The Japan Society Review 88
Book, Stage, Film, Arts and Events Review

Issue 88 Volume 15 Number 4 (August 2020)

Welcome to a new issue of The Japan Society Review. We
present here a small selection of thoughtful reviews andreading suggestions to accompany readers into the autumn
season. The unexpected news of the resignation of JapanesePrime Minister Abe Shinzo has shaken the scene of Japanesepolitics. Japan Society Chairman Bill Emmott reviews the timely
published biography of Abe by American analyst Tobias S.
Harris who presented his view of the politician and his legacy in
our webinar series at the beginning of September (the video of
the webinar is available in our YouTube channel – just look forJapanSocietyLondon on YouTube!).
Jumping back to the 18th century, the volume by Sato
Hiroaki explores the most famous vendetta in Japanese history,
that of the forty-seven ronin avenging the death of their master
Asano Naganori in the Ako incident in 1702 and committing
seppuku afterwards. For our reviewer Trevor Skingle this isa readable and engaging account which includes the mostimportant facts and narratives surrounding this historic episode.
The captivating and colourful work of Japanese artist
Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) is covered in the recently published
English translation The World of Ito Jakuchu - Classical Japanese
Painter of All Things Great and Small in Nature by Sato Yasuhiro.

Following exhibitions and a re-discovered appreciation of Itoin Western and Japanese museums and art institutions, Sato’s
book offers a high-quality publication of special interest to
Japanese art lovers.
Our suggestion on Japanese literature is Breasts andEggs, an unorthodox novel by Kawakami Mieko. It focuses on
the experiences of three working-class women in Osaka. Full ofdigressions and nimble experiments with a variety of different
styles, Kawakami uses her characters as a powerful voice,representing different generations of women in contemporary
Japan.
The last review of the August issue is dedicated to Flight
Paths, a digital, interactive production based on a stage version
developed by theatre company Extant in 2019 and performed
entirely by visually-impaired artists. Combining animation,
photographs and video, plus sound-related effects, integrated
captioning and audio description, this online performance
updates the original narrative but keeps its focus on the storyof the goze, visually-impaired female shamisen players who
travelled around Japan playing music and retelling epic tales.
Alejandra Armendáriz-Hernández

Contents
1)

The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan by Tobias
S. Harris

Editor2)

Forty-Seven Samurai. A Tale of Vengance & Death in Haiku
and Letters by Sato Hiroaki

Reviewers

3)

The World of Ito Jakuchu - Classical Japanese Painter of All
Things Great and Small in Nature by Sato Yasuhiro

Bill Emmott, Laurence Green, Susan Meehan and Trevor Skingle.

4)

Breasts and Eggs by Kawakami Mieko

Image: Detail from Roosters and cactus. Saifuku-ji temple fusuma (sliding

5)

Flight Paths digital production by Extant

doors) painting (Ito Jakuchu, source: wikipedia).

Alejandra Armendáriz-Hernández

The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe andthe New Japanby Tobias S. Harris
Hurst & Company (2020)
ISBN-13: 978-1787383104
Review by Bill Emmott
With Abe Shinzo’s sudden resignation as prime
minister, again on health grounds as after his firstshort period in office in 2007, it is right to ask what
historians will think of him. For few can doubt that hewill be seen as having been a more significant prime
minister than most. In September 2012 he achieved
the rare feat of returning to the Liberal Democratic
Party’s leadership for a second time and a few months
later the even rarer one of returning for a second
bout as prime minister after defeating the incumbent
Democratic Party of Japan in a general election. Before
his announcement he had just become the country’s
longest-serving prime minister, having won in total
three Lower House elections and three Upper House
elections, and had become one of the few Japaneseleaders in recent decades to have become well known
on the world stage.
Yet longevity and recognition alone tell us little.
Historians will also want to know what made Abe
Shinzo tick, what he stood for, what he achieved while
in office and what was his legacy. This comprehensive
and clearly written biography, by an American who is
now the Japan analyst in Washington, DC, for Teneo
Intelligence, a consultancy firm, but who also worked
in a Diet member’s office in 2006-2007 and thereby
got to know the inner workings of Japanese politics, isthe first book in English to offer answers.
Harris makes four main things especially clear.
First, that Abe’s talent and energy became noted andrecognised in particular during the prime ministershipof Koizumi Junichiro in 2001-2006, including taking aprominent position over the North Korean abductions
issue, as a result of which he rose to high office at a
young age by Japanese standards and succeeded
Koizumi at the age of just 52. That youth andinexperience, combined with his illness, may explain
his poor and short first term. Second, that as well as his
own talent he rose thanks to being a central figure in apolitical movement in the LDP that Harris calls ‘the newconservatives’, who stand for a strong state, strong
leadership, revisionist views on Japan’s colonialist
history and for creating more policy autonomy forJapan in foreign affairs and defence.
2

