yûko (b. 1947)430 who was awarded numerous literary prizes. Owing to her complicated mode of language, which has affinities to the style of her father Dazai Osamu,431 and to her flowing narrative and her indistinct and ambivalent descriptions,432 the reader has to draw conclusions of vital importance from side remarks in order to set the picture straight.

Common ground with Mori lies − in strongly segmenting the cords of the plot; − in frequent changes of the temporal level through retrospection; − in the narrative technique of extended repetition; − in the preferential use of the dialogue (in some of her works); − and most of all, in a strong autobiographical influence and frequent use of the I-narration.

Tsushima’s works reflect over and over again the tragic events which have overshadowed her life: − her father’s double suicide together with his mistress only one year after Tsushima’s birth; − the death of her mentally retarded brother, who was three years older than her, when she was twelve; − her divorce after only six years of marriage, after the birth of a daughter (1972) and a son (1976), and her husband’s having left her alone to raise and provide for the two children;

430 Known in the West through numerous translations (into Englisch, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish etc.). I have translated her story Danmari ichi in 1990 and spoke to her in 1993. 431 See Lewell 1993, 448. 432 E.g. in her story Waga chichitachi, the acting persons are not given names, and the significant male character who in the end turns out to be one of the fathers, is constantly only referred to as “that man” and the place where he holds meetings as “that place”, which impedes the understanding. 228 classification of mori yÔko’s literature − and the tragic death of her son at the age of ten in an accident in 1986.

Tsushima began to publish in 1969,433 even before she had graduated in English Literature from the Catholic Shirayuri Women’s University. Her first semi-autobiographical novel Ikimono no atsumaru ie (The House where Living Beings Gather, 1973) with a protagonist who after several abortions has become infertile, and who in search for familial ties travels in vain to her father’s ancestral village, shows that her writing has a therapeutic aspect.434 Foregrounding her subjectivity, self-contemplation and disclosure of the emotional truth, her works come close to the shishôsetsu, even in her third-person-narrations.

The single mother, as both Tsushima and her mother were them­ selves, is found recurrently as the protagonist of her works, as in the title story of her collection Mugura no haha (1974, Engl. tr. The Mother in the House of Grass 1987, Tamura Toshiko Prize) and in the title story of her collection Shateki (1975, Engl. tr. The Shooting Gallery 1988). A single mother with two children is also portrayed in her story Numa (1984, Engl. tr. The Marsh 1991).435 From a new, pragmatic feminine perspective, the isolation and marginal social existence of these women who live alone with an insufficient socio-cultural background, is pointed out.436

In the same context, Tsushima also often discusses the problems involved in a separation, and the women’s striving for gaining in-

433 With her first story Rekuiemu – inu to otona no tame (Requiem for a Dog and an Adult). 434 See Lewell 1993, 449 and 452. 435 Similar issues are discussed in the works of Agata Hikari (b. 1943), who raised two sons on her own after her divorce (as reflected in Uhohho-tankentai 1984) and who describes the disintegration of a city family in her story Hômu pâtî (tr. A Family Party in Tanaka 1991), and in the works of Masuda Mizuko (b. 1948), who got by on her own since age 16 and who describes the new way of life of a single woman or of a single man in her stories Hitori-gurashi (Living alone, 1982), Chinka chitai (1985, tr. Sinking Ground in Tanaka 1991) and Shingaru seru (Single Cell, 1986). 436 On this aspect, Gessel 1988, 415, quotes a review by Ron Givens on Shateki: “Her Japan is a place where women cannot find comfort. Freed from the strictures of traditional mores and of the nuclear-family structure, the women of her short stories scrabble together the bits of their lives… as a desperate attempt at fulfillment in a sociocultural void.” Female issues in the works of Tsushima Yûko 229 dependence (one of Mori’s main topics, too). In her novel Hikari no ryôbun (Realms of Light, 1979, Noma Prize), the female protagonist and I-narrator is confronted all of a sudden with her husband’s decision to divorce her in order to dispose of his financial obligations.437 As she does not want to move back in with her mother, she rents an apartment for herself and her daughter (relocations are a symbol of upheaval frequent in Tsushima’s works), and with an iron will, she pursues cutting off ties from her husband, which reinforces the awareness how dependent she used to be. To describe the female protagonist’s mental process to accept that she has to make it on her own and to bear the sole responsibility for supporting and raising her daughter, is actually Tsushima’s literary intention (in a way similar to Mori’s literary intention to describe her female protagonist’s mental process to come to terms with certain changes in life).

Like Mori and other women writers, Tsushima also deals with the issue of the mother-daughter-conflict and of a mother’s emotional coldness. In her story Waga chichitachi (Our Fathers, 1975), written partly as an I-narration and partly as a third-person-narration, she depicts a four-women-family, consisting of a mother and her three almost grown-up daughters (with many reminiscences of the mocking grandmother as a fifth woman), without warmth or sympathy but instead with gibes and insolence, where one of the daughters longs for “a world where the word ‘mother’ doesn’t exist”.438 The story also deals with the topic of a relationship of a woman to a much younger man, here in the form of the mother’s second marriage to a Protestant priest, whom the eldest daughter is determined to win back for her family.

A cold and indifferent relationship between a single mother and her adolescent daughter is described in the novel Moeru kaze (Burning Wind, 1980), told from the perspective of the daughter. Another variation of the mother-daughter-dyad is presented in Tsushima’s extensive novel Kaze yo, sora o kakeru kaze yo (Wind, Blowing Over the Sky, 1995), where the protagonist achieves the reconciliation with her mother, which she has always strived for, only at her aged mother’s hospital bed, when she cannot be sure if her mother has actually recog­ nized her.

437 Ger. tr. by H. Reinfried, Theseus 1991, 12 f. 438 Ger. tr. by B. Yoshida-Krafft in Yoshida-Krafft 1987, 204. 230 classification of mori yÔko’s literature An impressive study of a particularly bad mother-daughter- relationship is given in Tsushima’s novella Kusa no fushido (1977, Engl. tr. A Bed of Grass 1982, Izumi Kyôka Prize). As a young girl, the I-narrator had been slapped in the face and beaten with the carpet beater by her widowed mother, whereafter they stopped speaking to each other and instead communicated through written notes. When she visited her mother four years after she had fled from her mother’s home at eighteen, by then herself a pregnant woman, she felt appalled by her mother’s disinterest so much that she didn’t even inform her of the birth of her son soon after, nor of the son’s death half a year later. Five years later, when the protagonist has separated from her insufferable life-partner, she returns to her mother’s home, who remains irreconcilable although she is ailing and in need of help. A striking similarity to Mori lies in the character of the female protagonist’s eccentric life-partner, who causes her to live in constant fear, 439 who strongly resembles the painter Akira in Kizu. A part of the plot which describes an accident440 that leads to the breaking up of the couple, in an astonishing way parallels the accident Mori describes in Kizu. In Tsushima’s story, the I-narrator is afraid her partner will beat her again and, recoiling from him, she bumps onto the heater and, falling, knocks down the kettle with its boiling water, burning her partner. In Mori’s novel from 1981, nearly the same scene is described, but the injured one is the female protagonist. Even the thoughts rushing through the falling woman’s mind on the possible consequences of the accident are similar to Mori’s description, although with other connotations (see chap. III.C.5). The smoking and drinking protagonist strongly reminds one of Mori’s female protagonists. A further parallel to Mori (to her novel Atsui kaze) is the subject of a women’s friendship, here the friendship between the female protagonist and a young single mother,441 which is not free from lesbian undertones and competitive thinking.

439 While at the same time she detests him “like… a large, violent father... like a slimy reptile with a long slender tongue and tail;” tr. by Y. Tanaka/ E. Hanson in Tanaka/Hanson 1982, 266. 440 Ibid., 276. 441 This friend, Kumi, who can find neither a job nor a love partner without qualifications and with her sturdy stature, resembles the character ofKuniko in Kirino Natsuo’s novel Out (1997, Engl. tr. Out 2002). Female issues in the works of Tsushima Yûko 231 Tsushima also deals with the subjects of pregnancy, abortion and illegitimacy. In her novel Chôji (1978, Engl. tr. Child of Fortune 1983, Joryû bungaku Prize), she portrays a 36-year-old piano teacher who makes a living for herself and her daughter with her music lessons (a parallel to Mori’s female musician protagonists). Her love for a cynical man fails because she aborts his child, which causes him to marry another woman who is pregnant by him. After the protagonist’s divorce from her unloved husband, they resume their former affair, which fails again because of his wife’s next pregnancy. The novel elucidates how far social restraints are obstructive for living out personal emotions. Another similarity to Mori lies in ending with a hopeful note, as the female protagonist begins to take her life into her own hands.442

Tsushima’s novel Yama o hashiru onna (1980, Engl. tr. Woman Run­ ning in the Mountains443 1991) describes the unwanted extra-marital pregnancy of a young woman of 21, who is beaten by her alcoholic father, shunned by her brother for bringing shame on the family, and urged by her mother to have an abortion, but gives birth to the child nonetheless and opens a separate family register for herself and her son as proof of her independence. After a few casual sexual encounters, she finds employment and a new love in a greenhouse with tropical plants, a symbol of vitality (the same symbol as in Mori’s novel Atsui kaze).

In several stories Tsushima also examines the emotional situation of children who grow up without a father. For example, in her story Yokushitsu (In the Bathroom, 1983), fathers are compared to geckos who rarely put in appearance, and as a substitute for the lack of fatherly warmth, the children set their hearts on pets. The story Danmari ichi (1982, Engl. tr. The Silent Traders 1985,444 Kawabata Prize) has a similar message, as the children don’t have any topics of conversation with their father nor any closeness to him, and instead provide the cats of the nearby park with food every night – a criticism of a society that allows men to neglect their families and that has traditionally charged women with the burden of child-raising.

442 See Lewell 1993, 452. 443 Mountains symbolize the obstacles the female protagonist overcomes. 444 German translation by me in the Fischer paperback Japan erzählt, Frankfurt/M. 1990. 232 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Mori also treats this topic and criticizes the absence of the fathers in Japanese families, officially due to expectations of working extra hours, a social evil which brought Japan the name “fatherless society” (chichioya naki shakai).445 Mori points out that the late night working hours are often merely a pretence, and that many of the typical Japanese company employees (sararîman) spend the evening instead in bars, sometimes discussing their problems with hostesses and not with their wives – a reason for alienation in Japanese marriages.446

Although Tsushima’s works since 1986 are also always elegies on her lost son and brother,447 her further works, too, deal with female issues so thoroughly448 that she is regarded as one of the main representatives of the “new femininity” of contemporary Japanese literature.

445 See Neuss-Kaneko 1990, 133; also addressed by Kodama 2001. 446 On the other hand, Mori also touches upon the point that the wives do not always disapprove of their husband’s absence. In Famirî repôto (1988, 57), she quotes the saying: “Otto to chichioya wa jôbu de tôku ni ga ichiban ii” (“It is best if husbands and fathers are healthy and far away”). 447 Her novel Yoru no hikari ni owarete (Driven by the Light of Night, 1986, Yomiuri Prize), published in the year of her son’s death, and the collection of short stories Mahiru e (Towards Noon, 1988) and others. 448 For example the novels − Ôma monogatari (Twilight Story, 1984); − Yume no kiroku (Record of Dreams, 1989); − Hi no yama: Yamazaru-ki (Mountain of Fire – Notes of a Monkey, 1998, Tanizaki Prize, Noma Prize); − Warai ôkami (The Laughing Wolf, 2001, Osaragi Jirô Prize); − Nara repôto (Nara-Report, 2005, Murasaki shikibu bungaku Prize), and others. Female issues in the works of Yamada Eimi 233

V.C.2.10. Female issues in the works of Yamada Eimi

Among the young Japanese women writers who have been very popular since the mid–1980s and who were considered the representatives of the tastes of a new generation referred to as shin- jinrui,449 Yamada Eimi (also written as Amy, b. 1959) also incorporates her experiences with foreigners, mostly Afro-Americans, into her work and thus offers her readers insights into an unfamiliar world and draws their attention to this large ethnic group450 in a forceful way. With her propensity to include significant amounts of English words and phrases in her texts, she has stylistic approaches similar to those of Mori, who is almost twenty years older than her, although Yamada uses more slang and vulgar expressions, while Mori likes to include common English idioms. Yamada has published together with Mori several times451 and has written several obituaries on her.452 Like Mori, she considers Françoise Sagan her favourite author.453 After breaking off her study of Japanese literature, Yamada began to write fiction in order to earn money, and worked as a cartoonist for several years, which is clearly reflected in her work.

449 See Tanaka 1991, XII. 450 With this focus of her writing, Yamada became the object of opposing criticism: from Japanese readers, she was abused as “nigger lover” kuronbô no jôfu, and Western critics (Nina Cornyetz 1996, John G. Russel 1991, 1996) found fault with her clichéd and thus racist depiction of black people, which was relativized and refuted by Hein 2001, 309 ff. – Ariyoshi Sawako (1931–1984) was the first woman writer who, after having been to the U.S. in 1959, depicted a marriage of a Japanese woman and a black American in Harlem in her novel Hishoku (Non-colour, 1963/1964), which has an emphasis on racial tensions in the U.S. 451 Mostly conversations on female issues, e.g. in pumpkin, Jan. 10, 1990 (34–36), in Gekkan Kadokawa, May 1988 (42–54) etc. 452 E.g. in Gekkan Kadokawa, Sep. 1993 (236–237), and together with Nakamura Shin’ichirô and Kuroi Senji in Subaru, Sep. 1993 (216–238). 453 See Samuel 1994, 457. 234 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Following her strategy of “writing through experience”, she worked as a nude model, a bar-hostess and a domina in order to write about it semi-autobiographically, in a simple and often flippant style, segmenting the plot through flashbacks and with frequent changes of the viewpoint. Like Mori’s, her basic subject is erotic relationships. Whereas Mori’s depiction of sex-scenes is rare (only in Jôji and Atsui kaze), short and mostly indirect, implicit and discreet (especially in the short stories), Yamada’s depiction of sex scenes is much more frequent and more explicit. Her focus, though, is not on the sexual encounter itself; it rather serves to express the female protagonist’s self-image and her view of the world, and she stresses repeatedly that only with love is sex really fulfilling. Yamada’s female characters have an unusually liberal attitude towards sex and provocatively take the initiative, which earned her a reputation as one of Japan’s most liberated women writers. Yamada’s female protagonists drink and smoke a great deal (more than Mori’s female protagonists do) and, like Mori, she points at the perils of smoking (e.g. in Body Cocktail,454 see below). The frequent mention of liquids such as alcohol, milk, blood, tears, sweat, saliva, semen and urine is characteristic of Yamada’s writing.455 Yamada has been considered a wild and immoral author since her debut with the autobiographically influenced novellaBeddotaimu aizu (1985, Engl. tr. Bedtime Eyes 2006, Bungei shinjin Prize, nominated for the Akutagawa Prize, made into a film), which is set on an American military base in Japan and portrays the relationship of a Japanese woman with a black GI, a drunkard, who has left the army and is being arrested for purloining military documents. Yamada uses the narrative technique of distinguishing her female protagonist by juxtaposing her with a second female character as a foil (in this case a striptease dancer), also in further works, e.g. in the short stories of the collection Hôkago no kînôto, see below. Her novella Jesshi no sebone (1986, Engl. tr. Jesse’s Backbone 2006, also nominated for the Akutagawa Prize) is born of the same autobiographical experience. Set in New York, it depicts the relationship of an experienced Japanese woman with a black,

454 A short story from the collection Hôkago no kînôto, tr. by Sonya L. Johnson, Kôdansha Int. 1992, 13. 455 See Sabine Mangold and Yamane Hiroshi in Berndt/Fukuzawa 1990, 150. Female issues in the works of Yamada Eimi 235 alcoholic American much older than her, and to his 11-year- old stubborn son who lives with them. In the course of the boy’s maturing process and after many obstacles, the difficult relationship develops into a warm-hearted friendship, so that in the end (depicted in Torasshu), the boy wants to live with her rather than with his mother, who is a cool Japanese woman, obviously the counterpart to the good-natured female protagonist. The succeeding novel Torasshu (1987, Engl. tr. Trash 1995, with sections from Jesshi no sebone, Joryû bungaku Prize), which continues and deepens the plot of Jesshi no sebone, deals with the female protagonist’s problematical separation from her black life-partner because of his alcoholism. The scene of their break-up, when her life- partner, unwilling to let her go, handcuffs her to the bed and rapes her, recurs as the leitmotif of the novel. Soon after she has left him for a younger black American, he dies in an accident. The novel also delves into the problems of whites and homosexuals. With its reflections on relationship problems (including the topic of loneliness in a relationship, common in Mori’s works) and the general validity of these problems for people of all races and all inclinations, the novel makes a claim for universality. The subject of her novella Yubi no tawamure (1986, Engl. tr. Finger Plays 2006) is superiority and inferiority in a relationship, a topic not rare in Yamada’s works. A promiscuous Japanese woman dominates her black lovers, but when a man rejected by her after a short affair (in favour of another black man) returns from the U.S. two years later as a much admired jazz-pianist, they resume their affair. This time he manipulates her, playing with her like on his keyboard, until she kills him during one of their love-games (an ending similar to that of Kôno Taeko’s novel Miira tori ryôkitan, 1990). As her deed is judged an act of self-defense against a rapist, in the end she has defeated him456 – an integration of the literary motif of the appropriation of one’s lover by killing him (as e.g. in Kurahashi Yumiko’s story Natsu no owari, 1960). For her collection Sôru myûjikku rabâzu onrî (For Soul-Music Lovers Only, 1987), comprising eight stories named after blues motifs and portraying emotion-oriented, passionate Afro-Americans, Yamada was awarded the Naoki Prize at the age of only 28.457

456 See Samuel 1994, 459. 457 At the preputation of the award, Yamada was accompanied by a horde of Afro-American friends. 236 classification of mori yÔko’s literature One of the most remarkable stories of the collection is Otoko ga onna o aisuru toki (Engl. tr. When a Man Loves a Woman 1991, named after the song by Percy Sledge), an ironic allegory on the healing power of love. Yamada portrays a young female painter as the I-narrator, who is surprisingly visited in her New York apartment by a young dandy-like black, who she had met briefly in her holiday in Miami. He helps her to overcome her artistic blockages by sleeping with her once and by not repeating it, in spite of her manifold pleas, in order not to hamper her concentration on her work. In the story Mama Used to Say,458 where a young black basketball player returns to the childhood home he had left because of an illicit love affair with his step-mother, Yamada describes (like Mori in Jôji) how a temporary affair turns into love. In her story What’s Going On, Yamada describes (like Mori in story 4) how a married woman is reminded of a former affair by a chance meeting with an ex-lover. In her novel Hizamazuite ashi o o-name (1988, Engl. tr. of the first chapter as Kneel Down and Lick my Feet in Birnbaum 1991) with a female I-narrator who works as a prostitute specializing in male masochism and who trains a younger, less experienced colleague for the job, Yamada depicts the role reversal genuine to this profession, in which the men are the slaves of the worshipped women called the queens. Yamada’s literary message is that these men, who are to a large extent well-educated and in high-ranking social positions and who have themselves humiliated and tortured for their own sexual fulfillment, are no worse than the average men who live with the deception of their wives’ pretended orgasms (a topic which Mori addresses repeatedly), and whose desire for young girls or virgins the author denounces as another kind of psychological perversion. In her treatment of erotic relationships, Yamada (like Mori sometimes), tends to stress the beginnings, the falling in love and seduction. Therefore, in certain works she describes the first emotions and experiences of adolescent love (an age which Mori is not interested in). In her story Me and Mrs. Jones (1986), she depicts the tender love of a teenager to a married woman much older than himself. In her novel Chôchô no tensoku (Foot-Bound Butterfly, 1987), told with the romanticism of the shôjo manga (Girls’ Manga), the I-narrator who thinks back to her high-school time, remembers how one of the girls tried

458 Yamada’s stories often have English titles. Female issues in the works of Yamada Eimi 237 to step out of her friend’s shadow – a self-centered and domineering girl – by throwing herself into adult activities like smoking, drinking and sex, and she continues to lament her lost childhood. The same topic, the problems of adolescence from the point of view of 17-year-old school girls, who often try to solve their problems in the way just described, is discussed in Yamada’s collection of short stories Hôkago no kînôto (1989, Engl. tr. After School Keynotes 1992). In this context, the author deals with female issues such as − infatuation as a first step to falling in love; − the transmission of emotion through eye contact; − defloration and sexual techniques (inBrush Up459 and others); − sex in the sun (like Mori in Jôji, tr. 50 f.); − love without words (both in Crystal Silence); − definitely severing a relationship (a subject stressed by Mori, too, e.g. in Yûwaku and story 12); − the pain of separating (both in Red Zone); − pregnancy and abortion (in Body Cocktail). At the same time, the stories are interwoven with social criticism (particularly in Brush Up): − of hostility towards foreigners; − of the preoccupation with social prestige and brand names; − of the strict regulations of society and the resultantly childishly inhibited behaviour of young Japanese girls; − of the convention that women are not supposed to look their conversational partners straight in the eye or to address certain topics directly (the verbal isolation criticized by Ôba); − and of the Japanese school system, which obstructs the develop- ment towards individualism and self-responsibility with its many constraints. Here, as well as in other works, Yamada sometimes tends to use stylistic means of trivial literature. For example: − The elevation of the female protagonist through the admiration of others and her description as an extraordinary beauty460 (which does not occur in Mori’s writing). − The descriptions of paradise-like idyllic tropical island-sceneries often have a kitschy note.

459 The short stories of this collection have English titles. 460 E.g. in Torasshu, Kanwasu no hitsugi and Hôkago no kînôto. 238 classification of mori yÔko’s literature − Her depiction of crying as an indication of emotion with large round tears forming on the girl’s eye and dropping slowly is clear­ ly influenced by the shôjo manga and strikes the reader as trivial. − Some comparisons used as stylistic means are incongruent and leave the reader with an uneasy feeling, for example: the hearts of girls experienced in love exude a fragrance like melting gourmet ice-cream (Sweet Basil, tr. 88), or: upon seeing the adored young man, the girl’s heart contracts as if she has bitten into a sour lemon (Body Cocktail tr. 15). The story Kanwasu no hitsugi (Canvas Coffin, 1987) depicts once again the seduction of a young man, an inexperienced native painter, who is awakened to love by a self-complacent, flamboyant Japanese tourist, to the effect that he cannot concentrate on his art any more. The story Nettai anraku isu (An Armchair in the Tropics, 1987) on the silent love of a deaf-mute Indonesian boy to a Japanese tourist seems like a variation of the subject, which recurs in a similar way in the above-mentioned short story Crystal Silence, which depicts the pure love of a Japanese school girl to a deaf-mute native boy on an island near Okinawa.

After several other works461 Yamada Eimi was awarded the Tanizaki Prize for Fûmizekka (Wonderful Fragrance) in 2005, which was made into a film under the title Shuga & supaisu – Fûmizekka in 2006.

461 The titles may give a clue to the further development of her writing: − Hâremu wârudo (Harlem World, 1987/1990, translation of the title according to Berndt 1990, 150, and Samuel 1994, 459, in contrast to Hein 2007, 523, who translates Harem World, with reference to Cornyetz 1996); − Fûsô no kyôshitsu (A Classroom for an Air Funeral, 1988); − Watashi wa hen’on dôbutsu (I am a Poikilotherm Animal, 1991), − Boku wa bîto (I am the Beat, 1988), − Seijin-muki môfu (1988, Engl. tr. X-Rated Blanket 1991); − Chûingugamu (Chewing Gum, 1990); − Bannen no kodomo (The Twilight Years of a Child, 1991); − Boku wa benkyô ga dekinai (I Cannot Study, 1993, made into a film in 1996); − 120 % COOOL (1994); − Animaru rojikku (Animal Logic, 1996); − 4U (1997, tr. 4U in Japanese Literature Today 23, 46–55, 1998); − Magnet (1999); − A2Z (2000); − Himegimi (Princess, 2001); − Pay Day!!! (2002); − Fiesuta (tr. Fiesta in C. Layne 2006, 149–170). Female issues in the works of Yamamoto Michiko 239

V.C.2.11. Foreign experiences and female issues in the works of Yamamoto Michiko

As in Mori’s (and in Yamada’s) writing the confrontation with the West is a significant aspect, Mori must be seen in comparison with other women writers who are influenced by the West, especially those who have lived abroad themselves for some time, either with a Japanese husband who has been transferred abroad by his company, or with a foreign husband. To the first group belongs for example, apart from the above discussed Ôba Minako, Yamamoto Michiko (b. 1936), who began to write while still studying Japanese literature and who published four volumes of poetry between 1959 and 1962. After her marriage in 1965, she followed her husband to Darwin, Australia, in 1968, where she lived as the mother of two daughters (the second one being born there) for three years, and in 1978, she accompanied her husband to Seattle, U.S.A., for four years. During both stays abroad, she suffered painfully from alienation and loneliness, as she neither integrated herself into the local community of fellow countrymen, nor tried to become familiar with the local folk and culture by wandering around as Ôba had, but kept a critical distance to the culture of her host country. She considered herself incapable of living abroad,462 and thus belongs to a broad section of the Japanese population who is afraid of leaving the shelter of their homeland. She lived in an inner retreat and found a consolation and a purpose for living in writing fiction. In all her works of prose463 which she published next to the col- lections of poetry and of essays, in a strongly autobiographical way she describes the distressful foreign experiences as well as the consequences of her inner retreat, which verged on mental disturbances.

