Sophia University Junior College Division Faculty Journal
第 40 号, 2019, 73-84

Paul Claudel, “Japanese Women,” and1
Orientalism
Maria Lupas
Abstract
The interwar period, which saw an increase in European imperialism, also saw
intense missionary activity in Asia. Paul Claudel, who had previously been ambassador
to China, served as French ambassador to Japan from 1921 to 1927. He kept up anabundant professional and personal correspondence with persons from the realms ofpolitics, literature, and religion. It was during his time in Japan that Claudel met andbegan a correspondence with two French Carmelite sisters on mission in Asia. Thus,
Claudel’s notable legacy in Japan has often included having a part in the foundation of
the Carmelite monastery in Tokyo that was created by the monastery headed by these
two sisters in Cholet, France. These sisters represent some of the lesser known, butnevertheless very active women with whom Claudel was in contact. Surprisingly, thecorrespondence with the sisters shows a passive Claudel in dialogue with active women.
This very passivity on Claudel’s part may perhaps have saved him on this and otheroccasions from a hard orientalist stance.

Introduction“How could us Japanese women forget our great and generous Friend?” [“Comment
les Japonaises pourraient-elles oublier leur grand et ‘généreux’ Ami ?”] begins a letterfrom Sister Jeanne of the Child Jesus to Paul Claudel (Millet-Gérard 918). The sister
is about to leave France to go on mission to begin a Carmelite monastery in Tokyoand playfully calls herself and her fellow sisters “Japanese women” [“les japonaises”].
Claudel himself is the generous friend and, as ambassador to Japan from 1921 to 1927,
he has often been credited as the inspiration for the women’s Carmelite monastery inJapan founded in 1932. Nevertheless, a look at the correspondence between Claudel andthe sisters shows how active the sisters were and how little Claudel tried to impose hisviews. This very passivity on Claudel’s part may have saved him from a hard orientalist
stance on this and other occasions.

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I. Paul Claudel’s non-orientalist legacy in Japan, a literature
review
Both Japanese and non-Japanese scholars writing about Claudel in Japan seem toagree that he was unlike other Western visitors. As early as 1968 Maurice Pinguet wasasserting that Paul Claudel could not be accused of an attitude of cultural colonialism
in his apprehension of Japan (4). Akane Kawakami has singled out Claudel’s practiceof walking extensively around Japan as indicative of an attitude toward the other thatis “refreshing” and “humble” (91). The Japanese scholar Shinobu Chujo in the preface
to his 2012 study, Chronologie de Paul Claudel au Japon, highlights that in Japan,
Claudel is known as the ambassador poete, 詩人大使 , a title which we can understand2

as differentiating him from other diplomats who were not poets. Some non-Japanesescholars also pose interesting questions about the nature of Claudel’s interaction withJapan. Pamela Genova while underlining what is ambivalent, complex, and equivocal
in the relationship, also claims that Claudel was not a heavy-handed manipulator of theinspiration he took from Japanese aesthetics: “the poet’s touch may well be lighter thanit might seem at first glance” (108). Indeed Jacques Bésineau, who collected impressions
that Paul Claudel left on his Japanese friends, shows that while Claudel might haveseemed physically intimidating and rather abrupt in his way of communicating, those
who overcame those obstacles truly appreciated his unconventional ways and built longlasting friendships with him (345-46).
Claudel’s first-hand contact with Japan was a main difference between him and3other French artists who took inspiration from “japonisme,” or the fascination with
objects and prints coming from Japan. As Akane Kawakami notes, “popular japonisme
probably did more to hinder, rather than aid, the dissemination of any real knowledge
about Japan” (20). She goes on to demonstrate how “japonisme” constitutes a hidden,
insidious type of Orientalism (22) which can be understood, following Edward Said, as aconstruction of “the Orient” posited as the “Other” of Europe rather than being an entity
on its own right (Kawakami 175n.8). Claudel, as one who stepped on Japanese soil, wasthus spared falling into the reductionist trap of thinking he understood Japan simply
because he had contact with some pieces of Japanese art. Yet, other artists who visitedthe real places they tried to understand have nevertheless fallen into yet another trap:that of being blind to the reality of the culture before them because they saw it throughthe lens of their predecessors. If scholars of Claudel’s work seem to agree that Claudel
did not fall into this second trap either, to what can be attributed Claudel’s seeming
immunity to Orientalism?