Third, however, that while Abe succeeded in
implementing some of that conservative agenda hefailed at what he has himself described as his biggest
ambition, namely the revision of the 1947 constitution.
And fourth, that his most lasting contribution looks likebeing his establishment of a higher profile and more
independent foreign policy than his predecessors,even while staying close to Japan’s key post-1945 ally,
the United States. His domestic achievements are lessdistinctive and arguably will look strikingly meagre
to historians given his longevity in office and thoserecurrent election victories.
Ever since his return to office in 2012, the notionof constitutional revision, with the removal or rewritingof the pacifist Article 9 that was imposed by theAmerican occupying forces, has been constantly underdiscussion in the LDP. For much of that time, Abe’s
government has commanded the ‘super-majority’ of
two-thirds of both houses of the Diet that is required
to pass a constitutional revision. Yet no formal proposal
for a revision has been presented, even by this arch“new conservative” whose first political memories areof his maternal grandfather, Kishi Nobusuke, battlingas prime minister in 1957-1960 to win Diet agreement
to a reformed and renewed US-Japan Security Treaty
and whose own dearest wish had been to revise Article
9. When Kishi was forced to resign, his grandson was
only six years old, but Harris reports that the whole
episode ended up seared on Abe’s memory.
An easy explanation for his lack of progress on
this might be that you can’t eat constitutional revisions:reviving economic growth had to take priority if
Japan’s strength was to be restored. Another is that
although Abe’s government has commanded supermajorities in the Diet, a constitutional revision also
requires a simple majority in a national referendum,
and convincing a public in which pacifism remains
strong would be tough, absent a clear and present
danger to Japan’s safety that current arrangements
could not cope with. Both of those answers mustbe true, but still feel insufficient. What also has to be
added is that Abe’s position as prime minister has
never been as strong and dominant as his longevity inoffice might imply.
A significant clue to this, which is given insufficientattention by Harris, is the presence in the governing
coalition ever since 2012 of Komeito, the centrist
party associated with the huge Soka Gakkai Buddhist
organisation. One of the interesting questions about
Japanese politics in recent times has been that of why
an increasingly conservative LDP has chosen to tie
Issue 88 Volume 15 Number 4 (August 2020)

