Roots of Cool Japan : From the Japanese
Traditional Edo Culture to Anime and Manga
journal or Kwansei Gakuin University social sciences
publication title review
volume 19
page range 1-7
year 2015-03-31
URL http://hdl.handle.net/10236/13165
1
Kwansei Gakuin University
Social Sciences Review
Vol.19, 2014
Nishinomiya, Japan
Roots of Cool Japan: From the Japanese Traditional Edo Culture
to Anime and Manga
Takuji OKUNO
Japan’s transition from making things to making tales
Japanese popular culture, known as “Cool Japan,” includes animations,
comics, video games, figures, and J-pops that are highly acclaimed in Europe and
the United States as well as throughout Asia. From the 1970s to the 1980s, Japan
gained confidence in its ability to “make things” because consumers around the
world embraced its manufactured products such as electric home appliances and
automobiles with open arms in preference to the products of other advanced
countries. However, at the beginning of the Heisei era, the bubble in the Japanese
economy suddenly burst and Japan’s gross national product (GNP) plummeted,
resulting in what is termed “the burst of economic bubble of 1990.” Relatively
cheaper manufactured products from other Asian countries gained precedence
over Japanese products. In response, many Japanese manufacturers moved their
production plants to other Asian countries, particularly settling in mainland
China, where labor costs were lower than in Japan. The recession was protracted
and the Japanese people suffered from a sense low confidence in their abilities to
overcome the recession.
By the late 1990s, Prime Ministers Mori and, subsequently, Koizumi
responded to Japanese political leader Heizo Takenaka’s advocacy of an
information technology (IT) revolution in Japan as a way to beat the recession.
However, Takenaka’s policy did not bring true innovation and development from
the IT industry. Instead, it led to many years in which there was an increase in
manufacturing products such as personal computers, cell phones, DVDs, and
digital TVs. His plan never overcame the old idea of “making things.” It only
copied the US policies of the Clinton administration that, five years earlier, had
proposed the IT highway and had successfully globalized the Internet as the World
Wide Web. As Tadao Umesao, a cultural anthropologist, pointed out, a real IT
revolution would necessarily mean that the economy and society would shift from
2 Takuji OKUNO
a manufacturing orientation to an information orientation (1). A real transition
would be reflected by the society’s transition from “making things” to “making
tales.” From that perspective, the so-called Japanese IT “revolution” was not an
information technology or communications revolution at all.
Furthermore, the disastrous accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power
plant as a result of the East Japan Great Earthquake of 2011 is causing a loss of
confidence around the world in Japan’s manufacturing technology that seems
irreparable (2).
Meanwhile, Japan’s international reputation was rapidly improving in an
area that Japanese adults generally failed to notice. Hayao Miyazaki, one of
Japan’s greatest animation directors, won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize
and the Mainichi Film Award for Best Film in 1988 for his Tonari no Totoro
(English: My Neighbor Totoro) and won six accolades for Sen to Chihiro no
Kamikakushi (English: Spirited Away) in 2002 and 2003, including the 2003 Best
Animated Feature award at the US 75th Academic Awards. Another one of his
films, Howl’s Moving Castle, received 10 accolades, including an award for
technical achievement at the 61st Venice Film Festival. Ghost in the Shell:
Innocence by Mamoru Oshii also was praised highly by international film
organizations, notably at the Cannes Film Festival. Other highly acclaimed
Japanese animations include: Pokémon by Kunihiko Yuyama and “Playing King”
by Ryosuke Takahashi (both arranged for Nintendo’s Gameboy), Lupin III by
Monkey Punch, Mobile Suit Gundam by Yoshiyuki Tomino, and Neon Genesis
Evangelion by Hideaki Anno.
Related Japanese animation products, such as video game software Super
Mario by Nintendo and Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy by Sony PlayStation,
have been bestsellers in the international market. Spinoff products also became
popular. Small plastics model manufacturer Kaiyodo in Osaka produced miniature
figurines based on popular characters in comics and animations. These figurines
were distributed as gifts accompanying snacks and sweets sold in convenience
stores. The “cute girl” or “pretty girl” figurines designed by Takashi Murakami and
made by BOME in Kaiyodo were displayed as fine art at the Metropolitan
Museum in New York and auctioned off at Christie’s for USD 567,500. English
translations of Japanese comics also are internationally popular among young
people, occupying a substantial proportion of the comics’ sections in American and
European bookstores. Emerging trends include fans (often referred to as otaku, or
“obsessed”) that consume comics almost compulsively. These otaku tend to wear
animation character costumes and rally together on the streets to dance the
Suzumiya Haruhi dance from the popular anime, The Melancholy of Suzumiya
Haruhi.