─ 74 ─Paul Claudel,“Japanese Women,”and Orientalism

A partial answer may be in Claudel’s paradoxical passivity and receptivity in his
relationships, as can be seen in his correspondence with two Roman Catholic religious
sisters. Claudel’s correspondence with Mother Aimée of Mary and Sister Jeanne of
the Child Jesus consists of twenty-four documents. All the documents represent the
women’s side of the correspondence because Claudel’s side was destroyed by the sisters.
Even before their integral publication in 2008 by Dominique Millet-Gérard, André Blanc
had studied the letters and published several fragments in 1998. Blanc makes several
stimulating suggestions about the correspondence. He had consulted persons in themonastery of Cholet and suggests that the true reason for the destruction of Claudel’sside of the correspondence was probably the private information Claudel confided to thesisters which they thought would embarrass him if discovered. For example, the lettersseem to allude to Claudel’s prior affair with Rose Vetch (Blanc 5, 12). Blanc also cites
other internal documents from the Cholet monastery and does not hesitate to mention
where the sisters’ advice to Claudel might contradict their own actions toward him,
as when they advise Claudel not to mold others according to his own experience, butnevertheless seem to mold him according to their experiences (16). A close look at thecorrespondence between Claudel and these missionary women therefore shows Claudel
often in a surprisingly passive position, listening more than speaking and receiving
advice rather than giving it.

II. The genesis and pursuit of a Carmelite monastery in Tokyo
Claudel’s main encounter with Mother Aimée of Mary and Sister Jeanne of the
4Child Jesus took place on board the Amazon in February and March 1925 as the ship
was making a run from Asia to Marseille. The ship and its layout played a crucial rolein the meeting between Claudel and the sisters. It could accommodate 148 passengers
in first class, 71 passengers in second class and 81 passengers in third class (Ramona).
At the time Claudel and the sisters took the ship, the crossing from Hué (present-day
Vietnam) to Marseille lasted about one month.
The encounter with Claudel on board the Amazon seems to have been materiallybeneficial to the sisters in at least two ways. First, Claudel was instrumental in getting
the two sisters moved up from a third-class cabin to a more private second-class cabin.
The third-class cabin with twelve beds made privacy difficult for the two previously
cloistered sisters and Mother Aimée notes that no sooner had Claudel noticed thesituation, then he spoke to someone in charge and the sisters were immediately moved
up (Guillet 35).

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Maria Lupas

Second, the sisters were also facing a challenge upon their arrival in France.
Although both sisters were originally from France, it was unusual at the time for sisters
sent on missions to Asia to return. In the case of Mother Aimée, twenty-seven years
spent in a hot climate had weakened her heart and doctors recommended that she
return to France. Health considerations were not the only reason for the return trip
to Europe. The sisters planned to open up a new monastery in France specializing in
training religious sisters for life in the Asian mission countries. The local bishop in Hué
had approved this plan, but on the French side, no bishop was yet aware of it, and thesisters themselves did not know where their project should start (Guillet 33). They faced
an uncertain future upon their landing in Marseille and they viewed the meeting with
Claudel on board the Amazon as a providential encounter since he not only got them
upgraded but also encouraged them in their project of building a monastery in France
that would train sisters for Asia and particularly for Japan.
In Mother Aimée’s account of the encounter, written to preserve the memory forlater generations of Carmelite sisters, it is Claudel who insists upon a foundation in
Japan and the sisters seem obliged to acquiesce:[Paul Claudel] is persuaded that Carmel would be highly appreciated there andhopes to obtain, before we part, the promise that a foundation would be made in theland of the rising sun! We are rather of his persuasion, but what he wants is thepromise that our first foundation be in Japan.
Il est […] persuadé que le Carmel y serait très apprécié, et espère obtenir, avant que
nous nous quittions, la promesse d’une fondation au pays du Soleil levant ! Nous
sommes assez gagnées à sa cause, mais ce qu’il voudrait c’est obtenir que notre
première fondation soit pour le Japon” (cited in Blanc 8).
Claudel is apparently already imagining a later step in the process: once the sisters set
up the missionary training monastery in France, the first place the trained missionaries
should be sent to would be Japan.
This account from the sisters’ chronicle has commonly been accepted and it credits
Claudel’s invitation to found a Carmel in Japan as the impetus for the first Carmel.
However, this view perhaps credits Claudel for too much responsibility in the foundation
because a look at the correspondence itself shows how much the sisters themselves wereactive in pursuing this foundation and how little Claudel got involved in the work.
Of the twenty-four pieces of correspondence from the sisters to Claudel, the first─ 76 ─Paul Claudel,“Japanese Women,”and Orientalism