itself to this smaller centre-right party even when it has
not been necessary for its majority in the Diet. It may
have helped with the super-majority, but Komeito, anominally pacifist party, was never likely to favour theabolition of Article 9. To which one might add, why has
Komeito lent its support to the LDP?
The answer has to be that each has something
to offer the other: for the LDP, Komeito has the crucialability to rally voters to support LDP candidates inconstituencies where the party does not itself expect
to win. Although in Abe’s election victories the LDP
fared well in numbers of seats, it has not succeededin generating great enthusiasm among voters, withturnout declining. In return Komeito, while itself being
quite conservative on social and economic issues, hasserved to moderate the “new conservatives” in the LDP,
supporting modest reforms on defence but not fullconstitutional revision, and has won some economic
benefits for its own voters.
Similar points about the seemingly strong
Abe government’s surprising weakness can also be
applied to domestic policy. As Harris explains, Abe
successfully furthered the process of strengthening
the prime minister’s office that had been begun by
Koizumi and other predecessors. He and his teamestablished a strong grip over the bureaucracy andover public agencies, including crucially the Bank ofJapan. Yet despite all the fanfare about “Abenomics”
and many years of strong Diet majorities, his economic
achievements have been surprisingly modest.
All sorts of reform initiatives have been talked
about but either not executed or just in a half-hearted
way: faster wage growth has been called for but has
not transpired; poorly paid “non-regular” workers
remain nearly 40% of the workforce despite promises
to get rid of the distinction between “regular” and“non-regular”; structural reforms to boost competition
and reduce regulatory barriers have been tentativeat best; Abe has pledged to make Japan a country
in which “women can shine” but Japan has fallen
further behind others on measures of gender equality.
There has been success in introducing new corporate
governance codes, and in introducing new rules tolimit the sort of excessive overtime considered to cause
karoshi or death by overwork, although the permitted
overtime hours remain high. Japan did enjoy slightly
faster economic growth from 2012 until the COVID-19
pandemic, but this was largely due to the absence inthat time of major disasters, such as the 2008 global
financial crisis or the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Abenomics helped the stockmarket, thanks to moreaggressive monetary expansion by the Bank of Japan,
but it has had little lasting impact on the economy
itself.
Either Abe and his cabinet did not feel truly
committed to the sort of domestic reforms he often
talked about in his speeches or the reforms were
blocked or watered down by vested interests. Most
likely it was a bit of both: big companies, which havelong been the LDP’s key backers, certainly did notwant higher minimum wages, fewer “non-regular”
workers, tight overtime restrictions or tougher antitrust
enforcement.
It is always problematic to write biographiesof politicians while they are still in office, but Harris
nevertheless has done a good and pretty compellingjob, which looks even timelier now that Abe is retiring.
This reviewer’s one quibble would be about the title: itfeels odd to describe as an “Iconoclast” someone who
is both a conservative figure who wants to defend
traditional beliefs and whose record is in the end somixed. As Harris writes: ‘But while he made somesignificant reforms by patiently deploying the power
he had accumulated, he was unable to reverse theunderlying causes of national decline’. The definitionof an icon is, I suppose, in the eye of the beholder.§Forty-Seven Samurai. A Taleof Vengance & Death in Haiku
and Lettersof English publications are either fictional adventure
novels or in depth academic studies. Until now there
has been a dearth of material which focuses on the
personal narratives of the protagonists. However,this deficiency seems to have been addressed withthis eminently readable and engaging account in the
English language by the skilful Japanese commentator
Sato Hiroaki.
The first chapter sets the context leading up to
the Ako Incident (1702) when the retired court protocol
expert Kira Yoshinaka was decapitated by the daimyo

by Sato Hiroaki
Stonebridge Press (2019)
ISBN-13: 978-1611720549
Review by Trevor Skingle
The most famous vendetta in Japanese history has led
to many publications, most in Japanese. The majority
Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews

3

Asano Naginori’s retainers. This was after Naganori had
attacked Kira with a sword within the precincts of Edo(former Tokyo) castle for which he was sentenced todeath by seppuku. The chapter includes profiles of the
key participants involved in the initial attack on Kira, as
well as that of the ‘dog’ shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
who was responsible for the eventual handing downof the sentence of seppuku on Naganori. There is alsoa discussion of the enlightened Genroku period withachievements in learning that seem commensuratewith that of the opening of Japan at the end of Sakoku(national isolation) in the 1850s. What is interestingis the inclusion of facts that are probably otherwise
not particularly well known outside of academic andJapanese circles. For instance that Ako castle was built
by Naganori’s grandfather which would explain theviolent rhetoric and the initial almost unshakeable
reticence of Naganori’s retainers to surrender it to the
shogunate. Given the relative paucity of information
like this in English language publications it is facts likethese that make this narrative particularly engaging.
These relatively unknown events also include afascinating discussion about the ironic predilection of
the shogun for the death penalty for human beingsin spite of his ‘Pitying the Sentient Edicts’. Such facts
and discussions make this narrative so much moreaccessible than some of the more academic accounts
that are currently available.
In the second chapter the build up to the fatal
attack on Kira is covered and begins with the tense
debates between the two main factions of the Ako
retainers, the ‘radicals’ and the others, about thehanding over of the Ako castle to the shogun’s forces.
The intimate personal testimony and exchanges thatit uncovers, including those between Ako retainers
in both Edo and Ako, make this much more readable
than many other third person academic narratives.
The letters also expose the vehement feelings of the
Ako retainers about the unequal treatment afforded
Kira by the shogunate. What is very interesting, given
current debates about the use of social media, is how
some of the poetic forms that were written and sharedat the time are so evocative of and almost mirror themodern use of social media, including subtle forms of‘trolling’. For instance, the approbation that followed
when Oishi Kuranosuke and a few other retainers
didn’t act on their initial avowed intent to commit
seppuku in order to follow their lord in death. There
are a number of incidents and testimonies that covergay relationships and issues amongst some of the
Ako retainers. A charming inclusion amongst these is4