The Ritual Significance of Purification Practices in Japan 3
Based on these phenomena, American economist Douglas McGray proposed a
new indicator, the Gross National Cool Index (GNC). His evaluation of Japan’s
ranking on the GNC is, “Japan would no longer rank high in GNP, but Japan is
Number One in GNC” (3). Harvard University professor Joseph Nye labeled Japan
as the country that has “the soft power” that attracts people not by force (like the
US) but by natural attractiveness (4). Yet, Japan produced the world’s first picture
scroll, Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji) in the 12th century and also produced
the first comic in the world, Choju-giga (Scrolls of Frolicking Animals) in the 12th
century. These facts suggest that Japan has been a country making tales long
before it was a country of making things.
Kabuki and Kibyoshi: The roots of animation and comics
A great cultural shift occurred during the Edo period (17th to 19th centuries) in
the tradition of “making tales” that was led by The Tale of Genji and Scrolls of
Frolicking Animals. During this time, picture stories flourished and blossomed
into an art form that ultimately led to the present cultural phenomenon of Cool
Japan’s animations, comics, and games. In the Edo period, townspeople in the Edo
area (present-day Tokyo) as well as in Kamigata (today’s Osaka and Kyoto areas)
greatly enjoyed Bunraku (puppet theater), Kabuki, Rakugo (comic storytelling),
Kibyoshi (storybooks with yellow covers), and Ukiyo-e paintings (woodcut prints).
Bunraku and Rakugo were called ningyo-joruri and otoshibanashi, respectively,
during the Edo period. The terms Bunraku and Rakugo are used in this paper
with the meaning that is familiar to us today. The townspeople of the Edo period
were not, however, passive consumers of the arts. They actively participated in the
culture as patrons, performers, and/or creators. As a result, some people became
highly knowledgeable connoisseurs, professional performers, and/or headmasters
of art schools.
Arguably, the roots of modern animation are in Kabuki and the roots of
comics are in the “yellow covers.” In Japanese Edo popular culture, it was
customary for people to form private groups in which they created and performed
the stories. Importantly, the Edo period was a time when professionals and
amateurs had equal opportunities to create popular culture. Good examples of this
phenomenon in today’s culture are Komike, Wan-fesu, and Internet activities.
Komike is Japanese slang abbreviation for “Comic Market” and Comiket. Comiket
is the large-scale comics’ exhibition and sales event held twice every year at the
Tokyo International Exhibition Centre. Relevant Internet activities include
animation on Nikoniko-doga (Japanese-style You-tube) that involves makers and
buyers working together. In Japan, from the Edo traditional cultures of Bunraku,
Kabuki, Ukiyo-e, and Kibyoshi to the modern animations, comics, games, J-pop,
4 Takuji OKUNO
and Hatsune Miku (synthesized vocal music), ordinary townspeople have been the
originators, performers, and consumers. In contrast, European art developed less
from the “bottom up” and more from the “top down,” where artists were hired by
wealthy aristocrats to create art that was meant to be appreciated only by the
aristocrats.
The roots of the otaku culture are in Iki
Wabi-Sabi culture emerged in reaction to the gorgeous and glittering
Kitayama culture epitomized by the Golden Pavilion commissioned by Shogun
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Wabi-Sabi culture can be seen in the Silver Pavilion, which
symbolizes the Higashiyama culture. Both pavilions are located in Kyoto. The
word Wabi means elegant simplicity and the word Sabi indicates the subtle beauty
of age that is evident after a long period of use. Initially, Wabi-Sabi was not
considered to be aesthetic. However, Japanese people’s definition of beauty
changed over time to recognize beauty in these ideas. Wabi-Sabi became the
quintessence in Noh (traditional Japanese masked drama) and the tea ceremony.
During the Edo period, Noh and the tea ceremony were practiced mostly by
Bushi (the samurai class). The head of the samurai class was a Tokugawa shogun
who favored and fostered Wabi-Sabi values. Asian historian Naito Konan stated
that Japan was not distinctly Japanese before the Muromachi period (15th
century) before Wabi-Sabi was recognized as the concept of beauty. He also
insisted that Wabi-Sabi was indispensable factors to Edo culture (5).