462 See Wilson 1994, 465. 463 An exception is her story Wagamama na yûrei (The Obstinate Ghost, 1973), which deals with the after-effects of her mother’s death of cancer in 1962, who kept appear­ ing in her dreams every night for two years. 240 classification of mori yÔko’s literature After publishing the story Mahô (1971, Engl. tr. Powers 1983, awarded the Shinchô shinsakka Prize) and after going through a writer’s slump, she received the Akutagawa Prize for her story Beti-san no niwa (1972, Engl. tr. Betty-san 1983). In this story, which reflects the experiences of her stay in Australia, the female protagonist, who is married to an eccentric Australian and is therefore estranged from her Japanese family, suffers from a severe inferiority complex because she doesn’t speak English and does not know how to drive a car in Australia. Besides, with her petite physique and her sunburnt skin, she considers herself ugly, in a way similar to Natsume Sôseki who, upon looking in a mirror in London among Englishmen, felt like “a dwarf”, “a lost dog” or “a yellow monkey.”464 She does not only feel inferior to the Australians but also to other Japanese living there. This causes agoraphobia, for as long as she does not go out, there is no need to compare herself to others. In her marriage, lacking in communication, her house becomes a prison, and she is left with her three children to take care of.

In her short story Ame no isu (1972, Engl. tr. Chair in the Rain 1983), which also reflects her Australia experience, the author explains her conviction that in living abroad, a woman has to face much more hardships than a man, because for the sake of her husband’s professional transfer, a woman has to give up nearly everything which determines her life: her job, her hobbies, her family and friends, and therefore she comes close to losing her own identity; whereas in the man’s life nothing much changes and he just commutes between his family and his company with his Japanese colleagues. Marriage is depicted as merely a fortuitous arrangement that both partners agree to in order to gain the social prestige of being married and to avoid the disregarded status of being single.465

Her short story Rôjin no kamo (1972, Engl. tr. Father Goose 1983) describes an uneventful day in the life of a wife in the last stages of pregnancy, whose chat with a plumber about the ducks he used to feed, makes her realize her house-bound state and her lack of freedom. She realizes that motherhood can be no compensation for everything she has given up for marriage.

464 Quoted after Wilson 1994, 469. 465 Wilson 1994, 470. Female issues in the works of Yamamoto Michiko 241 Other stories by Yamamoto depict the fantasies of women who are by themselves. For example, the story Kusa o karu otoko (1975, Engl. tr. The Man Who Cut the Grass 1982/1991) depicts the hallucinat­ ions of a housewife suffering from emptiness of life, who sees in her neighbour, cutting his grass with a glinting sickle, a frightening yet attractive Reaper. She begins to fantasize a murder and superimposes his image on that of a man who she believes to have driven to suicide fifteen years before.

In her novel Tenshi yo umi ni mae (Angels, Dance Above the Sea, 1981), Yamamoto incorporates her America experience with the same lamentation on a woman’s loneliness. A symbol of her self-denial is the piano which the female protagonist, graduate of a music academy, has brought to the U.S. but does not use any more, similar to Mori’s protagonist Mai in Shitto, who has not touched her piano since her marriage. Like Mori in Yûwaku, Yamamoto complains about the weakening of sexual energy in a marriage. Triggered by the cultural differences, she contemplates her purpose for living, and she begins to question the values of conventional marriage, family, sex and morals. Like Mori’s protagonists, she undergoes a process of mental development and, motivated by her sister’s attempt at stealing her own husband, she decides to end her marriage and to adopt a friend’s son with the help of her open-minded American neighbour, and thus to make an attempt at a new life. In a similar way, Mori’s protagonist Reiko in Kizu decides to leave her Japanese life-partner and to venture into a new life in Paris.

Quite different in terms of content and structure is Yamamoto’s novel Hito no ki (Human Trees, 1985, Joryû bungaku Prize), interwoven with surrealistic elements in the form of the protagonist’s hallucinations. Covering two years in the life of a middle-aged housewife, who suffers from agoraphobia and barely leaves her apartment on the tenth floor, the novel is comparable to Mori’s novel Shitto, as the childless protagonist finds out that her husband has a long-term mistress with two children, and that he wants to continue this double-life indefinitely out of convenience. Although they often quarrel over banal everyday matters, they do not discuss their real problems openly, and there are no complaints, accusations or outbursts – in contrast to Shitto, where Mai’s repeated pleas for explanation are a significant component of the novel. Yamamoto’s protagonist, thus restricted to her inner life, 242 classification of mori yÔko’s literature hallucinates the goblin Tengu when she receives anonymous phone calls from the other woman, and perceives her as a ghost-like figure, although she has seen her once in the distance. In the end, she manages to free herself from the entanglement and finds a new direction in her life. For Mori’s protagonist Mai in Shitto, this is not possible, because she is tied to her husband because of her daughter.

Although both authors have different approaches to the West – Yamamoto has a negative, reserved view and Mori a positive, open- minded view of foreign countries (hiteiteki to kôteiteki na gaikoku-kan) –, they both come to the same conclusion: that women have to free themselves from their limited housewife’s existence and from the dependency on their husbands, and must strive for autonomy.

In her short stories, Yamamoto’s female protagonists come to hurtful realizations: that they are tied down in a marriage or that the sacrifices they make for the sake of marriage are futile. Only in her novels written about ten years later, she depicts protagonists whose characters develop to the extent that they decide to change their lives and depart for independence. Female issues in the works of Kometani Fumiko 243

V.C.2.12. Foreign experiences and female issues in the works of Kometani Fumiko

Kometani Fumiko (b. 1930) had difficult experiences with the West, too, though of a different kind. After studying Japanese literature, she went to the U.S. on a scholarship as a painter in 1960, where she met the American Jew Josh Greenfeld, literary critic, dramatist and writer, and married him. After three years in New York, they moved to Japan for two years, and finally returned to New York, where Kometani adapted the American way of life and raised their two sons. The younger one was mentally handicapped and suffered from autism, which burdened her life considerably. Following the example of her husband, who wrote several books on their intercultural marriage and on their handicapped child (two of which she translated into Japanese), in 1970 she began to publish articles on her American experiences, on personalities of the American cultural life and on Japanese-American relations, with a critical attitude towards both America and Japan;466 later she also wrote articles in English for American newspapers.

She began to write prose in 1975, but not until 1985 did she publish her first story Enrai no kyaku467 (Engl. tr. A Guest From Afar, Bungakkai shinsakka Prize). In the confessional manner of the shi­ shôsetsu, covering a span of time of only three days, the story portrays a Japanese woman in her late forties with a mentally handicapped son, living in the U.S. In flashbacks, it describes the difficulties of language and culture she had to face in the beginning, and the fierce marital arguments, magnified by the cultural differences, which

466 She considers her critical view of Japan as “my way of contributing to humanism,” quoted after Samuel 1994, 191. 467 Similar to the title of Sono Ayako’s debut story Enrai no kyakutachi (1954), set on a military base in postwar Japan, which refers to Americans living in Japan and thus describes the reverse case, whereas in Kometani’s story the title refers to the female Japanese protagonist who feels alienated in America. 244 classification of mori yÔko’s literature started soon after the wedding (similar to the arguments Mori describes in Yûwaku and in some short stories), so that the protagonist ended up packing after only a few weeks, with the intention of leaving her husband and the country, a pattern which repeated itself.

In the succeeding novella with the same characters, Sugikoshi no matsuri (1985, Engl. tr. Passover 1989, Akutagawa Prize and Shinchô shinsakka Prize), Kometani describes the culture shock, with its attendant frustration, depression and aggression, in a raw dynamic style with an expression of intense emotion. The female protagonist is persuaded to participate in the Jewish Passover seder (like Mori’s protagonist Shina was persuaded to attend the Christmas party in England with her husband’s English relatives), which her husband is himself anxious about, as he has not seen some of the relatives for many years (like Mori’s protagonist Phil in Yûwaku, who feared meeting his parents after seven years of absence). She experiences antagonism from her Jewish in-laws, based on their mutual lack of knowledge and understanding (similar to the resentment Shina experiences from her English in-laws). This makes her reject the ceremony and thus Jewish culture as a whole, because it opposes a woman’s liberation and emancipation.468 As a consequence, the novella was criticized for having Antisemitic tendencies and provoked a controversy, so that Endô Shûsaku as head of the Akutagawa-Prize committee was asked to comment on the matter, in spite of the fact that for many years, Kometani had been known for her commitment to fighting Antisemitism through her articles. The difficulties with her Jewish in-laws are also the subject of her story Giri no mishabahha (The Family-in-Law, 1986).

In Fûtensô (Tumble Weed, 1986), she describes once again the alien- ation of a Japanese woman living abroad, illustrating the differences of the two cultures upon a reunion of the protagonist with her moth- er. Parts of the story read like information about the American way of life aimed at Japanese readers – conveying knowledge of the West was one of Mori’s aims, too (see chap. III.B.4).

468 See Samuel 1994, 195. Female issues in the works of Ui Einjeru 245

V.C.2.13. Foreign experiences and female issues in the works of Ui Einjeru

Another writer who lived abroad for many years and assimilated her foreign experiences into her works, is Ui Einjeru (i.e. Ui Angel, real name Senda Uiko, b. 1948). After receiving a fine-art education and working on several jobs, she went to New York in 1969, and from 1971 to 1981 she lived in London, married to a British musician, until she returned alone to Japan. Like Mori, she confronts Western culture fearlessly with the positive attitude of gaining a new self-experience and of maturing to a new identity and individuality through an open, affirmative reception of the foreign culture, and she approves of the constant process of learning as a necessary precondition. Her female protagonists, who never find happiness in a domestic marriage and cannot find fulfillment either in the role of a mistress or in that of a mother, personify a new woman’s image called “a modern Ulysses-type heroine”.469 Like Mori, she rejects the conventional woman’s role, most of all because it does not offer a woman any possibility of further development or personal growth. Like Mori, Ui is of the opinion that marriage is the colliding of two strong egos without any pretence of altruism (as Mori depicts e.g. in Yûwaku). And, as in Mori’s case, marriage to a laid-back, indifferent and uncompromising English husband was the source of her literary energy.

Ui’s novels reflect various stages of her reaction to life abroad. Her debut work Pureryûdo (Prelude, 1982, Gunzô shinsakka Prize) with autobiographical influences depicts the unhappy marriage of a Japanese woman artist to a British rock musician in London, whom she despises because of his egotism (just as Mori’s female protagonists

469 McGrath 1994, 435, see also 433: “…a new type of Japanese heroine, undaunted by Western culture”. 246 classification of mori yÔko’s literature look down on their self-centered husbands in Kizu, Yûwaku and Atsui kaze), and whom she plans to leave in order to start a new life in America together with his manager.

Her second novel Kiseki (The Miracle, 1984) relates the odyssey of a young and naïve Japanese woman, who is relieved to have escaped a degrading life with her patronizing prostitute mother and who finds self-affirmation in an affection-based friendship with a young Jew in London.

In her third novel Himeko in London (1987), a young, well-off Englishman (the narrator) who has a merely superficial understanding of Japan through his hobby of pottery, is educated in life and esthetics by Himeko, the energetic proprietress of a Japanese restaurant in London, whom he loves and admires. But when he finally decides to stand up to his emotions, Himeko, frustrated with the British way of life, has already left England. (Mori also complains about a facile understanding of Japan in the case of Shina’s English in-laws in Yûwaku.)

Ui’s succeeding works reveal different stages of disillusionment, frustration and bitterness toward the West. In her story Hômonsha (The Visitor, 1986), the female protagonist, divorced from her British husband, has returned to Tôkyô. She is mourning the death of her daughter who died in a traffic accident, and regrets that the daughter had suffered from her parents’ marital struggles. At the same time, the protagonist counsels a friend in her marriage problems (similar to the discussions on Satoko’s failed marriage in Mori’s novel Atsui kaze). She defends her new self-identity gained through her foreign experience against anyone who threatens her freedom.

Both Mori’s and Ui’s female protagonists with foreign experiences have a critical view of their native country as well as of the foreign country. That their female protagonists face the West undauntedly, which hitherto used to be rare in Japanese literature,470 brings about a new woman’s image in both Mori’s and Ui’s works.

470 Wilson 1994, 469 says: “A Japanese living abroad who feels equal to the ‘white men’ and comfortable with his or her sense of self is still a rarity in Japanese literature.” Female issues in the works of Ui Einjeru 247 Mori’s female protagonists, when in the West, though, show a kind of uncertainty, an inactivity and a lack of adventurous spirit (see chap. III.C.1), but they have sufficient self-confidence, they are content with their image in the mirror, and they have a critical view of the locals (see chap. III.C.3) or even feel superior to them (as Shina in Atsui kaze chap. 1 towards her ailing mother-in-law and in chap. 2 towards the decrepit English hotel guests). Mori’s self-confident acceptance of foreign countries might bea result of the time she spent abroad in her early childhood, and moreover, it may inhere in the superior and privileged position of the Japanese colonists in war-time China, which may have unconsciously induced in her a self-assured attitude in unfamiliar surroundings (whereas Setouchi’s experiences in China include the end of the war, the break- down of Japanese supremacy and its succeeding turmoil).

Comparabilities between Mori and the women writers 249

V.C.3. Summarizing synopsis of the comparabilities of the women writers with Mori Yôko

By way of a conclusion, it can be said that the most conspicuous feature that all these women authors share with Mori Yôko is a strong autobiographical influence on their writing. Their varied biographies are all reflected in their work. For many women authors, the way to writing fiction was already prepared in their education, as by studying Japanese literature (Setouchi, Tsumura, Mukôda, Yamada, Yamamoto, Kometani), English literature (Tomioka, Tsushima) or French literature (Takahashi) or German philosophy (Saegusa). The extensive study of classical Japanese language and literature often finds expression in an author’s use of language and in allusions to works of classical Japanese literature, both of which contribute to elevating the works’ literary standard and the author’s reputation. This does not apply to Mori (nor to Ui as a painter), who had to overcome the obstacle of not having studied literature and, as a substitute, integrated a lot of transnational knowledge, in Mori’s case from the field of classical music.

Many authors began to publish while still studying or soon afterwards471 (Tsushima at the age of 22, Tomioka and Yamamoto at the age of 23, Yamada at 26 years of age), whereas Mori and other writers could not begin to publish before much later (Takahashi at 37, Mori at 38 years of age). The women authors who in addition studied the subject of creative writing (Ôba as well as e.g. Kurahashi Yumiko, both in the U.S.) show a preference for artistic-artificial stylistic means as well as a distinguished literary language and a frequent use of difficult kanji (the last-mentioned aspect can be found in Mori’s writing only rarely, e.g. in Yûwaku).

471 Counted from the author’s year of birth to the publication of the work which is officially considered her debut. 250 classification of mori yÔko’s literature The choice of husband is usually of some significance to the writer’s career, too. In their marriage with another writer, some of the authors who had a competent literary critic in their husband (Kometani, Saegusa) have been supported in their writing; others were hampered in their development by their husbands’ simultaneous career as a writer (Tsumura) or inhibited by their husband (Takahashi). Mori belongs to those who have been obstructed by their husbands on their way to creative writing. Other women authors have been restricted by their father (Mukôda) or, on the other hand, they profited from their fathers’ high reputation as a writer (Tsushima and e.g. Yoshimoto Banana). A woman writer’s husband may also have exerted an influence by causing his wife to live abroad (Setouchi in China, Ôba in Alaska, Yamamoto in Australia and in the U.S.), or by making her familiar with his home country (Mori, Kometani, Ui and Yamada).

Authors like Ôba and Yamada, Yamamoto, Kometani, Ui and Mori represent a trend new at the time, specifically regarding the incorporation of experiences with foreign countries in their work. They created “narrative works about the cultural experience with the unknown”.472 As they got to know a foreign culture like an insider and were thus able to view their home country from a critical distance as an outsider would, they gained an ideal starting point for a border- crossing approach.473 The discussion of the Japanese hostility towards foreigners and the quest for its reasons is a topic Mori shares with Ôba and Kometani, and the mastery and support of the English language is a connecting link to other authors like Mukôda, Tomioka and e.g. Sono Ayako.

Many of the authors (Kôno, Tomioka, Takahashi and Tsushima) deal, like Mori, semi-autobiographically with the mother-daughter- conflict, tracking down its origins to the social discrimination of girls and their unloving, strict education. Many women writers, though,

472 Hijiya-Kirschnereit 2000, 37. 473 Already the early women writers of the Taishô era gave proof of the fact that the confrontation with the West and experiences abroad give creative impulses, which showed in their work: Tamura Toshiko (1884–1945) lived in Vancouver from 1918–1936 and in Shanghai from 1938–1945; Okamoto Kanoko (1889–1939) travelled to Europe and to the U.S.A. between 1929 and 1932; Miyamoto Yuriko (1899–1951) lived in New York from 1918–1920; Hayashi Fumiko (1903–1951) stayed in Europe in 1931/32. Comparabilities between Mori and the women writers 251 take the discussion of this topic much farther, by rejecting motherhood and in general a view of femininity which defines the woman through her reproductive capability and function (most prominently in the case of Kôno and Kurahashi Yumiko, discussed also in the writing of Saegusa):474 their female protagonists are not only childless, but at times even have an aggressive attitude towards children or towards mothers and daughters in general.

Like Mori, nearly all the authors tend to write spontaneously and associatively, in a more lyrical than analytical way, integrating disgressions and sensory impressions, and the plot is usually structured and segmented trough several temporal levels.

What runs through the work of Mori and many of the other women writers is the depiction of Japanese everyday-life and of the average person. In order to heighten narratival tension, most of the authors make use of the depiction of unusual events, like accidents, murders and suicide (in Tsumura’s works in the particularly tragic form of the suicide of a child) or of cruelties (e.g. in Kôno’s writing). Mori forgoes these emphatic devices; her works derive tension solely from the depiction of essential turning points in a human relationship or of coming to terms with them. With her nearly complete renunciation of the depiction of the unusual and with her credo of normality, Mori is an exception among these writers. This can also be said about Mori’s rare integration of dreams, imaginations and hallucinations and her limited use of interchanges from the realistic and the surrealistic narrative level, which are essential elements of the writing of some other women writers and which corresponds to a long literary tradition. Even when Mori includes dreams or daydreams of her female protagonists into the plot, the motivation is usually evident. They contain memories of real experiences and serve the purpose of coping with a new situation in life, and they always remain on a realistic level. This is also true of the changes between realistic and dream-like narrative sequences in her novel Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, where relating, analyzing and assimilating the dreams is part of the psychotherapy the female protagonist undergoes, although the novel acquires a dream-like touch with its difficult distinction between narratival

474 See Copeland 1992, 101–110. 252 classification of mori yÔko’s literature levels. However, Mori’s narrative mode never disgresses into the realms of the abnormal or the fantastic.

Like all these women authors, Mori centers her works around convincing female protagonists, whereas the male characters are often awarded less attention. It is usually not the less adequate characterization of the male figures, but rather the mercilessly critical view of their character traits, which makes literary critics like Okuno Takeo475 insist on clearly differentiating women’s literature (joryû bungaku) from the hitherto male dominated field of modern Japanese literature and on defining it as a separate field (as does Takeda Tomohisa), in spite of a superficial recognition of women’s literature.476 It is no wonder women’s literature meets with less approval with male readers, as male characters are depicted in a derogatory way in the works of the women writers, often more obviously, pointedly and rigorously than in Mori’s works: as self-centered and self- righteous, arrogant, dominating, tyrannical and violent, emotionally cold and indifferent,477 cowardly, small-minded and feeble-willed, superficial, irresponsible, unfaithful, driven by their instincts,478 alcoholic, uninterested and apathetic,479 and retired husbands are referred to as “bulky garbage” (sôdai gomi) or as “wet fallen leaves” (nure-ochiba).480 Male figures sometimes have the part of irrelevant side characters, or their role is cut short to a big extent. At the bottom of Mori’s writing, there is also an intrinsic negative assessment of men (listed in chap. III.B.1), and in her ironical short stories of Beddo no otogibanashi Part II, some of the male characters are overdrawn (stories II 1, II 3, II 11, II 30) or caricatured (stories II 5, II 6, II 14, II 19, II 26). On the other hand, Mori shows an understanding for

475 See also Hijiya-Kirschnereit 1984, 394, who criticizes Okuno for concealing a degrading attitude behind his praise and pretended acknowledgement of women’s literature. 476 Ibid., 414 f. 477 The man’s indifference and coldness taken to extremes is e.g. described by Enchi Fumiko in her story Fûfu (The Couple, 1962). 478 E.g. by Tomioka. Men who are subjected to their desire are also portrayed by Enchi Fumiko in her story Nise no en – shûi (1957, tr. A Bond for Two Lifetimes – Gleanings 1982, also transl. as Love in Two Lives – The Remnant 1982, 1991), where the woman accepts the sexual aggressiveness as inevitable; see Gessel 1988, 412. 479 Mainly in the works of Tsumura, Mukôda, Ôba, Sono Ayako and Tsushima. 480 Hein 2008, 57, refers to the study of R. Linhart 1991. Comparabilities between Mori and the women writers 253 male problems in a humorous way (II 6, II 31). In the novels, Mori gives rounded and psychologically appropriate characterizations of the male figures (see chap. V.B). In particular in her later works, Mori puts some effort into examining the situation and the mentality of the man. She was aware that the woman’s emancipation can only be successful if it is supported by a concomitant emancipation of the man.481

Regarding the female characters, Mori’s focus, like that of her contemporaries, is mostly on middle-aged women, although she sometimes portrays younger working women, too. However, making schoolgirls the center of her attention, as Yamada does, is not her intention.

As I have explained in detail, Mori discusses female issues which are also dealt with or addressed by other women writers, such as pregnancy, abortion and sterilization, sexual harassment and rape, as well as physical and mental violence in general. Many of the authors confront the subjects of female infidelity, jealousy, of a woman’s loneliness in an unfulfilling marriage or relationship, of the emptiness of life in the fixed role of housewife and mother and of the socially imposed inarticulateness of women.

Certain literary messages Mori shares with other authors are the discussion of women’s sexual needs (in Mori’s case with the depiction of verbal obscenity and sexual brutality as a stimulation for the woman, as described in Atsui kaze), as well as orgasm deficiency and the difficulty of talking about it. As a result of all these female issues, a subject all the authors deal with is separation or divorce with all its implications. Another frequent topic is women’s conflicts with their own parents and in-laws and with their children.

In Mori’s case, though, it strikes the reader’s eye that a lot of these problems are dealt with not as independent topics, but in regard to their effects on the relationship, which shows once again that Mori’s preference lies in depicting relationship constellations. For example: − The pregnancy which Ogawa Yôko describes as a loathsome, horrifying physical process in her Akutagawa-Prize winning story

481 Positively characterized male figures in the works of four Japanese writers are examined by Toman Mori 2000. 254 classification of mori yÔko’s literature Ninshin karendâ (1991, Engl. tr. Pregnancy Calendar 2005), is used by Mori primarily as a justified reason to fear the husband’s renewed infidelity (in Jôji and in story II 31). − In Mori’s works, homosexuality is disapproved of, particularly when, in a concomitant heterosexual relationship, a woman has to suffer.

Mori shares some specific motifs with other women writers. A few examples: − The motif that a mother thinks of her own adolescence on the occasion of her daughter’s first menstruation, that she compares herself to her daughter or sees her as a rival, which Mori addresses in Shitto 84 f. (see chap. III.C.5), is also a topic in Setouchi’s story Kiji (1963), in Takahashi’s story Sôjikei (1971) and in Ôba’s story Yamauba no bishô (1976). The topic of menstruation is also addressed in Mori’s novel Atsui kaze and in several of Kôno’s stories (e.g. in Yôjigari). Tsushima confronts the subject in her collection of essays Onna to iu keiken (The Experience of Being a Woman, 2006). − The motif of regarding luxuriant tropical vegetation as a symbol of vitality, as in Mori’s novel Atsui kaze chap. 5, is also used by Tsushima in her novel Yama o hashiru onna from 1980 and by Takahashi in her story Ningyô ai from 1976, where the blossoming plants in a greenhouse are deliberately set in contrast to the winter scenery. − The topic of considering the disadvantages of divorce for men, as in Mori’s short stories II 5 and II 6, is adapted by Mukôda, too, in her short story Manhattan from 1981.