the testimony that Oishi’s son Chikara gave about his
relationship with a male kabuki actor called Aiyama
Konosuke who was also an iroko (prostitute). Except
for one online article in English all other mention ofthis appears only in very brief online posts in Japanese.
What the book neglects to mention is that after
Chikara’s seppuku, Konosuke became a Buddhist
monk to pray for the repose of Chikara’s soul. Oishi
Kuranosuke’s lyricism also comes to the fore towards
the end of the chapter where, interspersed with his
poetic and dramatic texts, the perception by othersof his perceived predilection for licentiousness during
the period before the revenge attack is discussed.
The third quite substantial chapter covers thedevelopment of the essential components that were
set up in preparation for the raid on Kira’s mansion,
the attack itself, and briefly the aftermath. The chapter
begins with an examination of the 1697 travelogue
by Otaka Gengo who was considered, as well as anumber of other Ako vassals, a haiku master. This
chapter focuses more on haiku than any of the otherswith some fascinating personal accounts expressed inpart by prose and in part by verse. For instance, one
haiku in particular alludes to a potential reason for
Asano’s attack on Kira. There is also some discussion,
based on a letter from the haiku master Kikaku, which
seems, at first, to lay to rest the uncertain origin ofOtaka Gengo’s vendetta related haiku inscribed on a
public monument in Ryogoku bridge children’s park:‘Sun’s bounty swiftly shatters the thick ice’ (hi no on yatachimachi kudaku atsugori). With plenty of personal
testimonies and haiku, this chapter is one of those thatmakes what at first was a good book an excellent one
and makes it hard to put down.
Though there is very little about the seppuku ofthe retainers the other elements of the aftermath tothe incident are covered briefly in the fourth chapter
through a review of the popularity of the vendetta
in the public eye in opposition to the censure of theauthorities. The chapter covers its public exposure bymeans of ‘camouflaged’ bunraku (puppet) and kabuki
theatre adaptations, the many adaptations of the story
abroad, and subsequent bans post WWII through to its
resurgent popularity in later years, particularly on film.
However as regards the first kabuki performance, there
only was a first generation kabuki actor called Miyazaki
Denshichi; there never was a second generation
actor by that name. And he and the first generation
Nakamura Shichisaburo didn’t abandon the play,which was actually called Akebono Soga yoichi (Night
Attack by the Soga Brothers). It was in fact banned
Issue 88 Volume 15 Number 4 (August 2020)

