Catalyzing Change through Cultural, Economic, Political, and Sporting Events Japan Studies Association of Canada 2021 Annual Meeting Virtual Conference Proceedings Introduction – Tom Waldichuk........................................................................................................5 Special Keynote Abstracts (on the conference theme): 1. Aso, N. - Aquapolis, Aquarium, and Aquafutures at the 1975 Okinawan Ocean Expo..........12 2. Tagsold, C. - Akiralympics – Re-examining Tokyo 1940, 1964, and 2020/2...........................12 Section A. Business and Social Sciences 3. Crawford, M. - Japan’s Womenomics Policy Post-Abe and Post-COVID.................................13 4. Dey, S. & Harrison, S. - Reflecting on Canada-Japan relations through opinion polls: An overview of Canadian perceptions of Japan and Japanese views of Canada...............................29 5. Edgington, D.- Population and housing recovery in Tohoku, Japan.........................................46 Section B. Japanese Culture and Philosophy 6. Waldichuk, T. - A review of Kappa: From demon to festival mascot and a promoter of places and natural andscapes...................................................................................................................84 7. Kanzaki, S. - Buddhism and Science in Japanese Popular Culture .......................................114 8. Goulding, J. - Japanese Phenomenology: East and West .......................................................122 9. Vintila, J. - The Now in [Nō 能]-where: The Invisible Apparatus of a Body Before a Body...156 Section C. University Collaborations and Education 10. Ota, N. - Narrative-based advanced and post-advanced Japanese language courses..........184 11. Church, J. - Wagyu and the Factors Contributing to its Quality: Lessons for Canada Resulting from a Unique University Collaboration with Japan..................................................194 12. Long-Nozawa, M. - Translanguaging in Japanese Language Classrooms..........................202 13. Sharp, A. - A Virtual Group Study Program on Zoom: Challenges of Designing and Implementing the Program..........................................................................................................208 Author Affiliation Noriko Aso naso@ucsc.edu East Asian Studies Program Director Associate Professor Humanities Division History Department UC Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, Ca 95064 Christian Tagsold tagsold@phil.hhu.de Univ.-Prof. Dr. Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of Modern Japanese Studies Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf 40204 Düsseldorf John Church Jchurch@tru.ca Associate Professor Cattle Research Chair Natural Resource Science Thompson Rivers University Kamloops, BC V2C O28 Mark Crawford markc@athabascau.ca Associate Professor Political Science Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Athabasca University 1 University Drive Athabasca AB T9S 3A3 Sreyoshi Dey sreyoshi.dey@outlook.com Program Manager, Perspectives Asia, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada 680-1066 W. Hastings Street Vancouver, BC V6E 3X2 1 David Edgington david.edgington@ubc.ca Professor Emeritus Department of Geography University of British Columbia 1984 West Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 Jay Goulding Jay@yorku.ca Associate Professor Department of Equity Studies Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies York University 4700 Keele Street Ross Building, S900 Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Scott Harrison scott.harrison@asiapaci�ic.ca Senior Program Manager, Engaging Asia Asia Paci�ic Foundation of Canada 680-1066 W. Hastings Street Vancouver, BC V6E 3X2 Sachiyo Kanzaki kanzaki.sachiyo@uqam.ca Professeure École de langues Université du Québec à Montréal Case postale 8888, succursale Centre-ville Montréal (Québec) H3C 3P8 Motoki Long-Nozawa (he/him/his) c/o motoki.nozawa@ubc.ca Sessional Japanese Lecturer/Graduate Student at the University of British Columbia Language & Literacy Education Faculty of Education University of British Columbia Vancouver Campus 6445 University Boulevard Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z2 2 Norio Ota nota@yorku.ca Associate Professor Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies 4700 Keele Street Ross Building, S900 York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Akiko Sharp asharp@ucalgary.ca Associate Professor Faculty of Arts, School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures, Japanese University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, John Vintila York University Toronto, ON M3M 2V8 Tom Waldichuk twaldichuk@tru.ca Associate Professor Department of Environment, Culture & Society Thompson Rivers University 805 TRU Way Kamloops, BC V2C 0C8 3 Acknowledgments I mentioned my gratitude in the introduction to the several people who were instrumental in making this conference a success. The proceedings also were dependent on the participation and assistance of many people and the Japan Foundation for its �inancial aid. First, I want to thank the authors of the ten papers for their contributions to the conference proceedings and their patience for the delay in the �inal release of them. I want to thank coeditor, Dr. David Edgington, Professor Emeritus of the University of British Columbia for his constructive comments on the organization and editing of the papers. David initially reviewed and edited all the papers except his own manuscript, which I humbly assessed. I express my thanks to all the authors for their co-operation in revising their papers. David organized the papers into four coherent sections and came up with the table of contents. I want to also thank the other co-editor Dr. Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki, Professor of Communications at the University of Tsukuba, for also commenting on the papers and for organizing and saving them online and for her other editorial advice. My gratitude also goes out to Ms. Justine Wasilick for her effort and talents in formatting each of the papers into a coherent set of proceedings. My appreciation also extends to TRU librarian Erin May for assembling the proceedings in TRU Space. I want to thank our new President Jim Tiessen for his encouragement and for his 2014 JSAC proceedings, which I have used as a guide to help me write the introduction and acknowledgements. 4 Catalyzing Change through Cultural, Economic, Political, and Sporting Events: Japan Studies Association of Canada (JSAC) 2021 Annual Conference Proceedings Introduction Tom Waldichuk These proceedings have been a long time coming – my sincere apologies to all the contributors. Parts of this introduction are based on my writeup in the 2022 JSAC newsletter and my �inal conference report to the Japan Foundation. The initial in-person conference was planned for the summer of 2020 in Kamloops, British Columbia at Thompson Rivers University. However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the conference being cancelled. It was then rescheduled for the fall of 2021 in hope that the pandemic would be over, but the pandemic persisted, and many people requested that they give their presentations online. About a dozen people were willing to come to Kamloops in spite of the lingering pandemic, and I will always be heartened by their willingness to travel here. I had never organized a hybrid conference, and after consulting with Brian Lamb, a teaching technology expert, and my co-chair Professor Cara Cadre, we decided in August to host the entire conference online. This conference was held from Friday, October 1 to Sunday, October 3. The Friday and Saturday sessions ran late into the evening to accommodate our presenters from Japan. Luckily, we only had one participant from the far east Atlantic time zone, who stayed up past 1am local time to watch the Saturday night presentations. We recorded almost all the sessions, and the recordings remain on the conference website: https://jsacconference2021.trubox.ca/. We had a total of 121 people register for the conference on the Brownpapertickets website. The 45 presentations, spread among 13 panels included roundtable talks and four keynote presentations. We had one keynote talk on the Friday, one on the Saturday, and two on the Sunday. The talks covered a variety of themes including politics, business, philosophy, geography, and language. I am grateful to Dr. Stephen Nagy for organizing many of the political panels. Most of the presentations were from Canada, but we also had presentations from Japan, the US, Europe, Taiwan, and Vietnam. We had nine graduate and undergraduate students present. Our attendance was good – even our late Saturday night panel had 23 attendees, and the Sunday morning panel, which took place in the middle of the night in Japan, had 21 attendees. On both the Friday and Saturday nights people stayed late to socialize. We used “Gather-Town” as a platform for socializing on the Friday night. I express my thanks to Dr. Aya Fujiwara from the University of Alberta for setting this up. This conference could not have happened without the help of several people. First, I would like to thank the computer science students at TRU for assisting us with the conference. Elizabeth Ranta was instrumental in building the conference website, editing 5 the recorded sessions and helping to analyze the post-conference questionnaire responses. Monitoring the Zoom sessions and assisting the presenters were Justin Chan, Aravind Veerubhotla Venkata, Divatej Kurhana, and Auden Zhang. I also want to extend my gratitude to Jon Fulton, video producer from the Learning Technology and Innovation department at TRU for setting up the recording of the sessions; Brian Lamb, the Director of Learning Technology and Innovation, who helped us plan the sessions, and Jason Toal, who assisted with the special software needed for the �irst keynote, which was recorded on youtube. I also wish to thank the three musicians– Chizu Kan, Wakana Yoshizato, and Yusuke Yoshizato -- for their wonderful performance of �ive songs including “Ue wo muite arukou” using shamisen, shinobue, and shakuhachi. Dr. Aya Fujiwara also supervised the Klaus Pringsheim student presentation competition and awards, which involved co-ordinating with faculty to observe and judge the presentations. I want to thank my long-time friend and colleague Professor Cara Cadre for her feedback throughout the conference preparation period, receiving and organizing presentation abstracts, and her help moderating the sessions. In particular, on the Sunday when the power went off on campus, Cara was able to moderate the session from home while I quickly walked home to be reconnected to the internet and the conference. I am grateful for the advice of Professor Norio Ota regarding the hosting of a conference online. I give my thanks to all the JSAC executive for their help in re�ining the theme of the conference. Lastly, I want to thank the then president of JSAC Dr. Carin Holroyd for her guidance and other help from 2019 onward, when we started thinking about hosting the conference in Kamloops, to 2022 when I was writing up the post-conference report. The theme of the conference, as indicated in the �irst call for papers and paraphrased below, was “The Impacts of Japan and Canada Hosting the World: Catalyzing Change through Cultural, Economic, Political, and Sporting Events.” What have the impacts been of hosting the Olympics, World Expo, or other mega-events on the development of roads and other infrastructure, and culture and society in general. What has been the role of technology and economics during such events? What have been the impacts of smaller events, such as festivals, on the national, regional, and local scale? We had hoped that scholars from the Japanese Association for Canadian Studies would join us, so we kept the theme as broad and inclusive as possible. I had �irst thought about this theme after watching a presentation on the Olympics at the 2019 Sackville, New Brunswick JSAC conference. Since I was young I have always looked forward to watching the Olympics. For me the JSAC conference is similar to the Olympics – a regular, friendly and fun meeting of a diverse group of Japan researchers and scholars from around the world, and where the student attendees compete for the best presentation. I never imagined that the Olympics or JSAC would be postponed due to a global pandemic. The �irst two keynote speakers at our conference did focus on Olympic-scale megagatherings. The �irst keynote presenter was Dr. Christian Tagsold from Germany, who presented on the Olympics through the eyes of Akira -- a manga story in Young Magazine. His presentation covered the Tokyo Olympics from 1940 to the 2020/21 Olympics. The second presenter was Dr. Noriko Aso from the University of California-Santa Cruz, who 6 presented on the 1975 Okinawa International Ocean Exposition, which was a celebration of the return of the Okinawa Islands to Japanese sovereignty. Her social critique of the Expo included the many future visions of Okinawa. Both their abstracts are at the beginning of the proceedings. Professor Tagsold’s presentation was recorded on youtube. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56we2CGXrPk). Dr. Aso’s presentation was saved as part of the conference recordings, accessible through the website (https://jsacconference2021.trubox.ca/). The two other keynote presentations took place on Sunday, October 3. The �irst Sunday keynote presentation was by co-presenters Mr. Mike Abe and Dr. Jordan Stanger-Ross, who talked about the con�iscation of Japanese Canadians’ properties during World War II. The �inal keynote presenter was Professor Yuji Hiratsuka, who talked about his printmaking and etching. The eleven papers that make up the proceedings are grouped into the following three categories: A. Business and Social Sciences, B. Japanese Culture and Philosophy, and C. University Collaborations and Education. The �irst section on business and social sciences consists of a paper by Sroshi Dey and Scott Harrison on Canada-Japan relations, a paper by Mark Crawford on Japan’s womenomics policy, and a paper by David Edgington on disaster recovery. The paper by Dey and Harrison examines Canadian perceptions of Japan and Japanese perceptions of Canada as portrayed in opinion polls. Whereas many authors have compared Japanese and Canadian business or diplomatic relations, Dey and Harrison focus on what Japanese and Canadians think of each other in terms of business and culture. Canadians have consistently viewed Japan and its economic capabilities positively. Those Japanese who have business dealings with Canada think favourably about the relationship and its potential, whereas those people who have not yet entered a business relationship with Canada or are unfamiliar with the Canadian market are less positive. Dey and Harrison argue that more work needs to be done in both Japan and Canada on educating people about the two cultures. The Crawford paper examines the state of gender equality. Crawford goes over the adoption of womenomics by the Abe government after it took power in 2012. He then talks about the negative impact of Covid-19 and neoliberal policies on gender equality. Crawford highlights and compares the rigid corporate work place for men and women, the structural differences of male and female employment, with an increasing percentage of female jobs being temporary with few bene�its, and he comments on the few women who are in leadership roles. Crawford also talks about the problems of daycare and that men do not want to take paternity leave. These two things impacts a woman’s ability to maintain employment. At the same time Japan is grappling with a low fertility rate of about 1.36. Crawford also looks at changes in government policy after Abe resigned in August 2020. He does mention that some things are improving for women, e.g., women’s higher acceptance rate into medical school. He mentions that Kishida, the succeeding prime minister after Abe and Kusuga, and who just resigned in September 2024, was willing to move away from neoliberal policies, which may help to improve gender equality. 7 The paper by Edgington examines recovery in Tō hoku following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Related to the theme of our conference, Edgington mentions that there were plans to make the 2020 Olympics the “Recovery Olympics,” with plans for events to take place in areas that had recovered from the Great East Japan Earthquake (until Covid19 took hold of Japan). His paper is an evaluation of the recovery over the entire disaster area at the 10 year anniversary mark of the disaster. With help of various data, he comments on the geographically uneven rate of recovery. The paper touches on much of the research that he has conducted on the disaster recovery since the disaster occurred in 2011. The second section on Japanese culture and philosophy consists of a paper by Tom Waldichuk on the mythological being known as Kappa, followed by a paper by Sachiyo Kanzaki on Buddhism and science, a third paper by Jay Goulding on Japanese philosophy, and a fourth paper on Nō by Jon Vintila. The Waldichuk paper examines the evolving story of Kappa –from a feared demon to a cute mascot used in promoting products and places. No one knows the origins of Kappa – some say that it actually migrated from mainland Asia. Old images of Kappa show a hairy body, similar to a large monkey, but it eventually developed scaley skin and webbed feet. Kappa was known to attack cows and horses drinking at the edges of water bodies, trying to drown them by pulling them under water. Since that time the image of Kappa has been used in signs warning children not to go into deep water. More recently Kappa has been used to promote a clean environment, e.g., by being placed on signs that ask people not to litter. The image of Kappa has also been placed on neighbourhood, town and city signage as a way to promote those places, such as Ushiku City in Ibaraki Prefecture. In reference to our conference theme, the paper highlights Kappa festivals held throughout Japan. The Kanzaki paper examines the Buddhist concept of Arayashiki in popular culture, e.g., anime �ilms, and other literature dating back to the 1970s. Arayashiki refers to the deepest level of consciousness; it is also a repository of consciousness. But in one series of novels Arayashiki is connected to arti�icial intelligence. Kanzaki starts by talking about the debate over the relationship between Buddhism and science. She then talks about how Buddhist ideas have been integrated into popular culture. Arayashiki is also described as a technology to control mobile suits in a Gundam anime. If one adopts this Arayashiki technology, which is associated with cruelty, the adopter may lose his or her consciousness. Arayashiki is also the name of a virus in another series of novels. She concludes that Japanese people have fewer and fewer religious af�iliations. Popular culture has introduced variations of Buddhist concepts, which are favoured by people who are increasingly being disconnected from Buddhism. In other words, people are interpreting Buddhism in the way that matches their own views of the world. The Goulding paper examines the impact of 20th century German philosopher Martin Heidegger on Japanese philosophy and conversely Japanese philosophy’s impact on 8 Martin Heidegger’s philosophy. Some of Heidegger’s students were from Japan. Goulding discusses the Japanese poet and thinker Dō gen Zenji who lived in the 13th century. Goulding states that Heidegger’s interaction with Dō gen’s work is “…the most meaningful encounter between Japanese philosophy and the Western world” (p.20). Goulding talks broadly about Japanese philosophy, including ontology: “being” and “nothingness,” the intersection of Zen and Dao, and phenomenology. He sometimes refers to other Japanese philosophers, such as Kuki Shozo and Watsuji Tetsuro. Goulding mentions Kuki’s horizontal and vertical (mystical) phenomenology, and he refers to Watsuji’s writings on Dō gen. He also talks about hermeneutics – the meaning of words -- and he concludes his comparison of words by talking about “koto no ha,” and the several meanings of “ha” or “ba.” The accessibility of Goulding’s writing for non-philosophers is exempli�ied by terms as “X marks the spot”(p.13), when he writes about “being” and ontology. Finally, the Vintila paper examines dance and other movements of the Nō actor and choreographer Yoshi Oida, primarily in the context of the work of philosopher Martin Heidegger, similar to his professor Dr. Jay Goulding. Vintila focuses on dance, the dancer and how the dancer disappears then re-appears. Vintila also describes the dancer exercising and breathing before dancing. As an example, Vintila discusses Heidegger’s “fourfold” or “quadrate,” which is a diagram with arrows pointing in four opposite directions, looking like the four points on a compass, but in this case describing the relationship among Audience, Stage, Performers, and Choreographers. Similar to Goulding, he refers to phenomenology, Zen Buddhism and hermeneutics. He also ties in ontology and existentialism while referring to trances, fear, “non-dance” and being visible then invisible. According to Vintila, it is the invisible actor that Oida aims to preserve, who is enabled while the actor is in a trance, and who allows the actor to break away from the “pensive state” of just memorizing dance movements to please an audience. The �inal section of the proceedings focuses on university collaboration and education. The �irst paper by John Church is on Japanese wagyu beef. The second paper by Motoki Long-Nozawa is on “translanguaging.” The third paper by Akiko Sharp is on a virtual student group study program. The fourth and �inal paper by Norio Ota examines Japanese language learning. The Church paper examines wagyu beef production at Rakuen (Dairy) Gakuen University in Hokkaido and argues that such techniques should be applied in Canada to improve wagyu beef production. The paper highlights the collaboration between Church and Rakuen Gakuen University. Church describes how Japanese beef is produced and compares it with the Canadian system of production. He mentions that wagyu is available in many countries outside Japan, including Australia, the US, and Canada. Wagyu is recognizable because of its marbled texture, and the fat contains oleic acid, which helps to prevent metabolic disease. Church focuses on the small-scale production of wagyu in Japan, emphasizing the lack of grazing land in Japan and that cows are impregnated because there is not enough land to support bulls. He mentions that seaweed is used for feed. 9 In the latter part of the paper Church talks about how wagyu could be raised in Canada. In particular, he mentions that the “hydrogreen” method for feeding cattle, which has been used in Abbotsford, British Columbia, could be employed. He argues that seaweed could be produced on Vancouver Island for wagyu production. He ends by saying that there would be great �inancial bene�its to raise wagyu in North America, and British Columbia in particular, due to the increased value of wagyu beef over other beef. The Long-Nozawa paper investigates the concept of “translanguaging” and relates it to ideas of “in-between” and argues that with increasing diversity in the Japanese language classroom, such ideas should be incorporated into teaching pedagogies. In particular, he questions his own teaching as being uni-directional. Throughout his paper he refers to Japanese Canadian Japanese language educator Ted T. Aoki, who promoted teaching inbetween space and diversity. Long-Nozawa builds on Aoki’s ideas and mentions the use of queer narratives in teaching Japanese. He argues that teaching Japanese should re�lect diversity in the same way that Canada is a diverse multicultural nation. The Sharp paper examines collaboration in teaching Japanese as an online collaborative study tour involving the University of Calgary and a college in Nagano Prefecture. During the pandemic international travel was almost impossible, which meant cancelling the long established yearly Japanese language study tour from the University of Calgary to Japan. In response, Professor Sharp acted quickly to set up an equivalent online language �ield school. Her paper is a practical “how to” guide for anyone wanting to transform a group study program to a virtual equivalent. She methodically highlights the steps she had to take to transform her face-to-face course. Along the way she talks about employing teaching technology such as padlet. The Ota paper focuses on using narratives to enhance the learning of Japanese. Ota argues for the revamping of Japanese courses using narratives. He also mentions that new frameworks will develop in light of technological changes hastened by the pandemic. There is no limit to the number of narratives, which are constantly changing. At the end of his paper, Ota mentions the future dominance of arti�icial intelligence, which I think based on recent media reports and analyzing some student assignments is already here. He argues that the narrative approach to teaching will maintain its human aspects. In summary, we have grouped the papers into the preceding categories. But they also address broader themes such as uncertainty, change, adaptation, and collaboration. I was reminded of the uncertainty of holding the 2020 Olympics due to the pandemic while recently reading a paper by Andrew DeWit et al. 1 Whereas none of the papers in the proceedings focus directly on mega-events, such as the Olympics, some of them do illustrate uncertainty, e.g., the Edgington paper on the 2011 disaster in Tohoku, which points out the uncertainty of recovery from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. The papers DeWit, A., Shaw, R., & Djalante, R. (2020). An integrated to approach to sustainable development, national resilience, and Covid-19 responses: the case of Japan. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101808 1 10 also illustrate change and adaptation – e.g., the essay on the Japanese language �ield course, which was morphed into an online course based in Calgary in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020 Olympics similarly had to change its format and schedule. More broadly the three papers on anime and Japanese religion, the changing role of women, and Kappa illustrate changing cultural perceptions. Social and technological change is exempli�ied in the three papers that focus on new ways of Japanese language teaching. International collaboration is illustrated in the business paper by Dey and Harrison. And the two philosophy papers similarly illustrate international collaboration in learning. Finally, the paper on Japanese beef illustrates innovative technological change and international learning. Uncertainty, change, adaptation, and collaboration at all scales characterize these papers on Japan and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. As I �inish writing this introduction in October 2024, I am happy to be out of the pandemic and back to meeting my JSAC colleagues in person. I have already attended the 2022 conference in Toronto, the 2023 one in Saskatoon, and I look forward to meeting everyone at JSAC 2024 in Montreal. In hindsight, the adaptation to an online format worked well in spite of some body stiffness from sitting in my of�ice day and night for almost three days. But as a geographer I look forward to someday hosting one event that was not possible in 2021—a JSAC �ield trip to Lillooet and to other beautiful landscapes around Kamloops! 