Some of the motifs or topics other women authors deal with are of minor importance in Mori’s works. For example: − The relationship of a woman to a much younger man, which is a frequent subject in the works of many women writers, is depicted by Mori only in a modified form in Shitto, in the friendship with erotic undertones between the female protagonist and the half- French Alain, who is almost ten years younger than her, as well as in the stories II 11 and II 20. In some novels of the mid–1980s, though, she puts more emphasis on this topic,482 e.g. by depicting

482 The marriage to a younger man is already made a topic of discussion by Sata Ineko in her novel Karada no naka o kaze ga fuku (Wind is Blowing through My body, 1956/1957), here all the more impeded, because the woman is divorced with two children. Comparabilities between Mori and the women writers 255 the yearning of the celebrated theater star Reda (who does not much value possessions and luxury) for the handsome 27-year-old Shimon in the novel Jigoro (1983). In Onnazakari (1984), too, a third thread of the novel deals with Asako’s relationship to her younger colleague Kôta, who is willing to submit to her wishes in an unusual manner, which will lead to an unconventional relationship without marriage. − The motif of the appropriation of one’s love-partner by killing him, which some authors (like Kôno, Kurahashi and Yamada) have adapted, is only marginally indicated by Mori in Shitto 120. Here Mai says her husband should be dead rather than allowed to live and cause her the pain of sharing him with another woman. − Whereas several woman writers depict incestuous relationships (e.g. Saegusa, Tomioka, Kurahashi), Mori tends to avoid this subject according to her principle of the renunciation of sensational topics. But she touches upon it in Kizu by implying a relationship between Reiko’s Jewish violin teacher and his Chinese adoptive mother, intensified by their having a child together.

In common with the other women writers is Mori’s depiction of her female characters, in that they provide an encompassing view of the female psyche. They disclose a woman’s unfulfilled longings, their secret dreams, hopes and ideals. They consciously dismantle the cliché of the highly moral Japanese housewife and thus contribute to the outgrowing of antiquated taboos.483 The discrepancy which prevailed in the Japanese society of the 1960s to the 1980s between the women’s public powerlessness and their abundance of energy, vitality and toughness and their potential for passion, revenge and survival generated the rebellious, aggressive nature and the ironic undertone of women’s literature.

Many of the women writers have, like Mori, created a new type of independent, active and quick-witted female character who ventures into traditionally male domains, makes a claim for gender equality and draws up modernized roles for women and new concepts for heterosexual relationships, which are elevated to a new kind of normality.484 In many cases (most of all in Tsushima’s works), in spite

483 See Berndt/Fukuzawa 1990, 76. 484 See Schneider 2003, 108. 256 classification of mori yÔko’s literature of all the difficulties, the female protagonists lead a self-determined life, no longer dominated by a man. Many women writers (like Setouchi and Tomioka) and also Mori in a moderate way, dare to describe something new, unusual, provocative and even shocking in their female protagonists’ behaviour. They thus emphasize the gender inequality and the distress of the disadvantaged women. From a feminist viewpoint, they hint at the masogynistic points of a society485 that demands the suppression of a woman’s personal needs and her individuality. The authors share the conscious or subliminal intention486 of having a manipulating influence on society, so that conventional standards and the traditional role allocation can be steadily reduced (on Mori’s attitude see chap. IV). Because the women writers address the topics of the women’s liberation movement, they are sometimes regarded as feminists, mainly in the West, although personally they don’t feel like political authors, just as Mori Yôko did not see herself as a feminist writer.487

485 See Yoshida-Krafft 1981, 196. 486 Except for Kurahashi’s statements to the opposite, e.g. in her essays Watashi no shôsetsu sahô (My Manner of Writing Prose, 1965) and Shôsetsu no meiro to hiteisei (The Maze and the Negating Nature of Prose, 1966) and in a supplement to her novel Sumiyakisuto Q no bôken (Engl. tr. The Adventures of Sumiyakist Q, 1979), quoted after Yamamoto 1994, 202, 201 and 203. 487 The same goes for Tsushima who is a personal writer, although she has ad­ dressed most of the issues of the women’s movement (Lewell 1993, 452). VI. APPENDICES

VI.A. SUMMARY OF THE STUDY

Mori Yôko (1940–1993) was one of the most well-known bestselling authors in Japan. The main aim of my study Female Issues and Relationship Constellations – The Literary World of Mori Yôko and Other Japanese Women Writers is to examine Mori’s various depictions of gender constructions and to show that she has created a new woman’s image by describing the women’s awareness of life and their self-esteem as well as their rebellion against suppression and humiliation in Japan’s male dominated society. According to literary studies and socio-literary studies criteria, my study gives an analysis of five novels of Mori’s early creative period which were nominated for literature awards and which show a strong autobiographical influence:

− Jôji (Summer Love; 1978, awarded the Subaru Prize); − Yûwaku (Temptation; 1980, nominated for the Akutagawa Prize); − Shitto (Jealousy; 1980); − Kizu (Injury; 1981; nominated for the Akutagawa Prize); − and Atsui kaze (Tropical Wind; 1982; nominated for the Naoki Prize).

Furthermore, I examine 55 short stories from the two collections Beddo no otogibanashi (Love Encounters, 1986) and Beddo no otogibanashi Part II (1989) as works which are exemplary of Mori’s short fiction, specifically the 34 short stories of the first volume and 21 of the 40 short stories of the second volume. Thus, my study, based on 1452 pages of Japanese text, gives new insights into modern Japanese women’s literature. 258 APPENDICES My study begins with a biography of Mori Yôko (see chap. II).

In my analysis, first regarding the formal aspects, I examine Mori’s spontaneous, often shrewd and witty language which impresses by its naturalness, agility and richness of nuance. In the novels, an in- creased use of metaphors and an unusually frequent use of English words and expressions are to be observed. Dialogue often prevails and subsumes parts of the plot. Crucial developments and turning points of the plot are often given in the form of dialogue. With her realistic depiction of arguments, Mori succeeds in drawing lively characterizations of the acting persons.

Mori’s short stories are characterized by a quickly progressing pace of narration. In concentrated form, the author introduces a large variety of topics and problem constellations. By changing the narrative time as well as the point of view, Mori creates a multi-layered specter of experience for the reader even in a short story. In contrast, in the novels the present time action which is the central thread of the plot, often progresses slowly and is frequently interrupted by detailed interspersed flashbacks which sometimes consist of several temporal levels. With the narrative technique of repetition with variation, the author extends the scene and enlarges the reader’s information. In addition, there are compact lyrical sequences, extensive descriptions of the scenery as well as socio-critical and philosophical contemplation in the novels. As a stylistic means, Mori uses motifs of the eyesight, like im­ provement of the visual acuity and the sharpening of contours, cross- fadings, reflections, distortions, and blurrings. Characteristic of Mori’s style are the unexpected turns at the end of her stories. These are often explicitly expressed, but Mori also tends to leave her stories seemingly open-ended, so that the point of the story is implicit. The stories and novels often finish on a hopeful note and a positive prospect, for instance by recalling the protagonist’s inner strength.

Turning to the contents, Mori’s entire body of work is dominated by the basic subject of erotic relationships or longstanding man- woman relationships. Her stories are about entering into, dissolving, altering and scrutinizing relationships, or about an extreme emotional situation before or after an upheaval in a romantic relationship. Her novels portray partnerships of various kinds with the underlying Summary of the study 259 question why difficult, unsatisfactory or unbearable relationships are being sustained. In her novels and stories, Mori has an unobtrusive feminist attitude in depicting specifically feminine problems, and she gives a realistic depiction of everyday life in Japan. She describes banal incidents and ordinary characters with whom the reader can identify. Mori deems adequacy, authenticity and sincerity essential, and stands for the credo of normality. She introduces tension into her works through psychological understanding and refinement. The social class which Mori portrays is the prosperous Japanese middle class and in particular the average citizen who lives in the metropolis of Tôkyô. Mori propagates a Western lifestyle not only through the description of Western food, fashion, film idols etc., but also champions Western ideals such as personal freedom and leisure, individuality and self-responsibility, as well as equality between man and woman in every aspect. In the novels, Mori presents a more critical view of the West which lacks the Japanese principle of politeness and harmony. The author compares the Japanese and the Western mentality, and the female Japanese protagonists’ contacts with the West lead them to a self-recognition as Asians. Mori’s depiction of artists, who represent another kind of individual- ity and otherness in the novels, also has a critical undertone, and the occasional portrayal of homosexuals is openly disapproving. Mori who has a keen understanding of psychology, depicts mental features of competitious thinking, feelings of superiority and arrogance, of envy, self-centeredness and egoism, as well as of masochism in various forms. Another kind of relationship which Mori portrays is the mother- daughter-conflict, the protagonist’s relationship to her mother as well as to her daughter, with contemplation on a lack of motherly feelings.

In the novels, Mori’s female protagonists show a strong auto- biographical influence. As the protagonists of her early novels obviously represent certain stages of the author’s life, I have arranged the analysis according to this order:

− With the protagonist Reiko in Kizu, Mori obviously has turned her youth as a violin student into a novel. − Mai in Shitto represents the betrayed wife who is not yet capable of retaliating with an affair of her own. 260 APPENDICES − Yôko in Jôji stands for the wife at a later stage who tries to find consolation for her unhappy marriage in various love affairs. − Shina in Yûwaku embodies the woman deeply hurt by marriage, who has almost become an alcoholic because of her husband’s cold and degrading treatment. − In Atsui kaze, Shina, the same protagonist, seven years older and the mother of two daughters, has a secret lover to make up for her frustrating marriage.

The intention of the novels is to show that all these protagonists undergo a mental development and come to certain decisions:

− Reiko in Kizu comes to the decision to end her unbearable relationship with the violent painter Akira, and has the prospect of a common future with the half-Chinese Adam, the son of her late violin teacher. − In contrast to her, Mai in Shitto who is forced by her domineering husband to endure his continuing affair, is not capable of leaving him but comes to accept her suffering with the hopeful prospect that his affair will end in a few months. − In Jôji, Yôko’s love affair with the American Lane fails painfully because for her, priority lies in sustaining her marriage to the indifferent Englishman Paul. − Shina in Yûwaku who is considering divorce in the beginning, comes to an unexpected reconciliation with her husband on a trip to his English home and decides to continue their marriage in spite of all their unsolved differences. − In Atsui kaze, on a second trip to England and Singapore, Shina reaches the decision to begin to write as a means of mental liberation from her still unhappy marriage.

The novels depict the women’s rebellion against their husbands’ indifference and disrespect, both in everyday life and sexual life, and against discrimination and maltreatment, and at the same time their fear of separation or divorce and of loneliness. By depicting the women’s despair about their emptiness of life and the incessant passing of time, their growing older without fulfillment, the weaken- ing of their capability for intense emotion and the lessening of energy and motivation in the relationship, Mori wants to elucidate that women have to find means to break away from their fixed Summary of the study 261 traditional roles. The most common way of escape is adultery. Mori’s basic message is that as long as society doesn‘t change, women will continue to be unfaithful. Other possibilities of escape are gaining financial independence by going to work, or writing fiction as a means of self-realization. In her depiction of the women’s contents of life, Mori deals with female issues, such as pregnancy, abortion and sterilization, sexual harassment and rape, violence in a relationship, escalating marital arguments etc. In Mori’s point of view, a woman can use the following means of exerting pressure on her husband in order to alter his attitude: threatening him with divorce, sexual denial, or the refusal to do housework, or – the way Mori recommends – the confrontation in an open discussion.

Whereas the female protagonists of the novels still don’t have enough self-assurance and impetus but behave in a passive and indecisive way, in contrast, the female figures of the short stories overcome the conventional Japanese posture of humility and sub­ missiveness and act in an unconventional manner. They represent a free and unrestrained avant-garde awareness of the modern Japanese woman. With her protagonists, Mori attempts to strengthen her female readers‘ self-confidence and to encourage them to develop autonomous female identities.

The last part of my study involves classifying Mori’s work into literary categories. Mori’s writing is semi-autobiographical and sometimes comes close so the confessional and self-exposing nature of the Japanese I-novel (shishôsetsu), particularly where the protagonist or I-narrator regards herself in a negative or self-critical way or with a sense of shame. However, Mori keeps a distance from the author to the protagonist, which objectives the emotionality and fictionalizes the facts. Thus her works are fiction with strong autobiographical elements.

Mori’s writing belongs to upper-level entertainment fiction chûkan( shôsetsu). She holds the French psychological novel in high esteem, especially the works of Françoise Sagan, Marguerite Duras and Simone de Beauvoir. As a substitute for allusions to premodern Japanese literature, Mori introduces a lot of her profound knowledge from the field 262 APPENDICES of classical music. In this way, she fulfils the reader’s demand for culture and is at once transnational. In addition, with her frequent use of English words she is international, and her works have an educative function. Because of the setting of her works in Tôkyô, her writing is also referred to as ”City-Literature“ (tokai shôsetsu, shiti-ha shôsetsu).

For the purpose of classification, I compare Mori to 13 selected Japanese women writers of the 1960s to the 1980s, consisting of 10 prominent authors who concern themselves with female issues: Setouchi Harumi, Tsumura Setsuko, Mukôda Kuniko, Saegusa Kazuko, Tomioka Taeko, Takahashi Takako, Ôba Minako, Kôno Taeko, Tsushima Yûko, Yamada Eimi, and three additional authors, Yamamoto Michiko, Kometani Fumiko and Ui Einjeru, who form an interesting background for another significant aspect of Mori’s writing, the confrontation with the West and the self-assessment of the Japanese. The extensive examination of 134 of these authors‘ works discloses interesting similarities with Mori both on the level of contents and of stylistic means.

At the end of my study, as appendices I attach a list of Mori’s more than 100 book publications, a catalogue of over 200 magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko, a bibliography and a glossary. Japanese summary 概要 263

VI.B. JAPANESE SUMMARY 概要

森瑤子(1940-1993) は、日本の最も著名なベストセラー作家で ある。 本書「女性の問題と恋愛関係――森瑤子とその他の日本女流作家 の文学世界」の目指すところは、作家森瑤子の様々な男女関係の描 写を分析すること、また、この作家が女性の自己に対する、または 自分の人生に対する価値感、日本の男性社会での女性に対する抑圧 または差別への反抗を描きながら、さらに西洋人の気質や物の見方 に取り組みながら、様々な観点から新しい女性像を作り上げたこと を明示することである。 本書では、文学賞の候補にもあがった初期の作品、特に自伝的影 響の濃い次の５編長編小説を選んで文芸学的、または文芸社会学的 な分析を行う。 1. すばる文学賞に輝いたデビュー作『情事』(1978) 2. 芥川賞候補にあがった小説『誘惑』(1980) 3. 小説『嫉妬』(1980) 4. 芥川賞候補にあがった小説『傷』(1981) 5. 直木賞候補作『熱い風』(1982) さらに、２つの短編小説集『ベッドのおとぎばなし』（1986）、 『ベッドのおとぎばなしPart II』(1989) から森の短編創作を代表 する55編、つまりPartＩから34編、Part IIの 40編から 21編を選 んで 取り扱う。 全1.452ページに及ぶ日本語のテキストの分析を基に、本書は日 本の現代女性文学について新たな理解に貢献するものである。

始めに森瑤子の生涯について記述する。本名伊藤雅代として 1940年11月4日に伊豆半島の伊東市に生まれ、東京都世田谷区に育 つ。高校卒業後4年間、東京芸術大学で6歳から始めたヴァイオリン を学ぶ。しかし音楽を職業の道に選ぶことはなく、3年間広告会社に 勤めることになる。1965年、日本在住のイギリス人のアイワン·ブラ ッキンと結婚し、三人の娘ヘザー(1967年)、マリア(1971年)、ナオ ミ(1972年)を産む。 264 APPENDICES 35歳で執筆を始め、デビュー作『情事』で文学賞を受賞。この 作品は私の翻訳によりドイツ語で出版されている (Sommerliebe, edition q 出版､ベルリン1995年)｡ 森瑤子は非常に創作多産で、 100冊以上の本を執筆した。続く多数の小説や短編で読者を魅了 し､全国的に有名なベストセラー作家となる。テレビやラジオにも多 く出演し、一時は朝日新聞に毎日ショートストーリーを発表したこ ともある。 私は1991年ドイツ訪問中の森瑤子にお会いし、ミュンヘンで数日 を共に過ごす機会を得た。1992年日本滞在中には、世田谷代田の優 雅な邸宅に招待を受け、森瑤子のご主人にもお会いした。また、彼 女の40冊の文庫本をお贈りしてくださった。 1993年7月6日、まだ52歳の若さで森瑤子は胃癌のため他界した。

本書では、文学的形式の面では、まず森瑤子の文体を研究する。 森瑤子の自然で、機知に富み、ユーモアのある口語的文体は、語彙 が広く、軽快でしかもニュアンス豊かである。長編小説では、メタ ーファーや英語の単語が非常に多く用いられていることが目立つ。 会話が重要な位置を占め、物語の筋はしばしば会話の中で決定的な 発展や転回点をみせる。口喧嘩の写実的な描写により、登場人物の 性格描写に現実味が増している。 短編小説のはスピーディーな筋の展開が特徴である。短いなかで 作者は多様なテーマや問題点を凝縮して提示する。過去を振り返っ たり、未来を先取りしたりして時間の層を重ねたり、時には視点を 換えて物語を多面化することもある。それによって読者は物語を複 層的に体験することになる。 しかし長編小説では、物語の展開の脈絡をつなぐ現時点のあらす じが、たいてい遅く進み、話の展開が中断されることもある。時間 的に何層にも重なる長い回顧が何度も間に挟まれる。バリエーショ ンに富む、拡張していくような反復の語り技法を用いて、この作家 は、いつも新たな情報を付け加え、文章のニュアンスを豊かにして いる。 長編小説では物語の舞台描写、風景描写、叙情的な表現の多い段 落、社会批判的または人生哲学的な考察等が、多彩に含まれている と言える。森瑤子の文体の特徴として上げられるのは、視点の置き 方のニュアンスに満ちた表現である。例えば、焦点がだんだん合わ され、輪郭がはっきりしてくる描写法、ディゾルブ、反映、歪曲、 混濁の法。 森瑤子の特徴として結末の意外性があげられる。効果的な落ち が語られることもあれば、結末を語らないこともある。その場合に Japanese summary 概要 265 は、読者は自分の想像力で作者の意図を探りあてることになる。作 者は、長編小説では、女主人公が自己の力を思い出し、希望に満ち たポジティブな可能性を見出す明るい結末を好んでいる。 内容の面から見ると､森瑤子の全作品はエロス的な関係、愛とい う概念で総括される人間存在の核心的な領域を一貫してテーマとし ている。大概女性である主人公の側から、恋愛関係の端緒、終焉、 変容や問い直し、あるいはパートナーとの生活の決定的転機に伴う 感情的な緊迫状態について語られる。長編小説では、様々な男女関 係を描きながら、困難な、満足できない、耐えがたい関係がなぜ保 たれるのかという問いを内包している。 森瑤子は女性特有の人生問題を物語りながら、控えめにフェミニ ズムを主張する。 彼女の描く日本人の日常生活は現実的である。ごく普通な日常的 出来事が起き、平凡で平均的な読者が感情移入しやすい人物が登場 する。日常的なものの描写が、刺激的で意味深いものに変容するの は、森瑤子の得意とする適切な心理的考察が全作品を貫き通してい るからである。 森瑤子の描く社会的階層は日本の裕福な中流階級、特に東京に 住む中流階級市民である。主に短編小説では、英語が堪能だった森 瑤子が西洋風のライフスタイルを主張しているのは、洋風の食品、 ファッションや住環境を描写するだけではない。森瑤子は、個人の 自由と拘束からの開放、個人主義と責任の自覚、そして対等で同権 的な男女関係といった西洋的な理想を掲げるのである。長編小説で は、日本の礼儀鄭重さ、調和の精神に欠ける外国に対する批判的な 見方が示されている。日本と西洋の気質や物の見方が比較され、日 本女性の主人公は、西洋の世界との接触を通じて、アジア女性とし ての自覚を持つようになる。 別種の個人主義、独自性を代表する芸術家の描写も暗に批判的 である。時々現れる同性愛者の描写を見ても、明らかに否定的であ る。さらに、ライバル意識、優越感、傲慢、妬み、エゴイズム、自 己中心、マゾイズム等の心理的な特徴を多様な面から描いている。 森瑤子が描くもう一つ別の種類の関係は、母と娘の対立、主人公 とその娘、同時に主人公の母親との関係で、母感情不足、あるいは この感情の表現能力の不足が語られる。 長編小説の内容分析により、女主人公達は、森瑤子の自伝的な特 徴を示していることが、明確にされた。3人の女性主人公は音楽を専 攻し、3人はイギリス人と結婚をして、娘がいる。彼女たちは、タバ コをすい、お酒を飲むのが好きで、胃の不調をよく訴えているなど である。この主人公たちは、それぞれ森瑤子の人生の特定の時期と 266 APPENDICES 対応していることが明らかなため、本書では、初期長編小説の分析 の際、この小説の出版された年月ではなく、森瑤子の人生の時期に 対応した順序で、取り扱った。

– 主人公が語り手である『傷』のレイコによって、作家が大学でバ イオリンを専攻した青春期をテーマに取り上げている。 – 『嫉妬』の麻衣には、夫に裏切られ、しかもまだ自分も裏切るこ とで仕返しをするということのできない妻の代表を見ることがで きる。 – 主人公が語り手である『情事』の洋子は、それより後の時期、つ まり夫婦間の不幸を情事により紛らそうとする妻を表現。 – 『誘惑』のシナは、夫の冷たく、軽蔑するような態度に失望し て、アルコール中毒にまでなりそうになった妻。 – この同じ主人公シナが7年後『熱い風』では、2人の娘の母とな り、密かに愛人との関係を続けることで、夫婦間の不満を解消し ようとしている。 長編小説の伝えたいところは、女主人公たちが発展を遂げることを 示すことにある。 – 『傷』のレイコは、暴力的な画家、克との耐え難い同棲生活から 解き離れ、ある事故により職業不能となった事実を肯定するこ とができるようになり、亡くなった彼女のバイオリンの先生の 息子、ハーフ中国人のアダムとの新しい恋愛関係の可能性が開け る。 – 長い期間にわたる夫の裏切りを耐えている『嫉妬』の麻衣にとっ ては、夫と別れることは不可能であるが、数ヵ月後のスイスへの 転居により夫の情事も終わるという希望のかけらもあり、苦悩を 受け入れる覚悟ができる。 – 『情事』の洋子は、アメリカ人レインとの恋愛関係が痛々しく終 結する。やはり、無関心なイギリス人の夫、ポールとの夫婦関係 を保つことが優先されるからである。 – 『誘惑』のシナは、最初に離婚を考えるが、夫のフィルと彼の故 郷イギリスを訪問、彼の家族や友人との出会い、またシナが浮気 の機会を持つことで、以外にも夫との歩み寄りが可能となり、問 題を抱えながらも結婚生活が続けられる。 – 『熱い風』ではより成熟したシナは、夫のフィルとともにイギリ スを再度訪ね、シンガポールを訪ね、不幸な夫婦関係から精神的 に救われるために、文学的な執筆を始めようと決意する。

日常生活または性生活における夫の無関心さや無配慮、抑圧や軽 蔑に対する女達の反抗、そして同時に別れや離婚、孤独への恐怖が Japanese summary 概要 267 描かれる。強烈な体験を可能とする精神的な力が衰え、男女関係の 緊張感や意欲が弱まり、止めることのできない時の早い流れととも に、人生を満たすことができないままに年をとっていく女性達の人 生の空虚感、絶望感への共感ないしは理解を森瑤子は、読者に呼び 覚まそうとしている。女性は従来の固定された役割から抜け出るべ きだと言いたいのである。 脱出パターンは、主に浮気という形である。森瑤子の主張は、社 会が変わらない限り女性達は浮気をやめるべきではないということ だ。主婦の他の脱出の可能性としては、職業に就き経済的に独立す ることや精神的開放の手段としての作家活動が挙げられる。 女性特有の人生の問題として、森瑤子は、妊娠、妊娠中絶、不妊 手術、オーガスム不足、セクハラ、男女関係における暴力、強姦、 エスカレートする喧嘩、閉じ込められ拘束された感じ等のテーマも 扱っている。 森瑤子の見方から言うと、女性は、男性を変えるためには、離婚 という脅迫手段、性行為の拒絶、家事拒絶、或いは、森瑤子が進め ているようオープンに話し合う、など様々な方法で圧力をかけるこ とができる。 初期の長編小説の女主人公達が、あまり自信を持っていず，活動 的でもなく、たいてい受身的で決心がつかない態度を取っているの に対し、短編小説の女主人公達は大概、これまでの従順で控えめな 態度を脱ぎ捨て、自己の人生を自分の手で築き上げようとする女性 である。より自由で自信に満ちた現代日本女性の先駆的人生観を代 表している。森瑤子の主人公たちのこうした女性像によって作者は 女性読者の自信を強め、自立した女性としての自己認識を見出すよ う勇気づけるのである。 本研究書の最後で、森瑤子の文学的位置づけに取り組んだ。彼女 の作品はセミ自伝小説といえる。数箇所を見ると、日本の私小説の 告白的、自己露出的性格に近い。特に女主人公、或いは語り手が自 己批判をしたり、自分を否定的に見たり、恥の感情を表している場 面がそうである。しかし、森瑤子は作家としての自分と女主人公と の間に距離を保ち、感情を客観化し、事実を架空化している。つま り彼女の作品は、自伝要素が強く織りなされた創作である。 森瑤子の文学は中間小説の範疇に属する。日常生活をリアルに模 写する際は、適切、本物、誠実であることを重視し、普通をモット ーに掲げた。彼女はフランスの心理的な長編小説を愛し、自分をサ ガン、デュラス、ド・ボーボワールの後継者とみなしていた。 日本の古典文学をほのめかす代わりに、森瑤子は、クラシック音 楽の分野の深い知識を提供している。これにより読者の教養の要求が 268 APPENDICES 満たされ、しかもそれは境界を越えたもである。また、英語の多用も 彼女の国際性を示し、教育的な役割を果たしている。東京が舞台で あることからも、都会派小説、シティ派小説とも呼ばれている。 本書では、森瑤子と1960年代から1980年代にかけて出版された日 本女流作家13人の134の作品との比較も行った。女性の問題を扱った 10人の有名な女流作家（瀬戸内晴美、津村節子、向田邦子、三枝和 子、富岡多恵子、高橋たか子、大庭みな子、河野多恵子、津島佑子、 山田詠美）、及び、森瑤子にとって重要な観点である西洋体験をどう 扱っているかという点で比較、参考になった3人の女流作家、山本道 子、米谷ふみこ、うい・えいんじぇる） である。この際、内容的、 文体的視点から部分的に興味深い、森瑤子との比較を行った。 本書の巻末に付録として、森瑤子の全出版物100冊以上と、森瑤 子自身の雑誌記事、また森瑤子に関連する雑誌記事200編以上のリス ト、さらに文献目録、語彙解説、及び本書の英語と日本語による要 約を添える。 Book publications by Mori Yôko 269

VI.C.1. BOOK PUBLICATIONS BY MORI YÔKO

IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Introductory remark: Lists of Mori’s works are to find in Yonaha 1998b, Nichigai Associates (Ed.) 1997 (partly with short comments), Ono 1994 and Mori 1993. In the folllowing list, books which I own are marked with* (paperback) or with ** (hardcover editions).