after three days by the authorities for ‘political reasons’
when it was performed at the Nakamuraza kabuki
theatre in the second lunar month of 1702.
In the fifth chapter, the issue of the ‘disloyal’retainers is covered with a succinct look at the
motivations and direction some of them took with a
few third person accounts and some other imagined‘dramatic monologues’ including what happened to
Kajikawa Yosube, the person who prevented Asano
Naganori from killing Kira in the matsu no o-roka (Great
Pine Corridor) of Edo castle.
One of the most fascinating parts of the bookis the final chapter. It is highly likely that this English
translation of Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s short story‘Aruhi no Oishi Kuranosuke’ (One Day in the Life of
Oishi Kuranosuke) of Oishi’s reflections on his life andhis involvement with the campaign is the first time thishas been available in translation. It cannot be bettersummarised than with the critic and author Kato
Shuichi’s words that the story ‘turns Oishi’s selflessheroism on its head by presenting the image of a loneprotagonist reflecting on how future generations will
look upon his actions... Akutagawa’s new interpretation
goes beyond conventional form and probes the innerworld of his hero’.
The afterword covers the history of revenge
in Japan and looks further at the friction between
subjective interpretive Confucian philosophy andexplicit shogunate governance regarding the act ofvengeance, a debate that continues to this day. Only
the salient points are covered, so for those interested
in exploring this particular aspect in detail, it has been
covered in much greater detail in other academic
publications. This section also looks at the equivalencein punishments for the attacker and the attacked
which for witnesses of the vendetta and its aftermath
at the time seemed somewhat lacking in justice; aninteresting debate. There is also a discussion about
what may be a little known legislative procedure at
the time, that of revenge registration, which permitted
revenge to be legally carried out.
There are no illustrations other than the inclusionof several crests associated with the various factions
involved in the saga at the beginning of each chapter
and a couple elsewhere. Though the book does covera lot of what has until now not been readily available
in English other than in academic papers, it still leaves
some of the main perennial questions unanswered,those which will probably remain unanswered inperpetuity. In summary this is wonderfully fascinatingbook written in a non-academic style which covers the
Ako Incident in a way that comes up with facts andnarratives that other academic books have neglectedwhich is what makes it so engaging. Though there
are a few odd transliterations, the use of Japan bridge
instead of the generally accepted name of Nihonbashi
for instance, and some occasionally strange syntax,
this is thoroughly recommended reading.§

The World of Ito Jakuchu Classical Japanese Painterof All Things Great andSmall in NatureThis timely volume, originally released in 2006
in Japan but only now translated into English, sets
forth the case for Edo-era painter Ito Jakuchu (17161800), with author Sato Yasuhiro - a longtime expert
on Japanese fine art and former Professor at the
University of Tokyo - beginning proceedings with
an impassioned preface that speaks of Jakuchu’s‘thousand year’ wait for recognition. It is a wait that,slowly but surely, has been rewarded. Standout
showcases in New York and Los Angeles in 1989-90
marked a first for Japan’s Agency of Cultural Affairs never before had they sponsored the exhibition of anindividual Japanese artist abroad. The success of these
exhibitions would eventually prompt a re-appraisal of
Jakuchu’s work - long dismissed as eccentric in style amongst domestic audiences in Japan too.
The eldest son of a vegetable wholesaler incentral Kyoto, Jakuchu’s grounding within the worldof natural produce as part of hectic market that exists
in the city to this day would give him a firm foundation

by Sato Yasuhirotranslated by Michael Brase
Japan Publishing Industry
Foundation for Culture (2020)
ISBN-13: 978-4866581354
Review by Laurence GreenFor those beyond the cloistered world of Japanese art
history, the concept of “Japanese art” in and of itself
remains unavoidably dominated by a preponderance
toward the big names. With the likes of Hokusai andhis eternally famous The Great Wave off Kanagawa
more popular now than ever before, what hope forthe considerable wealth of great historic talent that islargely unknown amongst non-expert crowds outsideof Japan’s borders?
Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews

5for the kind of precise observation of nature’s many
bounties that would come to define his artworks.
Sato’s overview of Jakuchu’s life and works - ably andsensitively translated by Michael Brase - is warmly
cordial; acting as a relaxing, knowledgeable guideto the paintings. While there is absolutely the detailhere for an academic audience too (the closing essay
included at the end of this volume will be of particularinterest, locating Jakuchu’s work within broader
discussions of Edo-era art), for the most part the writing
is refreshing in its comforting casualness, and is just as
easily accessible to newcomers to the subject.
Early on, we get a taste of the full majesty Jakuchu
was capable of conjuring up within his favoured colouron-silk medium in Peonies and Lilies. The finesse andattention to detail in this capturing of verdant flora
is self-evident in its appeal to the senses. The detailed
realism and rich colours would become trademarks of
Jakuchu’s style, extending to remarkable depictions ofbirds in particular (but also including dogs, fish, monkeys,
insects and lizards). From chickens to cranes, Jakuchu’s
ability to capture the delicacy and intricacy of feathersand dramatic body shapes is a sheer delight to behold.
For all this microscopic detail though, the claimsof eccentricity may have something to them - there is abarely restrained wildness to Jakuchu’s style that feels
almost psychedelic at times. Colours collide and mingle
with abandon, and for all their obvious beauty, theseartworks never allow the viewer to forget that they areobserving nature in its most primal, untameable form.
In Phoenixes and the Rising Sun - a powerful diversion
into the fantastical - we are served a particularly strong
illustration of this. Jakuchu’s command of colour issuch that even predominantly white paintings - snowy
scenes, or meticulous depictions of plum blossom glow with an almost ethereal beauty. It is not just theblank non-colour of ‘white’ we observe but somethingricher and somehow more effervescent. In all cases,
Jakuchu imbues colour with a palpable life force, acramming full of the very stuff of nature itself. Tree
branches and waves seem to almost push out of thepaintings and extend their tendrils toward the viewer.
Much of the book is naturally devoted to
Jakuchu’s masterwork - Colourful Realm of Living
Beings (Doshoku sai-e) - a thirty scroll sequence
donated by the artist to Kyoto’s Shokokuji temple in1765. By this point in his career, Jakuchu very much saw
himself as an authority within his field, and the sheer
accomplishment of this collection is undoubtedly
impressive. His beloved birds naturally dominate yetagain, the roosters here looking more ecstatic than6

ever. A particular standout from the series sees a massof swallows descending, hordlike, to feast on fields ofautumn millet. A lone white bird punctuates the pressof predominantly brown bodies. The book notes, withsome humour, the inadvertent Hitchcockian flavour ofthe composition.
Casting Jakuchu’s output as part of a far wider
tradition of East Asian bird-and-flower painting, witha particularly strong Chinese influence, the book’s
middle pages take us closer to the finer details of
his work. Here, we observe in microscopic detail theexact finesse of individual brush marks; Jakuchu’s
technical capability laid plain in a kind of ‘this is how
he did it!’ expose. Close up, many of the strokes havethe feel of optical illusions, abstract and Escher-like intheir clustered formations. It is only when we zoom
back out that we can marvel at how these very samedetails infuse the paintings with such life. The latter
portions of the book broaden the field - we are shownhow Jakuchu also worked within the mediums of ink
painting and woodblock prints. While these works maylack some of the vibrancy and instant visual appeal of
the earlier, more colourful compositions, they are atestament to the artist’s versatility. One striking example- only recently discovered - done in ink and composed
when Jakuchu was in his eighties, shows a monstrous
white elephant facing off against a whale. The effect isterrifying in its stark, monochrome surreality.
For those now thoroughly convinced of thewonders of Jakuchu’s work, a handy index at the rearof the book usefully details those museums - bothin Japan and abroad - that hold Jakuchu material intheir collections. As an aside, casting a cursory eyeover this list, the reader is offered a glimpse of the
fascinating disparities in museum curatorial culture
present between Japan and international institutions.
For all that Jakuchu is a Japanese artist, his works areinvariably flagged as being, at best, ‘sometimes on
display’ in many of the Japanese institutions listed - anelusiveness at odds with the seeming permanency ofmany Western art collections.
That said, it is worth noting that befitting a
Japanese publisher, the production quality of thisbook is of a very high standard; printed on luxuriousfeeling paper that allows the colours to quite literally
pop from every page. For a tome dedicated to thecreator of Colourful Realm of Living Beings, this feels
quite appropriate. Done up in a handsomely glossy
hardcover finish, this book would no doubt make awelcome gift to any aficionado of Japanese art, and to
the animal lovers among them, even more so.§Issue 88 Volume 15 Number 4 (August 2020)