However, another type of aesthetic value existed in Edo Japan. This aesthetic
value, pursued by ordinary Edo people, is Iki. Iki is the source of the aestheticism
of Cool Japan and is now associated with Moe according to the otaku. Although
Konan emphasized Wabi-Sabi’s importance in Edo Japan, he stressed that Iki was
the most important element in the popular cultures, such as Kabuki and Ukiyo-e,
which were the arts of the ordinary people of Edo Japan. The kanji character (粋)
was read as Iki in Edo, but in Kamigata (today’s Osaka and Kyoto), it was read as
Sui. Both referred to the same idea with a subtle difference. Sui in Kamigata
meant “soft and tender feminine beauty” such as that which was found in
Chikamatu plays. In contrast, Iki in Edo referred to “sophisticated spirit,
masculine cool, and decisiveness in action” found in, for example, one of the
Kabuki favorites, Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura. The Edo townsfolk, in other
words, did not go for the subtle and subdued colors of Wabi-Sabi. They favored
bright colors like crimson, indigo blue, and hemocian blue. This shade of crimson
red is obtained from copper mined in Bichu (in present-day Okayama prefecture)
and is used to decorate the window lattices in Kyoto-Yoshiwara and to glaze Arita
porcelain ware. Indigo blue originated in Matusaka near Nagoya and it was very
The Ritual Significance of Purification Practices in Japan 5
fashionable in Edo kimono patterns. Hemocian blue was a dye that was imported
from Europe and used in Katsushika Hokusai’s ukiyo-e prints.
Shuzo Kuki, a Kyoto school philosopher and the author of the book The
Structure of Iki (6), proposed that Wabi-Sabi was a part of official Japanese culture
that was distant from the feelings and behaviors of ordinary Japanese people. He
claimed that Iki constituted the sense of beauty held by the ordinary Japanese
people. According to Kuki, Iki begins with coquetry (as ikigoto refers to irogoto,
meaning “amorous affairs”) and Iki is synonymous with ikiji (English: will and
courage). From this perspective, Iki is more than a coquettish and attractive
attitude; it also is characterized by the strong will that demonstrates resistance.
Iki is expressed through graceful manners and self-control based upon the mutual
aesthetic concern.
Thus, the moral posture and the sense of beauty held by the ordinary Edo
people were created by the townspeople who cherished Iki and not by the samurai
class with their focus on Wabi-Sabi. In Western dramas such as the
Shakespearean plays and also in some traditional Kabuki and Bunraku, the good
and evil are made to confront each other. However, very often in Japanese theater,
the traditional sense of right or wrong is not the only judgment criterion. For
example, characters find beauty in human weakness or sense deep humanity in
lust presented in helplessly mixed up affairs. Kuki commented that judgment was
not based on “right and wrong” in Japan; Iki provides the criteria for judgment by
the Japanese people.
Societies that are dominated by a Judeo-Christian culture would not easily
accept this kind of idea even though it has been used to express a special sense of
beauty to the Japanese sensibilities for a long time. Recently, increasing numbers
of Western intellectuals have found that ambiguous space where good and evil
coexist in their examinations of anime and comics. They evaluate this ambiguity
as a positive, multi-colored mosaic that supersedes simplistic dichotomous
confrontations between good and evil, winners and losers, and the fortunate and
unfortunate.
Today’s otaku have a special, uncertain, love-like fondness towards the
Manga and anime heroines. They term this feeling Moe. The typical heroines were
Maetel in Galaxy Express 999 and Fujiko Mine in Lupin III, who expressed female
leadership qualities. Moe recently targeted five types of beautiful girls in Sakura
Taisen and Sailor Moon. These otaku heroines elicit real emotion although they
are unreal. Otaku cannot express their love in person to these unreal characters,
so they try to bring their heroines out from their two-dimensional world of comics
and animations into the three-dimensional world by producing figurines or as
lovers or maid figures in cosplay restaurants or at a “Maid Café.”
6 Takuji OKUNO
From animism to animation
Animism is another aspect of Cool Japan. Animism is a primitive form of
religion that is found among the inhabitants of some South Pacific islands.
Anthropologist E. B. Tyler conducted fieldwork on some of these islands.