* Jôji Summer Love488 (Love Affair), novel, Shûeisha 12/1978, Shûeisha bunko 1982, illustrated edition at Gakugei shorin 12/1987 * Yûwaku Temptation, novel, Shûeisha 2/1980, Shûeisha bunko 1982 * Shitto Jealousy, novel, Shûeisha 11/1980, Shûeisha bunko 1984, Kadokawa 2/2001, also containing the novellas: * Nagi no kôkei Scene at a Calm * Kanojo no mondai Her Problem * Iruka Dolphins * Wakare no yokan Presentiment of Separation, 17 essays, PHP ken- kyûsho 6/1981; Kadokawa bunko 9/1983 * Kizu Injury, novel, Shûeisha 10/1981, Shûeisha bunko 1984, Kadokawa 9/2001 * Manekarenakatta onnatachi Women Who Were Not Invited, 12 stories, Shûeisha 5/1982, Shûeisha bunko 1985 * Ai ni meguriau yokan Presentiment of Finding Love, Shufu to sei­ katsusha 8/1982, under the title Ai no yokan Presentiment of Love at Kadokawa 1/1985 * Atsui kaze Tropical Wind, novel, Shûeisha 10/1982, Shûeisha bunko 1985 * Sayônara ni kanpai Cheers for Good-bye, 21 essays, PHP kenkyûsho 2/ 1983; Kadokawa bunko 9/1985

488 This title was approved by Mori Yôko for my translation at edition q, Berlin 1995. 270 APPENDICES * Kaze monogatari Story of the Wind, novel, Ushio shuppansha 4/ 1983; Kadokawa bunko 6/1984 * Jigoro Gigolo, novel, Shûeisha 5/1983, Shûeisha bunko 1986 * Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô Every Night Cradle, Boat or Battlefield, novel, Kôdansha 9/1983, Kôdansha bunko 1986 * Onnazakari no itami The Mature Woman’s Grief, 23 essays, Shufu no tomosha 10/1983; Shûeisha bunko 8/1987 * Yakôchû Phosphorescence of the Sea, novel, Shûeisha 11/1983, Shûei- sha bunko 1986 * Horosukôpu monogatari Horoscope Stories, 12 stories, Bungei Shunjû 12/1983, Bunshun bunko 1986 * Onnazakari Women in Their Best Years, novel, Kadokawa 5/1984, Kadokawa bunko 1986, TV series at Nihon terebi Apr.9, 1984 – Jul. 30, 1984 * Onna to otoko Woman and Man, 5 novellas, Shûeisha 5/1984, Shûeisha bunko 1987 * Shirayuki-hime o mitsuketa – “Watashi no Yôroppa kikô”, I Found Little Snow-White – Report on My Trip to Europe, Nihon zuihitsuka kyôkai 9/1984 * Middonaito kôru Midnight Call, 11 stories, Kôdansha 11/1984, Kôdan- sha bunko 1987 * Kazoku no shôzô Portrait of a Family, Shûeisha 2/1985 * Fukushû no yô na ai ga shite mitai I Want to Make Love Like Taking Revenge, 25 essays, KK Bestsellers 3/1985; Memory edition for Mori Yôko 8/1993, same as Ren’ai kankei * Kaze no ie The House in the Wind, novel, Bungei shunjû 5/1985, Bunshun bunko 1988 * Nagisa no hoteru ni te In the Beach Hotel, Chûôkôronsha 5/1985; Gakugei shorin 12/1987; Kadokawa 5/1999 * Sakebu watashi I Am Screaming, novel in 13 chapters, Shufu no tomosha 8/1985; Shûeisha bunko 7/1988 * Kafe orientaru Café Oriental, novel, Kôdansha 9/1985, Kôdansha bunko 1988 * Isshu, happî endo A Kind of Happy Ending, novel, Kadokawa 9/ 1985, Kadokawa bunko 1986, Chûôkôron shinsha 3/2000 * Kekkonshiki Wedding, 7 novellas, Shinchôsha 10/1985, Shinchô bunko 1988 * Otoko jôzu onna jôzu – “Ai rabu yû kara guddo bai made”, His Talents and Her Talents – From ‘I love You’ to ‘Good-bye’ ”, Kadokawa 1/1986 Book publications by Mori Yôko 271 * Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no How Gin Intoxicates My Heart, 64 essays, Kadokawa bunko 1/1986 * Kana no kekkon Kana’s Marriage, novel, Shûeisha 1/1986, Shûeisha bunko 1989 ** Beddo no otogibanashi Bedtime Stories, 34 short stories, Bungei shunjû 3/1986, Bunshun bunko 1989, illustrated edition at Gakugei shorin 12/1987 * Iyaringu The Earring, 8 stories, Kadokawa bunko 4/1986 Roppongi erejî – “Otoko to onna no ai no sukuranburu”, Roppongi-Elegy – Love-Scramble of Man and Woman, Yamato shuppan 5/1986 * Wakare jôzu A Talent for Separating, 27 essays, Hârekuin entâ­ puraizu, Nihon-shisha 7/1986; Kadokawa bunko 6/1988 Mô ichido, Okurahoma mikusa o odorô Let’s Dance the Oklahoma- Mixer Once Again, together with Kamegai Shôji, Shufu no tomosha 7/1986; Shûeisha 7/1989 * Bijotachi no shinwa Legendary Beauties, 15 portrayals of famous women, 9/1986, Kôdansha bunko 1989 * Puraibêto taimu Private Time, 79 essays, Kadokawa bunko 9/1986 Hoteru sutôrî Hotel Story, Kadokawa 12/1986; Chûôkôron-shinsha 9/1999 Koi no indekkusu Love–Index, 105 short short stories, Kadokawa 1/ 1987 Otoko-zanmai – onna-zanmai Men’s Samâdhi and Women’s Samâdhi, Mainichi shinbunsha 3/1987; Shûeisha 2/1990 * Tôkyô aijô monogatari Love Stories in Tôkyô, 7 novellas, Jitsugyô no Nihonsha 4/1987; Kadokawa bunko 1/1991 Aki no hi no vioron no tame’iki no The Sigh of a Cello on an Autum Day, Shufu no tomosha 5/1987; Kadokawa 5/1989 * Kare to kanojo He and she, 31 short stories, Kadokawa bunko 6/1987 Hohoho no ho Laughter, together with Yamada Kuniko, Ôta shuppan 7/1987; Kadokawa 9/1992 Netsujô – “A Yacht Named Passion”, Passion, together with Kevin Reger, Kadokawa 7/1987 * Sasowarete Tempted, 18 stories, Mainichi shinbunsha 7/1987; Shûeisha bunko 9/1990 Sukuranburu – “Otoko to onna no kôsaten”, Scramble – The Intersection Between Man and Woman, Ushio shuppansha (illustrated by Hashi- moto Shân), 7/1987; Kadokawa 5/1995 272 APPENDICES * Sensui-wan no tsuki (Riparusubei) Moon over Repulse Bay, novel, Kôdansha 10/1987, Kôdansha bunko 1990 (previously published in two parts under the title given above and under the title Za robî, The Lobby, in Shôsetsu Gendai 10 + 11/1986) * Kureopatora no yume – “Yo ni mo mijikai monogatari”, Cleopatra’s Dream – The World’s Shortest Stories, 25 short stories, Asahi shin- bunsha 10/1987; Kadokawa bunko 9/1990 * Kaze no yô ni Like the Wind, 64 essays with a preface and photos, Kadokawa bunko 10/1987 * Hansamu gâruzu Pretty Girls, novel, Shûeisha 2/1988, Shûeisha bunko 1991 Ravu sutôrî Love Story, together with Ivan Brackin, Kadokawa bunko 2/1988 (previously published in Gekkan Kadokawa 11/1986–10/ 1987) * Kasanoba no tame’iki – “Yo ni mo mijikai monogatari”, Casanova’s Sigh – The World’s Shortest Stories, 26 short stories, Asahi shinbunsha 3/1988; Kadokawa bunko 5/1991 Koi no hôrôsha – Bagabondo “Mi o kogasu otoko to onna no yume sanjû- ya”, Vagabond of Love – Scorching Dreams of Man and Woman in 30 Nights, Yamato shuppan 4/1988; Kadokawa 1/1993 ** Daburu koncheruto Double Concert, novel, Shûeisha 4/1988 (previously published in Shôsetsu Subaru 11/1987) Roppongi saido bai saido Side by Side in Roppongi, together with Kamegai Shôji, Shufu no tomosha 6/1988; Shûeisha 5/1993 Bôkyô Home-Sickness, biographical novel on the wife of the founder of the whisky company Nikka and her international marriage in Japan; Gakushû kenkyûsha 6/88; Kadokawa 5/1990 Nihon no mei-zuihitsu 69 69 Famous Miscells from Japan, Sakuhinsha 7/1988 Airando The Island, Kadokawa 7/1988, novel * Toki wa sugite – “Cinema Essay”, As Time Goes By, 21 presenta- tions of international films and movie-stars, Kadokawa bunko 8/1988 * Ren’ai kankei Love Relationships (same as Fukushû no yô na ai ga shite mitai (1985, see above), 25 essays, Kadokawa bunko 8/ 1988 * Famirî repôto Family Report, Shinchôsha 12/1988 (previously published under the title Famirî pôtorêto in Shôsetsu Shinchô 5/1986 – 8/1988) Book publications by Mori Yôko 273 Aru hi, aru gogo On That Day, That Afternoon, 49 essays, Kadokawa bunko 1/1989 Kieta misuterî – “Disappeared mystery”, The Disappeared Mystery, Shûeisha 2/ 1989 * Anata ni denwa A Call for You, 12 novellas, Chûôkôronsha 2/1989; Chûô bunko 1990, Kadokawa 1/2000 Yoru no nagai sakebi A Long Cry in the Night, Shûeisha 4/1989 Duramatikku nôto Dramatic Notes, Kadokawa 4/1989 Suna no ie The House in the Dunes, Fusôsha 5/1989; Shinchôsha 8/1991 Onna ga 35-sai de A Woman at the Age of 35, Magajin hausu 6/1989 Jûgatsu no bara Roses in October, Kadokawa 10/1989 ** Beddo no otogibanashi Part II Bedtime Stories Part II, 40 short stories, Bungei shunjû 10/1989, Bunshun bunko 9/1992 Daiyamondo sutôrî Diamond Story, TBS Buritanika (with photos), 3/1990; Shinchôsha 4/1993 Sukoshi yotte A Bit Drunk, Jitsugyô no Nihonsha 5/1990; Kadokawa 5/1993 Watashi o tomete Stop Me, by Christine McRoy, translated by Mori Yôko, Shufu no tomosha 5/1990 Gogo no shi Death in the Afternoon, Kadokawa 7/1990 Kaze o sagashite Catch the Wind, Chûôkôronsha 10/1990 Yoru no chokorêto – “Chocolats à la Nuit”, Chocolates at Night, Kadokawa bunko 12/1990 Suichoku no machi The Vertical Town, Shûeisha 12/1990 Dezâto wa anata The Dessert Is You, Asahi shinbunsha 1/1991; Kadokawa 9/1993, TV series in 20 parts, TBS Oct. 10, 1993 – March 20, 1994 Mai korekushon My Collection, Kadokawa 3/1991 Pâtî ni yonde – “Ask me to the party”, 10 stories, Kadokawa 4/1991, Kadokawa bunko 1993 Oishii pasuta Delicate Pasta, together with Kamegai Shôji, PHP kenkyû­ sho 5/1991 Koi no meiga 100-sen One Hundred Famous Pictures of Love, edited by Mori Yôko, Kôdansha 8/1991 Shitsumon no hon – rabu & sekkusu-hen The Book of Questions – Vol. Love & Sex, by Gregory Stock, translated by Mori Yôko, Kadokawa 10/1991 Higeki no owari The End of a Tragedy, by Rachel Engels, translated by Mori Yôko, Chikuma shobô 1/1992 274 APPENDICES Hijôshiki no bigaku The Esthetics of the Improper, Magajin hausu 2/1992; Kadokawa 2/1995 Mama no koibito Mother’s Lover, Kadokawa 4/1992, Kadokawa bunko 1994 Tôkyô-hatsu senya ichiya 1001 Nights of Departures from Tôkyô, Asahi shinbunsha 4/1992; Shinchôsha (2 vol.) 3/1995 (more than 200 short short stories, previously published in Asahi shinbun, evening edition, Mar. 4 – Oct. 31, 1991) Tovinkuru monogatari Twinkle Story, Ushio shuppansha 7/1992; Kadokawa 9/1995 Yotsu no koi no monogatari Four Love Stories, Purejidentosha 7/1992; Shûeisha 6/1995 Sukâretto Scarlett, by Alexandra Ripley, translated by Mori Yôko, Shinchôsha 11/1992; paperback in 4 vol: vol. 1 and 2 11/1994, vol. 3 and 4 12/1994 Mori Yôko jisen-shû I Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 1, Shûei- sha 5/1993 ** Owari no bigaku – “L’esthétique de l’adieu”, The Esthetics of Leaving, 48 essays, Kadokawa 5/1993 ** Otoko-go onna-go hon’yaku shinan – “Each Point of Man and Woman”, Translation Guide for the Language of Men and the Language of Women, 23 essays, together with Horiike Hideto, Kôbunsha 6/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû II Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 2, Shûeisha 7/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû III Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 3, Shûeisha 8/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû IV Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 4, Shûeisha 9/1993 Ningyô Dolls (texts for a photo edition), Sekiei bunko 9/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû V Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 5, Shûei- sha 10/1993 Kôsui monogatari Stories of Perfume, Kadokawa 10/1993 Mai famirî My Family, Chûôkôronsha 10/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû VI Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 6, Shûeisha 11/1993 Shitashiki naka ni mo reikyaku ari Alienation Even Among Good Friends, Kôdansha 11/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû VII Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 7, Shûeisha 12/1993 Book publications by Mori Yôko 275 Ren’ai ron On Love, Kadokawa 12/1993 Jinsei no okurimono –“With Her Heart and Soul”, Gifts of Life, Gakken 12/1993; Shûeisha 12/1996 Mori Yôko jisen-shû VIII Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 8, Shûeisha 1/1994 Mori Yôko jisen-shû IX Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 9, Shûeisha 2/1994 Anata ni aitai – “Mori Yôko taidan-shû”, I Would Like to Meet You – Conversations With Mori Yôko, Shûeisha 3/1994 Mori Yôko no ryôri techô Mori Yôko’s Cookery-Book, Kôdansha 4/1994 * Shina to iu na no onna A Famous Woman Named Shina, 16 stories, Shûeisha 6/1994, Shûeisha bunko 1996 Kapitan The Captain, Kôdansha 6/1994 Yo ni mo mijikai monogatari – “Kureopatora no yume / Kasanoba no tame’iki”, The World’s Shortest Stories – Cleopatra’s Dreams / Casanovas’s Sighs, Asahi shinbunsha 8/1994 Kaze no essei Essays of the Wind, Sôjusha 10/1995, posth. Kinyôbi no onna – “Kyôfu shôsetsu-shû”, The Woman on a Friday – Stories of Fear, Kadokawa 4/1996 Mori Yôko ai no kioku – “Again”, Mori Yôko – Memories in Love, Yamato shobô 9/1996 Hôseki (juerî) monogatari Stories of Jewels, Kadokawa 3/1997 Ai no bigaku – “The Aesthetics of the Heart”, The Esthetics of Love, also under the title Mori Yôko ga nokoshita ai no bigaku Mori Yôko’s Esthetics of Love, Shûeisha 12/1997 Mori Yôko ga nokoshita kekkon no bigaku Mori Yôko’s Esthetics of Marriage, Shûeisha 10/1998 Ai no kioku Memories in Love, Shinchôsha 9/1999

Book publications on Mori Yôko: * Maria Brackin: Chiisa na kaigara – “Haha Mori Yôko to watashi” The Little Shell – My Mother Mori Yôko and I, Shinchôsha 12/1995 ** Itô Mitsuo: Mori Yôko – waga musume no danshô Mori Yôko – Fragments From My Daughter, Bungei shunjû 5/1998 Natsuki Shizuko and others: Josei sakka shirîzu 18 Series on Women Writers vol. 18 on Mori Yôko, Kadokawa shoten 8/1998