11 Keynote Abstracts Aso, Dr. Noriko Saturday, October 2, 1:30-2:00pm: Keynote Speaker Aquapolis, Aquarium, and Aquafutures at the 1975 Okinawan Ocean Expo. The 1975 Okinawa International Ocean Exposition was officially a celebration of the recent reversion of the islands to Japanese sovereignty after almost three decades of U.S. military governance. Less officially, the exposition was supposed to be an opportunity to address ways in which both powers saw the prefecture as an economic and political problem. The solution was to capitalize on the island nature of Okinawa. The exposition’s slogan was “Umi: sono nozomashii mirai” (the English version was “the sea we would like to see”), its crowning symbol was the offshore “floating city” called the Aquapolis, and its most lasting institutional legacy, the Churaumi Aquarium. Even within the exposition, however, there was more than one vision of Okinawa’s future, and they were not always in harmony. Tagsold, Dr. Christian Friday, October 1, 9:00-930am, Keynote Speaker Akiralympics – Re-examining Tokyo 1940, 1964, and 2020/21 The opening ceremony of the 2020/21 Olympics showcased traditional Japanese cultural assets but also many instances of “Cool Japan.” I will follow up on the latter but offer a different interpretation of aligning culture and sports through the Olympics. In 1982 the Young Magazine published the first installment of Akira. The manga unfolded a dark story about future Olympics in 2020 after a mysterious blast had destroyed Tokyo three decades earlier. Back in the early 1980s, Akira was one of the first popular texts to challenge the legacy of the 1964 games and their promise of a bright future for Japan. The manga did not pose these questions by chance. In 1981, Nagoya’s bid for the 1988 Olympics had lost out to Seoul, while significant public protests had opposed these plans. Enthusiasm for the games had cooled down considerably, and many citizens did not see why Japan should bring back the Olympics. By reading the Olympic history of Japan through Akira, I will connect Olympic moments of 1940, 1964, 1981/88, and 2020/21 to ask questions about legacy, sport as a symbol for progress, peace, and Japan’s entanglement into the history of (post-)modern sports mega-events. 12 3. Japan’s Womenomics Policy Post-Abe and Post-COVID Mark Crawford Associate Professor, Centre for Social Sciences, Athabasca University Abstract Email: markc@athabascau.ca This paper examines the record of former Prime Minister Abe’s "Womenomics" program in light of the COVID recession of 2020-2021 and the related changes in government policy after the resignation of Abe in August 2020. On the one hand, there has been steady progress in terms of workplace regulation and daycare provision, and this has continued during the Suga and Kishida governments. On the other hand, both the data from the 2020 COVID recession, which disproportionately impacted women, and from the October 31 Lower House General Election, which saw a fall in female representation, give cause for skepticism. The article identi�ies and discusses �ive key variables to monitor (fertility rate, uptake in paternity leave, childcare wait lists and numbers of women in ‘regular’ employment and in leadership positions) and discusses their long-term implications for Japan’s economic and political future. One conclusion is that Japan has a good chance of reaching its original 2020 gender equity targets by 2030: a crucial issue is whether that prospect is good enough to stem the relative economic and social decline feared by many forecasters. Since Japanese neoliberalism in the Abe-Suga era placed inherent limitations on what Womenomics can achieve, Kishida’s articulated openness to moving “beyond neoliberalism” presents an opportunity for Japan to realize the full potential of Womenomics. Keywords: Womenomics, Abe, Suga, Kishida, gender equality, childcare, parental leave, fertility rate 1. Introduction The term “Womenomics” was �irst coined in the Japanese context in 1999 by a team in Goldman Sachs’ Global Investment Research Division led by Kathy Matsui. In the �irst of a series of Japan portfolio strategy reports, Matsui et al. (1999) identi�ied female demand for autos, condominiums, computers, and luxury items as “pockets (or purses) of strength” in a Japanese economy that had been sluggish since 1991 and shaken by the 1997 �inancial crisis. They also provided a list of 16 Japanese companies that either were poised to bene�it from female consumption or were proactive in fostering female employment, and argued that an increase in Japan’s female labor participation rate from the prevailing rate of 13 50 percent to 59 percent (the level in the U.S.) could boost the country’s real GDP growth in 2000-2010 to 2.5 percent per annum from 2.2 percent (Matsui, Suzuki and Ushio, 1999). The identi�ication of these potential bright spots was also coupled with a warning that unless radical steps were taken quickly, Japan faced the risk of further decline in its productivity and potential growth rate and, eventually, a lower standard of living as well. Four more reports over the ensuing twenty years ampli�ied these claims and the research upon which they were based, as well as touting Japan’s accomplishments. “Womenomics” was adopted as a key pillar of reforms meant to revitalize the economy under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2012—part of the “third arrow” of what soon became known as “Abenomics”. Within seven years of adopting Womenomics as policy, Japan’s female labor participation ratio surged to a record 71 percent—surpassing the United States and Europe. The Japanese government also introduced policies improving parental leave bene�its and mandating equal pay for equal work. In the 2019 report, titled “Womenomics 5.0.”, the Goldman Sachs team documented some considerable progress in female labor force participation and in legislation affecting gender diversity transparency, workstyle reform, daycare, and parental leave. They also boldly estimated that closing Japan’s gender employment gap could boost the country’s GDP by 10 percent, and in a “blue-sky scenario” where the ratio of female vs. male working hours rises to the OECD average, the GDP boost could expand further to 15 percent (Matsui, Suzuki and Tatebe, 2019). Nevertheless, at least three facts illustrate the limited nature of Japan’s achievements thus far and continue to block Japan’s progress towards gender equity and its concomitant economic bene�its. First, the COVID recession that began in March 2020 starkly revealed the precarity of Japan’s female workforce, as the great majority of laid-off workers were women. Second, the urgency which both Abe and Matsui attached to the need to promote women has been belied by modest results thus far. Third, slowness in achieving Womenomics targets is not just the result of having overly lofty or unattainable goals: Japan’s fall in international gender equality rankings is an indication that Japan is lagging still further behind other countries. In this paper, I will show �irst of all how Womenomics was initially conceived as a part of Abenomics, and how Japanese women may have bene�ited from the new economic priority attached to women’s issues, as re�lected in the impressive list of legislative achievements in the Abe and Suga governments. Second, I critically examine the reasons and evidence offered by analysts for why the results thus far may be counted as nonetheless disappointing, particularly when compared to other G7 and OECD countries. Third, I will examine the validity of the more critical/feminist position that a broader and more holistic and societal approach would be more successful if Womenomics were not so clearly subordinated to neoliberal economic policy. I argue that the �irst decade of Womenomics has been a de facto policy of putting in place investments in childcare and changes in employment law and then simply waiting for the baby boom to retire before those policies bear fruit. Next, I shall argue that prime minister Fumio Kishida’s promise to move “beyond neoliberalism” and toward a “new capitalism” can better hope to achieve concrete results 14 by more forcefully and directly connecting it to a critique of neoliberalism’s constraints upon Womenomics policy. Finally, I conclude that a logical development of the Kishida government’s present policies should uncouple Womenomics from its neoliberal origins and tie it more closely to a more progressive social agenda and feminism to a modern Japanese nationalism. Ironically, the goal of sustainable economic growth and maintaining Japanese economic status may be better served by not subordinating feminism to a narrow economic liberalism. 2. The Announcement of “Womenomics” and the 2020 Goals The reign of Emperor Akihito from 1989 to 2019, also known as the Heisei era, was one of relative economic stagnation and political instability in contrast to the remarkable economic growth and newfound social stability of the postwar (later Showa) era. Although the demographic trends of an aging and shrinking population were anticipated, the deteriorating economic context exacerbated problems of rising public debt and an increasingly divided labour market: in 1990, 80 percent of the Japanese workforce were in secure ‘lifetime’ employment and only 20 per cent were in part-time or irregular work; by 2020 these numbers had shifted to 60 percent and 40 percent respectively, with most of the new female workforce joining the latter category. This rise in job insecurity and concomitant suppression of household incomes and consumption further impacted the willingness of people to get married and have children. The country that had led the G-7 and the world in per capita GDP growth in the three decades from 1960 to 1990 fell behind the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany during the three decades of the Heisei era. By the time that the Liberal Democratic Party had returned to power in 2012 after a threeyear hiatus, prime minister Shinzo Abe was determined to seize the initiative in economics policy with the Three Arrows of his “Abenomics” policy. Its goal of revitalizing the Japanese economy required not just �iscal and monetary stimulus, but confronting demographic issues and the need to promote female labour force participation as well. But while the increase in male non-regular employment was worrying to many observers, the large increase in female non-regular employment between 2012 and 2020 was touted by Abe as the result of his policies to make Japan a country in which ‘women shine.’ Borrowing the “Womenomics” idea from Matsui et al., and folding it into the “Third Arrow” of Abenomics, Abe made it a key theme in his economic policy messages in Davos at the World Economic Forum in 2014 and in other global forums thereafter (Emmott, 2020, pp. 32-36). When the Abe government formally released its Womenomics agenda in January 2014, it also announced several speci�ic ambitious targets for the planned Olympic year of 2020. In addition to augmenting parental leave policies, improving reporting requirements to raise gender diversity transparency and planned workstyle reforms to limit overtime hours and mandate equal pay for equal work, the government set 5 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): 15 1. Increasing the female labour participation rate (FLPR) between ages of 25-44 from 68% in 2012 to 77% by 2020; 2. Normalizing the ‘M-curve’ by raising the percentage of women returning to work after their �irst child from 38% in 2010 to 55% by 2020; 3. Targeting 30% female representation in leadership positions across Japanese society by 2020; 4. Expanding childcare capacity, with the aim of eliminating children on daycare waitlists by 2017; 5. Lifting the percentage of fathers who take paternity leave from 2.6% in 2011 to 13% by 2020. KPI Targets for 2020 Actual Results Increase FLPR to 77% Record 74% FLPR in early 2020 before COVID Recession 53% returned to work in 2019. Raise percentage of women returning to work after �irst child to 55% 30% of leadership 15% of section positions chiefs and 10% of managers; 30% goal delayed until 2030 Elimination of Daycare Wait Lists by 2017 National waitlists reduced to 16,772 by April 2019 2022 Update FLPR recovered to pre-COVID levels (and close to 80% target for 2022) but costs of un-employment borne by females 1 Due to tight labour market, appears to be rebounding to pre-COVID levels 2 In political arena, number of females in Lower House 2021 elections fell by 2; but females won 28 of 124 contested seats in Upper House elections in July 2022. (22.6%) 3 A new record low 12,439 in April 2020. But COVID-related closures halt progress. 1 OECD (2022), Labour force participation rate (indicator). doi: 10.1787/8a801325-en Table 2: “Participation rates and unemployment rates by age and sex,” e9ba7788-en.pdf (Accessed on 18 July 2022). 2 While Japanese women are now more likely to find childcare spaces, they are still delaying having their first child until they are over 30. Women in the Workforce: Japan (Quick Take) Catalyst, https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-the-workforcejapan/. 3 “Record-tying 28 women won seats in Japan election, but short of gov't 30% goal” The Mainichi Shimbun, July 19, 2022, https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190722/p2a/00m/0fp/030000c . 16 Percentage of Only 7.5% of men Revised Care Leave Act takes effect April Fathers taking took paid parental 2022 to encourage more take up paternity leave leave in 2019 raised to 13% Sources: K. Matsui (2019, 2022), Crawford (2021), Government of Japan (2019). One area where Japan performed reasonably close to its targets was in raising female labour force participation. Impressive graphs on the government’s website and reproduced in brochures distributed to embassies and consulates around the world in 2018-2019 showed Japan’s labour force participation rate for females vaulting past that of the United States during this period, to 74.0% versus just 70.9% for the Americans (Government of Japan, 2019). Unfortunately, the statistics were misleading, even by the standards of government communications. Not only were 58% of these women in ‘non-regular’ jobs, with few bene�its, lower pay, and shorter hours than ‘regular’ corporate jobs, they were of course the �irst to become unemployed during the COVID-19 recession. Not mentioned in the brochure was the record 970,000 people who had just been laid off in April 2020, fully 710,000 of whom were women, making them the “shock absorbers” of the Japanese economy. This revealed that while 3.3 million women had indeed joined the workforce since 2013, they were playing a role that was perhaps more appropriately �illed by temporary foreign workers, and that their employment had actually done little to solve the more fundamental problems confronting Japan. In 2020, Japanese men still did less housework than their counterparts in any other developed country, while women got less sleep than any of their counterparts, according to the OECD. 4 The postwar employment model and several aspects of its associated social compact are still �irmly in place, despite this growing dysfunction, which explains how a G-7 country that ranked 19th among all nations in the 2020 United Nations Human Development Index had also slid to 121st out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report], a drop of 40 places since 2006. 