Inhabitants on these islands believed in the existence of a supernatural power
that they called “mana” and that this “mana” helped them to communicate with
the living creatures, trees, and objects that they made from trees such as their
canoes.
The first Japanese folklorist, Yanagida Kunio, recorded a similar
phenomenon in Tono Monogatari, a record of folk legends gathered in Tono, Iwate
Prefecture. He noted that in Tono village, human beings, horses, and silkworms
lived in the same magariya house and that the people there believed in the
existence of Oshirasama, which can transform itself into a horse, a silkworm, or a
princess. Origuchi Shinobu, another well-known folklorist and the most
distinguished student of Yanagida’s, conducted fieldwork many times in Japanese
farming villages. He reported that, from ancient times, Japanese people achieved
heart-to-heart communication with grass, trees, insects, and fish (Sou, Hon, Tyu,
and Gyo) and talked with the gods of the mountains, the woods, and the rice fields.
This folklore provides the main themes in Hayao Miyazaki’s films Spirited
Away and Princess Mononoke (or Princess Mononoke-hime).
The Japanese perspective that men can spiritually communicate with living
creatures is found as early as the Scrolls of Frolicking Animals, which first
appeared in the 12th century Kamakura period and has continued to influence
artists in different periods. The list of its important influences is long; but, a few of
them are: Tobae (or Toba drawings) that sprang from the art style of the Scrolls of
Frolicking Animals; animal Ukiyo-e by Utagawa Kuniyoshi that depicts cats in
different poses; painters of the Kano school; Maruyama Okyo, who established the
Maruyama School of drawing in the mid-Edo period; and the works of Ito Jakuchu
and his fellow painters. This remarkable tradition has also impacted present-day
anime and comics, resulting in the full-action visual images of animals with
human characteristics.
This idea of blending human and animal bodies may not be comfortable for
Westerners who reject the extreme personification of animals as upsetting God’s
boundaries between the human and the animal worlds. However, in Japan, the
Scrolls of Frolicking Animals is believed to have been intended to familiarize
children with Buddhist teachings. Birds, foxes, monkeys, frogs, and rabbits
present various behaviors that are typical of human beings. Today we see this
tradition of animism in the three iconic figures of animation: Doraemon, Kitty of
Hello Kitty, and Pokemon. The great influence of animism also is found in the
The Ritual Significance of Purification Practices in Japan 7
human-shaped and pet-shaped robots that are so welcomed by the Japanese
people today.
When he was creating Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney observed mouse behaviors
very closely and he tried to be as realistic as possible with Mickey’s movements (7).
Contrariwise, Tezuka Osamu, the creator of Astro Boy, and who respected and
adored Disney, drew animals and robots out of his imagination to present the
“human characters.” The Edo painters who painted flowers and birds grew flowers
and kept birds in their homes but they never used them under close observation
when they drew them. Instead, they drew the images of flowers and birds that
they had nurtured in their minds. They believed that in that way they were better
able to recreate the souls of those living things on canvas (8).
I have attempted to show that Japanese people commonly believed that
human beings naturally maintain spiritual communication with animals and
plants. This ancient animistic belief is embedded in the Manga and anime that
Japan is today sharing with the world. Hopefully, this will make a meaningful and
positive contribution to the cultures that have destroyed aspects of nature through
their endless manufacturing of products from nature’s raw resources. The
Japanese culture rather proudly offers this to the world with the hope that it will
serve as a strong and positive message for a better future.
REFARENCES
（１） T. Umesao, Joho no Bunmeigaku, Tyuokouron-sha, 1988. [In
Japanese]
（２） M. Noguti, T. Natuno and T. Okuno Eds., Asu no Nippon wo tukuru
hukko-teigen10, Asucii Media Works, 2011. [In Japanese]
（３） D. McGray, Japan’s Gross National Cool, Foreign Policy, May/June
2002.
（４） J. Nye, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, Perseus
Books Group, 2004.
（５） K. Naito, Nihon Bunkasi Kenkyu, Kodansha, 1976. [In Japanese]
（６） S. Kuki, The Structure of Iki, Iwanami-shoten, 1930.
（７） N. Gobler, Walt Disny, Random House, 2006.
（８） N. tuji, Nihon-bijyutu no Mikata, Iwanami-shoten, 1992. [In
Japanese]