Breasts and Eggs
by Kawakami Mieko
translated by Sam Bett and David
Boyd
Picador (2020)
ISBN-13: 978-1509898206
Review by Susan Meehan
Kawakami Mieko’s epic novel zooms in on theexperience of women, in particular working-classwomen from Osaka - the kind whose voices are notheard. Makiko, the family head, is a single mother who
makes ends meet by working long hours as a hostessin a bar in Osaka. Natsuko, her younger sister by nine
years, moved to Tokyo aged 20 to blog and write, and12-year-old Midoriko is Makiko’s only child.
Midoriko’s outlook, largely informed by her mother’s
testing life, is initially only gleaned from her diary entries
which include weary realisations such as, ‘Life is hardenough with just one body, why would anyone everwant to make another one?’ Finding the overpopulationof the world to be totally irresponsible she brands being
child free as a positive, responsible action, and declares
she will never have children. Kawakami uses her as a
powerful voice, representing a generation critical –contemptuous even – of their elders.
The novel begins in 2008, ten years on from
Natsuko’s move to Tokyo. Book one shines a lighton the history and sometimes tense relationships
between Natsuko, Makiko and Midoriko. References tothe Beijing Olympics of 2008, the 2011 earthquake andtsunami which devastated Northeast Japan, and theelection of President Trump help the reader pinpoint
the novel in time.
While book one focuses on ageing Makiko’s
preoccupation with breasts, and culminates in Makiko,
Midoriko and Natsuko briefly reuniting in Tokyo, booktwo focuses on Natsuko’s own dilemmas and the

Flight Paths
digital production by Extant
Flight Paths can currently be watched online on the
Flight Paths website: https://flightpaths.extant.org.uk/
Review by Susan Meehan
Extant, the leading performing arts company and charity in
the UK managed for and by visually impaired professionalarts practitioners, has recently launched an online digitalproduction of Flight Paths, an interactive reworking ofLatest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews

trauma of life. Beginning in 2014, it brings us right up
to 2019 when Natsuko is in her early 40s.
Natsuko’s life is a one of rumination. She shares
her struggles, as well as her wide-ranging andrandom everyday thoughts with the reader. The novel
showcases Natsuko’s often very funny, free associations
running riot, as well as affecting stories from herchildhood. The latter allow a glimpse into the poverty
experienced by the sisters - which may surprise those
unfamiliar with this aspect of contemporary Japan.
Natsuko’s life in Tokyo sounds like a real grind, yetat the same time she can’t believe her luck, wonderingin disbelief, ‘How did I wind up getting paid to read
and write?’ But will she regret not having a baby?
There is a melancholy beauty at the root of
Kawakami’s discourse on life and more than a few
signals to suggest autobiographical elements. Hers is
an unvarnished take on domestic life, presenting it as
generally miserable, dangerous or steeped in poverty.
Though not confined to women, Kawakami’s empathy
is overwhelmingly with her female characters. It is no
surprise that she has become a feminist icon in Japan.
The novel is hefty, full of asides, digressions
and embellishments, and nimbly experiments witha variety of different styles. It uses Osaka-ben and achatty style bold, teeming with intimate, sometimes
outrageous, never prude conversations between
women. Often raw, on occasion the narrative swings
into realistic streams of consciousness and film or
dream sequences. One memorable scene in the hotbaths, unfolds into a dreamscape masterfully echoing,
I thought, Sawa Hiraki’s fantasy-filled videos.
With difficulty I forced myself to pause before
reading the last chapter, as I dared hope that thenovel might end on a promising note. While not aconventionally happy ending, it is positive in that
Natsuko remains undeterred in living a good life andone directed by herself. What a wonderful message to
end on, and what a generous yet often sad book it is.§the 2019 theatre production. As well as filmed segmentsfrom last year’s performance, the online experience also
includes fabulous animation, photographs, binauralsound, integrated captioning and audio description,
making it a truly accessible production.
Until I watched the stage version at Stratford
Circus last year, I had never seen a theatre production
performed entirely by visually-impaired artists. The skillof all the artists involved is simply staggering and theexperience was transformative.
7