5 The equality ranking is a composite of four sub-indices: a respectable 40th in health; a more worrying 91st in educational attainment; and a dismal 115th in economic opportunity and 144th in political 4 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Japan Policy Brief, April 2015, http://www.oecd.org/policy-briefs/japan--greater-gender-equality-for-more-inclusivegrowth.pdf 5 Japan rose one spot in the WEF gender equality rankings in 2021 (from 121st to 120th), and then four more spots to 116th in the 2022 Gender Gap Report. It still ranks last (19th) in the East Asia & Pacific Region, however (World Economic Forum, 2022). 17 empowerment---the latter being by far the worst of any advanced industrial country. This paradox (no other country in the top 20 of the UNHD index is also in the bottom 50 of the WEF index of gender equality) is largely attributable to Japan’s employment system, and to the inherent limitations of what Ayako Kano has called “state feminism” (state sponsorship and co-optation of gender issues), particularly under the aegis of the LDP and Shinzo Abe (Kano, 2016, pp. 140-172). At issue is whether a few recent major initiatives in the areas of the provision of childcare, parental leave, work hours and tax policy, in addition to a number of ambitious but completely voluntary targets, promotional and educational activities, are adequate to address these demographic and economic challenges. At least three major areas are proving highly resistant to change, even with the steady stream of public information about them and legislation designed to reform them. One concerns the quality of female jobs in the aforementioned employment system, due to “labour market duality” –the separation between regular and non-work, and (within regular employment) between managerial positions (or sōgō shoku) and clerical positions (ippan shoku). A second concerns Japan’s stubbornly low fertility rate. A third concerns female political representation at all levels of government. All three of these areas are subject to varieties of “gender bias cycle”—vicious cycles of behaviour that are dif�icult to break. A key thesis of this paper is that these patterns of behaviour have persisted because LDP leaders, including Abe, Suga and (at least until now) Kishida, have tiptoed very carefully around the same political coalitions between conservative policymakers, politicians, large �irms, and core regular workers that consolidated labor market dualism and inequality during Japan’s protracted recession of the 1990s and 2000s. As a result, the very “neoliberalism” championed by both Matsui and Abe has militated against the kind of collective action needed to break the gender bias cycle. 3. De Facto Discrimination Continues in Dual Track Employment The effectiveness of the 2018 Workstyle Reform Laws in providing equal pay for equal work and a labour market more conducive to work/life balance is dif�icult to gauge amidst the massive layoffs and revocations of informal job offers caused by the pandemic. Abe boldly pronounced that “[t]hese are the �irst major reforms [to labour laws] in 70 years. We will rectify the problems of working long hours and eradicate the expression ‘non-regular employment’ from Japan.” 6 Yet, as economist Naohiro Yashiro has pointed out, the formal prohibition against discrimination between regular and non-regular workers does not affect the large wage gap attributable to seniority-based pay, since employers are only obliged to pay equal wages to regular workers and non-regular workers with the same length of work experience at the same �irm. “It de facto rationalises the current wage gap 6 “Work Style Reform Bill Enacted.” Japan Labor Issues, Volume 2 no. 10. November 2018. https://www.jil.go.jp/english/jli/documents/2018/010-01.pdf 18 mainly based on the seniority wage of regular workers” (Yashiro, 2019). Moreover, the amendments enacted to improve pay and employment conditions for non-regular workers still do not explicitly refer to equality between men and women, and do not carry stiff penalties, but merely require employers to explain the reasons for any differences upon an employee’s request. This is consistent with the soft law ‘comply or explain’ approach favoured by both the corporate sector and the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Kazuo Yamaguchi’s analysis of the ‘gender wage gap’ by a combination of employment types (four categories distinguishing regular versus nonregular employment and full-time versus parttime work) shows that gender differences in employment type explain only 36 percent of the gap (Yamaguchi, 2019, p.27). In fact, the primary factor is the wage differential within full-time regular employment. “The elimination of the gender wage gap among regular workers is therefore a more pressing issue than �ixing the overrepresentation of women in non-regular employment (ibid.).” A major cause of this disparity is the small percentage of female managers in Japan. Women held just 6.6% of senior management positions (department director or higher); 9.3% of middle management (section heads); and 18.6% of lower management (e.g., task unit supervisor) positions 1n 2017 (Government of Japan, 2017). Yamaguchi’s research �indings appear to contradict employers’ stated reasons for not promoting more women. The two major reasons given by personnel of�icers in surveys are (1) “at the moment, there are no women who have the necessary knowledge, experience, or judgment capability,” and (2) “women retire before attaining managerial positions due to their short years of service.” (Yamaguchi, 2016, p.8). His analysis of �irms with 100 or more employees shows that only 21 percent of the gender disparity among regular workers in middle management (section heads) and above could be explained by gender differences in education and employment experience. In fact, “the proportion of managers among female college graduates is far lower than that among male high school graduates, for any given number of years of employment for the current employer” (7). In all, about 60% of the wage gap remains even after educational attainment, age, employment duration and working hours have all been equalized (30). The rest of the disparity arises from gender differences in the rate of promotion to managerial positions among employees with the same levels of education and experience. (Hence the proportion of section head positions that women attain on average after 26–30 years of employment is attained by men within 5 years.) Yamaguchi surmises that the major underlying cause of gender inequality stems from the Japanese employment practice of promotion based upon seniority combined with indirect discrimination against women through �irms’ internal tracking systems, which assigns men disproportionately to the sōgō shoku (managerial) career track and women to ippan shoku (clerical) track. This practice of statistical discrimination based upon the putative probability of temporary job-quitting becomes a self-ful�illing prophecy, since women often quit their jobs when raising children due to their smaller chance of developing their careers in their �irms (Roberts, 2019). Given the wider in�luence of 19 corporate/salaryman culture in Japanese society, it is not surprising to �ind that this pattern extends beyond the corporation to the professions as well: for example, the now discredited practice at Tokyo Medical University (and several other private universities) of making deductions from entrance exam scores for more than 10 years to curb the enrollment of women. 7 A signi�icant watershed was reached in January 2022, however, when it was announced that for the �irst time the acceptance rate for women has exceeded that for men at Japanese medical schools. 8 Inside private corporations, however, the issue is deeply structural and highly resistant to ordinary incremental inducements and exhortations. That is why Yamaguchi advocates broadening the de�inition of indirect discrimination in Japan’s Equal Employment Opportunity Law: In order to break through this present situation, the de�inition of indirect discrimination in Japan must be changed to comply with international standards, including, as discriminatory practices, institutions that have a disparate impact on the minority, rather than only institutions that are discriminatory in intention. In particular, an essential requirement for gender equality of opportunity will be to prohibit by law internal tracking systems such as the distinction between the managerial career track and the clerical career track, which is very strongly associated with the employee’s gender, as an institution of indirect discrimination (Yamaguchi, 2016, p. 30). Such proposals, though, run counter to the general policy ethos of deregulation. After not a single Japanese company took up the Ministry of Labour’s offer in April 2014 of between 150,000 and 300,000 yen apiece to train and promote women to supervisory roles, the government’s Gender Equality Bureau reduced the target for female section heads in businesses to just 15%. In June 2020, it was announced that the 30% target would be delayed for up to a decade. More importantly, there was still no indication that the new target would be mandatory or carry stiff penalties if not achieved. At present, only 4% of Japanese corporate board members are female, even though the stated goal for 2020 was 10% (most American and European companies are already over 20%). The government 7 “Tokyo Medical University discriminated against female applicants by lowering entrance exam scores: sources” The Japan Times, August 2, 2018, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/02/national/tokyo-medical-universitydiscriminated-female-applicants-lowering-entrance-exam-scores-sources/ . 8 With approximately 40 percent of the total number of applicants (J. Miura). See also T. Katsuda, “Women score better on entrance exams in science, beat stereotype.” Asahi Shimbun, March 23, 2019. 20 simply delayed the goal, with an additional promise “to aim for a society where men and women alike are in leadership positions" by 2050. 9 Osawa Machiko, a labour economist at Japan Women’s University, states that the problem of acute employment discrimination will not be solved until Japan “develops a more liquid job market that would allow women to threaten to take their skills to other organisations” (Lewis, 2017). Her analysis, like Yamaguchi’s, is consistent with a recent OECD study recommending the labour market reforms that are needed in order to enable Japan to better utilize its human capital (Jones and Seitani, 2019). Each of these experts agrees that breaking down labour market dualism is crucial to expanding employment opportunities for women and older people, while reducing income inequality and relative poverty. This need not mean jettisoning the Japanese system in its entirety, but it does mean directly confronting the fundamental logic of seniority, tenure, collective bonuses, sōgō shoku / ippan shoku, and other aspects of the Japanese corporation that serve to reproduce gender inequality. 4. Japan’s Low Fertility Rate: It Could Have Been Worse Without Womenomics, but… Despite massive subsidies for daycare expansion in recent years, and incentives for paternity leave, there has not yet been a turnaround in Japan’s fertility rate: • • • • The current fertility rate for Japan in 2022 is 1.368 births per woman, a 0% increase from 2021. The fertility rate for Japan in 2021 was 1.368 births per woman, a 0.07% decline from 2020. The fertility rate for Japan in 2020 was 1.369 births per woman, a 0% increase from 2019. The fertility rate for Japan in 2019 was 1.369 births per woman, a 0.07% decline from 2018. 10 Japan’s generous Child Care and Family Leave Law has been in place since 2009 and childcare leave bene�its have recently been increased from 50% to 67% of parents’ existing 9 “Japan gov't to push back 30% target for women in leadership positions by up to 10 years.” Mainichi Shimbun June 26, 2020, https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200626/p2a/00m/0fp/014000c . 10 “Japan’s Fertility Rate, 1950-2022”, Macro Trends. Retrieved 2022-06-03. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/JPN/japan/fertility-rate#:~:text=Japan%20%20Historical%20Fertility%20Rate%20 21 salary for the �irst six months of leave, and 50% thereafter for up to a year. Japan even has the longest paid-leave for fathers in the world, 30.4 weeks, according to a 2019 UNICEF Report. 11 The dif�iculty is that very few fathers use it. According to data compiled in the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management for �iscal 2019, only 7.48 percent of eligible men used childcare leave. 