Book publications by Mori Yôko 277

VI.C.2. BOOK PUBLICATIONS BY MORI YÔKO

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Ai ni meguriau yokan Presentiment of Finding Love, Shufu to seikatsusha 8/1982, under the title Ai no yokan Presentiment of Love, Kadokawa 1/1985 Ai no bigaku – “The Aesthetics of the Heart“, The Esthetics of Love, Shûeisha 12/1997, posth. Ai no kioku Memories in Love, Shinchôsha 9/1999 Ai no yokan Presentiment of Love (see Ai ni meguriau yokan), Kadokawa bunko 1/1985 Airando The Island, Kadokawa 7/1988 Aki no hi no vioron no tame’iki no The Sigh of a Cello on an Autum Day, Shufu no tomosha 5/1987; Kadokawa 5/1989 Anata ni aitai – “Mori Yôko taidan-shû“, I Would Like to Meet You – Conversations with Mori Yôko, Shûeisha 3/1994 Anata ni denwa A Call for You, 12 novellas, Chûôkôronsha 2/1989; Chûkô bunko 1990, Kadokawa 1/2000 Aru hi, aru gogo On That Day, That Afternoon, 49 essays, Kadokawa bunko 1/1989 Atsui kaze Tropical Wind, novel, Shûeisha 10/1982, Shûeisha bunko 1985 Beddo no otogibanashi Bedtime Stories, 34 short stories, Bungei shunjû 3/1986; Bunshun bunko 1989, illustrated edition at Gakugei shorin 12/1987 Beddo no otogibanashi Part II Bedtime Stories Part II, 40 short stories, Bungei shunjû 10/1989, Bunshun bunko 9/1992 Bijotachi no shinwa Legendary Beauties, 15 portrayals of famous women, Kôdansha 9/1986, Kôdansha bunko 1989 Bôkyô Home-Sickness, biographical novel, Gakushû kenkyûsha 6/88; Kadokawa 5/1990 Daburu koncheruto Double Concert, novel, Shûeisha 4/1988 278 APPENDICES Daiyamondo sutôrî Diamond Story, TBS Buritanika (with photos), 3/1990; Shinchôsha 4/1993 Dezâto wa anata The Dessert Is You, Asahi shinbunsha 1/1991; Kadokawa 9/1993, TV series in 20 parts, TBS Oct. 1993–Mar. 1994 Duramatikku nôto Dramatic Notes, Kadokawa 4/1989 Famirî repôto Family Report, Shinchôsha 12/1988 Fukushû no yô na ai ga shite mitai I Want to Make Love Like Taking Revenge, 25 essays, KK Bestsellers 3/1985; memory edition for Mori Yôko 8/1993, same as Ren’ai kankei Gogo no shi Death in the Afternoon, Kadokawa 7/1990 Hansamu gâruzu Pretty Girls, novel, Shûeisha 2/1988, Shûeisha bunko 1991 Higeki no owari The End of a Tragedy, by Rachel Engels, translated by Mori Yôko, Chikuma shobô 1/1992 Hijôshiki no bigaku The Esthetics of the Improper, Magajin hausu 2/1992; Kadokawa 2/1995 Hohoho no ho Laughter, together with Yamada Kuniko, Ôta shuppan 7/1987; Kadokawa 9/1992 Horosukôpu monogatari Horoscope Stories, 12 stories, Bungei Shunjû 12/1983, Bunshun bunko 1986 Hôseki (juerî) monogatari Stories of Jewels, Kadokawa 3/1997 Hoteru sutôrî Hotel Story, Kadokawa 12/1986; Chûôkôron-shinsha 9/1999 Iruka Dolphins, in one vol. with Shitto, Shûeisha 11/1980, Shûeisha bunko 1984, Kadokawa 2/2001 Isshu, happî endo A Kind of Happy Ending, novel, Kadokawa 9/1985, Kadokawa bunko 1986, Chûôkôron shinsha 3/2000 Iyaringu The Earring, 8 stories, Kadokawa bunko 4/1986 Jigoro Gigolo, novel, Shûeisha 5/1983, Shûeisha bunko 1986 Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no How Gin Intoxicates My Heart, 64 essays, Kadokawa bunko 1/1986 Jinsei no okurimono – “With Her Heart and Soul“, Gifts of Life, Gakken 12/1993; Shûeisha 12/1996 Jôji Summer Love (Love Affair), novel, Shûeisha 12/1978, Shûeisha bunko 1982; illustrated edition at Gakugei shorin 12/1987 Jûgatsu no bara Roses in October, Kadokawa 10/1989 Kafe orientaru Café Oriental, novel, Kôdansha 9/1985, Kôdansha bunko 1988 Book publications by Mori Yôko 279 Kana no kekkon Kana’s Marriage, novel, Shûeisha 1/1986, Shûeisha bunko 1989 Kanojo no mondai Her Problem, in one vol. with Shitto, Shûeisha 11/1980, Shûeisha bunko 1984, Kadokawa 2/2001 Kapitan The Captain, Kôdansha 6/1994 Kare to kanojo He and She, 31 short stories, Kadokawa bunko 6/1987 Kasanoba no tame’iki – “Yo ni mo mijikai monogatari“, Casanova’s Sigh – The World’s Shortest Stories, 26 short stories, Asahi shinbunsha 3/1988; Kadokawa bunko 5/1991 Kaze monogatari Story of the Wind, novel, Ushio shuppansha 4/1983; Kadokawa bunko 6/1984 Kaze no essei Essays of the Wind, Sôjusha 10/1995 Kaze no ie The House in the Wind, novel, Bungei shunjû 5/1985, Bunshun bunko 1988 Kaze no yô ni Like the Wind, 64 essays with a preface and photos, Kado­ kawa bunko 10/1987 Kaze o sagashite Catch the Wind, Chûôkôronsha 10/1990 Kazoku no shôzô Portrait of a Family, Shûeisha 2/1985 Kekkonshiki Wedding, 7 novellas, Shinchôsha 10/1985, Shinchô bunko 1988 Kieta misuterî – “Disappeared mystery“, The Disappeared Mystery, Shûeisha 2/1989 Kinyôbi no onna – “Kyôfu shôsetsu-shû“, The Woman on a Friday – Stories of Fear, Kadokawa 4/1996 Kizu Injury, novel, Shûeisha 10/1981, Shûeisha bunko 1984, Kadokawa 9/2001 Koi no hôrôsha – Bagabondo “Mi o kogasu otoko to onna no yume sanjûya“, Vagabond of Love – Scorching Dreams of Man and Woman in 30 Nights, Yamato shuppan 4/1988; Kadokawa 1/1993 Koi no indekkusu Love–Index, 105 short short stories, Kadokawa 1/ 1987 Koi no meiga 100-sen One Hundred Famous Pictures of Love, edited by Mori Yôko, Kôdansha 8/1991 Kôsui monogatari Stories of Perfume, Kadokawa 10/1993 Kureopatora no yume – “Yo ni mo mijikai monogatari“, Cleopatra’s Dream – The World’s Shortest Stories, 25 short stories, Asahi shinbunsha 10/1987; Kadokawa bunko 9/1990 Mai famirî My Family, Chûôkôronsha 10/1993 Mai korekushon My Collection, Kadokawa 3 /1991 280 APPENDICES Mama no koibito Mother’s Lover, Kadokawa 4/1992, Kadokawa bunko 1994 Manekarenakatta onnatachi Women Who Were Not Invited, 12 stories, Shûeisha 5/1982, Shûeisha bunko 1985 Middonaito kôru Midnight Call, 11 stories, Kôdansha 11/1984, Kôdan- sha bunko 1987 Mô ichido, Okurahoma mikusa o odorô Let’s Dance the Oklahoma- Mixer Once Again, together with Kamegai Shôji, Shufu no tomosha 7/1986; Shûeisha 7/1989 Mori Yôko ai no kioku – “Again“, Mori Yôko – Memories in Love, Yamato shobô 9/1996, Mori Yôko ga nokoshita ai no bigaku Mori Yôko’s Esthetics of Love, Shûeisha 12/1997 Mori Yôko ga nokoshita kekkon no bigaku Mori Yôko’s Esthetics of Marriage, Shûeisha 10/1998 Mori Yôko jisen-shû I Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 1, Shûeisha 5/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû II Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 2, Shûeisha 7/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû III Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 3, Shûeisha 8/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû IV Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 4, Shûeisha 9/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû V Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 5, Shûei-sha 10/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû VI Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 6, Shûeisha 11/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû VII Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 7, Shûeisha 12/1993 Mori Yôko jisen-shû VIII Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 8, Shûeisha 1/1994 Mori Yôko jisen-shû IX Mori Yôko’s Collection of her Works vol. 9, Shûeisha 2/1994 Mori Yôko no ryôri techô Mori Yôko’s Cookery-Book, Kôdansha 4/1994 Nagi no kôkei Scene at a Calm, in one vol. with Shitto, Shûeisha 11/1980, Shûeisha bunko 1984, Kadokawa 2/2001 Nagisa no hoteru ni te In the Beach Hotel, Chûôkôronsha 5/1985; Gakugei shorin 12/1987; Kadokawa 5/1999 Book publications by Mori Yôko 281 Netsujô – “A Yacht Named Passion“, Passion, together with Kevin Reger, Kadokawa 7/1987 Nihon no mei-zuihitsu 69 69 Famous Miscells from Japan, Sakuhinsha 7/1988 Ningyô Dolls (Texts for a photo-edition), Sekiei bunko 9/1993 Oishii pasuta Delicate Pasta, together with Kamegai Shôji, PHP kenkyûs- ho 5/1991 Onna ga 35-sai de A Woman at the Age of 35, Magajin hausu 6/1989 Onna to otoko Woman and Man, 5 novellas, Shûeisha 5/1984, Shûeisha bunko 1987 Onnazakari Women in Their Best Years, novel, Kadokawa 5/1984, Kadokawa bunko 1986 Onnazakari no itami The Mature Woman’s Grief, 23 essays, Shufu no tomosha 10/1983; Shûeisha bunko 8/1987 Otoko-go onna-go hon’yaku shinan – “Each Point of Man and Woman“, Translation-Guide for the Language of Men and the Language of Women, 23 essays, together with Horiike Hideto, Kôbunsha 6/1993 Otoko jôzu onna jôzu – “Ai rabu yû kara guddo bai made“, His Talents and Her Talents – From ‘I Love You‘ to ‘Good-bye’, Kadokawa 1/1986 Otoko-zanmai – onna-zanmai Men’s Samâdhi and Women’s Samâdhi, Mainichi shinbunsha 3/1987; Shûeisha 2/1990 Owari no bigaku – “L’esthétique de l’adieu“, The Esthetics of Leaving, 48 essays, Kadokawa 5/1993 Pâtî ni yonde – “Ask me to the party“, 10 stories, Kadokawa 4/1991, Kadokawa bunko 1993 Puraibêto taimu Private Time, 79 essays, Kadokawa bunko 9/1986 Ravu sutôrî Love Story, together with Ivan Brackin, Kadokawa bunko 2/1988 Ren’ai kankei Love Relationships (same as Fukushû no yô na ai ga shite mitai, 1985, see above), 25 essays, Kadokawa bunko 8/1988 Ren’ai ron On Love, Kadokawa 12/1993 Roppongi erejî – “Otoko to onna no ai no sukuranburu“, Roppongi-Elegy – Love-Scramble of Man and Woman, Yamato shuppan 5/1986 Roppongi saido bai saido Side by Side in Roppongi, with Kamegai Shôji, Shufu no tomosha 6/1988; Shûeisha 5/1993 Sakebu watashi I Am Screaming, novel in 13 chapters, Shufu no tomosha 8/1985; Shûeisha bunko 7/1988 Sasowarete Tempted, 18 stories, Mainichi shinbunsha 7/1987; Shûeisha bunko 9/1990 282 APPENDICES Sayônara ni kanpai Cheers For Good-bye, 21 essays, PHP kenkyûsho 2/1983; Kadokawa bunko 1985 Sensui-wan no tsuki (Riparusubei) Moon over Repulse Bay, novel, Kôdansha 10/1987, Kôdansha bunko 1990 Shina to iu na no onna A Famous Woman Named Shina, 16 stories, Shûeisha 6/1994, Shûeisha bunko 1996 Shirayuki-hime o mitsuketa – “Watashi no Yôroppa kikô“, I Found Little Snow-White – Report on my Trip to Europe, Nihon zuihitsuka kyôkai 9/1984 Shitashiki naka ni mo reikyaku ari Alienation Even Among Good Friends, Kôdansha 11/1993 Shitsumon no hon – rabu & sekkusu-hen The Book of Questions – Vol. Love & Sex, by Gregory Stock, translated by Mori Yôko, Kadokawa 10/1991 Shitto Jealousy, novel, Shûeisha 11/1980, Shûeisha bunko 1984, Kadokawa 2/2001 Suichoku no machi The Vertical Town, Shûeisha 12/1990 Sukâretto Scarlett, by Alexandra Ripley, translated by Mori Yôko, Shinchôsha 11/1992; paperback in 4 vol.: vol. 1 and 2 11/1994, vol. 3 and 4 12/1994 Sukoshi yotte A Bit Drunk, Jitsugyô no Nihonsha 5/1990; Kadokawa 5/1993 Sukuranburu – “Otoko to onna no kôsaten“, Scramble – The Intersection Between Man and Woman, Ushio shuppansha (illustrated by Hashimoto Shân) 7/1987; Kadokawa 5/1995 Suna no ie The House in the Dunes, Fusôsha 5/1989; Shinchôsha 8/1991 Toki wa sugite – “Cinema Essay“, As Time Goes By, 21 presentations of international films and movie-stars, Kadokawa bunko 8/1988 Tôkyô aijô monogatari Love Stories in Tôkyô, 7 novellas, Jitsugyô no Nihonsha 4/1987; Kadokawa bunko 1/1991 Tôkyô-hatsu senya ichiya 1001 Nights of Departures from Tôkyô, app. 200 short short stories, Asahi shinbunsha 4/1992; Shinchôsha (2 vol.) 3/1995 Tovinkuru monogatari Twinkle Story, Ushio shuppansha 7/1992; Kadokawa 9/1995 Wakare jôzu A Talent for Separating, 27 essays, Hârekuin entâpuraizu, Nihon-shisha 7/1986; Kadokawa bunko 6/1988 Wakare no yokan Presentiment of Separation, 17 essays, PHP kenkyûsho 6/1981; Kadokawa bunko 9/1983 Book publications by Mori Yôko 283 Watashi o tomete Stop Me, by Christine McRoy, translated by Mori Yôko, Shufu no tomosha 5/1990 Yakôchû Phosphorescence of the Sea, novel, Shûeisha 11/1983, Shûeisha bunko 1986 Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô Every Night Cradle, Boat or Battlefield, novel, Kôdansha 9/1983, Kôdansha bunko 1986 Yo ni mo mijikai monogatari – “Kureopatora no yume / Kasanoba no tame’iki“, The World’s Shortest Stories – Cleopatra’s Dreams / Casanova’s Sighs, Asahi shinbunsha 8/1994 Yoru no chokorêto – “Chocolats à la Nuit“, Chocolates at Night, Kado­ kawa bunko 12/1990 Yoru no nagai sakebi A Long Cry in the Night, Shûeisha 4/1989 Yotsu no koi no monogatari Four Love Stories, Purejidentosha 7/1992; Shûeisha 6/1995 Yûwaku Temptation, novel, in one vol. with Jôji, Shûeisha 2/1980, Shûeisha bunko 1982

Magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko 285

VI.D. JAPANESE MAGAZINE ARTICLES

ON AND BY MORI YÔKO

Grazia 4 / 2006, 401–415: Konna ni mo tezuyoku kakkô ii ikikata ga atta – Mori Yôko, Yasui Kazumi: Ii onna no senkushatachi – Shin’yû Ôya Eiko- san ga kataru sugao, ii onna no senkushatachi no jiden, hyôden hoka Da Capo 1 Mar. 2006, 104–105: Jôji no hate ni iru hitozuma – Mori Yôko: Igirisu shônen to kekkon shite 3-nin no musume o unda ato, shôsetsu ‘Jôji’ ya ‘Kazoku no shôzô’ de furin suru hitozuma o kaita; Arashiyama Kôsaburô Fujin kôron 7 Apr. 2005, 176–179: Mori Yôko-san no omoide; Kudô Miyoko PHP karatto 4 / 2005, 42: Onna no issei ga kimaru ‘hitori jikan’ no sugoshikata – Ano ijin ni manabu ‘hitori jikan’: Mori Yôko (sakka): Akogare no Sagan o anki suru hodo yomikomu; Uenishi Satoshi Fujin kôron 22 Mar. 2005, 42–45: Jibun no igokochi wa jibun no te de – Haha Mori Yôko ga oshiete kureta ribingu no taisetsusa; Heather Brackin Murai Seiryû 8 / 2004, 24–25: ‘Onaji kaze’ o kyôyû shita shin’yû Mori Yôko-san; Tamura Noriko Cosmopolitan 1 / 2003, 60–61: Aishita ‘mono’ ga tsutaeru ano hito no omokage – Mori Yôko: Otoko no yô na ôki na te wa itsumo burû no inku ni somattemashita; Honda Midori Cosmopolitan 5 / 2002, 140–145: Mori Yôko no sekai – Hitori no sakka ga nokoshita kokoro no kiseki 25 ans 11 / 2001, 452–453: ‘Haha’ de kimaru onna no jinsei: Sakka Mori Yôko o sonkei shi, haha Masayo Burakkin o aisuru – Futatsu no omokage o mune ni watashirashiku ikitai; Maria Brackin Croissant 25 Dec. 2000, 90: Sonkei-subeki shokutsû ga aishita, 20-seiki tobikiri no bimi o saigen shimashita – Mori Yôko no ‘Rebâ-pate to rôsuto-bîfu’ Crea 11 / 2000, 270: Nama no kotoba de katarareta sei no yokkyû to sunobisshu ni egakareta kokoro no kawaki: Mori Yôko: ‘Jôji’; Hayashi Mariko (Book review) 286 APPENDICES Aera 3 Jul. 2000, 60–61: Mori Yôko – Botsugo 7-nenme no ninki / Ima, josei­ tachi ga miserareru riyû / Bunkoka de seizen no kanojo o shiranai wakai sedai no arata na fan, tsuyokute yasashii risô no otona no josei; Ueda Kagura Fujin kôron 7 Jun. 2000, 33–35: Tomodachi ’tte nan desu ka? Oshare ni ikiru tensai Mori Yôko no koto o, itsu made mo kataritai; Tamura Noriko Aera 29 Jun. 1998, 75: Yôko-san no danshô – Mori Yôko-san no chichi Itô Mitsuo-san ga ‘Mori Yôko – Waga musume no danshô’ o shuppan; Matsubara Yoshi Hon no hanashi 6 / 1998, 76–79: Mori Yôko to Itô Masayo no aida – Chichi to jijo ga kataru, musume toshite, haha toshite, sakka toshite no Mori Yôko to sono sakuhin (Itô Mitsuo ‘Mori Yôko – Waga musume no danshô’); Itô Mitsuo, Maria Brackin Bessatsu Bungei shunjû 1 Apr. 1998, 356–444: Mori Yôko – Waga musume no danshô; Itô Mitsuo Shûkan bunshun 26 Dec. 1996, 18: Sakka no shôzô – Mori Yôko; Photos: Shinoyama Norinobu More 7 / 1996, 340–346: Musume ga kataru – Mori Yôko no shôgai: ‘Aisenai, aisarenai!’ to nayami-tsuzuketa haha e; Maria Brackin Grazia 6 / 1996, 219–228: Mori Yôko-san – ‘Onna’ o ikiru koto no zeitaku; Takeda Manju Hato yo! 6 / 1996, 66–67: Mori Yôko ‘Kaze no yô ni’ – Chôgin Roppongi-ten; Yanagida Yoriko Clique 20 May 1996, 67: Maria Burakkin-san ‘Chiisa na kaigara – Haha Mori Yôko to watashi’: ‘Hitori no josei’ toshite no Mori Yôko no kokoro no kattô ni semaru; Maria Brackin Shûkan Gendai 18 May 1996, 94: Mikan no zeppitsu ‘Kapitan’ o uketsuide jippu kara aijô e okuru chinkon no kôkyôshi – Itô Mitsuo ‘Kapitan monogatari’; Nawada Kazuo Grazia 5 / 1996, 219: 30-dai no josei ga kyôkan suru ‘Mori Yôko sakuhin’ no kôno to wa? Lee 5 / 1996, 225: Maria Burakkin ‘Chiisa na kaigara’: Haha Mori Yôko ni mo iroiro na dorama ga atta koto, kurushimi, kattô shita koto o, shitte hoshikatta n desu; Maria Brackin Shûkan Josei 30 Jan. 1996, 226–227: Maria Burakkin-san: Manamusume ga hajimete akashita ningen Mori Yôko-san: Haha o kogashita furin –‘Jôji’ no moderu – hakken sareta nikki ni tsuzurarete ita!! ‘Chiisa na kaigara’ o shuppan; Maria Brackin Subaru 9 / 1995, 194: Mori Yôko ‘Jôji’; Yamazaki Kôtarô Magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko 287 Josei Seven 27 Jul. 1995, 70–76: Waga haha Mori Yôko to no ‘naguriai danzetsu no hibi’ to ‘byôshô de no bôda no namida’ – Shôgeki no shi kara 2-nen. jijo Maria-san ga hajimete akashita hahamusume, sôzetsu hiwa Croissant 10 May 1995, 14–15: ’Jôji’: Yonda shunkan, watashitachi no sedai no kotoba to kankaku de, watashitachi no omoi o kaita shôsetsu da to kanjimashita; Ôya Eiko Sophia 11 / 1994, 290–291: Gan o kangaeru, hosupisu no sentaku: Makki- gan datta Mori Yôko-san, Yasui Kazumi-san no sentaku o, shin’yû futari ga kataru; Tamura Noriko, Ôya Eiko Subaru 10 / 1994, 417: Mori Yôko ‘Kapitan’, Masazu Tsutomu Taiyô 10 / 1994, 36–39: Mori Yôko: Nee, kore oishii no yo. Tabete mite; Katô Taki With 9 / 1994, 298–305: Mori Yôko-san ga nokoshita ryôri techô – Musume no Maria-san to Naomi-san no komento mo Marie Claire 8 / 1994, 17: Mori Yôko-san no kaori; Horie Ruriko Josei Seven 14 Jul. 1994, 71–78: Mori Yôko – Shichigatsu muika isshûki, kyônen 52 – Kaze to tomo ni satte 1-nen – ‘Gomen ne, amari issho ni irarenakute’ no kotoba o nokoshite… La Seine 7 / 1994, 163–173: Isshûki tokushû: Mori Yôko-san no okurimono: Suteki na onna ni nareru chie – Ima, hatsu-kôkai no hizô shashin to mijika na hitobito no koe kara yomigaeru; Ôya Eiko, Kimura Shinsuke, Honda Midori, Watanabe Masanori hoka Subaru 7 / 1994, 238–250: Mori Yôko isshûki tokubetsu kikaku: Itô Mitsuo (Mori Yôko chichi) intabyû: Zettai no ketsuen – Monogatari no makki to wa; Itô Mitsuo Cosmopolitan 7 / 1994, 110–111: Sakka Mori Yôko: Saigo no shigoto: Shi o yokan saseru mi-happyô-saku ‘Namida no kubi-kazari’ – Zeppitsu to natta ‘Shina to iu na no onna’ Shûkan Asahi 27 May 1994, 136: Chichi ni sasageta musume no zeppitsu – Mori Yôko no mikan ‘Kapitan’ kankô e Josei Seven 19 May 1994, 270: Namida no ano hi kara sorezore no michi – Mori Yôko-san: O-haka wa Mori-san ga aishita Yoron-tô no bessô ni konryû-chû La Seine 5 / 1994, 210–211: Tsune ni owari o mitsumete ita kara ima isshun no tokimeki o taisetsu ni shita hito datta; Honda Midori Shûkan Jiji 5 Feb. 1994, 102: Mori Yôko: ‘Jinsei no okurimono’ – Aisuru monotachi ni takushita essé-shû Croissant 10 Jan. 1994, 99: Mori Yôko, Horiike Hideto ‘Otoko-go onna-go honyaku shinan’ 288 APPENDICES Shûkan Gendai 25 Dec. 1993, 205: ‘O-ki ni iri katto’ kôkai – memowâru “’93-nen bohimei” Mori Yôko-san La Seine 10 / 1993, 172–177: Tsuitô tokubetsu kikaku: My Collection sôshûhen: Mori Yôko-san ga aishita 33 no monotachi to nokoshite kureta 3tsu no shina – Ninen-han no hibi ni kaimamita Mori Yôko-san no ikikata to kodawari Sapio 9 Sep. 1993, 70–73: Ren’ai jôzu ni naru tame no ‘Mori Yôko tokuhon’; Moroi Kaoru, Shimizu Tôru Gekkan Kadokawa 9 / 1993, 236–237: Mori Yôko: Tsuitô-bun – Shanpen o kakaete; Yamada Eimi Gekkan Kadokawa 9 / 1993, 238–250: Tsuitô: Mori Yôko jishin ni yoru zensakuhin kaisetsu / ‘91-nen 6-gatsu-gô yori sairoku; Mori Yôko Gekkan Kadokawa 9 / 1993, 251–255: Tsuitô: Mori Yôko ni kiku 25 no shitsumon / ‘91-nen 6-gatsu-gô yori sairoku; Mori Yôko Shôsetsu Subaru 9 / 1993, 264–269: Mori Yôko no sekai: Mori Yôko-san no koto – Wakare no kotoba; Shino Hiroko, Kitakata Kenzô, Ikeda Masuo Shôsetsu Subaru 9 / 1993, 270–275: Mori Yôko no sekai: Mori Yôko no sakuhin no mori e – Mori-sakuhin ni tsuite omou koto; Tsuji Yoshinari, Tamura Noriko, Aki Yôko hoka Sophia 9 / 1993, 231–238: Shitashikatta bôifurendo 5-nin ga kataru… Mori Yôko-san ga nokoshite kureta mono; Kamegai Shôji, Kondô Masaomi, Kimura Shinsuke, Kurokawa Masayuki, Horiike Hideto Bungei shunjû 9 / 1993, 85–87: Mori Yôko-san to bôshi; Hirata Akio Bungei shunjû 9 / 1993, 525: Gaikan-roku: Mori Yôko Subaru 9 / 1993, 216–238: Tsuitô Mori Yôko; Nakamura Shin’ichirô, Kuroi Senji, Yamada Eimi hoka Lee 9 / 1993, 181: Mori Yôko-san no seikyo o itande – Ryûsei no yô ni satta hito, Mori Yôko-san o omou More 9 / 1993, 297–301: Tsuitô: ‘Jôji’ kara 15-nen / Mori Yôko no sekai – Sono ai to kanashimi Fujin kôron 9 / 1993, 206–211: Tsuitô: Musume Mori Yôko no yume no nagori; Itô Mitsuo Fujin kôron 9 / 1993, 212–219: Tsuitô: Wakare o mitsume-tsuzuketa dairin no hana – Mori Yôko; Kamegai Shôji Shûkan Yomiuri 1 Aug. 1993, 42–43: Mori Yôko; Terasawa Yoshio Cosmopolitan 8 / 1993, 126–131: Tsuitô tokushû: Mori Yôko: 15-nenkan no zen-shigoto Josei Seven 29 Jul. 1993, 70–78: Arigatô, gomen ne – Tôgan 70-nichi. Mori Yôko-san (kyônen 52) ga 3-nin no musumetachi ni nokoshita kotoba Magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko 289 Shûkan Playboy 27 Jul. 1993, 57: Otona no wakai ai o egaita, O.L. & joshi daisei no karisuma yuku! Tokai-ha ren’ai shôsetsu no meishu Mori Yôko- san tsuitô – Shichigatsu muika, igan no tame 52-sai de shikyo Shûkan Josei 27 Jul. 1993, 25–27: Â sôzetsu! Morio Yôko-san – Kôhaku no bara ni kakomarete eimin / ‘Watashi o wasurenaide’ saigo o otto, musume ni mitorarete Josei jishin 27 Jul. 1993, 22–23: 52-sai, gan to tatakai, sarinu / Otona no ren’ai o egaita ninki sakka Mori Yôko-san ga igan no tame shikyo Josei jishin 27 Jul. 1993, 48–50: Â Mori Yôko-san – Kakugo no ganshi / ‘Ganbarenai yo ne’ to hatsukoi no dansei ni dake akashita mune no uchi Shûkan Yomiuri 25 Jul. 1993, 165: Chôji: Mori Yôko-san no ‘Mujin-tô hoteru onna-shujin’ no yume; Zanma Rieko Shûkan Gendai 24 Jul. 1993, 167: Igan o kokuchi sarete nikagetsu – Sakka Mori Yôko-san no ‘haya-sugita shi’ Shûkan Asahi 23 Jul. 1993, 133–135: Mori Yôko-san onna-zakari no ganshi – Otto e musume e ‘Watashi o wasurenaide’ no kotoba-nokoshi; Kawamura Jirô Aera 20 Jul 1993, 65: Tsuitô: ‘Jôji’ kara 15-nen – Subete o kakugo shite ita Mori Yôko-san / ‘Kono hanashi wa kakanaide.’ Dan o kitta yô ni katari- tsuzuketa; Kawamura Jirô Focus 16 Jul. 1993, 56–57: ‘Sukâretto’ to tomo ni yukinu – 3000-mai no ‘honyaku’ o nokoshita Mori Yôko-san no shi Shûkan Bunshun 15 Jul. 1993, 33: Tokai-ha sakka Mori Yôko-san ga eranda ‘songen aru shi’ Fujin kôron 7 /1993, 410–415: Mai famirî (Saishû-kai): Finâre (rensai shûryô) Lee 7 / 1993, 228: Mori Yôko wârudo e no go-shôtai (Interview) Asahi Graph 21 May 1993, 25: Yûmeijin ga kataru ‘Watashi gonomi’ no kimono – Mori Yôko; Mori Yôko Shôsetsu Subaru 5 / 1993, 186–194: Mori Yôko no anata ni aitai, anata ni kikitai (8-kai): ‘Eiko sutairu’ o ‘gurôbaru sutairu’ ni; Ishioka Eiko, Mori Yôko Subaru 5 / 1993, 110–115: Kongetsu no hito: Mori Yôko; Ono Fusako, Mori Yôko (Interview) Shûkan Shinchô 25 Mar. 1993, 128: 21-seiki e no messéji: Ningen-rashii jikan: Warau – Mori Yôko; Mori Yôko Aera 16 Mar. 1993, 53–57: Mori Yôko ‘Jôji’ no ato de… ‘Please give me a break. Sonna ni watashi o semenaide’; Kawamura Jirô 290 APPENDICES Elle Japon 5 Mar. 1993, 22–23: Hitari kiru. Manete miru. Kôdô suru. Nakama to no katarai de chiteki shigeki mo baika; Mori Yôko Lee 3 / 1993, 230–235: ’Sukâretto’ no kokyô o tazunete, Mori Yôko-san no Airurando kikô Elle Japon 20 Feb. 1993, 88: Yomigaeru Sukâretto Ohara – Mori Yôko- san ga kataru ‘Kaze to tomo ni sarinu’ e no omoi (Arekusandora Ripurî ‘Sukâretto’ no honyaku); Mori Yôko pumpkin 2 / 1993, 102: Mori Yôko ‘Sukâretto’; Mori Yôko Ushio 2 / 1993, 332: Jibun no ichiban jishin no aru tokoro o hikitateru tame no ‘mainasu no bigaku’- Kikonashikata de otona no josei o…; Mori Yôko With 2 / 1993, 215: Shiawase wa jibun de tsukamu mono. Seichô shita Sukâretto o egaku (Arekusandora Ripurî-cho ‘Sukâretto’ o honyaku); Mori Yôko Lee 1 / 1993, 272: Uriage no subete o Yunisefu ni kifu shimasu. Watashi no aizô-hin, o-yuzuri shimasu – Mori Yôko-san Spa! 23 Dec. 1992, 5–9: Mori Yôko: Sukâretto taiken; Nakamori Akio Josei Seven 17 Dec. 1992, 12: Mori Yôko-san, Merî Medô (Sukâretto sokkuri)-san Shûkan Bunshun 10 Dec. 1992, 22: Mori Yôko-san ga zoku ‘Kaze to tomo ni sarinu’ o honyaku Josei Seven 10 Dec. 1992, 264–268: Mori Yôko-san no Airurando-kikô – Meisaku ‘Kaze to tomo ni sarinu’ no zokuhen ‘Sukâretto’ no butai ‘Tara no oka’ no kokyô o tazunete Shufu to seikatsu 12 / 1992, 171: Eien no dai-besutoserâ ‘Kaze to tomo ni sarinu’ no zokuhen ‘Sukâretto’ o honyaku shita Mori Yôko-san Katei gahô 11 / 1992, 407: Mori Yôko no otoko to onna no sôdan-shitsu (11-saishû-kai):Watashi, 36-sai. Uchikomeru mono ga nakute asette iru; Mori Yôko pumpkin 9 / 1992, 130: Mori Yôko ‘Towinkuru monogatari’: Tomoshibi o têma ni shita 13 no tanpen-shû; Mori Yôko (Interview) Crea 8 / 1992, 73–75: Karui sex, honto no sex, honto sugiru sex: Mori Yôko ni manabu ‘gaman naranai otokotachi’. Croissant 10 Jul. 1992, 130: Mori Yôko ‘Tôkyô-hatsu – Senya ichiya’ Croissant 10 Jun. 1992, 72: ‘Tôkyô’ o azayaka ni egaita 6-hen no meisaku kara. Roppongi – Mori Yôko ‘Jôji’ yori Sunday Mainichi 24 May 1992, 18: Mori Yôko-san: Shigoto wa asa, yoru wa tanoshimimasu – Eiga, ongaku to; Mori Yôko, Mizuno Junkichi (Interview) Magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko 291 La Seine 5 / 1992, 52–53: Kono hitotachi ga ‘ii kao’ o shite iru riyû – Mori Yôko-san: Jibun o mitsumeru koto ga jibun o migaku koto ni tsunagaru. Soshite jibun o yurushite…; Mori Yôko Shôsetsu Subaru 3 / 1992, 92–101: Mori Yôko no anata ni aitai, anata ni kikitai: Deai wa kyonen no natsu deshita ne. Mirano-jû, Kan no namae bakari (rensai kaishi); Yasuda Kan, Mori Yôko an-an 21 Feb 1992, 78–79: Igirisu-fû ni tanoshimu, o-cha no jikan no mitsu no sutairu; Mori Yôko Cosmopolitan 2 / 1992, 144–147: ‘Sukâretto-teki otoko no otoshikata’ daikenkyû – Sukâretto to Meranî, futari no koi kara manabu, ren’ai sakusesu-jutsu; Mori Yôko Lee 2 / 1992, 266: Oshare na setsuyaku, watashi-ryû – ikikata / Kodomo no tame de mo nai, otto no tame de mo nai, jibun no yorokobi no tame ni tôshi suru; (Mori Yôko)489 Asahi Journal 10 Jan. 1992, 92–97: Zadan: Ichioku sô koi shitai jidai – Nihonjin no ren’ai-kan o kiru; Umehara Takeshi, Kishida Hideki, Shimamori Michiko, Mori Yôko hoka Katei gahô 1 / 1992, 375: Mori Yôko no otoko to onna no sôdan-shitsu (1-kai): 15-sai toshishita no koibito to no koi ni nayamu (bimonthly); Mori Yôko Sophia 12 / 1991, 193–201: Otto, koibito, soshite otoko-tomodachi. Tsumari wa onna to otoko no monogatari ‘Onna to otoko no shareta kinchô kankei’; Mori Yôko (Interview) an-an 22 Nov. 1991, 276: Mori Yôko no hijôshiki (saishû-kai): Miryokuteki na nenrei o kasaneru tame ni; Mori Yôko Fujin kôron 11 / 1991, 38–40: Opera no tabi – Baierun opera zanmai; Mori Yôko Bungei shunjû 10 / 1991, 91–93: Myunhen opera kikô; Mori Yôko Dansen 10 / 1991, 108: Suteki ni kiru tame ni wa, naka no nikutai mo suteki de nakereba naranai; Mori Yôko Lee 9 / 1991, 281: Motto utsukushiku toshi o kasaneru tame ni ‘kokoro to karada no tsunagari’ minaoshite mimasen ka? (Mori Yôko) Fujin kôron 9 / 1991, 78–80: Mori Yôko-san: Doko made suki ni nareru ka sore mo sainô no hitotsu desu; Mori Yôko Josei Seven 8 Aug. 1991, 238–241: Suteki na otoko to onna no ren’ai tôku: Saegusa Nariaki-san ‘Ima, chôjo to tsuma no hazama de taihen na n desu’ – Mori Yôko-san ‘Watashi no otto wa “Bokutachi fûfu” no tan’i o taisetsu ni shiteru wa’; Saegusa Nariaki, Mori Yôko (Dialogue)

