Week 4(Medium Post 3)

This week’s main theme is complicity — that is, how did ordinary Japanese people become implicated (consciously or not) in the act of inflicting colonial violence? Consider this question from the readings for lecture 7. Is there a link between someone like Ayako in Mizoguchi’s Osaka Elegy and Koizumi Kikue, who wrote “Manchu Girl” based on her experiences in Manchuria? How might these very different representations of late 1930s femininity in imperial Japan connect to the kinds of imperialist masculinity we see explored in the readings for lecture 8?

Japanese women played an important part in Japan’s late 1930s. Imperialist femininity led to complicity, which helped Japan bloom as an imperialist nation. Women, such as Koizumi Kikue and Ayako in Osaka Elegy, describe their lifestyles both outside of the home and in the home, and one can’t help but see how their lifestyles supported imperialist masculinity.

Kikue’s Manchu Girl starts off with describing the first of two maids, Suishi, that had come under Kikue’s care. Kikue tried to connect with Suishi, even learning some Manchu to speak with Suishi. However, after her attempt to connect with Suishi, Suishi was dismissed, for Kikue had deemed Suishi’s way of life as “strange behavior” after their conversations had diverged into quarrels more than once. When Kikue’s husband mentioned the hiring of a second maid, Kikue exclaimed, “I don’t even understand the Manchu language.”(212) Nevertheless the second maid, Guiyu was hired. Guiyu was young and had some familiarity with the Japanese lifestyle, thus Kikue’s desire to “reeducate” her to becoming Japanese became apparent. with Kikue goes on to narrate her life as she goes out into the battlefield to support the army and help with the war even having conversations with Guiyu about the Manchu rebels and their actions. Kikue’s demeanor towards Guiyu becomes anxious and shocked however, when Guiyu starts talking about how patriotic the rebels are. This in turn motivates Kikue to show Guiyu the Japanese faith by showing Guiyu all that Japan can offer. When coming to this though Kikue even says, “I would try as much as possible to have her[Guiyu] become Japanese”. (222)

In Osaka Elegy, Ayako had sold off to become Mr Asai’s mistress, in order to pay off her father’s debt. Ayako later on then swindles enough money for her brother’s tuition from Mr. Fujino, then leaves him to marry her old love Mr. Nishimura. However, Mr. Fujino finds out that he has been swindled, and confronts Ayako, leading to police altercations, which in turns ruins Ayako’s life. Once home, her family blames Ayako for all the trouble that is happening. Her sister can’t attend school anymore due to Ayako’s story being in the newspaper.

Both Kikue and Ayamo defined the aspects of Japanese imperialist femininity in the 1930’s. With Kikue displaying the attitudes of motherhood and the importance of nurture over nature, being prominent. Kikue’s ability to “reeducate” Guiyu into wanting to become Japanese was Kikue’s imperialist conquest. While Ayamo displayed the importance of self sacrifice for the man of the house, as Ayamo, without resentment even after being sold off to pay for her father’s death, had come back to help pay for her brother’s tuition as well. It was just as important for the women to sacrifice themselves for the man of house just as it was important for them to raise the kids to be outstanding Japanese men, in order to fight for honor in the war, and to be outstanding Japanese women, in order to pass on those teachings.