12) Japan has experienced a steady incremental increase since 2011, but the �igure remains far below the government target of 13% of fathers by 2020 and 30% by 2025. The latter objective is unlikely to be achieved, but not because they are not interested. A 2017 Japanese government-commissioned study found that 35% of new fathers wanted to take paternity leave but did not because they feared the repercussions for status and promotion. Although there continues to be incremental progress in the development of new legislation, 13 the persistent under-utilization of paternity leave in the face of both legislated incentives and popular support for the policy suggests that there exists not just a cultural lag, but a collective-action problem: i.e., a situation in which individual rationality makes a collectively rational outcome impossible to achieve (Dowding, 2013). As such, mandatory paternity leave may be necessary in order to break the impasse. It would remove at a stroke the problem of intra-company competition deterring the use of parental leave, as well as the problem of inter-company competition pressuring managers to punish leavetakers. Such a proposal does not appear to be unacceptably radical for Japan, because in June 2019, 50 Diet members, including 11 former Cabinet ministers, supported the idea (Toko, 2019). The expenditure of nearly 2 trillion yen in the 2017 budget to expand the scope of free education and childcare services, along with increasing childcare leave bene�its and the reform of the dependent spouse tax deduction, are more than just token measures. So are some of the revisions to Japan's labor laws. As of April 1, 2019, large �irms (de�ined as �irms with 300 or more employees) were required by the aforementioned 11 “Japan Has the Best Paternity Leave System, But Who’s Using It?” Nippon.com July 25, 2019. https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00500/ . 12 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management for �iscal 2019. July 31, https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list71-r01.html .By comparison, 62% of eligible German fathers and 70% of Swedish fathers took at least two months of paternity leave in 2015, for a total uptake of the legally available leave of 30% and 45% respectively (Van Belle). 13 In September 2020, a subcommittee of the Labour Policy Council, which advises Japan’s Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, announced that it was considering a new paternity leave program. There is also encouraging news that most prospective fathers in Japan’s public service are planning to take at least 30 days of parental leave. 22 Workstyle Reform Law to comply with a new overtime Basic Limit of 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year, although under “special circumstances” this can be extended to 100 hours per month and 720 hours per year. 14 It also carries a penalty for non-compliance with the new overtime rules that may include imprisonment for up to six months or �ines of up to 300,000 Yen. Although it is not clear how much this directly affects women, given their small presence in the regular workforce, it does counteract the prevalent ‘more is always better’ attitude toward male working hours. Nevertheless, these measures re�lect a narrow, compartmentalized strategy that is tailored to impose minimal restraint upon business. They may not be suf�icient to engineer the kind of rapid structural, cultural, and societal transformation that many commentators feel is needed when the fertility rate in 2020 remains stuck at 1.369 births per woman (replacement rate is 2.1 per woman), and the cost of females not participating in the workforce on an equal basis with males is estimated by Goldman Sachs to be almost 13% of GDP (Matsui, Suzuki and Tatebe, 2019). Perhaps the next round of amendments to the parental leave law, anticipated for October 2022, will have more impact. Under the proposed paid leave scheme, working dads applying for paternity leave will be entitled to bene�its equivalent to 67% of their salaries for up to a year. 15 There is also a proposal being �loated in Tokyo prefecture to incentivize parents with 100,000 yen worth of childcare services. 16 5. Women in the 2021 Lower House and 2022 Upper House Elections: Plus ça Change? Incredibly (after nine years of “Womenomics”), the number of women elected to the House of Representatives in 2021 actually fell, from 47 to 45. 17 The country’s parallel PR14 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s lea�let on the Work Style Reform with slight changes to the explanatory text by the Japanese Institute for Labour Policy and Training (JILPT), 2018. https://www.jil.go.jp/english/jli/documents/2018/010-01.pdf 15 “Japan enacts law making paternity leave more flexible for men”, The Japan Times, June 3, 2021. 16 “Tokyo’s latest plan to boost birth rate: Pay people 100,000 yen per baby they give birth to,” - Japan Today January 21, 2021. 17 “Fewer women elected in Lower House poll despite empowerment law,” The Japan Times, November 1, 2021. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/11/01/national/politics-diplomacy/electionwomen/ 23 list system worked to rescue several leading LDP politicians who had lost constituency seats, most notably Akira Amari, who had been the Party’s Secretary-General; but it did not work at all to advance the stated legislative goal of achieving 35% female members by 2025. This latter result is ironic, since an element of proportional representation (PR) was added to the Japanese Diet nearly 30 years ago, in part to deal with this very problem. Emma Dalton’s study of how LDP politicians defused the democratizing potential of PR is instructive: �irst by gradually reducing the number of PR seats being proposed, then by allowing dual candidacies across the two electoral segments in order to bene�it incumbents (the “zombie” clause), and then by resisting calls for gender quotas (Dalton, 2015, ch.2). Since the general thrust of economic policy and reform of corporate governance has been toward deregulation and away from compulsory quotas of any kind, it is not surprising that politicians have been similarly slow to regulate themselves (Crawford, 2021). Perhaps the Opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), having failed to endear itself to suburban Japanese voters by forming a coalition with Communists and fringe parties, could be more successful in the future with an explicitly feminist strategy. But for the time being, the impetus for change will have to come from within the ruling LDP party. Its leader, the new Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, stated in the 2021 election campaign that Japan needs to “move away from neoliberalism” and “toward a new capitalism” but these words were not explicitly connected to the issue of how neoliberalism has constrained the formulation and implementation of Womenomics. The results of the July 2022 House of Councillors election were more encouraging for female representation than the House of Representatives elections had been in the fall of 2021. In all, 28 of 104 female candidates were elected, tying the record set in the previous Upper House election of 2016. This was consistent with the pattern in recent years of having about twice as many women elected to the House of Councillors, which has much less power than the Lower House—although it has signi�icant power of delay. (On matters of serious national importance, such as passing budgets, agreeing to international treaties, or choosing a prime minister, the House of Representatives can override the House of Councillors with a simple majority vote; on all other matters, a two-thirds vote of the House of Representatives overrides the House of Councillors. A two-thirds majority of both Houses is required for constitutional amendments.) As in other countries with bicameral parliaments, the Upper House performs a useful function in helping to remedy representative de�icits of the government. Still, the ruling LDP was hardly aggressive in exploiting this potential: only 14.6% of all candidates �ielded by the LDP were women, raising the ratio of female to male party candidates who won seats slightly to 17.5%. In this arena, at least, it was the Opposition Constitutional Democratic Party who let women shine, with females comprising nearly half of their candidates, and raising the ratio of its female to male candidates who secured seats to 35.3%. The most important consequence of the July 2022 elections is that prime minister Kishida will have a relatively free hand to govern until the next general elections in 2025. This means is that he will be able to elaborate on what exactly he means by a “new capitalism” 24 that moves “beyond neoliberalism.” Was he merely shifting slightly to the left at election time to undercut opponents, or perhaps to ‘soften’ the impact of Abenomics upon the poor and the elderly? Or is he actually prepared to see the limits that a general neoliberal policy orientation places upon Womenomics as a policy? 6. Conclusion Progress toward “Making Women Shine” in Japan has been slow, but there have been a few encouraging signs in different sectors during the 2021-2022 post-Abe/COVID period. There has been a sudden correction in Medical School Admissions, where the gender gap has been narrowed to the point where females now constitute over 40% of applicants and even have a higher pass rate than their male counterparts. Kathy Matsui, the former Goldman Sachs executive, and two other female executives (Yumiko Murakami and Miwa Seki) have launched a $150 million venture capital fund focusing on environmental, social and governance investing (Suzuki, 2021). Women have increased their representation in the Upper House elections. And Japan appears to have stopped plummeting in the Global Gender Equality rankings. More fundamental changes, however, are happening much more slowly, if at all. Reaching Japan’s fertility rate goals, for example, will require the establishment of a very different incentive structure than that which most Japanese women still face today. In addition to fertility rates, the most important statistics to monitor over the next few years will be the uptake in paternity leave, improvements in daycare provision, and the data for female leadership and managerial employment. With the partial exception of shrinking daycare waiting lists, 18 the data so far is not very encouraging. Female workplace participation has begun to rebound since the depths of the pandemic “She-cession,” but of course this has remained concentrated in ‘non-regular’ jobs with few bene�its, lower pay, and shorter hours. 19 Simply waiting for such deeply entrenched structural inequalities to melt away in the face of generational change is a failure to recognize the urgent nature of Japan’s demographic and productivity concerns, which could bene�it from tougher actions. Leaving it up to managers to break the gender bias cycle is a recipe for slow progress. Ironically, this is why breaking those vicious cycles with mandatory reforms targeted to the most important collective action problems could actually be better for long-term economic growth. 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World Economic Forum (2022) Global Gender Gap Report, July 2022. WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf (weforum.org) . 27 K. Yamaguchi (2016) “Determinants of the Gender Gap in the Proportion of Managers among White-Collar Regular Workers in Japan.” Japan Labor Review 51:7-31. ----------------- (2019) “Japan’s Gender Gap”, Finance & Development, vol.56 no.1, March 2019, pp.26-29. N. Yashiro (2019) “Serious Flaws in Japan’s new ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work’ Law.” East Asia Forum, November 8, 2019, https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/11/08/serious�laws-in-japans-new-equal-pay-for-equal-work-law/. 28 4. Reflecting on Canada-Japan relations through opinion polls: An overview of Canadian perceptions of Japan and Japanese views of Canada Dr. Sreyoshi Dey Program Manager, Perspectives Asia, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Email: sreyoshi.dey@outlook.com Dr. Scott Harrison Senior Program Manager, Engaging Asia, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Email: scott.harrison@asiapacific.ca Abstract The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) has documented Canadian opinions of Canada-Asia relations through the annual National Opinion Polls (NOP) since 2004. These NOPs provide an overview of Canadian views of Asia and various pertinent issues, including Canadian views of Asian foreign direct investment (FDI), human capital, high-tech collaborations, and more. The NOP has also shown that Canadians have consistently shared stable, warm feelings towards Japan, particularly in comparison to other Asia Pacific economies in the surveys, and Japan’s economic importance for Canada’s future. Canadian opinions about Japan’s advances in technology, innovation, and highskilled human capital further reflect this appreciation. Even the Canadian public is aware of the importance of Japan as a prime market for Canada’s future economic development. However, in a new survey conducted in Japan in 2018-2019 by APF Canada, we find that Japanese business leaders express a lukewarm interest in Canada. Despite the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the mega-trade agreement signed between Japan, Canada and nine other Asia Pacific economies in 2018, the survey shows that Canada-Japan relations require further attention for building deeper business engagement and people-to-people ties. Furthermore, it is crucial to build a better understanding on both sides about the business environment and culture on both ends. Together with the NOP, the Japanese business leaders survey helps to put Japan-Canada relations into perspective and provides actionable insights for managing the relationship. Keywords: Canada-Japan relations, economic engagement, FDI, CPTPP, public opinion 29 1. Introduction The past few years have been anything but typical the world over. As economies start to pick up the pieces to rebuild for a stable future, it is pertinent to reflect on Canada’s international relations and the way forward. Since 2004, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) has documented Canadian opinions of Canada-Asia relations through the National Opinion Polls (NOP). These NOPs provide an overview of the consistently stable, warm feelings expressed by Canadians towards Japan, particularly in comparison to other Asia Pacific economies in the surveys, and Japan’s economic importance for Canada’s future. Canadian opinions about Japan’s advances in technology, innovation, and highskilled human capital further reflect this appreciation. Even the public is aware of Japan as a prime market for Canada’s future development and progress. While the polls situate Japan positively within the minds of Canadians, have the Canadian government or businesses taken advantage of the perceived or real opportunities to further engage? Likewise, are Japanese businesses willing to expand relations with Canada? Despite the recently signed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the mega-trade agreement among Japan, Canada and several other Asia Pacific economies, a recent study by APF Canada finds that Japanese business leaders express a lukewarm interest in Canada. While there is conceivable interest from Japanese leaders to conduct business in Canada, a significant proportion are not interested and cite a lack of familiarity among the barriers to engagement. This paper provides an overview of Japanese business leaders’ perception of Canada’s business environment and market, perception of CPTPP, and Canada’s presence (or the lack of it) in Japan’s supply chain, therefore underscoring the need for Canada to explore ways to build awareness and brand presence in Japan to secure future growth. Together with the NOP, the Japanese business leaders’ survey helps to put Japan-Canada relations in perspective. 