dates to April 1, 1925, just one week after the Amazon landed in Marseille and Claudel
and the sisters went their separate ways. In the letter, Mother Aimée restates theprovidential nature of their meeting with Claudel on the boat and recalls with her
missionary zeal the idea of a Carmel in Japan:
Was not our meeting - providential just like all that happens here below - yetanother indication of God’s loving heart and an invitation to multiply His “Edens”
in the Far East, to the land of the rising sun? Who knows whether you and we shallnot see the full blossoming of Carmel in Japan?
Notre rencontre, providentielle comme tout ce qui se rencontre ici-bas, n’est-elle pas
encore une indication de son Cœur aimant, et une invite à multiplier ses ‘edens’ enExtrême-Orient, jusqu’au royaume du Soleil levant ? Qui sait si vous et nous neverrons pas le plein épanouissement du Carmel au Japon ? (Millet-Gérard 858).
If in this letter Mother Aimée still reserves her judgment about the success of a Carmel
in Japan, she nevertheless thinks their meeting with Claudel was an invitation from
God to begin working on Carmelite missions to the Far East, particularly to Japan.
By the fourth letter from the Carmelites to Claudel, written four months after
the landing of the Amazon, the sisters have moved from Marseille into the Choletmonastery. They were renovating the buildings and preparing to set up the regularreligious life there. Sister Jeanne, who writes the letter, brings up the subject of Japanin the PS. She asks if Claudel is planning to return to Japan. The reason for herquestion follows. The sisters are indeed still hoping to bring Carmel to Japan: “As for us,
we still keep the hope of establishing our Holy Order there as soon as God will allow it.”[“Pour nous, nous gardons toujours l’espérance d’y aller établir notre Saint Ordre, dès quele bon Dieu le permettra”] (Millet-Gérard 868). If Claudel had indeed been the original
impetus for a Carmel in Japan, four months after the sisters and Claudel disembarked
from the Amazon, the sisters have thoroughly adopted the project as their own.
st

The next letter of the exchange was written with interruptions between the 1 andrd

3 of January of the following year. Mother Aimée explains in the letter that she wastaking a few moments out of the night of prayer and adoration to write to Claudel.
st

5

rd

Claudel’s own letter seems to have arrived between the 1 and 3 of January informing
the sisters of his planned return to Japan on board the Porthos. Mother Aimée adds aline about the Carmelites own willingness to go to Japan as well: “Yes, Japan can counton us; at the hour of Divine Providence, sisters from the monastery of ‘Jesus-Emmanuel’─ 77 ─