Flight Path website

Key to the narrative are the goze, visuallyimpaired female shamisen players who would travel
around Japan playing music and retelling epic tales.
These performers were first referred to in 15th-century
Japanese literature, according to Professor Kojiro
Hirose, an expert in goze studies. The peripatetic gozewould often travel for about 300 days of the year.
Taki, a Japanese goze guide wearing a purple
kimono and carrying a shamisen, meets audience
members as they log on to the online production. She
waits for them at a crossroads or runway and prompts
the audience to choose their first path, at the push of
an arrow, be it North, East, South or West. Believe me,
you can’t go wrong whichever path you take, so do notagonise over the decision. I tested it countless times!
Taki provides plenty of context throughout andoften relies on her teacher, Sugimoto Kikue, to add anumber of short, informative lessons about the gozeand their craft. Each section takes about 15 minutes
and the whole experience lasts about an hour.
I began with West, which took me to ’where oldmeets new’. On stage were Amelia and Sarah – global
citizens - both with rucksacks and holding walking
canes. Close to them were two aerial silks riggedfrom the ceiling, each silk consisting of two lengthsof fabric. Amelia and Sarah are incredibly down toearth, opinionated, funny, able storytellers and, as itturns out, enviably supple. They are virtually impaired
female artists on the move - contemporary goze.
They are joined on stage by Kikuchi Takashi, avisually impaired viola player, and Victoria Oruwari, avisually impaired soprano singer. Takashi and Victoria
are not on stage themselves, but we hear their voices,and occasionally see videos of these very talented
musicians. Takashi’s presence is captivating eventhough he is not physically on stage. Victoria considers
herself to be six years old – the last age at which she
could see. She sings beautifully. Stories are brilliantly
melded together and move between the different
characters, so one has to stay alert. The stories are
personal and contemporary.
On the silks, Sarah learns some spectacularly hairraising moves from Amelia through repetition andmuscle memory. I was on the edge of my seat. The

learning from repetition is similar to how the goze would
learn their craft, though their training lasted five years.
I suddenly hear the clash of metal and samurai,
as I’m plunged into the magical story of Hōichi - ablind and earless biwa or lute player - as retold by
Lafcadio Hearn, another restless traveller of Greek andIrish heritage who ended up in Japan in the late 19th
century. Hōichi – voiced by Takashi – helps bring to life
the Tale of the Heike, an account of the 12th century
struggle between the Heike and Genji families forcontrol of Japan. The sea rages and the ghostly fires ofthe dead Heike burn all around.
Meanwhile, Sarah and Amelia continue toentertain. They pull themselves up on the silks, tip
themselves upside down, do the splits, pull off asideways pose, a plank, a figurehead and more. The
repertoire is fast and breath-taking too. A series ofshamisen jingles can be heard in the background.
These two modern-day goze have bags of energy
and, I imagine, lots of travelling, living and sharing ofstories to fulfil! As the spectacle comes to an end, Takimoves from the flight path back to the crossroads,
where it all begins again. Did I mention that she isan animated character? Nakamura Aya as Taki is theperfect guide: soothing, entertaining, encouraging andinformative – a good balance to the didactic teacher.
The animation is utterly beguiling, and somethingthat the Artistic Director of Extant, Maria Oshodi had
wanted to include in the 2019 stage version. The
illustrations for this online version were drawn by
manga artist Inko Ai Takita, and the animator is Dave
Packer. The shamisen music by the talented Ichikawa
Hibiki – who collaborated with Dario Marianelli on
the soundtrack of the film ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’
makes for a beautiful soundtrack. Nic Sandiland, as
Editor and Producer, worked tirelessly to seamlessly
pull everything together and Tim Jukes, the Web
Consultant and Designer, cannot go unmentioned for
all his online and digital work.
This is an exhilarating update of the goze story
and timely. In these times of Covid, the precarious
lives of these talented modern goze is even more
affecting, as entertainment venues from theatres tomusic venues have been closed, and freelance artists
continue to struggle as events and exhibitions havebeen cancelled or postponed.
As more events are being shared online, thetiming of this digital experience of Flight Paths is
impeccable. I hope that as venues begin to reopen,
events will also continue to be shared online andwithin reach of those with access needs, and that
Extant will continue to thrive as it promotes theatre forand by the visually impaired.§