2. Canada and Japan relations The shape of Canada-Japan relations has changed significantly since Ranald MacDonald became one of the first people from what is now Canada to go to Japan in 1848 and when the first Japanese immigrants began arriving in Canada in the 1870s (Holroyd & Coates, 1995; MacDonald, 1990). Even though the two countries opened diplomatic relations in 1929, robust and diverse interactions between the two countries have only developed since the end of World War II. When APF Canada was founded in 1984, Japan was front and centre in Canada’s business community’s thinking about Asia as bilateral trade and investment with Japan was increasing and many Canadians saw vast potential to deepen the relationship. The two countries have a diverse relationship developed and maintained through diplomatic relations, trade and investment, security, education, and people-topeople ties. They are both members of, and cooperate in, multilateral organizations such as the G7, G20, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United Nations. Japan and Canada are also members of one of the world’s largest free trade agreements, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Today, Japan is the world’s third-largest economy; Canada is the ninth. Canada is Japan’s 17th largest trading partner, and Japan is Canada’s fourth largest. In 2021, 30 Canadian exports to Japan reached C$14.1B, while imports to Canada reached C$15.4B (Government of Canada, 2022). While the main Canadian exports to Japan are agricultural products, meat, diverse ores, and bituminous coal, the major imports from Japan are vehicles, machinery, and electric equipment. And while Canada is Japan’s 15th largest investor globally, Japan is Canada’s sixth largest investor globally and largest from Asia (APF Canada, 2022; JETRO, 2022). While there is a high value of trade and investment and diversity of goods traded, Japan’s presence in Canada, ranging from everything from goods and investment to the number of tourists, students, and businesspeople, is more evident than Canada’s presence in Japan. Despite such diverse and generally collegial bilateral connections, there has been an ongoing debate about how much the relationship has actually changed and deepened over the last sixty years and to what extent each side values and actively pursues opportunities to expand the relationship (Shultz & Miwa, 1991; Holroyd & Coates, 1995; Kurosawa, Kirton, & Fry, 1998; Meehan, 2003; Donaghy & Roy, 2008; Welch, 2019). Rather than trying to answer questions about the extent to which Canada and Japan have acted on the potential to further develop the bilateral relationship, we shift the focus to look at what we know about how Canadians and Japanese people view each other, and how these findings might inform the future relationship. One of the best sources of information on the matter is the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s polls and surveys. 3. Methodology Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada has been conducting National Opinion Polls almost every year since 2004 to gauge Canadian views of Asia and assess how best to build relations that appeal to the Canadian public and are effective for our counterparts in Asia (Dey & Roy, 2020). The annual polls have been tracking Canadian opinions on certain issues such as feelings towards Asian countries and the economic importance of Asian jurisdictions for almost two decades. At the same time, the surveys also incorporated new, thematic topics of interest every year to allow for reflections on current events and issues to better analyze Canada-Asia relations. APF Canada conducted the National Opinion Polls in partnership with various market research partners over the years – Angus Reid (2008 – 2014), Ekos (2015-2020), and Leger (2021) – and used their online research panels that are representative of the Canadian public. The sample sizes varied over the years. Since 2010, on average, more than 2,900 Canadians were surveyed for each of the opinion polls used in this research paper. The data were statistically weighted to Canada’s most recent census data on age, gender, and region, to ensure the sample’s representativeness. In 2018, the Foundation also began surveying and exploring Asian business leaders’ perspectives on economically engaging in Canada and published a survey report titled Asian Views on Economic Engagement with Canada (Dey, Roy, Ly, & Zhu, 2020). The research encompasses findings from six different Asian countries, including Japan. In this study, 1,082 business leaders from Japan were surveyed. Here business leaders are defined as senior managers, executives, staff members, and founders or board members of companies with some international economic engagement. The study focused on drawing an equal number of respondents from nine industrial sectors, namely agriculture, nonrenewable energy, clean technology, environmental goods and services, education, finance 31 and insurance, health care, information and communication, and tourism. The sectors represent areas of bilateral interest that have the greatest potential for Canada’s economic growth. The study also involved interviewing ten policy experts on Canada-Japan relations who helped provide more context and complexity to our understanding of Japanese views of Canada. Using purposive and convenience sampling, the survey was conducted across 105 different trade shows that occurred across the six Asian countries. Drawing upon data from these two separate sets of surveys – NOP and the Asian business leader surveys - this paper seeks to provide a holistic overview of Canadian and Japanese perceptions of each other and discusses ways forward for building better CanadaJapan relations. 4. National Opinion Polls Key Findings The NOPs have shown that Canadians have felt a varied connection to the Asia Pacific identity. Up till 2018, Canadians’ feelings towards their Asia Pacific identity were growing as more respondents agreed with the statement “I consider Canada to be part of the Asia Pacific region,” than during the years before. However, in the most recent NOP in 2020, we see a dip in Canadians’ agreement about their Asia Pacific identity. Only 38% agree that Canada is a part of the Asia Pacific (52% disagreed). A five-percentage point drop from 2018, but still higher than a decade ago (33%). While being part of the Asia Pacific is still not a very large part of the Canadian identity, this can be seen as an opportunity to reemphasize and build up Canada’s place and identity as a part of the Asia Pacific. Canadian views of Asia Pacific countries at large, and Asia in particular, are pertinent to this identity building, making these public opinion polls important for policymaking. Canadians’ feelings and perceptions of Japan. When asked respondents to rate their feelings toward Asian countries on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 meaning “very warm, favourable feelings,” Canadians have consistently expressed the warmest feelings toward Japan of all Asian countries included in APF Canada’s National Opinion Polls. Over the years, Canadians’ feelings toward Japan have continued to improve from a 6.2 in 2010 to 7.4 in 2020 (see Figure 1). Compared to Japan, in the year 2020, the NOPs indicate that Canadians’ feelings toward China and the U.S. rapidly declined (not shown in graph) and the two were the most negatively perceived economies for Canadians among the list of jurisdictions presented in the survey. In the 2021 NOP, Canadians’ feelings toward Japan remained stable and warm at 7.3 (0.1 point lower than 2020). 32 Since 2012, Canadians increasingly perceive Japan, alongside South Korea and India, as important for the future economic well-being of Canada. Measured on a seven-point scale with 7 meaning “very important,” Japan’s average score was 5.1 in the 2020 NOP, the highest of all Asian countries listed in that year (Figure 1). Japan was only outranked by the United States (6.1), the European Union (5.7), the United Kingdom (5.2). Interestingly, prior to 2018, the perception of China’s economic importance for Canada reached a high of 5.6, one that Japan has yet to achieve. To analyze why Canadians perceive Japan so favourably requires further exploratory research. But part of the reason may have to do with Canada’s own history about Canadians of Japanese descent who trace their lineage back hundreds of years, while another part could be media framing of Japan. When asked about their sources of information about Asian or Asians, a majority of Canadians elected mainstream news media sources, followed by online or social media sources (Dey & Roy, 2020, p. 19). And despite indicating that the Canadian media does not provide adequate coverage of Asian issues, more Canadians believed that the Canadian media coverage of Japan had a positive impact (60%) rather than a negative impact (8%) on their perception of Japan. The stability in Canadians’ opinions about Japan in terms of feelings and economic importance points towards a generally positive outlook of Japan, one that can be further strengthened through efforts that can capitalize on this moment. One important aspect of Japan and Canada relations is of course economics. Canadian perceptions of Japanese FDI. Since 2006, more Canadians have agreed than disagreed that Canada would benefit from more Asian investment in the country (Dey & Roy 2020, p.24). In the 2020 NOP, 47% of Canadians agreed that “overall, Canada would benefit from more Asian investment in our country,” while 42% disagreed. Despite the 33 value of investments from the Asia Pacific into Canada quadrupling over the past 17 years, many Canadians believe that their country could benefit further from more foreign direct investment (FDI) from Asia. In the same survey, 86% of Canadians indicate that they would like their government to diversify trade away from the U.S. Exploring Canadian sentiments on matters of economic engagement further, it was observed that the Canadian public would support allowing more investment into specific sectors from Japan. The 2020 NOP shows that Japan was a preferred source country of investment, more than the three other Asian economies identified in the survey, namely, China, India, and South Korea. In light of the evolving public health crisis in 2020 and the resultant accelerated digitalization that Canadians supported, allowing more investment in the high-tech and biomedical and health care sectors (see Figure 2). Even in the real-estate and financial services sectors, more Canadians support rather than oppose Japanese FDI. But on the issue of non-renewable energy, there is more opposition (48%) than support (44%). 