Maria Lupas

will go out like a colony of bees to initiate into the great and beautiful life of Carmel—
into the life of contemplation and of intimacy with God—the dear Japanese souls whowill understand it so well.” [“Oui, le Japon peut compter sur nous ; à l’heure de la divine
Providence, un essaim parti de ‘Jésus-Emmanuel’ ira initier à la grande et belle vie
du Carmel, la vie de contemplation, d’union à Dieu, les chères âmes japonaises qui lacomprendront si bien”] (Millet-Gérard 870).
By May of that year, the project of the new Carmel is so certain that Sister Jeanneneed not name the place specifically; it is simply referred to as “the desired foundation”[“la fondation désirée”] which seems to be becoming a reality with more and more womenentering the Cholet Carmel (Millet-Gérard 876).
The next letter dates three months later, from August 1926, and, in it, Sister Jeanne
responds rather firmly to a letter in which Claudel must have told her that he was again
leaving Japan and returning to Paris. She thought his post in Japan suited him betterand that he could be more open to God there. Commentators of this letter have rightfully
noted that the main concern of Sister Jeanne is the difficulties Claudel might undergo
upon seeing Rosalie (Rose) Vetch again in Paris (Blanc 12, Millet-Gérard n. 877). Sister
Jeanne specifically worries that his prayer life be distracted by his preoccupation
with Rose, a subject that she implies by the periphrastic: “preoccupations, especially
you know what” [“les préoccupations, surtout vous savez quoi”] (Millet-Gérard 877).
Nevertheless, Sister Jeanne has not lost sight of her own mission to send Carmelites
throughout the world, and, while writing in this same letter about her difficulties
with a projected Carmel in Tunisia, she adds that the foundation in Japan is a higher
priority: “The Japanese [mission] is higher up on the list. [“Celle du Japon passera bien
avant”] (877). Although she does not explicitly mention it as a reason for why Claudel
should stay in Japan, it would be reasonable to think that Claudel’s presence as Frenchambassador there would be a help in the endeavor to begin a Carmel.
Three months later, on November 4, 1926, Sister Jeanne comments that theconvent in France is doing well with twenty women, though some of the women do leave
the convent. She writes about the convent’s projects which include sending three sisters
to Asia of whom two are intended for Hué and one for Manila. In the same vein, shedoes not forget to mention Japan and asks when it will be time for a Carmel in Japan(881). This is clearly a preoccupation for her. She also offers to host Claudel for a brief
retreat in their Carmel as a preparation for what seems to be a new assignment for the6ambassador. Claudel was assigned to be the French ambassador to Washington.

Several exchanges of letters occur in the meantime and the next mention of

─ 78 ─Paul Claudel,“Japanese Women,”and Orientalism

Japan occurs three years later on September 28, 1929. The occasion is the surpriseannouncement from the bishop of Nagasaki that a young woman will come from his
diocese to enter the Cholet Carmel in France with a view of a future Carmelite convent
in Nagasaki. In fact, she was already preparing to depart for France. Less than twomonths later in November 1929 we learn that the Japanese sister arrived safely in
Cholet to begin her training and has even brought with her materials to teach Japaneseto the French sisters. It seems that the project for the Carmel in Japan is beginningto materialize. The sisters have thus set up their training program in France and thearrival of a young sister from Japan along with the offer of support from the bishop of
Nagasaki indicate that a Carmelite monastery can soon be founded.

III. Paul Claudel’s listening in silence and the opening of theCarmelWhile the sisters accord a great deal of importance to the coming of the young sisterfrom Japan, Claudel’s reaction to the news seems less enthusiastic and even passive.
In a letter from April 20, 1930, Sister Jeanne invites Claudel to come to the clothing
ceremony for the sister and stand in as “father of the bride.” The sisters’ zeal manifests
itself in the elaborate staging they imagine for the ceremony when they invite Claudel:
Could you be there, dear Sir? Our sisters count on it so much that they would begreatly disappointed if you were not there, Reverend Mother and yours humbly
even more so. The sisters also expressed another request which I promised I would
convey but not without fear of being indiscrete: they would like for you to put on
your ambassador costume to walk to the altar our bride who will be wearing her
Japanese kimono.
Pourrez-vous être là, cher Monsieur ? Nos Sœurs y comptent tant qu’elles auraient
une grande déception, Notre Mère et votre humble sœur, plus encore. Elles ont aussiémis un autre désir, que j’ai promis de vous transmettre, non sans crainte d’être
indiscrète : elles voudraient que vous mettiez votre costume d’ambassadeur pourconduire à l’autel notre mariée en toilette japonaise !
For his part Claudel was unable to free his schedule to attend the ceremony for theJapanese sister, and the sisters for their part were asked by the bishop of Nagasaki topostpone the ceremony to allow participants from Japan to come. The sisters invited
Claudel again to come on the new date: “July 16 would be a propitious day for the─ 79 ─