489 No author given, probably written by Mori Yôko, therefore her name is put in brackets, as well as in the following cases. 292 APPENDICES Subaru 8 / 1991, 9–12 u. 368: Sakka no index (8-kai) Fujin kôron 8 / 1991, 430–435: Mai famirî (1-kai): Ko-banare yakusoku tegata (rensai kaishi); Mori Yôko an-an 5 Jul 1991, 103: Yûmeijin no o-ki ni iri ga konna ni yasui Voice rinzô 1 Jul. 1991, 110–114: Fûfu no daigomi to wa nani ka? Mori Yôko, Saimon Fumi (Dialogue) Winds 7 / 1991, 17–19: Berugî no kekkon shinfonî – Oyako 2-dai ni wataru kokusai kekkon; Mori Yôko Winds 7 / 1991, 20–24: Hezâ-san to Yan-kun no kekkon monogatari; Ôseki Kaoru Clique 20 May 1991, 24: Otoko no dandizumu – Onna no dandizumu: Otoko datte shun ga aru kara, utsukushii jiki ni aitakatta no.; Mori Yôko Fujin kôron 4 / 1991, 248: Jinsei no fushime ni: Megane wa onna no hisoka na tanoshimi; Mori Yôko Sophia 3 / 1991, 31: Watashi no Ginza meiten monogatari ‘Kyô-aji’; (Mori Yôko) Fujin kôron 2 / 1991, 90–97: Onna to kuruma no ii kankei wa; Kawamoto Nobuhiko, Mori Yôko, Fuji Manami (Dialogue) Ushio 1 / 1991, 354–364: Jinsei, kazoku, bungaku; Kojima Nobuo, Mori Yôko (Dialogue) pumpkin 25 Dec. 1990, 58–60: Hansamu ûman (24-saishû-kai): Gesuto Kiku Chiyo; Kiku Chiyo, Mori Yôko an-an 21 Dec. 1990, 20–21: Futoranai taishitsu – Mori Yôko-san no atama o tsukau yaseru hô. ‘Chisei ni purasu alpha’; Mori Yôko Clique 5 Dec. 1990, 90: Dezâto no oishii o-mise wa…; Mori Yôko Subaru rinzô 12 / 1990, 158–175: Shôsetsu o kaku enerugî; Mori Yôko, Tsuji Yoshinari (Dialogue) Josei Seven 8 Nov. 1990, 238–240: I-bunka taidan: How to kaishô Nichibei Masatsu – ‘Kenson wa dame. Jikan o hakkiri, o-kane no deiri wa otoko ga mamoru’; Mori Yôko, Robert J. Collins Fujin kôron 11 / 1990, 496: ‘Gogo no shi’ (Book review) an-an 12 Oct. 1990, 236: Mori Yôko no hijôshiki (1-kai): Koi no inishiatibu wa onna ga torubeki; Mori Yôko Croissant 25 Sep. 1990, 39: Môtsaruto no ichi-mai – Serenâdo dai–13-ban to chôchô K. 525 ‘Eine kleine Nachtmusik’; Mori Yôko Clique 5 Aug. 1990, 21: Watashi-ryû otoko no miwakekata jiten: Sekkusu kara iki-kata made otoko no subete ga wakaru no ga: te; Mori Yôko Crea 5 / 1990, 58–61: ‘Onna ga kekkon o ketsui suru toki’; Hayashi Mariko, Mori Yôko (Dialogue) Magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko 293 Shûkan Yomiuri 29 Apr. 1990, 146–147: Washinton no chichi to Yoron no tsuma (Kafe-bâ no deai); Hashimoto Shân an-an 9 Mar. 1990, 16–17: Shitto: Jerashî o koi no enerugî ni kaete; Mori Yôko Gunzô 3 / 1990, 241: Jintai (3-saishû-kai): Kurubushi; Mori Yôko pumpkin 25 Feb 1990, 56–58: Shinderera taishô essê bumon senkô-kai; Yamada Taiichi, Mori Yôko, Tatematsu Wahei (Dialogue) pumpkin 10 Jan. 1990, 34–36: Hansamu ûman (1-kai): Gesuto: Yamada Eimi; Yamada Eimi, Mori Yôko (Dialogue) Gunzô 1 / 1990, 356: Jintai (1-kai): Hana; Mori Yôko an-an 1 Dec. 1989, 48: an-an dokusha ni erabareta,‘ii onna’-tachi e chokugeki ankêto; Mori Yôko Classy 12 / 1989, 207–212: Mori Yôko-san no shinkyo o-hirome, Hayashi Mariko, Mori Yôko Asahi Graph 17 Nov. 1989, 89: Motenashi jôzu no supaisu no aji; Iizumi Ritsuko Subaru 11 / 1989, 172–187: Sekai bungaku no kairaku; Nakamura Shin’- ichirô, Mori Yôko, Sugano Akimasa (Dialogue) Shûkan Asahi 15 Sep. 1989, 60–61: Wain – Asedaku dinâ; Mori Yôko More 9 / 1989, 15: Kaori no aru josei ni naru (Essay); Mori Yôko Katei gahô 9 / 1989, 319–320: Ureteru sakka no henshûsha, chiteki na shikakenin-tachi; (Mori Yôko) Shufu no tomo 8 / 1989, 40–43: Yôyaku kôsui ga niau toshi-goro ni natte kita; (Mori Yôko) an-an 28 Jul. 1989, 74: Otoko no kimochi ga, wakaranai. Yûmeijin ga suisen – Kono hon o yonde, otoko no kimochi o shirô; (Mori Yôko) Hanako 6 Jul. 1989, 120–121: Koi o suru nara shigeki o ataete kureru hito to. danjokan wa, masumasu châmingu; Saegusa Nariaki, Yoshimura Mari, Mori Yôko hoka (Dialogue) Fujin kôron 6 / 1989, 140–144: Otoko kara onna e okuritai danseigaku – Chichioya kara mita musumetachi no fushigi; Ivan Brackin pumpkin 10 May 1989, 106–107: Itoshiki otokotachi (24-saishû-kai): Yamamoto Masuhiro; Mori Yôko Fuji kôron 5 / 1989, 462: Mori Yôko ‘Anata ni denwa’ (Book review) Mine 25 Apr. 1989, 72–73: Mô hitori no ‘jibun’ no mitsukekata: 4.) Otoko to onna, otona-dôshi, 30-sugi no deai ni tsuite; (Mori Yôko) Croissant 10 Apr. 1989, 90–95: Obasan to wa, yobasemasen, watakushitachi; Yasui Kazumi, Ôya Eiko, Mori Yôko (Dialogue) Lee 3 / 1989, 218: Happî de ii no kashira? Mori Yôko ‘Famirî repôto’ (Book review) 294 APPENDICES Vacation 2 / 1989, 44–47: Shinwa no kuni no sugao o tazunete (Girisha kako): 3.) Girisha de sugoshita gôjasu na jikan; Tanaka Yôko Shûkan Yomiuri 15 Jan 1989, 260–261: Watashi no asobi-taimu (1-kai); (Mori Yôko) More 1 / 1989, 263–270: Sakka Mori Yôko no sekai Sophia 1 / 1989, 351–353: Waga ie no ‘bi’ – Interiaizumu: Shizen no fûai ni hikarete korekushon – Aiban Burakkin, Mori Yôko fusai La Seine 12 / 1988, 237: My private car: Mori Yôko-san: Chotto mo yasashiku-nai kuruma. Dakara koso, koi-gokoro wa tomaranai; Mori Yôko (Interview) Money Japan 12 / 1988, 6–10: ‘Shaneru’ o katte ‘danchi’ ni kaeru Nihonjin no fushigi; Mori Yôko, Kyû Eikan (Qiu Yong-Han) Nami 12 / 1988, 26–27: I no itamu sakugyô; Mori Yôko Ef 10 / 1988, 218–219: Eigo de kenka ga dekitara ichinin-mae ne; Mori Yôko, Nakamura Masatoshi (Dialogue) Classy 9 / 1988, 176–180: Opera wa otona no tanoshimi – Ichiryû no bu­ tai o miru ni wa Nihon no hô ga kakuritsu ga ii; Mori Yôko, Inoue Michiyoshi (Talk) Nami 8 / 1988, 25–27: Kami no kimagure na okurimono; Mori Yôko Sophia 8 / 1988, 160–163: Onna-dôshi ga, shin’yû de ari-tsuzukeru tame no rûru to wa? Mori Yôko (Essay) Ushio 8 / 1988, 340–343: Sono machi ichiban no hoteru ni tomaru – soko kara dorama wa hajimaru; (Mori Yôko) With 8 / 1988, 298–303: Mori Yôko-san no ‘kikimimi’ to ‘homekotoba’ de kaku koi-monogatari; Mori Yôko, Wada Akiko (Dialogue) Shûkan Gendai 30 Jul. 1988, 125: ‘Nikka’ sôgyôsha to gaikokujin tsuma no shôgai o ‘bôkyô’; Mori Yôko (Interview) Croissant 10 Jul. 1988, 142–145: Hitotsu no koto o yukkuri shaberô – Tokimeki; Serge Gainsborough, Mori Yôko (Dialogue) Mine 25 Jun. 1988, 10–11: Ikura uchi no mama ga ‘saijo’ datte chotto hihan shitai koto mo aru; Naomi Brackin, Mori Yôko Croissant 25 Jun. 1988, 64–65: Anata wa nansai desu ka? Ikutsu ni miemasu ka? Ikutsu ni miraretai desu ka? Nenrei to mukiau ka, nenrei o mushi suru ka, nen-rei o kakusu ka, nenrei o gomakasu ka? (Mori Yôko) Elle Japon 20 Jun. 1988, 22–23: Ima, ryûkô wa kurashikku! Hoteru no nantaru ka ga wakaru, kurashikku hoteru e; Mori Yôko Misses 6 / 1988, 188–194: ‘Shuka’ o ikiru onnatachi; Itsuki Hiroyuki, Mori Yôko (Dialogue) Magazine articles on and by Mori Yôko 295 Winds 6 / 1988, 12–14: Sorezore no kekkon – Otto to watashi no rûru, aruiwa kokusai kekkon ni tsuite; Mori Yôko pumpkin 25 May 1988, 102–103: Itoshiki otokotachi (1-kai): Natsuki Yôsuke; Mori Yôko Gekkan Kadokawa 5 / 1988, 42–54: Otoko no sei ni kansuru 12-shô; Yamada Eimi, Mori Yôko (Dialogue) Katei gahô 3 / 1988, 308: Arubamu kara: Tenki no koro no watashi – ‘Tsuma’ to ‘haha’ kara ‘sakka’ e; Mori Yôko Mine 10 Feb 1988, 68–70: Hon o yomu seikatsu wa ‘kao’ o kaeru to omou; (Mori Yôko) Cosmopolitan 2 / 1988, 114–115: Itsumo kakan na charenji seishin o wasurenai Mori Yôko-san no enerugî no himitsu; Mori Yôko (Inter- view) Voice 2 / 1988, 242–245: Chosha o kakonde – Ofisu redi no dokusho-kai: Mori Yôko vs. taikô; Uchida Atsuko, Yamada Mitsuyo, Mori Yôko (Dialogue) Classy 2 / 1988, 206–207: Karê-rôdo o tabi suru: Kansei o shigeki suru, haruka naru daichi no aji; Mori Yôko Ef 2 / 1988, 161–166: Takusan no koi, ii wakare ga josei o migaku; Azabu Keiko, Mori Yôko, Shiina Megumi (Dialogue) Shûkan sankei 21 Jan. 1988, 56–59: Ichinichi wazuka 4-jikan no shippitsu de nen- shû 5000-man en no shufu sakka wa ‘saki no anshin yori mo ima no jûjitsu’; Mori Yôko (Interview) Shûkan sankei 24 Dec. 1987, 93: ’87 ren’ai shôsetsu jijô: Danjo no kyori o kokumei ni; (Mori Yôko) Cosmopolitan 11 / 1987, 50–51: Aite ni kitai o motareru to dame na n desu… NO o jôzu ni iwanai to, kekkyoku jibun ga sonsuru to omou wa; Mori Yôko Fujin kôron 11 / 1987, 112–118: Onna ga shigoto o suru toki – Shigoto ni subete o kakerareru ka; Mori Yôko, Wada Emi (Dialogue) Classy 3 / 1987, 146–149: Majime ni yatteru to 35-sai kurai de panikku ni naru to omou; Mori Yôko, Inagi Shiori (Interview) Sophia 2 / 1987, 173: Watashi no suki na kotoba; Mori Yôko Dansen 12 / 1986, 122–123: Gaiken o ki ni suru yori, motto nakami o migaku koto; Mori Yôko Shûkan Sankei 20 Nov. 1986, 176–179: Mori Yôko no tokubetsu taidan: ‘Otoko to onna no hanashi o shimashô’ (3-saishû-kai): Gesuto: Satô Yôko: ‘Honne de butsukariau watashitachi fûfu no ai no katachi o kôkai shimasu’; Satô Yôko, Mori Yôko 296 APPENDICES Shûkan Sankei 6 Nov. 1986, 174–177: Mori Yôko no tokubetsu taidan: ‘Otoko to onna no hanashi o shimashô’ (1-kai): Gesuto: Kusuda Eriko; Kusuda Eriko, Mori Yôko an-an 26 Sep. 1986, 6: O-cha no jikan shiyô; (Mori Yôko) an-an 15 Aug. 1986, 28–29: Koiki de, jôtô na otoko to onna ni naru tame ni, 20-dai ni nani o surubeki ka? Koi o shite, wakarete, kizutsuite, kizutsukete, keiken o tsunde mo, sore de mo wakaranai no ga otoko to onna; (Mori Yôko) an-an 11 Jul. 1986, 46: Ii onnatachi no shôshô kiken na otoko no tanoshimikata. Tanin no otoko o netoru shumi; Mori Yôko an-an 9 May 1986, 108: Netai otoko to, sekushî na onna ni tsuite no tettei kenkyû. Watashi no netaku naru otoko; Mori Yôko Sophia 1 / 1986, 272: Ai to sekkusu no higan ni onnatachi no kodoku ga ukande kuru: ‘Kafe Orientaru’; Mori Yôko (Interview) Sophia 12 / 1985, 56–58: Kazoku no shôzô; Mori Yôko, Heather Brackin Sophia 11 / 1985, 78–79: Tsuma to onna no aida – Ima, kukkiri to ‘onna no kao’ o motsu; (Mori Yôko) Sophia 7 / 1985, 294–320: Miru – taberu – kau – Honkon yûraku-jutsu: Mori Yôko no shin-Honkon-annai; (Mori Yôko) an-an 5 Apr. 1985, 26: Kare e no OK-sain – Konya koso sasotte hoshii; Mori Yôko Sophia 4 / 1985, 148–154: Tsuma no tame no ren’ai-ron; Mori Yôko Sophia 3 / 1985, 138–140: Furansowâzu Sagan: Ai no ‘Kakehiki’ o yomu; Mori Yôko Sophia 3 / 1985, 22–23: Asai Shinpei shashinkan – Fûfu no shôzô: Aiban Burakkin, Mori Yôko fusai; Ivan Brackin, Mori Yôko Croissant 25 Apr. 1984, 16–17: 20-dai no obasantachi e. Kagami ni mukau yô ni taiji shinaide sukoshi hiite goran nasai. Soshitara jibun ga miete kuru; (Mori Yôko) Croissant 25 Mar. 1984, 5: Keshô – Daiichi inshô da to, bijin no hô ga toku o suru, nante! (Mori Yôko) Croissant 25 Jan 1984, 14: Oshare na hito to oshare ja nai hito no sa: Ika ni ii toshi no torikata o suru ka tte koto ni naru no ka nâ; (Mori Yôko) Croissant 25 Oct. 1983, 54: Itsumo no shûkan o chotto kaete miru to, mata, yaruki ga dete kuru. Shûkan kaeru koto o, shûkan ni shichaô! (Mori Yôko) Croissant 10 Jul. 1983, 63: Sei ni kodawaru yori mo kokoro no kôtsû koso ga mondai de wa – Sekkusu de wa naku, meiku rabu. Seishin seii, taitô no pâtonâ tsuikyû; Mori Yôko Bibliography 297