5. Japanese Views on Economic Engagement with Canada In 2018, APF Canada conducted a six-country multinational survey to better understand Asian businesses’ views and perceptions of the Canadian market and their willingness to engage (Dey et al., 2020). One of the six Asian economies was Japan, a country with whom Canada has a long history of people-to-people ties and economic engagement. The survey provided a glimpse into the perspectives of 1,082 Japanese business leaders who have international business experience. Among them, 11% had some form of economic 34 engagement with Canada (joint venture, greenfield investment, merger & acquisition, import/export, contractual relationship). The remaining 961 business leaders whose companies are currently not engaged in the Canadian market expressed varying levels of interest in Canada. About 4% exhibited an “active interest,” 39% “conceivable interest,” 31% said “not interested” and 15% “don’t know” (see Figure 3). For the purposes of further analysis, the respondents who said “active” and “conceivable” interest were combined into one group, and respondents who said “not interested” or “don’t know” into a second group. Perception of Canada-experienced businesses. Among the Japanese businesses engaged in Canada, most were either engaged in exporting to Canada (67%) or contractual relationships (24%). Thirty-five percent of the Japanese companies engaged in Canada had established their relations over 20 years ago at the time of the survey, more than any other country surveyed as a part of this study. On the other hand, only 26% of the engaged Japanese businesses were established in Canada since 2008, which is significantly lower than the average of 50% or more from the other Asian countries surveyed (Dey et al., 2020, p. 37). Interestingly, among the 121 businesses engaged in Canada, 44% said they want to “expand business,” and 46% said they would like to “maintain business.” In Table 1, a breakdown of the data shows that the most engaged businesses were from the education sector, followed by environmental goods and services and tourism. Table 1. Japanese businesses by sectors and level of engagement Sectors Agriculture and agri-food Non-renewable energy (e.g., oil and gas) Clean technology (includes renewables) All respondents Engaged Interested 121 16 72 Not Interested or Don't know 33 58 8 12 38 129 13 42 74 35 Environmental goods and services Education Finance and insurance Health care, medical, or biotechnology Information and communication technology Tourism 137 127 129 17 22 4 37 52 64 83 53 61 124 13 74 37 121 11 43 67 136 17 63 56 Total Sample Size 1,082 121 459 502 Note: The numbers represent frequencies and not percentages. While the survey intended to collect an approximately equal number of respondents across all sectors, in the case of Japan, fewer respondents could be found for the non-renewable energy sector. Drawing upon their experience of working in Canada, the Japanese business leaders found most factors associated with the Canadian business market were irrelevant to their business engagement with Canada. As shown in Table 2, very few factors were perceived positively by the majority. Factors such as mobility of “business travellers to Canada,” and knowledge about each other’s business culture were perceived positively by most. Interestingly, none of the factors were considered negative, including factors related to tariffs, the complexity of regulations and the legal framework for foreign business in Canada. Table 2: Japanese perception of factors related to Canadian regulations, the Canadian market, and networks. Important Factors REGULATION Regulatory environment for R&D activities in Canada Labour practices and the role of unions in Canada Tax environment in Canada Canadian foreign investment regulations Environmental laws in Canada Legal framework for foreign businesses in Canada Complexity of regulations on business operation in Canada Tariffs and other market access restrictions to the Canadian market Positive Negative Irrelevant Don't know 26% 2% 61% 11% 34% 34% 35% 37% 5% 4% 3% 4% 52% 57% 55% 52% 9% 6% 7% 7% 40% 5% 43% 12% 44% 3% 47% 7% 46% 7% 40% 7% 36 Mobility of business travellers to Canada CANADIAN MARKET Competition in Canada Costs of operations in Canada Knowledge transfer (from Canada) to companies in Japan Ease of accessing finance in Canada Shipping infrastructure in Canada NETWORKS AND IN-MARKET KNOWLEDGE Access to research and innovation resources Access to personal networks in Canada Access to professional networks in Canada Canadian knowledge about business culture in Japan Japan’s knowledge about Canadian business culture 52% 4% 38% 6% 26% 27% 6% 26% 63% 42% 6% 5% 30% 31% 46% 3% 3% 8% 62% 57% 40% 6% 9% 6% 39% 40% 48% 3% 4% 3% 50% 50% 44% 7% 6% 6% 52% 7% 35% 6% 53% 9% 32% 6% Note: This survey item was only posed to respondents who said they had some form of engagement in Canada. Among the 121 businesses who indicated they were engaged in Canada, 107 responded to the above question. Perception of Canadian business operating environment. Thinking about the Canadian business operating environment, only 1% of the Japanese respondents said they had a “reasonably well” understanding, whereas 9% said “partially” and 90% said “not at all.” Even among business leaders who are engaged in Canada, 41% (n=121) said they do not understand the Canadian business operating environment. Against this backdrop of a reasonably low level of engagement and lack of an “active interest” from Japanese businesses, despite long-standing relations with Canada, the survey helped explore the Japanese perspectives on the Canadian market. It is of interest to note here that while the majority of respondents from the other five Asian economies had a relatively positive attitude towards the Canadian market, most respondents from Japan felt the contrary (Dey et al., 2020, p. 50). Japanese business leaders disagreed with all nine statements used in the survey to characterize the Canadian market. Such that 79% of Japanese respondents disagreed that “it is easy to establish a business in Canada,” compared to an average of around 22% from the other countries. Sixty-nine per cent disagreed that “It is easy to do business in Canada” compared to an average of around 22% disagreement from the other countries (Dey et al., 2020, p. 50). Even when segregated by companies that are engaged, interested, and not interested, as can be seen in Figure 4, we observe that although “engaged” businesses agree more with each factor, the agreement levels are very low for some of the statements. For 37 example, Japanese leaders do not see “Canada as a hub of international talent” and they do not perceive “Canadian firms at the technological forefront.” There is also a stark difference between Canada-experienced companies and those not interested in Canada, with the latter exhibiting the least agreement with any of the statements. Figure 4. Japanese business leaders' opinions about Canadian market varied by level of engagement. Barriers to engaging with Canada. Exploring the lack of interest expressed by many of the Japanese businesses, the survey found that 49% of the businesses who are “not interested” to engage in Canada identified “lack of networks” as the main barrier. “Lack of familiarity” was cited by just a quarter of the respondents “not interested” in Canada. Interestingly the “lack of networks,” particularly professional, was also identified by policy experts who were interviewed as a part of this study. Most Japanese policy experts advised that Canada needs to provide more networking opportunities, build a clear path to 38 professional and government networks for prospective businesses, and in turn, these processes can help feed into familiarizing Asian businesses with the Canadian market. Japanese policy experts further emphasized the “complexity of regulations and procedures for business operations in Canada.” They underscored how the Japanese businesses often find the Canadian federal-provincial differences in regulations quite complex, and there is a lack of understanding about the importance of provinces in Canada. As Satoshi N. stated, Japanese businesses need to make efforts to understand Canada better and their Canadian counterparts bear the responsibility to provide clarity. I really think it’s the provincial-federal relationship that really stands out as a factor. To put it another way, perhaps some Japanese people including businesses should have a better understanding of the importance of the provinces in the Canadian economy. – Satoshi N., Japanese diplomat (name anonymized) Apart from the federal-provincial policies, most policy experts indicate that the policies and regulations related to Indigenous communities in Canada, the environment, and the mobility of business travellers further add to the complexity of engaging with Canada and become a barrier, particularly when compared to the United States. Economic importance of Canada. When asked if their country’s relation with Canada is of importance to their industry/sector, we find only 26% of Japanese businesses see Canada-Japan relations as relevant for their industry, the remaining either find it not important or do not know. Similarly, about 21% of the 1,082 respondents believe CanadaJapan relations hold great to moderate potential for their industry (Figure 5). Broken down by sectors, 42% of Japanese businesses in the agriculture sector seem to find that CanadaJapan relations will be important for their sector, and 32% believe the relations have great to moderate potential for their industry. Generally, larger businesses, in terms of company size and revenue, seem to find more relevance in Canada-Japan relations compared to small or medium-sized businesses. Large businesses likely have the financial capacity for international businesses and, therefore, the increased likelihood of relevance. Apart from agriculture, businesses in the environmental goods and tourism sectors also find CanadaJapan relations important for their business, but the majority do not see much economic relevance of Canada. 39 Japanese business leaders’ lack of interest in Canada is also reflected in their perception of the benefits and risks of expanding Canada-Japan trade. The survey finds that only 5% are concerned that expanding Canada-Japan trade will benefit Canada more than Japan, and only 3% believe it will create any form of pressure on workers in Japan. On the other hand, just 6% of Japanese business leaders believe that expanding Canada-Japan trade is important “due to rising protectionist sentiments in the US and in Europe” (Dey et al., 2020, p.79). When asked about different forms of bilateral measures that can enhance CanadaJapan trade and investment relations, on average, most Japanese business leaders disagreed with the proposed policies indicating a lack of support for enhancing CanadaJapan economic relations. The proposed measures in the survey sought to enhance inmarket knowledge of Japanese companies (28% agreed), build bilateral partnerships that promote entrepreneurship and innovation (26% agreed), facilitate discussions to reduce trade and investment barriers (21% agreed), and promote two-way talent flows through visa agreements and international mobility agreements (27% agreed). The average support for the policies fell to 24% compared to 60% or more from other Asian countries surveyed as a part of this study (Dey et al., 2020). Most Japanese business leaders disagreed about facilitating more trade and investment missions between the two countries (20% agreed), which contradicts what policy experts suggest as methods for deepening the engagement, as explored in the next section. 40 The Japanese business leaders’ perception of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TransPacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) is a matter of interest for policymakers and researchers. Japan played a key role in finalizing the CPTPP, which was signed among 11 countries in March 2018. However, 77% of Japanese business leaders felt that CPTPP will have “no influence” on their business. And while the Canadian government estimated that CPTPP would benefit Canadian businesses to expand trade relations with Japan, only 11% of Japanese leaders believe that it is important to have Canada as a part of the CPTPP (Figure 6). Arguably, at the time of the study, CPTPP was still in its nascent stages, and as some policy experts note, many Japanese businesses are woefully unaware of trade and investment opportunities in Canada due to a lack of active Canadian presence and marketing. On the other hand, policy experts see multilateral fora and agreements most notably the CPTPP and leveraging CUSMA, as the main way to increase Japan-Canada bilateral economic engagement. Having said that, policy experts also pointed out that Canada’s “inclusive” and “progressive” approach to trade is hard to translate into Japanese or how it relates to trade. A few thought that perhaps it is more related and applicable to a domestic Canadian audience rather than international trade. Regardless, some said they are open to receiving a good explanation of what Canada means by inclusivity and progressive elements as part of trade relations. Approaches to deeper engagement. Given the lack of interest and general apathy towards Canada-Japan relations, it is pertinent to reflect on how best to build fruitful economic relations alongside diplomatic ones. Many policy experts on Japan-Canada relations suggest making use of the almost a century-old diplomatic relationship between the two countries to work towards deeper engagement with Asian economies. The first and foremost advice is to facilitate more trade and investment missions between Canada and Japan. This stands in contrast to business leaders' perception where only 20% of them believe that the Japanese and Canadian governments should invest in more trade and investment missions to enhance their economic relations. Comparing Canada with its southern neighbour, the United States, Keidanren deputy director Teruko Wada emphasized the need to reach out to smaller, local areas in Japan to attract Japanese 41 businesses, many of which are SMEs and are often overlooked due to their lack of marketing skills, I recall that each U.S. state would send delegations to promote themselves to Japanese businesses. And they also participate in trade shows throughout Japan (not just Tokyo). So, if each (Canadian) province or state is interested, it could be good to bring a trade show around Japan to local areas to show what business opportunities are there in Canada. And there are many competitive SME industries in Japan that may be located near Nagoya, Osaka, Kyushu, or Hokkaido… Teruko Wada, Keidanren A second suggestion was to reduce administrative obstacles to trade and investment that can impede business relations and the intention to engage with the Canadian market. This factor directly relates to the need to better explain the structure of the Canadian business environment and policies for foreign businesses and investors. Most notable points raised by the policy experts revolved around the federal-provincial relationship and Indigenous communities in Canada. Many respondents also reported having an inadequate understanding of Indigenous peoples in Canada, even for companies that have operated for years in the country (see Table 3 for a breakdown of demographic details of Japanese businesses surveyed). They said they were often not aware of Indigenous rights or issues. While they said that Japanese companies in the energy sector would likely know the most, it is still an area seen as an unknown and brings uncertainties for investment. Some Japanese experts indicated that they thought that Indigenous communities (in Canada) are a domestic issue and that their provisions should not interfere with international businesses. When in Canada, even if Japanese businesses try to understand the intricacies of these relations and policies, it can get complex. As former Ambassador to Canada Kenjiro Monji noted, this lack of awareness can take Japanese businesses by surprise. Monji, also suggested incorporating international views on business engagement with Indigenous communities as a step towards encouraging business growth and making others a part of the conversation. Others said that they expected the Canadian federal government to coordinate between investment and Indigenous peoples and their rights. Enhancing political friendships and bilateral partnerships is also crucial for building more engagement between the two countries. To that end, Japanese policy experts emphasize the shared political objectives and policies that can lead to more collaborative partnerships at multilateral levels, such as the APEC, WTO, G7, G20, and the UN that play a key role in global environmental, economic, digital, and security issues, which are key objectives for both Japan and Canada. Of course, bilateral cooperation is important, but on the other hand, we need to maintain the rules and the [multilateral] framework, including the U.S. and hopefully China. If you [Canada] can lead, we can cooperate. If we lead, we will need your cooperation. Haru O.