Maria Lupas

beautiful ceremony, unless another date would be better for you, dear Sir. I believe it
would be a true sacrifice for our sisters not to have you there on that day since they
speak of your coming as a done deed.” [“Le 16 juillet […] se trouve tout indique pour cettebelle cérémonie, à moins qu’une autre date ne vous agrée mieux, cher Monsieur. Je crois
que ce serait un vrai sacrifice pour nos Sœurs de ne point vous avoir ce jour-là, car elles
parlent de votre venue comme d’une chose assurée !”] (Millet-Gérard 906). Commentatorsof the letter have noted that Claudel did not make the effort to come the second time nor
to suggest a better date but instead excused himself for needing to be with his family
in another part of France. The tone of the sisters’ letters suggests that Claudel did notgive the impression of someone who would discourage requests, even though in this casehe did not honor theirs. The sisters’ side of the correspondence seems to show that they
perceived Claudel as a gracious receiver of their letters, one whose reactions were not to
be feared.
It also seems that Claudel did not impose on the sisters his views in the matter ofthe hierarchy of the Catholic church in Japan. As ambassador, Claudel reported to his
superiors in France about political and other leadership matters. In his opinion, theFrench missionary priest, Jean-Baptiste Alexis Chambon, MEP, was unsuitable for the
position of archbishop of Tokyo. In a report from 1926 to the foreign ministry in Paris
concerning a nomination for bishop of Tokyo, Claudel had noted: “Choosing the man who
is truly up to the position is of great importance for our country. […] Father Chambon,
whose name has come up, lacks the necessary qualities.” [“Le choix pour évêque d’unhomme vraiment à la hauteur de sa charge a en effet une grosse importance pour notre
pays. […] Le P. Chambon dont on a prononcé le nom n’a pas les qualités nécessaires.”](Œuvres diplomatiques 352) Nevertheless, when Chambon was named to this post, andthe sisters wrote to Claudel that Chambon would be officiating the ceremony in France
for the Japanese sister, there is no indication that Claudel expressed any dissatisfaction
to them.
Lastly, Claudel, the published poet, also allows himself to be rebuked for being a
bad reader. In a letter from July 13, 1930, sister Jeanne tells Claudel: “I must admitthat I found you quite severe and even wrong in your evaluation of the work of Father
de Caussade and that because you did not properly understand the question” [“mais jevous avoue avoir trouvé bien sévère et même injuste votre appréciation sur l’ouvrage du P.
de Caussade, et cela je crois, faute de bien entendre la question […]”] (Millet-Gérard 913).
The sisters’ side of the correspondence shows their boldness in even rebuking Claudel. It
indicates that the sisters did not fear how Claudel would receive their letters.

─ 80 ─Paul Claudel,“Japanese Women,”and Orientalism

Conclusion
Sister Jeanne of the Child Jesus along with Sister Maria-Theresia from Nagasaki

7

and several other sisters reached Tokyo in February 1933 where, with the help ofArchbishop Chambon, they set up Holy Trinity Carmel at 38 Shimoroku Bandro,
Kojimachi, Yotsuya, Tokyo (Millet-Gérard 921).
In her earlier letter of December 3, 1932, Sister Jeanne had called herself a“Japanese woman” (Millet-Gérard 918). Regardless of whether Sister Jeanne herself
can really be considered a “Japanese other,” she is, in the very least, a simple “other”
for Claudel. And if Orientalism is understood as molding a representation of the otherthat serves one’s conscious or unconscious purposes and does not attempt to reach thereality of the other, then Claudel who often passively followed the plan for a Carmel
seems not to have fallen into the trap of Orientalism. He even allowed himself to be
confronted by the otherness of Sister Jeanne by having an attitude that allowed her
to rebuke him on occasion. In Claudel’s correspondence with the Carmelite sisters weperceive his refusal to impose his views and his reception of the other, a stance whichfrees him of an Orientalist attitude that could have vitiated his relationships with thesisters and all those with whom he came in contact. Claudel seems to listen more than toexpress and to politely not honor invitations, rather than to outright refuse. Rather thanbeing a fault, this apparent passivity on Claudel’s part may have been a key to the nonOrientalist legacy that he has seemingly left in Japan.