VI.E. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aki Yôko (1993): Mori Yôko no onna o omou, in: Shôsetsu Subaru 9/1993, 272 Antoni, Klaus (1997): Rituale und ihre Urheber. Invented Traditions in der japanischen Religionswissenschaft; Ostasien-Pazifik vol. 5, LIT publ. Muenster Arashiyama Kôsaburô (2006): Jôji no hate ni iru hitozuma Mori Yôko: Igirisu shônen to kekkon shite 3-nin no musume o unda ato, shôsetsu ‘Jôji’ ya ‘Kazoku no shôzô’ de furin suru hitozuma o kaita, in: Da Capo 1 Mar. 2006, 104–105 Asahi International Symposium (1985): Women in a Changing World, Tôkyô Assmann, Stephanie (2005): Wertewandel und soziale Schichtung in Japan. Differenzierungsprozesse im Konsumentenverhalten japanischer Frauen. Mitteilungen des Instituts für Asienkunde vol. 381, Hamburg Azabu Keiko/Shiina Megumi/Mori Yôko (1988): Takusan no koi, ii wakare ga josei o migaku, in: Ef 2/1988, 206–207 Bausinger, Hermann (1963): Schwierigkeiten bei der Untersuchung von Trivialliteratur, in: Wirkendes Wort 13, 204–215 Berndt, Jürgen/Fukuzawa Hiroomi (Ed.) (1990): Momentaufnahmen moderner japanischer Literatur, Berlin Birnbaum, Phyllis (1982): Rabbits, Crabs, Etc.: Stories by Japanese Women, University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu Bjorksten, Oliver J.W. (1984): Current Marital Trends and Outcome of Marriage Counseling in Japan: 1982, in: Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, vol. 10/2, 123–136 Brackert, Helmut/Stückrath, Jörn (Ed.) (1995): Literaturwissenschaft, revised edition, Reinbek/Hamburg Brackin, Maria (1996): Haha o kogashita furin – ‘Jôji’ no moderu – hakken sareta nikki ni tsuzurarete ita! In: Shûkan Josei 30 Jan. 1996, 226–227 Brackin, Maria (1995): Chiisa na kaigara – Haha Mori Yôko to watashi, Shinchôsha 12/95 298 APPENDICES Cherry, Kittredge (1987): Womansword. What Japanese Words Say About Women. Kôdansha International Tôkyô Cixous, Hélène (1980): Weiblichkeit in der Schrift (Femininity in Writing), Berlin Cixous, Hélène (1977): Die unendliche Zirkulation des Begehrens (The Endless Circulation of Desire), Berlin Collins, Robert J./Mori Yôko (1990): I-bunka taidan: How to kaishô Nichibei masatsu, in: Josei Seven 8 Nov. 1990, 238–240 Copeland, Rebecca L. (2006): Woman Critiqued: Translated Essays on Japanese Women’s Writing, University of Hawai’i Press Copeland, Rebecca L. (Ed.) (2001): Acts of Writing, Papers of the 9th Annual Meeting of the Association for Japanese Literature Studies at Washington University, St. Louis Copeland, Rebecca L. (1992): Motherhood as Institution, in: Japan Quarterly vol. 39/1, 101–110 Copeland, Rebecca L./Ramirez-Christensen, Esperanza (Ed.) (2001): The Father-Daughter Plot: Japanese Literary Women and the Law of the Father, University of Hawai’i Press Crome, Luise (1980): Pflichterfüllung statt Lustgewinn – Gedanken über die ‘freieste Frau der Welt’, in: G. Hielscher (Ed.): Die Frau, Berlin, 128–135 Dahrendorf, Malte (1971): Trivialliteratur als Herausforderung für eine literaturdidaktische Konzeption, in: Diskussion Deutsch, 1./2., 302– 313 Domagalski, Peter (1981): Trivialliteratur, Freiburg/Br. Donath, Diana (2007a): Mori Yôko: Charmante Vermittlerin eines neuen Frauenbildes, in: Asiatische Studien LXI 2/2007, 425–446 Donath, Diana (2007b): Miyabe Miyuki: Ein Vielseitigkeitstalent der modernen japanischen Literatur im Spiegel ihres Gesamtwerks, in: Asiatische Studien LXI 2/2007, 577–606 Donath, Diana (1995): Sommerliebe, translation of the novel Jôji (7–100) and the stories 1, 3, 6 from Beddo no otogibanashi (101–142) with an afterword entitled Mori Yôko – Liebesaffären und Bettgeschichten (143–158), edition q Berlin Donath, Diana (1994): In memoriam Mori Yôko – Leben und Werk einer mo­ dernen japanischen Bestseller-Autorin, in: Asiatische Studien XLVIII, 1, 135–142 Donath, Diana (1993): Adieu, Yôko Mori, in: Münchner japanischer Anzei­ ger 4, 5–7 Bibliography 299 Eifler, Margret (1989): Postmoderne Feminisierung, in: Amsterdamer Bei- träge zur Neueren Germanistik – Frauen-Fragen in der deutschsprachigen Literatur seit 1945, Amsterdam-Atlanta, 1–35 Fauser, Markus (2008): Einführung in die Kulturwissenschaft, Wissenschaft- liche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, (2003, 4th revised edition 2008) Frederiksen, Elke (1989): Literarische (Gegen)Entwürfe von Frauen nach 1945: Berührungen und Veränderungen, in: Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Neueren Germanistik, Amsterdam-Atlanta, 83–110 Fukao Tokiko (1989): Japanische Perspektiven: Die Japanerin heute, in: Neues aus Japan nr. 324/ Sep.–Oct., 8–10 Fukuoka Tsubasa (1986): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Onnazakari, Kadokawa bunko, 23rd ed. 1990, 269–274 Gebhardt, Lisette (2001): Der Marktwert der Autoren. Die Bewertungen des Fukuda Kazuya, in: Hefte für ostasiatische Literatur HOL nr. 30, 126–130 Gebhardt, Lisette (1996): Itô Hiromi – Geschlechterbilder einer Dichterin, in: M. Mae/I. Lenz (Ed.) 1996a (see below), 39–60 Gebhardt, Lisette (1994): Die Lustobjekte rechnen ab: Das Thema Sexualität in Arbeiten zeitgenössischer japanischer Schriftstellerinnen, in: Münchner japanischer Anzeiger 1, 16–35 Geisenhanslüke, Achim (2004): Einführung in die Literaturtheorie – Von der Hermeneutik zur Medienwissenschaft, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 3rd ed. 2006 Genette, Gérard (1994): Die Erzählung. Translation from French by Andreas Knop (ed. Jochen Vogt), 2nd ed., Munich Gessel, Van C. (1988): Echoes of Feminine Sensibility in Literature, in: Japan Quarterly, Oct.–Dec., 410–416 Giesenfeld, Günter (1971): Methodische Vorüberlegungen zum Umgang mit nicht anerkannter Literatur, in: Diskussion Deutsch 1./2., 314–334 Gössmann, Hilaria/Lenz, Ilse/Vogel, Kerstin K./Wöhr, Ulrike (Ed.) (2004): Gender, in: Modern Japanese Society, Brill Leiden Gössmann, Hilaria (2001): Medien und Populärkultur, in: Grundriß der Japanologie, Harrassowitz Wiesbaden Gössmann, Hilaria (Ed.) (1998): Das Bild der Familie in den japanischen Medien, Monographs from the DIJ (Deutsches Institut für Japan- studien) vol. 20, iudicium Munich Gössmann, Hilaria (1997): Neue Rollenmuster für Frau und Mann? Kontinuität und Wandel der Familie in den japanischen Fernsehdramen der Gegenwart, in: I. Lenz/M. Mae (Ed.) 1997 (see below), 96–122 300 APPENDICES Gössmann, Hilaria (1996): Karrierefrauen und Familienväter. Das Bild der ‘neuen Frau’ und des ‘neuen Mannes’ in japanischen Fernsehdramen der 90er Jahre, in: M. Mae/I. Lenz (Ed.) 1996a (see below), 61–76 Grazia (1996): 30-dai no josei ga kyôkan suru ‘Mori Yôko sakuhin’ no kônô to wa In: Grazia 5/1996, 219 Groeben, Norbert/Vorderer, Peter (1988): Leserpsychologie II: Lesemotivation – Lektürewirkung, Muenster Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living (1984): Japanese Women in Turmoil (Changing Lifestyles in Japan II), Tôkyô Hara Hiroyuki (2006): Baburu bunka ron – ‘Posuto-sengo’ toshite no 1980 nendai, Tôkyô Hayase Keiichi (1989): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Beddo no otogibanashi, Bunshun bunko, 17th ed. 1994, 422–429 Hayashi Mariko (2000): Nama no kotoba de katarareta sei no yokkyû to sunobisshu ni egakareta kokoro no kawaki – Mori Yôko: ‘Jôji’, in: Crea 11/2000, 270 Hayashi Mariko/Mori Yôko (1990): Onna ga kekkon o ketsui suru toki, in: Crea 5/1990, 58–61 Hein, Ina (2008): Under Construction – Geschlechterbeziehungen in der Literatur populärer japanischer Gegenwartsautorinnen, iudicium Munich Hein, Ina (2007): Yamada Eimi – Neue Räume, neue Geschlechterbeziehungen? In: E. Klopfenstein (Ed.): Asiatische Studien LXI, 2/2007, 521–544 Hein, Ina (2001): ‘Bedtime Eyes’ von Yamada Eimi – Zum Rassismusvorwurf in der Literaturkritik, in: H. Gössmann/A. Mrugalla (Ed.): 11. Deutschsprachiger Japanologentag in Trier 1999 vol. 2, LIT publishers, 309–318 Hendry, Joy (1981): Marriage in Changing Japan, London Henmi Jun (1986), Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no, Kadokawa bunko, 13th ed. 1990, 265–270 Herold, Renate (1980): Halb so viel wert wie die Männer – Die berufstätige Japanerin, in: G. Hielscher (Ed.), Die Frau, Berlin 1980, 151–171 Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Irmela (2003): Bonsai-Nationalismus? Die “Aushöhlung” des Japanischen und die japanische Sprachpolitik, in: DIJ Newsletter no. 19 Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Irmela (2000): Die japanische Literatur in der Moderne, in: I. Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Japanische Gegenwartsliteratur. Ein Handbuch, edition text + kritik, Munich, 14–58. Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Irmela (Ed.) (1993): Traumbrücke ins ausgekochte Wunderland (Anthology), Frankfurt/M. Bibliography 301 Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Irmela (1988): Translation and afterword of Kôno Taeko: Knabenjagd (Yôjigari), Frankfurt/M. Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Irmela (1984): Japanische ‘Frauenliteratur’ (Joryû bungaku) heute, in: Bochumer Jahrbuch zur Ostasienforschung, vol. 7 Hof, Renate (1995): Die Entwicklung der ‘Gender Studies’, in: H. Bußmann/R. Hof (Ed.): Genus – Zur Geschlechterdifferenz in den Kulturwissenschaften, Kröner Stuttgart, 2–33 Honda Midori (2003): Aishita ‘mono’ ga tsutaeru ano hito no omokage – Mori Yôko, in: Cosmopolitan 1/2003, 60–61 Honda Midori (1994): (Mori Yôko:) Tsune ni owari o mitsumete ita kara ima isshun no tokimeki o taisetsu ni shita hito datta, in: La Seine 5/1994, 210–211 Ikeda Masuo (1993): Mori Yôko – Bôshi no niatta hito, in: Shôsetsu Subaru 9/1993, 268–269 Inoue Miyako (2006): Vicarious Language: Gender and Linguistic Modernity in Japan, University of California Press Berkeley Inoue Teruko/Ehara Yumiko (Ed.) (1995): Josei no dêtâ bukku (Women’s Data Book) – Sei/karada kara seijisanka made, 2nd edition, Yûhikaku Tôkyô Itô Kimio (1993): ‘Otokorashisa’ no yukue. Danseibunka no bunkashakaigaku, Shinyôsha Tôkyô Itsuki Hiroyuki/Mori Yôko (1988): ‘Shuka’ o ikiru onnatachi, in: Misses 6/1988, 188–194 Ivy, Marilyn (1995): Discourses of the Vanishing Modernity – Phantasm – Japan, The University of Chicago Press Iwabuchi Hiroko/Kitada Sachie/Hasegawa Kei (Ed.) (2005): Hennentai kindai gendai josei bungakushi. Special edition of Kokubungaku kaishaku to kanshô Jurgensen, Manfred (1982): Was ist Frauenliteratur? In: Diskussion Deutsch, 480–490 Kadokawa bunko (1991): Kaisetsu mokuroku, 179–182 (on 25 works by Mori Yôko) Kadokawa shoten/Yonaha Keiko (1997–1999): Josei sakka shirîzu (24 vol., on Mori Yôko 1998) Kageyama Isao (1988), Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Kafe orientaru, Kôdansha bunko, 165–173 Kamegai Shôji/Kondô Masaomi/Kimura Shinsuke/Kurokawa Masayuki/Horiike Hideto (1993): Shitashikatta bôifurendo 5-nin ga 302 APPENDICES kataru: Mori Yôko-san ga nokoshite kureta mono, in: Sophia 9/1993, 231–238 Kamegai Shôji (1984): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Shitto, Shûeisha bunko, 21st ed. 1991, 231–241 Kan Satoko (Ed.) (2004): Josei, sakka, genzai, Special edition of Kokubungaku kaishaku to kanshô Kaneda Kôichiro (1986): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Puraibêto taimu (essays), Kadokawa bunko 9th ed. 1990, 269–273 Katô Taki (1986): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Isshu, happî endo, Kadokawa bunko, 3rd ed. 1987, 222–227 Kawamura Jirô (1993a): Mori Yôko-san onnazakari no ganshi – Otto e musume e ‘Watashi o wasurenaide’ no kotoba nokoshi, in: Shûkan Asahi 23 Jul. 1993, 133–135 Kawamura Jirô (1993b): Tsuitô: ‘Jôji’ kara 15 nen: Subete o kakugo shite ita Mori Yôko-san – ‘Kono hanashi wa kakanaide.’ Dan o kitta yô ni katari- tsuzuketa, in: Aera 20 Jul. 1993, 65 Kawamura Jirô (1993c): Mori Yôko ‘Jôji’ no ato de, ‘Please give me a break. Sonna ni watashi o semenaide’, in: Aera 16 Mar. 1993, 53–57 Kitakata Kenzô/Ikeda Masuo/Shino Hiroko (1993): Mori Yôko no sekai: Mori Yôko-san no koto – Wakare no kotoba, in: Shôsetsu Subaru 9/1993, 264–269 Klopfenstein, Eduard (Ed.) (1993): Mondscheintropfen (Anthology), Munich-Zurich 1993 Kodama Ryôko (2001): Chichioya-ron no genzai – 70nendai ikô o chûshin toshite, in: Asai Haruo/Itô Satoru/Murase Yukihiro: Nihon no otoko wa doko kara kite, doko e iku no ka. Jûgatsusha Tôkyô, 122– 149 Koike Mariko (1984): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Kaze monogatari, Kadokawa bunko, 19th ed. 1988, 241–246 Kojima Nobuo/Mori Yôko (1991): Jinsei, kazoku, bungaku, in: Ushio 1/1991, 354–364 Kokubungaku kaishaku to kanshô: Special editions on women writers: 1998/11, 1998/2, 1995/6, 1994/2, 1986/3 Kokubungaku kaishaku to kyôzai no kenkyû: Special editions on women writers: 1992/13, 1986/5 Kôno Kiyomi (1988): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Sakebu watashi, Shûeisha bunko, 2nd ed. 1990, 354–362 Kudô Miyoko (2005): Kônenki kara no sei o ikiru – Mori Yôko-san no omoide, in: Fujin kôron 7 Apr. 2005, 176–179 Bibliography 303 Kurokawa Masayuki (1985): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Atsui kaze, Shûeisha bunko, 7th ed. 1990, 220–225 Layne, Cathy (Ed.) (2006): Inside and Other Short Fiction. Japanese Women by Japanese Women. Kôdansha International Tôkyô Lenz, Ilse/Mae Michiko/Klose, Karin (Ed.) (2000): Frauenbewegungen weltweit. Aufbrüche, Kontinuitäten, Veränderungen, Leske & Budrich, Opladen Lenz, Ilse/Mae Michiko (Ed.) (1997): Getrennte Welten, gemeinsame Moderne? Geschlechterverhältnisse in Japan, Leske & Budrich, Opladen Lenz, Ilse (1995): Geschlecht, Herrschaft und internationale Ungleichheit, in: R. Becker-Schmidt/G.-A. Knapp: Das Geschlechterverhältnis als Gegenstand der Sozialwissenschaften, Frankfurt a. M./New York, 19–46 Lenz, Ilse (1990): Hausarbeit als Beruf und Berufung, in: R. Linhart/F. Wöss (Ed.): Nippons neue Frauen, Rowohlt paperback, 73–92 Lewell, John (1993): Modern Japanese Novelists, Kôdansha Inter­ national Linhart, Ruth (1991): Onna da kara. Weil ich eine Frau bin. Liebe, Ehe und Sexualität in Japan, Frauenforschung vol. 16, Wien Linhart, Ruth (1990): Der Traum vom Glück – Liebe, Sex und Partnerschaft, in: R. Linhart/F. Wöss (Ed.), Nippons neue Frauen, Rowohlt paper- back, 54–68 Linhart, Sepp (1980): Macht über Küche, Kasse, Kinder – Die Frau in der Familie, in: G. Hielscher (Ed.): Die Frau, Berlin, 87–106 Lippit, N. Mizuta/Selden, K. Iriye (Ed.) (1991): Introduction to Con- temporary Japanese Women Writers (Anthology), East Gate New York Mae Michiko (2008): Der schwierige Weg zu einer Partizipationsgesellschaft in Japan, in: OAG Notizen 04/2008, Tôkyô, 26–42 Mae Michiko (2002): Öffentlichkeit und Privatheit im japanischen Moder- nisierungsprozess, in: Japanstudien, DIJ annual no. 14, iudicium, Munich Mae Michiko (2001): Gender Studies, in: Grundriß der Japanologie, Harras- sowitz Mae Michiko (2000): Wege zu einer neuen Subjektivität – Die neue japanische Frauenbewegung als Suche nach einer anderen Moderne, in: I. Lenz/M. Mae/K. Klose (Ed.): Frauenbewegungen weltweit (see above) 304 APPENDICES Mae Michiko (1996): Frauenbilder zwischen Fremdbestimmung und Selbst­ entwurf, in: M. Mae/I. Lenz (Ed.) 1996 (see below), 5–10 Mae Michiko (1993): Frauensprache als Sozialisationsinstrument?, in: H.- J. Kornadt/G. Trommsdorff (Ed.), Deutsch-japanische Begegnungen in den Sozialwissenschaften, Universitätsverlag Konstanz, 159–183, including a partial translation of Mori Yôko, Onnazakari, 179–180 Mae Michiko (1990): Frauen in Japan. Zwischen patriarchalischer Tradition und moderner Emanzipationsbewegung. In: Autonome Frauen­ redaktion (Ed.): Frauenbewegungen in der Welt, vol. 3, Hamburg, 81–110 Mae Michiko/Lenz, Ilse (Ed.) (1996): Bilder, Wirklichkeit, Zukunftsent­ würfe. Geschlechterverhältnisse in Japan, Düsseldorfer Schriftenreihe vol. 1 Matsumoto Michiko (1990): Mori Yôko, in: Muramatsu S./Watanabe S. (Ed.): Gendai josei bungaku jiten, Tôkyô, 353–355 Matsumoto Michiko (1983): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko: Wakare no yokan, Kadokawa bunko, 35th ed. 1990, 223–227 Matsuo Michiko (1991): Eine eisige Atmosphäre, in: R. Linhart 1991 (see above), 195–212 May, Ekkehard (1985): Zur Genese und Charakteristik der japanischen Massenliteratur, Berliner Beiträge zur sozial- und wirtschaftswissen­ schaftlichen Japan-Forschung 14 McGrath, Paul (1994): Mukôda Kuniko and Ui Einjeiru, in: Ch. I. Mulhern (Ed.), Japanese Women Writers (see below), 248–257 and 433–440 McLelland, Mark/Dasgupta, Romit (Ed.) (2005): Genders, Transgenders and Sexualities in Japan, Routledge Melanowicz, Mikolaj (1994): Literatura Japonska, vol. II, Warszawa Miki Taku (1986): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Yakôchû, Shûeisha bunko 4th ed. 1988, 186–193 Minoura Yasuko (1995): Kekkon – hikaku bunka-kô, in: Yoshikawa H. (Ed.), Kekkon; Tôkyô daigaku kôkai kôza 60, Tôkyô daigaku shuppankai, 31–51 Mishima Ken’ichi (1996): Die Schmerzen der Modernisierung als Auslöser kultureller Selbstbehauptung. Zur geistigen Auseinandersetzung Japans mit dem Westen, in: Hijiya-Kirschnereit (Ed.), Überwindung der Moderne? Frankfurt, 86–122 Mitomi, Christine (1990): Gedichte für Millionen – ‘Mein Salatgedenktag’ von Tawara Machi, in: P. Pörtner (Ed.): Japan Lesebuch II, Tuebingen, 9–18 Bibliography 305 Mizuta Noriko (1991): Feminizumu no kanata. Josei hyôgen no shinsô. Kôdansha Mizuta Noriko (1982): Hiroin kara hîrô e. Josei no jiga to hyôgen. Tabata shoten Monnet, Livia (1994): Saegusa Kazuko, in: Ch. I. Mulhern (Ed.), Japanese Women Writers (see below), 319–330 More (1993): ‘Jôji’ kara 15 nen: Mori Yôko no sekai – Sono ai to kanashimi, in: More 9/1993, 297–301 Mori Yôko (1993): Mori Yôko jishin ni yoru zensakuhin kaisetsu, in: Gekkan Kadokawa 9/1993, 238–250 Mori Yôko (1991): Watashi no shôsetsu sakuhô (3), in: Mainichi shinbun 31 Oct. 1991 (evening edition) Mori Yôko (1989): Ai no kusari dô nukedasu ka, in: Nakamura S. (Ed.) 1989 (see below), 7–14 Mori Yôko (1988): Tenki no koro no watashi – ‘Tsuma’ to ‘haha’ kara ‘sakka’ e, in: Fujin Gahô 3/1988, 308 Mori Yôko (1987): Watashi no kyanbasu ni sukikatte na e o egaki-nokoshite satte itta otokotachi, Introduction to Kaze no yô ni (essays), Kadokawa bunko 7th ed. 1991, I–XVI. Mori Yôko (1986a): ‘Jôji’ kara furin e, in: Wakare jôzu (essays), Kadokawa bunko 11th ed. 1990, 190–202 Mori Yôko (1986b): Kaze o ireru, in: Jin wa kokoro o yowaseru no (essays), Kadokawa bunko, 51–54 Mori Yôko (1985): Sakka no ‘watashi’ to onna no ’watashi’, in: Ren’ai kankei (essays, 1985/1988), Kadokawa bunko 15th ed. 1990, 204– –210 (resp. in Fukushû no yô na ai ga shite mitai, KK Bestsellers 1993, 246–253) Mori Yôko (1983): Onnazakari no itami, Shûeisha bunko 10th ed. 1990, in particular: Wakare no fûkei, 33–46 / Kokusai kekkon, 47–56 / Onna ga shigoto o suru toki, 111–122 / Watashi no hirointachi, 139–144 / Bungaku to no deai, 145–154 / Chichi no yume, 155–158 / Tsumatachi no hankô, 173 –186 / Watashi no Karuizawa no ie, 187–200 / Rikon no koto, 207–218 / Itami, 219–234/ Innâ e dai–2 shô, 235–248 Mori Yôko (1981a): 35-sai no yûutsu, in: Wakare no yokan (essays), Kadokawa bunko 35th ed. 1990, 67–76 Mori Yôko (1981b): Fûfu no nagai yoru, in: Wakare no yokan (see above), 143–149 Mori Yôko (1981c): ‘Jôji’ no shûhen, in: Wakare no yokan (see above), 209–219 306 APPENDICES Mori Yôko/Agawa Sawako (1992): Shingata Yôko bakudan – Mori Yôko, in: Agawa Sawako: Anna sakka, konna sakka, donna sakka. Kôdansha Mori Yôko/Kojima Nobuo (1991): Jinsei – kazoku – bungaku (dialogue), in: Ushio 1991/1, 354–364 Mori Yôko/Nakamura Shin’ichirô (1986): Appendix to Mori Yôko: Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, Kôdansha bunko, 11th ed. 1990, 179–189 Mori Yôko/Ono Fusako (1993): Kongetsu no hito: Mori Yôko (interview), in: Subaru 1993/5, 110–115 Mori Yôko/Sasakawa Noriko (1991): Mori Yôko, in: Sophia 1991/12, 193–201 Mori Yôko/Shimizu Tôru (1994): ‘Jôji’ ga shôchô suru sekai, in: Mori Yôko (Ed.): Anata ni aitai – Mori Yôko taidan-shû, Shûeisha, 7–30 Mori Yôko/Yamada Eimi (1994): Joseiteki na mono – danseiteki na mono, in: Mori Yôko (Ed.): Anata ni aitai – Mori Yôko taidan-shû, Shûeisha, 31–52 Mori Yôko/Yamada Eimi (1988): Ren’ai kôza: Otoko no sei ni kansuru 12-shô (Yamada Eimi, Mori Yôko tokubetsu kôshi), in: Gekkan Kadokawa 1988/5, 42–54 Moroi Kaoru (1988): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Wakare jôzu, (essays), Kadokawa bunko 11th ed. 1990, 203–208 Moroi Kaoru/Shimizu Tôru (1993): Ren’ai jôzu ni naru tame no ‘Mori Yôko yomihon’, in: Sapio 9 Sep. 1993, 70–73 Mulhern, Chieko Irie (Ed.) (1994): Japanese Women Writers – A Bio- Critical Sourcebook, Greenwood Press Westport/London Muramatsu Sadataka/Watanabe Sumiko (Ed.) (1990): Gendai josei bungaku jiten: Mori Yôko 353–354, Tôkyôdô shuppan Murayama, Mayumi (Ed.) (2005): Gender and Development: The Japanese Experience in Comparative Perspective, Palgrave McMillan Nakamori Akio (1992): Mori Yôko: Sukâretto taiken, in: Spa! 23rd Dec. 1992, 5–9 Nakamura Shin’ichirô (1993): Mori Yôko-san tsuitô, in: Subaru 1993/9, 222–224 Nakamura Shin’ichirô (Ed.) (1989): Ren’ai ni tsuite. Iwanami bunko (Poketto ansorojî bessatsu shirîzu 9) Nakamura Shin’ichirô/Kuroi Senji/Yamada Eimi (1993): Tsuitô: Mori Yôko, in: Subaru 9/1993, 216–238 Nakamura Shin’ichirô/Mori Yôko (1986): Taidan on Mori Yôko, Yogoto no yurikago, fune, aruiwa senjô, Kôdansha bunko, 7th ed. 1989, 179–189 Bibliography 307 Nakamura Shin’ichirô/Mori Yôko/Sugano Akimasa (1989): Sekai bun- gaku no kairaku, in: Subaru 11/1989, 172–187 Nakazawa Kei (1987): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Onna to otoko, Shûeisha bunko, 9th ed. 1990, 246–251 Neues aus Japan (1991), Journal of the Japanese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Germany, no. 334, Bonn Neuss-Kaneko, Margret (1990): Familie und Gesellschaft in Japan. Von der Feudalzeit bis in die Gegenwart. C.H. Beck Munich Nichigai Asoshiêtsu (1997): Gendai josei sakka 150-nin, Tôkyô Nichigai Asoshiêtsu (1987): Gendai Nihonjin meiroku B, Tôkyô (on Mori Yôko: 1250) Nishitani Yoriko (1995): Entwicklung der autobiographischen Literatur von Frauen in Japan, in: M. Holdenried (Ed.) (1995), Geschriebenes Leben: Autobiographik von Frauen, Erich Schmidt Berlin, 379–389 Nünning, Ansgar (Ed.) (1998): Literaturwissenschaftliche Theorien, Mo- delle und Methoden, 3rd revised edition, Trier Ochiai Emiko (1998): Familie und Geschlechterbeziehung in Japan seit Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges bis zur Gegenwart, in: H. Gössmann (Ed.), Das Bild der Familie in den japanischen Medien, Monographs of the DIJ no. 20, iudicium Ono Fusako (1994): Nenpu, in: Mori Yôko jisenshû vol. 9, Shûeisha, 365– –381 Osinski, Jutta (1998): Einführung in die feministische Literaturwissenschaft, Erich Schmidt Berlin Ôta Haruko (1985): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Ai no yokan, Kadokawa bunko, 22nd ed. 1990, 193–197 Ôya Eiko (1995): ‘Jôji’: Yonda shunkan, watashitachi no sedai no kotoba to kankaku de, watashitachi no omoi o kaita shôsetsu da to kanjimashita, in: Croissant 10 May 1995, 14–15 Ôya Eiko (1987): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Onnazakari no itami (1983), Shûeisha bunko, 10th ed. 1990, 280–287 Ôya Eiko/Kimura Shinsuke/Honda Midori/Watanabe Masanori (1994): Isshûki tokushû: Mori Yôko-san no okurimono: Suteki na onna ni nareru chie, in: La Seine 7/1994, 163–173 Ôya Eiko/Yasui Kazumi/Mori Yôko (1989): Obasan to wa yobasemasen, watakushitachi, in: Croissant 10 Apr. 1989, 90–95 Pauer, Erich (1990): Reich, Neu-Reich, Super-Reich – Reichtum in Japan gestern und heute, in: P. Pörtner (Ed.): Japan Lesebuch II, Tuebingen, 200–235 308 APPENDICES Powell, Irena (1983): Writers and Society in Modern Japan, MacMillan London Rau, Edith (1980): Konsumgerecht zubereitet – Das Bild der Frau in den Medien, in: G. Hielscher (Ed.): Die Frau, Berlin, 221–256 Saimon Fumi/Mori Yôko (1991): Fûfu no daigomi to wa nani ka, in: Voice rinzô 1 Jul. 1991, 110–114 Saitô Minako (Ed.) (2003): L Bungaku kanzen dokuhon. Magajin Hausu Tôkyô Sakurai Hidenori (2000): Gendai joryû sakka e no shôtai. Dai 16-kai: Mori Yôko to sono sakuhin, in: Toshokan no gakkô 2000/2, 48–51 Samuel, Yoshiko Yokochi (1994): Kometani Fumiko, Mori Yôko, Yamada Eimi, in: Ch. I. Mulhern (Ed.) 1994 (see above), 190–198, 242–248 and 457–464 Sano Yôko (1985): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Manekarenakatta onnatachi Shûeisha bunko 16th ed. 1990, 229–237 Satô-Diesner, Sigmara (1985): Ôba Minako, Kôno Taeko, Sono Ayako – drei Annäherungen an ein Thema, in: G. S. Dombrady/F. Ehmcke (Ed.), Referate des VI. Deutschen Japanologentages in Köln 12–14 Apr. 1984, MOAG vol. 100, 255–262 Schalow, Paul G./Walker, Janet A. (Ed.) (1996): The Woman’s Hand: Gender and Theory in Japanese Women’s Writing, Stanford University Press Schierbeck, Sachiko Shibata (1994): Japanese Women Novelists in the 20th Century. 104 Biographies 1900–1993. Including: Mori Yooko (1940– 1993), 292–293. University of Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanum Press Schierbeck, Sachiko Shibata/Egerod, Sören (Ed.) (1989): Postwar Japanese Women Writers. An Up-to-date Bibliography with Biographical Sketches; East Asian Institute Occasional Papers 5, University of Copenhagen Schmid-Bortenschlager, Sigrid (1989): Frauenliteratur – Singular oder Plural? In: Amsterdamer Beiträge zur neueren Germanistik, Amster- dam, 37–52 Schneider, Jost (2003): Einführung in die Roman-Analyse, Wissenschaft­ liche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 2nd edition 2006 Schulz, Karin (2001): Der “weibliche Blick” auf Liebesromane männlicher japanischer Autoren der Moderne: Die Literaturkritik Saegusa Kazukos, in: H. Gössmann/A. Mrugalla (Ed.): 11. Deutschsprachiger Japano­ logentag in Trier 1999, vol. 2, LIT publishers, 291–298 Bibliography 309 Shimizu Tôru (1982): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Jôji, Shûeisha bunko 26th ed. 1990, 229–235 Škreb, Zdenko (1984): Trivialliteratur, in: Z. Škreb/U. Baur (Ed.): Erzählgattungen der Trivialliteratur, Innsbruck, 9–32 Steinecke, Hartmut/Wahrenburg, Fritz (Ed.) (1999): Romantheorie, Stuttgart Sugano Akimasa (1996), Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Shina to iu na no onna, Shûeisha bunko Swann, Thomas E./Tsuruta Kinya (Ed.) (1982): Approaches to the Modern Japanese Short Story, Waseda University Press Swiatlowski, Zbigniew (1982): Frauenliteratur – Entwurf einer neuen Sensibilität, in: Text und Kontext 10, 107–130 Takahashi Mutsuko (1993): Identity, Gender and Ethnicity: Cultural Meaning of the Familiy in Contemporary Japan. In: Transient Societies. Japanese and Korean Studies in a Transitional World, Tampere, 51–79 Takeda Manju (1996): Mori Yôko-san: ‘Onna’ o ikiru koto no zeitaku, in: Grazia 6/1996, 219–228 Tamura Noriko (2004): ‘Onaji kaze’ o kyôyû shita shin’yû Mori Yôko-san, in: Seiryû 8/2004, 24–25 Tamura Noriko (2000): Oshare ni ikiru tensai Mori Yôko no koto o, itsu made mo kataritai, in: Fujin kôron 7 Jun. 2000, 33–35 Tamura Noriko/Ôya Eiko (1994): Gan o kangaeru, hosupisu no sentaku: Makki-gan datta Mori Yôko-san, Yasui Kazumi-san no sentaku o, shin’yû futari ga kataru, in: Sophia 11/1994, 290–291 Tanaka Yukiko (1991): Introduction to Unmapped Territories – New Women’s Fiction from Japan (Anthology), Women in Translation, Seattle Tanaka Yukiko/Hanson, Elizabeth (1982): Introduction to This Kind of Woman (Anthology), Stanford University Press Terada Sô (1997): Ren’ai no kaibôgaku. Erosu to tanatosu, Fûrindô Tôkyô. Including: Wakare no bigaku. Mori Yôko ‘Kaze no ie’, 97–108 Teruoka Itsuko (1990): Gedämpfter Optimismus – Frauen auf dem Weg zur Gleichberechtigung, in: R. Linhart/F. Wöss (Ed.): Nippons neue Frauen, Rowohlt paperback, 93–103 Toman Mori, Maryellen (2000): The Liminal Male as Liberatory Figure in Japanese Women’s Fiction, in: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies vol. 60/2, 537-594 Tsuji Hitonari (1990): Shôsetsu o kaku enerugî, in: Subaru rinzô 12/1990, 158–175 310 APPENDICES Tsuji Hitonari /Tamura Noriko (1993): Mori Yôko no sekai: Mori Yôko no sakuhin no mori e – Mori-sakuhin ni tsuite omou koto, in: Shôsetsu Subaru 9/1993, 270–275 Ubai Etsuko (1991): Konya, hoteru no bâ de. Mori Yôko no ren’ai kûkan, in: Gendai fûzoku kenkyûkai (Ed.): Ren’ai kûkan – gendai fûzoku ’92, Riburupôto Tôkyô, 152–158. Ueda Kagura (2000): Mori Yôko – Botsugo 7-nenme no ninki: Ima, joseitachi ga bakaserareru riyû, in: Aera 3 Jul. 2000, 60–61 Ueda Makoto (Ed.) (1986): The Mother of Dreams and Other Short Stories – Portrayals of Women in Modern Japanese Fiction, Tôkyô/New York; on Mori Yôko: 116, translations of Beddo no otogibanashi stories 17 and 28, 117–132 Uema Chizuko (1998): Resisting Sadomasochism in Kôno Taeko; UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor Uenishi Satoshi (2005): Mori Yôko (sakka): Akogare no Sagan o anki suru hodo yomikomu, in: PHP karatto 4/2005, 42 Ueno Chizuko (2004): Nationalism and Gender (translation by B. Yamamoto), Trans Pacific Umehara Takeshi/Kishida Hideki/Shimamori Michiko/Mori Yôko (1992): Nihonjin no ren’ai-kan o kiru, in: Asahi Journal 10 Jan. 1992, 92–97 Umihara Junko (1988): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko: Ren’ai kankei (essays), Kadokawa bunko 15th ed. 1990, 211–215 Vlastos, Stephen (Ed.) (1998): Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. 20th Century Japan: The Emergence of a World Power, vol. 9, University of California Press Berkeley Weber, Albrecht (1984): Das Phänomen Simmel – Grundzüge des Werkes in wertungsdidaktischer Sicht, in: Z. Škreb/U. Baur (Ed.): Erzählgattungen der Trivialliteratur, Innsbruck, 283–298 Weber, Claudia (1990): Chancengleichheit per Gesetz, in: R. Linhart/F. Wöss (Ed.), Nippons neue Frauen, Rowohlt paperback, 104–126 Wilson, Michiko Niikuni (1999): Gender is Fair Game. (Re)Thinking the (Fe)Male in the Works of Ôba Minako. M. E. Sharpe, Armonk/N.Y. Wilson, Michiko Niikuni (1994): Ôba Minako and Yamamoto Michiko, in: Ch. I. Mulhern (Ed.) 1994 (see above), 285–293 and 464–471 Wuthenow, Asa-Bettina (2001): Hirotsu Kazuo – Ein Autor zwischen hoher Literatur und Populärliteratur?, in: H. Gössmann/A. Mrugalla (Ed.), 11. Deutschsprachiger Japanologentag in Trier 1999, vol. 2, LIT Muenster, 275–290 Bibliography 311 Yamada Eimi (1993): Mori Yôko: Tsuitô-bun – Shampen o kakaete, in: Gekkan Kadokawa 9/1993, 238–250 Yamamoto Fumiko (1994): Kurahashi Yumiko and Sono Ayako, in: Ch. I. Mulhern (Ed.) 1994 (see above), 199–205 and 369–377 Yamazaki Kôtarô (1995): Mori Yôko ‘Jôji’, in: Subaru 9/1995, 194 Yanagida Yoriko (1996): Mori Yôko ‘Kaze no yô ni’ – Chôgin Roppongi- ten, in: Hato yo! 6/1996, 66–67 Yasui Kazumi (1984): Kaisetsu on Mori Yôko, Kizu, Shûeisha bunko 5th ed. 1987, 204–209 Yonaha Keiko (1998a): (Sakka gaido) Mori Yôko, in: Natsuki S./Mori Y./ Minagawa H.: Natsuki Shizuko, Mori Yôko, Minagawa Hiroko (Josei sakka shirîzu 18), Kadokawa shoten, 450–452. Yonaha Keiko (1998b): Mori Yôko ryaku-nenpu, in: Natsuki S./Mori Y./ Minagawa H.: Natsuki Shizuko, Mori Yôko, Minagawa Hiroko (Josei sakka shirîzu 18), Kadokawa shoten, 453–455. Yonaha Keiko (1998c): Gendai bungaku ni miru ‘kazoku’ no katachi, in: Muramatsu Y./H. Gössmann (Ed.): Media ga tsukuru jendâ. Nichidoku no danjo – kazoku-zô o yomitoku. Shinyôsha Tôkyô, 219– –240. In German: Die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema ‘Familie’ in der Gegenwartsliteratur, in: H. Gössmann (Ed.) 1998 (see above), 297–312 Yonaha Keiko (1997): Josei bungaku no isô, in: Iwanami kôza (Ed.), Nihon bungaku-shi, vol. 14: 20-seiki no bungaku 3, Iwanami Tôkyô, 113–137 Yoshida Sanroku (1994): Setouchi Harumi, Tomioka Taeko, Tsumura Setsuko, in: Ch. I. Mulhern (Ed.) 1994 (see above), 345–353, 407–415 and 424–431 Yoshida-Krafft, Barbara (1987): Das elfte Haus (Anthology), iudicium Munich Yoshida-Krafft, Barbara (Ed.) (1981): Blüten im Wind (Anthology), Tuebingen Yoshida-Krafft, Barbara (1980): Fast gleichberechtigt – Die Schriftstellerin, in: G. Hiel­scher (Ed.): Die Frau, Berlin, 185–220 Zimmermann, Hans Dieter (1972): Das Vorurteil über die Trivialliteratur, das ein Vorurteil über die Literatur ist, in: Akzente, Munich, 386–408

