BOOK REVIEW: JAPANESE THINGS

Before the internet era, the picture of Japan that was fed to the world came through books written by an elite class of highly educated people – traveling academics, professional journalists, and seasoned diplomats. They were much better equipped to offer a balanced, informed view of their subject matter than the modern Japan enthusiast, who is probably some pimply blogger with an overdeveloped knowledge of vending machines, ‘cosplay’ uniforms, ‘goth–loli,’ or ‘tentacle porn’.

A shining example of this earlier type of Japan expert was the British scholar, Basil Hall Chamberlain, whose classic "Japanese Things," subtitled "Being Notes on Various Subjects Connected with Japan" has been continuously in print since 1890. We recommend the Tuttle versions, as we dig the aesthetic.

Intriguingly, Chamberlain was also the elder brother of Houston Stewart Chamberlain, one of the main intellectual influences on Hitler and the Nazis. While the younger Chamberlain gravitated towards German nationalism and Wagnerian myth (in the process marrying Wagner’s daughter), the older Chamberlain was drawn towards the other end of what was to become "The Axis," focusing on what then seemed like the placid waters on its language, culture, history, and mythology.

In 1883, he published his translation of the Kojiki, a 7th century account of Japan’s foundation myth. Compared to the almost unreadable esoteric nature of this work, “Things Japanese” is an accessible and informative work, displaying Chamberlain’s wide–ranging knowledge along with a measure of High Victorian conceit.

A collection of short, sprightly essays, arranged alphabetically, the book soon caught on and saw several revisions and reprints. The copy I have in my hands seems to be based on the 1904 revised version, when Japan was impressing the World with its military prowess against the Russian Bear.

The work sets many of the templates for foreign commentaries on Japan, from quaint customs discarded in the name of Westernization – teeth blackening, sword bearing, hours of the day whose length varied with the seasons – to cultural clashes caused by the importation of foreign methods and manners. He includes an entertaining section on early Japlish, “English as she is Japped,” as he calls it, and an entry on “Fashionable Crazes,” which mentions the rabbit mania of 1873, when some furry rodents fetched prices of up to $1,000. Only in Japan!

The great gap between East and West that existed in many areas at the time often prompts Chamberlain to make hard–hitting remarks.

“Music, if that beautiful word be allowed to fall so low as to denote the strummings and squealing of Orientals…” he scathingly writes at one point.

Thank goodness he was spared the horrors of J-Pop!

But such comments are seldom, if ever, the result of spite or ignorance. His account of Japanese music also includes a disquisition on the Japanese pentatonic scale and informed speculation about the shamisen being introduced from the Philippines around 1700. Underlying his often waspish and schoolmasterly tone is a warmth and sympathy for the country and its people.

His fluent knowledge of the language is frequently on display. For example, he highlights the suppressed history of the Ainu in Honshu through the etymology of place names, like Mt. Fuji, the Tone River, and the Noto Peninsula. Interestingly, ‘tone’ means ‘river’ in Ainu and ‘noto’ means ‘peninsula.’

Elsewhere, he points out that such common vocabulary items as ‘danna’ (master), ‘baka’ (idiot), and ‘sora’ (sky) have an Indian origin, via Buddhism and Sanskrit, implying that the Japanese hadn't really noticed that big blue thing over their heads until foreign "missionaries" pointed upwards.

One of his most interesting essays is on the Japanese character. Here he presents a range of views by other foreign visitors without necessarily endorsing any of them. These include:

• “This nation is a delight to my soul” – ST. FRANCIS XAVIER
• “In purity of life, and outward devotion, they far outdo the Christians” – ENGELBERT KAEMPFER
• “A brave, courteous, light–hearted, pleasure–loving people, sentimental rather than passionate, witty and humorous, of nimble apprehension, but not profound” – SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK
• “They have the nature of birds or butterflies than of ordinary human beings” – SIR EDWIN ARNOLD

I think I'll go with the latter!

From these and other quotes, Chamberlain infers that the Japanese have three main perceived positive qualities, namely cleanliness, kindliness, and a refined artistic taste; and three negative ones: vanity, unbusinesslike habits, and an incapacity for appreciating abstract ideas. 

Whether the modern reader agrees with such views or not, Chamberlain’s book is nevertheless an invaluable guide not only to the country, itself, but also to how the world perceived and formed its first impressions of the "debutante" nation. 

More proof of this kind is found in the entry "Books on Japan." A disproportionate number of the works mentioned seem to be by British authors, keen to present a generally positive view of Britain’s new Far East ally. Chamberlain’s work is free of any such agenda, and serves only as an outlet for his vast knowledge of the country.

While modern critics might decry the Orientalism and Occidental arrogance of Japan, experts like Chamberlain, their deep curiosity, wide–ranging erudition, and disciplined intelligence ultimately presented a much more informative and positive image of Japan to the World than the otaku–inspired version that is currently doing the rounds.