Works Cited
Bésineau, Jacques. “Claudel au Japon: Souvenirs et Documents Inedits.” Etudes, vol. 94,
no. 311, Dec. 1961, pp. 345–51.
Blanc, André. “Claudel et le Carmel.” Carmel, vol. 4, 1998, pp. 3–18.
“Bulletin des Archives Vladimir Ghika n. 2, May 2015.” vdocuments.mx,
h ttps://vdocuments.mx/bulletin-des-archives-vladimir-ghika-no-2-mai-2015579e3e8687b7d.html
Chujo, Shinobu. Chronologie de Paul Claudel au Japon. Honoré Champion, 2012.
Claudel, Paul. Journal. Edited by Jacques Petit and François Varillon, vol. 1, Gallimard,
1968.
--------. Correspondance diplomatique : Tokyo 1921-1927 / Paul Claudel ; textes choisis,présentés et annotés par Lucile Garbagnati, avec le concours du Centre JacquesPetit ; préface de Michel Malicet. Gallimard, 1995.
DuFeil, Yves, et al. Amazone. http://navires-14-18.com/fichiers/A/AMAZONE_MM_─ 81 ─

Maria Lupas

V3.pdf. Accessed 5 Sept. 2018.
Genova, Pamela. “Knowledge of the East?: Paul Claudel and the Equivocal Nature ofIntercultural Exchange.” L’Esprit Créateur, vol. 56, no. 3, 2016, pp. 104–19.
Guillet, Louis. Colline de Joie: Le Carmel de Cholet. Editions du Carmel, 1976.
Kawakami, Akane. Travellers’ Visions: French Literary Encounters with Japan, 18812004. Liverpool University Press, 2007.
Millet-Gérard, Dominique, editor. Correspondance de Paul Claudel avec lesecclésiastiques de son temps: Le sacrement du monde et l’intention de gloire. Vol.
2,2, Honoré Champion, 2008.
Pinguet, Maurice. “Paul Claudel Exégète du Japon.” Etudes de Langue et Litterature
Francaises, vol. 14, 1969, pp. 1–19. www.jstage.jst.go.jp, doi:10.20634/ellf.14.0_1.
Ramona, Philippe. Le Paquebot Amazone - Laos - Messageries Maritimes.
http://www.messageries-maritimes.org/amaz2.htm. Accessed 5 Sept. 2018.
詩人大使ポール・クローデルと日本 . 水声社 , 2018.
馬渕明子 , et al. 北斎とジャポニスム : HOKUSAI が西洋に与えた衝撃 = Hokusai and
Japonisme. Exhibition Catalog. October 21, 2017 –January 28, 2018, The
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.

Notes
1

The author would like to thank two anonymous faculty bulletin readers for theircareful readings and constructive suggestions, her mother for her precise andencouraging feedback on an earlier version of this paper, and a participant at the 2019
MLA convention, where a version of this paper was read, for her helpful question. The
paper has greatly improved thanks to their help. All remaining errors are the author’sown.

2“Ambassador poet” is also the title of an exhibit at the Kanagawa Museum of Modern
Literature to commemorate the 150-year anniversary in 2018 of the birth of Claudel.
This anniversary has for its part stimulated several publications and culturalactivities throughout Japan.

3

The taste for “japonisme” or the fascination with the prints and objects coming fromJapan was widespread in France and painters such as Monet and Degas collected
Japanese prints and took inspiration from them, but very few traveled to Japan withthe result that their knowledge of Japan came uniquely from those objects.

4

The Amazon was a French merchant shipping boat bought by the French company“Messageries Maritimes.” Originally named the Laos, it was designed for and began─ 82 ─Paul Claudel,“Japanese Women,”and Orientalism

service between France and the Far East in 1897, but a case of the plague on board
caused an important quarantine and the ship was reassigned to the South America
route and therefore renamed Amazon. In 1914 it was requisitioned for use during
World War I as a postal ship to and from the Far East. After World War I, the ship
was returned to the “Messageries Maritimes” and took up service again on the Far
East route until 1928 when it was confined to the Mediterranean Sea. The ship was
finally demolished in 1932. The Amazon had two stacks and could attain a speed ofover 18 knots or 33km per hour with a power of over 7,000cv (Dufeil et al.).
5

In Carmel as well as in the world, the change of the year was a time to look back upon
the year past with its successes and shortcomings and look ahead to what was to beundertaken in the coming year.

6

Initially, it was mistakenly thought that Claudel was nominated to Berlin.

7

For the sister’s name, see “Bulletin des Archives Vladimir Ghika.”─ 83 ─