Glossary 313

VI.F. GLOSSARY

A C A Medicine for Melancholy 176 Camus, Albert 24 A Un 201 Capote, Truman 177 Aeshylos 205 Cardinal, Marie 177 Afutâ dâku 66, 71, 99 Chichi no wabijô 199 Agata Hikari 228 Chiisa na kaigara 31 Akiyama Shun 203 Chikamatsu Monzaemon 191 Ame no isu 240 Chinka chitai 228 Amurita 210 Chôchô no tensoku 236 Aoi kitsune 48, 52, 215, 217 Chôji 231 Aoi mesu 197 Christie, Agatha 177 Ari takaru 223 chûkan shôsetsu 165, 261 Ariyoshi Sawako 233 Cixous, Hélène 87 Aru hitori no onna no hanashi 99 D B Dahl, Roald 176 Basho 193 Daikon no tsuki 200 Baudrillard, Jean 76 f. Danmari ichi 227, 231 Beauvoir, Simone de 176, 261 Daoism 63, 113 Beddotaimu aizu 171, 234 Daradara-zaka 201 Beti-san no niwa 240 Dauto 200 Bi wa ranchô ni ari 192 Dazai Osamu 203, 227 Bonjour tristesse 176 Death in Dependency 184 Bonkura 181 Deguchi Nao 193 Brackin, Ivan L. 23 f., 29, 30 De la seduction 76 Brackin, Maria 19, 23, 31 f. Deshi 177 Bradbury, Ray 169, 176 Dickens, Charles 45 Bungeijin 203 Die Ahnen (The Ancestors) 173 Butor, Michel 203 Dörrie, Doris 156 Byakkô 209, 210 Duras, Marguerite 176, 261 314 APPENDICES

E H écriture féminine 33, 87 Hachigatsu no shura 203 Ége-kai ni sasagu 25, 172 Haha no heya 196 Eguchi suieki 205 Hamegoroshi mado 200 Ehara Yumiko 180 Hana ni toe 193 Emma 181 Hana no namae 200 Enchi Fumiko 28, 142, 182, 252 Hâremu wârudo 238 Endô Shûsaku 244 Haru no ban 138 Enrai no kyaku 243 Haru tôku 197 Enrai no kyakutachi 167, 243 Hayashi Fumiko 250 Hayashi Mariko 26 F Hayashi Yôko 26 Faulkner, William 177 Hegel, Georg Wilh. Friedrich 203 Fazâfakkâ 80 Heidenreich, Elke 156 Femininity in Writing 87 Hemingway, Ernest 177 Fielding, Joy 156 Henrei 207 Fontane, Theodor 173 Hi no yama:Yamazaru-ki 232 Freud, Sigmund 87, 204 Hiei 191 Freytag, Gustav 173 Higurashi 181 Fûfu 142, 252 Higusa 218 Fui no koe 166, 223 Hikari no ryôbun 229 Fujiwara Kane’ie 205 Hikari to kaze to yume 177 Fujiwara Michitsuna 205 Hikaru numa ni ita onna 204 Fûmizekka 238 Himeko in London 246 Funakui mushi 217 Himiko to iu onna 209 Fûryûbutsu 75 Fûtensô 244 Hirabayashi Taiko 150 Fuyu ginga 196 Hiratsuka Raichô 138, 193 Hishoku 233 G Hito no ki 241 Garakuta hakubutsukan 216 Hitori-gurashi 228 genbaku bungaku 18 Hitsuji o meguru bôken 48 Genji monogatari 190 ff. Hizamazuite ashi o o-name 236 Gide, André 165 Hôkago no kînôto 48, 234, 237 Giri no mishabahha 244 Hôkai kokuchi 205 Gojô shusse 177 Hômonsha 246 Gojô tan’i 177 Hômu pâtî 228 Gojûnotô 75 Hone no niku 224 Golding, William 177 Honoo no mai 195 Gone With the Wind 30 Hoshino Tôru 200 Greenfeld, Josh 243 Hoteru Airisu 119 Glossary 315

Hôyô 67, 191 Kaiten tobira 224 Hyôgen no fûkei 208 Kamegai Shôji 23 Kanai Mieko 73, 89 I Kani 221, 225 Ibara no moeru oto 210 Kanno Suga 192 Ichinen no bokka 224 Kanoko ryôran 192 ie-seido 181 Kanpeki na byôshitsu 184 Ihara Saikaku 191 Kanwasu no hitsugi 237, 238 Ikari no ko 211 Kapitan 31 Ikeda Masuo 25, 172 Karada no naka o kaze ga fuku 254 Ikegami Takayuki 166 Kashin 189 Ikimono no atsumaru ie 228 Katachi mo naku 218 Ikita otoko no hito bubun 184 Kawabata Yasunari 24, 81, 159, 203, 212 Inherit the Truth 123 Kawauso 200 Inoue Yasushi 92 Kazabana 197 invented tradition 181 Kaze no ie (Tsumura) 60, 198 Ishikawa Jun 203 Kaze yo, sora o kakeru kaze yo 229 Itô Hiromi 184 Kekkon 208 Itô Mitsuo 19, 29, 31 Kelly, William Melvin 176 Itô Noe 192 Keun, Irmgard 156 Izanagi and Izanami 204 Kiji 191, 254 Izuko yori 189 Kirino Natsuo 27, 43, 63, 89, 141, 166, 230 J Kiseki 246 Jesshi no sebone 234 Kôda Rohan 75, 192 Jibun no mune 92 Kodomo-sama 211 Jitsu getsu futari 192 Kôgen 141 Jordan, Penny 168 Kôhikan mokuyôsha 203 joryû bungaku 87, 89, 170, 252 Koku-i no hito 216 josei bungaku 87 Kokyû o hiku tori 217 Josei no dansei-ron 219 Kometani Fumiko 187, 243–244, Joyce, James 177 249 ff. junbungaku 165 Kôno Taeko 67, 166, 181, 215, 221–225, Junsui shôsetsu-ron 165 235, 250 f. Kôshoku ichidai onna 191 K Kotan 177 Kafka, Franz 203 Kou 213 Kagerô nikki 205 Kurahashi Yumiko 34, 235, 249 ff. Kagiri naku tômei ni chikai burû 75, 166 Kuroi Senji 32 316 APPENDICES

Kusa no fushido 52, 145, 230 Miyamoto Yuriko 150, 250 Kusa o karu otoko 241 Moeru kaze 229 Mokkinbâdo no iru machi 27 L Moreau, Jeanne 109 Lasker-Wallfisch, Anita 123 Mori Mari 26 L’écliptique du sex 76, 77 Mori Michiyo 26 Les stratégies fatales 76 Mori Reiko 26, 27 Lind, Hera 156 Mori Ôgai 26, 98 Loop – The Ring III 48 Morikawa Tatsuya 203 Morita Sohei 193 M Mugura no haha 228 Mae mae katatsumuri 144, 219 Mukôda Kuniko 159, 199–201, 203, Mahiru e 232 249 ff. Mahô 240 Murakami Haruki 48, 66, 71, 99, 166, Maihime 98 203 Makura no sôshi 205 Murakami Ryû 75, 166 Mama Used to Say 236 Murakumo no mura no monogatari 204 Manhattan 200, 254 Mushinpa bungaku 203 Masuda Mizuko 228 Matsumoto Tomone 159, 200 N Matsuo Bashô 191, 200 Nagai Kafû 203 Maugham, Somerset 177 Nakajima Atsushi 177 Maupassant, Guy de 195 Nakamura Shin’ichirô 32, 203, 233 Me and Mrs. Jones 236 Naku tori no 217 Meido no kazoku 190, 208 Nara repôto 232 Miai no hi 92 Narabayashi Yasushi 183 Michishio 225 Natsu no owari (Setouchi) 189 Michitsuna no haha 205 Natsu no owari (Kurahashi) 235 Michitsuna no haha: Yasuko no koi Natsume Sôseki 203, 240 205 Nettai anraku isu 238 Miira tori ryôkitan 223, 225, 235 Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm 203 Miller, Henry 177 Ningyô ai 212, 254 Minomushi 196 Ninshin karendâ 254 Miren 190 Nise no en – shûi 252 Mishima Yukio 203 Noll, Ingrid 156 Mishiranu machi 196 Noma Hiroshi 203 Mitchell, Margret 30 Nouveau Roman 34 Miura Tamaki 192 Numa 228 Miyabe Miyuki 34, 49, 88, 181 Nusumu 189, 190 f. Glossary 317

O Ren’ai shôsetsu no kansei 203 Ôba Minako 34, 48, 52, 85, 100, 141, Rekuiemu – inu to otona no tame 228 181, 215–219, 221, 249 ff. Ringo no kawa 201 Ochô fujin 192 Ripley, Alexandra 30 Odoki, medoki 200 Riryô 177 Oedipus 209, 212 Riyû 49 Ogawa Yôko 85, 119, 184, 253 Robbe-Grillet, Alain 203 Ôjo no namida 219 Rôjin no kamo 240 Oka ni mukatte hito wa narabu 210 Rokudô tsuji 204 Okamoto Kanoko 192, 250 roman pur 165 Okuizumi Hikaru 166 Ronrî uman 211 Okuno Takeo 170, 252 Rosé, Alma and Arnold 123 Ôma monogatari 232 Rôsoku-gyo 85, 218, 219 Omocha 195, 197 Omoi saigetsu 195 S Omoigakezu kaze no chô 203 Saegusa Kazuko 203–205, 249 ff. Omoide toranpu 200 Saegusa Kôichi 203 Ômoto religion 193 Sagan, Françoise 24, 176 f., 261 Onidomo no yoru wa fukai 204 Sai hate 197 Onna no iibun 83, 132, 152 Saigo no toki 67, 222 Onna, otoko, inochi 219 Sakakibara Junko 184, 209 Onna to iu keiken 193, 254 Sanbiki no kani 85, 215 f. Onnatachi no jihâdo 151 sanshu no jingi 67 Onnatachi wa kodai e tobu 204 Sartre, Jean-Paul 24 Onnazaka 182 Sasoi 60, 213 Otoko ga onna o aisuru toki 236 Sata Ineko 92, 150, 254 Otoko mamie 201 Sayônara, otoko no jidai 203 Otona no kisu 90 Scarlett 30 Out 166, 230 Schwarzer, Alice 181 See you soon 207 P Sei Shônagon 205 Paretsky, Sara 156 Sei Shônagon: Nagako no koi 205 Parr, Andrea 156 Seikimatsu ôgazumu 184 Parutai 34 Seitô 138, 193 Poe, Edgar Allan 195 Setouchi Harumi 67, 189–193, 249 ff. Puraton-teki ren’ai 73 Setouchi Harumi no sekai 190 Pureryûdo 245 Setouchi Jakuchô 189 Shateki 228 R Shichinin no mago 200 Ren’ai shôsetsu 203 Shimao Toshio 203 318 APPENDICES

Shinbi 203 Tawara Machi 34, 172 Shingaru seru 228 Tenjô no ao 99, 123, 127, 166 Shinoda Setsuko 151 Tenshi yo umi ni mae 241 Shiseikatsu to shishôsetsu 208 Terauchi Kantarô ikka 199 shishôsetsu 162 ff., 208, 212, 243 Terauchi Kantarô no haha 199 shiti-ha shôsetsu 176, 262 The Endless Circulation of Desire 87 Shokei ga okonawarete iru 203 Tôi koe 192 Shokubutsu-sai 209 Tôi sora 209 Shôsetsu no meiro to hiteisei 256 tokai shôsetsu 176, 262 Signoret, Simone 109 Tôku, kutsû no tani o aruite iru toki Sôjikei 67, 141, 211, 254 213 Sômu 224 Tokuda Shûsei 203 Sonezaki shinjû 191 Tomioka Taeko 190, 207–210, 212, Sono Ayako 99, 123, 127, 166 f. 181, 249 ff. 243, 250 ff. Tops 184 Sono fuyu no shi 205 Torasshu 235, 237 Sono hi no natsu 205 Towazu-gatari 190 Sono yoru no owari ni 205 Tsuboi Sakae 28 Sora no hate made 211 Tsuga no yume 217 Sôru myûjikku rabâzu onrî 235 Tsuki no tobu mura 204 Stevenson, Robert Louis 177 Tsumura Setsuko 60, 193, 195–198, Sugikoshi no matsuri 244 249 ff. Sûku 208 Tsushima Yûko 52, 145, 183, 193, Sumiyakisuto Q no bôken 256 227–232, 249 ff. Sunadokei no yô ni 210 Suzuki Kôji 48 U Switch Bitch 176 Uchida Shungiku 80 Ueda Akinari 204 T Ueda Makoto 13, 14, 92, 160 Tachigire 207 Ueno Chizuko 180 taishû bungaku 165 Ugetsu monogatari 204 Takahashi Kazumi 211 Uhohho-tankentai 228 Takahashi Takako 60, 67, 141, 211– Ui Einjeru 187, 245–247, 250 ff. 213, 215, 249 ff. Ulysses 177 Takamura Kaoru 88, 165 Umezuki-yo 216 Takamure Itsue 192 Umi no seiza 196 Takeda Taijun 203 Umibe no Kafuka 166 Tamura Toshiko 138, 192, 250 Uno Chiyo 99 Tanizaki Jun’ichirô 24, 203 Updike, John 177 Tanjôbi 196 Urashima-sô 34, 217, 219 Tanko 219 Usagi no mimi 196 Glossary 319

V Yamada Eimi 32, 48, 81, 107, 171, Vitty, Monica 109 233–238, 249 ff. Yamamoto Michiko 89, 116, 187, 239– W 242, 249 ff. Waga chichitachi 227, 229 Yamauba no bishô 141, 217, 254 Waga musume no danshô 29 Yawaraka na hoho 43, 63 Wagamama na yûrei 239 Yohaku no ai 85 Warai ôkami 232 Yôjigari 166, 222, 224 f., 254 Watanabe Takashi 22 Yokomitsu Riichi 165 Watashi no shôsetsu sahô 256 Yokushitsu 231 What’s Going On 236 Yoroppa to no deai 225 Williams, Tennessee 177 Yoru no hikari ni owarete 232 Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory 176 Yoshimoto Banana 210, 250 Wolf, Christa 70 Yoshimura Akira 195 wu wei 113 Yoshiyuki Junnosuke 203 Yubi no tawamure 235 X Yukiguni 81 Xiyouji (Pilgrimage to the West) 177 Yume no kiroku 232 Yûwakusha 211 Y Yakôdokei 197 Z Yama o hashiru onna 183, 231, 254 zentai shôsetsu 166