*, a ministry official with expertise in foreign affairs 42 Table 3: Demographic information of the Japanese Businesses surveyed. Company size Large Medium Small Last year’s global gross revenue Pre-revenue Less than $4.9M $5M to $9.9M $10M to $49.9M $50M to $99.9M $100M to $499.9M $500M to $999.9M $999.9M or more Do not know Share of international business (including Canada) 10% or less 11% to 20% 21% to 30% 31% to 40% 41% to 50% Above 50% In what year was your company established? Do not know Last 5 years 5 to 10 years 10 to 20 years 20 to 50 years Over 50 years Company description Publicly listed Private shareholding Sole proprietorship Partnership Limited partnership Other All Respondents 22% 33% 45% 19% 18% 22% 6% 13% 4% 9% 9% 49% 13% 14% 5% 8% 10% 2% 10% 10% 16% 29% 34% 14% 80% 0% 0% 1% 4% 43 Do not know 1% Private or Government ownership 100% private <10% govt. 10-50% govt. >50% govt. Do not know 96% 2% 0% 0% 2% Women-owned companies 0-35% 36-50% 51-64% 65-100% Do not know 89% 3% 1% 0% 7% 6. Conclusion APF Canada polls have consistently shown that out of all the countries in Asia, Canadians have the warmest feelings toward Japan. Yet, they also show that despite our longstanding diplomatic, business, and people-to-people ties, the two countries still do not seem to know much about each other. Perhaps the two countries will continue the path of being nothing more than polite fair-weather friends. There is, after all, nothing wrong with maintaining the stable and mature bilateral relationship if that is where both sides feel most comfortable. But if either side were so inclined to try and deepen the relationship further, results from APF Canada’s polls and surveys offer hints of where attention should be paid. These include Canadian efforts to go beyond Tokyo, to do a better job of explaining and helping to navigate federal-provincial relationships and jurisdictions and highlighting the importance of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and why all these factors matter for strengthening Canada’s international engagement. 44 References APF Canada (2022). Investment Monitor 2022: Post-Pandemic Recovery and Canada-Asia FDI: Is the Rebound Sustainable? Vancouver: Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://investmentmonitor.ca/insightsreports/investment-monitor-2022-post-pandemic-recovery-and-canada-asia-fdirebound Dey, S., & Roy, H. (2020). 2020 National Opinion Poll: Canadian Views on Asia. Vancouver: Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/2020-national-opinion-poll-canadianviews-asia Dey, S., Roy, H., Ly, T., & Zhu, Y. (2020). Asian Views on Economic Engagement with Canada. Vancouver: Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/asian-views-economic-engagement-canada Donaghy, G. & Roy, P., eds. (2008). Contradictory Impulses: Canada and Japan in the Twentieth Century. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Government of Canada (2022). Canada-Japan Fact Sheet. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/fact_sheetfiche_documentaire/japan-japon.aspx?lang=eng Government of Canada. (2022). Trade Data Online. Industry Canada. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/tdo-dcd.nsf/eng/Home Holroyd, C. & Coates, K. (1995). Pacific Partners: The Japanese Presence in Canadian Business, Society, and Culture. Toronto: James Lorimer & Co. JETRO (2022). Japanese Trade and Investment Statistics. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/reports/statistics.html Kurosawa, M., Kirton, J. & Fry, M., eds. (1998). The North Pacific Triangle: The United States, Japan, and Canada at Century's End. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. MacDonald, R. (1990). Ranald MacDonald: The Narrative of his Early Life on the Columbia under the Hudson's Bay Company's Regime: Of his Experiences in the Pacific Whale Fishery: And of his Great Adventure to Japan, With a Sketch of his Later Life on the Western Frontier, 1824-1899. Edited by William S. Lewis and Naojima Murakami. Portland. Meehan, J. (2003). Dominion and the Rising Sun: Canada Encounters Japan, 1929-1941. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Shultz, J. & Miwa K., eds. (1991). Canada and Japan in the Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Welch, D. (2019). “It’s Time to Think Boldly about Canada–Japan Security Cooperation.” International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 74(3), 445–452. 45 5. Population and housing recovery in Tohoku, Japan David W. Edgington Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia E-mail: David.Edgington@ubc.ca Abstract This paper examines the complexity of reconstruction in the coastal Tō hoku region during the 10 years following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). Compared to official government accounts of reconstruction programs that underscored their successful completion, many survivors felt that recovery had taken too long and that they did not see steady progress. To better track rebuilding processes, I emphasize the importance of collecting and analyzing spatially disaggregated data sets of recovery benchmarks and indicators, as well as searching for explanatory factors shaping the speed of reconstruction among the various communities affected by the disaster. Conceptually, I develop a framework that identifies the factors that account for spatial variation in disasters and their recovery. Empirically, I analyze population and housing data in Tō hoku coastal fishing towns, indicating the role that the particular coastal terrain played in shaping recovery as well as how the length of evacuation orders around the stricken Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant led to uncertain futures and to the hesitation of residents to return to their home towns. The conclusion points to policy implications and suggestions for further research. Keywords: Great East Japan Earthquake, disaster recovery, Tō hoku region, Fukushima nuclear power plant accident 1. Introduction On March 11, 2021, Japan commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE), a magnitude-9.1 tremor that occurred under Pacific Ocean in the Japan trench, offshore from northern Japan (Lam, 2021a). The GEJE was the largest ever recorded to assail this quake-prone nation. It triggered a massive tsunami that struck the Pacific coast of the northern Tō hoku region producing waves up to 9.3 meters high in some locations. Figure 1 indicates the area most heavily affected by the disaster, comprising Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures.1 Run-up heights (the height of the tsunami wave as it moved inland) reached 39 meters at Miyako city (Iwate prefecture) (see Figures 1 and 2). At Sendai city (Miyagi prefecture) the tsunami travelled inland as far as 10 kilometers (see Figures 1 and 3) 46 (Karan, 2016). This catastrophe flooded 24,000 hectares of land and inflicted a death toll of around 19,800, with over 2,550 still missing. Over 304,000 houses were destroyed or broken, displacing nearly half a million people along the stricken coastline. Property and infrastructure damage was estimated to be around 25 trillion yen (roughly US $250 billion) making the GEJE the most expensive disaster in Japan (Reconstruction Agency, 2021a). The giant tsunami also instigated nuclear meltdowns and release of radiation in three reactors at the Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in southern Fukushima prefecture, due to the failure of its generators caused by severe flooding at the facility. This operation malfunction and its consequence was rated as level 7 (the maximum level) on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the most serious since the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in 1986 (Yamakawa and Yamamoto, 2016). While the tsunami damage was confined to Tō hoku’s Pacific coastal locations, the Japanese government immediately ordered municipalities to evacuate residents within a 20 km radius of the Nuclear Power Plant. Shortly afterwards a `high alert area’ was declared within a 20 km to 30 km area around the plant due to radiation contamination. Later still, evacuation orders were extended to a total of 11 towns and villages, and around 110,000 inhabitants were forced to abandon their homes within the 2011 exclusion zone shown in Figure 1 (see inset map). Figure 1. The Study Area. Source: based on material contained in Kokusai Kogyo (2011) and Fukushima Prefecture (2019). 47 Figure 2. Air photo of Miyako harbor, Iwate Prefecture Source: Wikipedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gulf_Miyako_01.jpg. 48 Figure 3. Satellite image of Sendai coastline on March 13, 2011(above), and earlier in February 2011(below) Source: Wikipedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flooding_from_Tsunami_near_Sendai,_Japan2.jpg# /media/File:Flooding_from_Tsunami_near_Sendai,_Japan2.jpg. 49 On the day of the tenth anniversary, local fishing towns that suffered losses observed a moment of silence at 2.46 pm, the exact time of the giant temblor’s commencement. The Pacific coast of the Tō hoku region had already been the historic location of some of Japan’s largest and deadliest tsunamis. In addition, many communities had been struggling for survival due to a long-term decline in both fishing, local agriculture, and forestry. Indeed, temporary migration of farmers to the cities during the winter months (dekasegi) was the normal pattern in many Tō hoku fishing villages during the post-1945 period (Okira, 1976). Overall, they collectively faced population decline as well as population ageing that was higher than the national average (Tō hoku Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2020). In order to inspire hope for the future the national government decided that merely rebuilding broken facilities would be a meaningless gesture and emphasized substantial disaster mitigation programs as part of its aspirations to `build-back-better’ in the Tō hoku region (Edgington, 2017). In Fukushima prefecture, many coastal communities continued to encounter difficult circumstances at the 10th anniversary mark that were quite different and more challenging than those in the other two prefectures. This was because of ongoing radiation concerns over and above the impacts of the earthquake and tsunami. During a government-sponsored ceremony on the 10th anniversary day in Tokyo, then Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide reflected on the GEJE catastrophe and noted that reconstruction of disaster-stricken areas had been progressing steadily and that the affected towns had revived to a great extent. He went on to declare “The task of reconstruction is now entering its final phase. Evacuation orders have now been lifted in all areas of Fukushima seriously damaged by the nuclear accident except for the `difficult to return zone’ where radiation levels continue to remain high’ (the `difficult to return zone’ is identified in the inset map, Figure 1). Suga ended his address by promising `We will try to the best of our abilities to complete the full-scale restoration and revitalization’ (Suga, 2021). To be sure, at the time of the ten-year anniversary the government could certainly boast material successes in recovery. at least at an aggregate level (see Table 1). For instance, the total reconstruction budget was around 32 trillion yen (US$300 billion), a third of which went to restoration of broken infrastructure and the replacement of lost housing. In addition, data released by the government’s Reconstruction Agency in 2021 indicated that 99 per cent of national road rebuilding was complete, 94 per cent of farmland could be planted again, fishing port reconstruction was at 73 per cent, and fish farming facilities in the bays of coastal towns were 93 per cent in operation (Reconstruction Agency, 2021b). 50 Table 1. Aggregate Reconstruction Data for the Tohoku Region, 2021 Source: Reconstruction Agency, Japan (2021b) Indicator Figures before the Current status disaster or maximum figures The number of evacuees 470,000 (immediately after the disaster) 36,000 (March 2021) Reconstruction of National Roads and Support Roads 570km (planned) 570 km (100% as of December 2021) Number of people living in temporary housing Coastal Defences and Sea Walls 316,000 (maximum number April 2012) 430 km (planned) 1,000 (January 2022) 350 km completed (81%) Railroads Displacement of tracks in about 2,200 location Public housing for disaster-affected people 29,654 (planned number 29,654 (100% as of of units) December 2020) Hospital and Schools 80% of hospitals were destroyed or damaged Schools and hospitals have mostly been rebuilt Damaged sustained to almost all 263 fishing ports in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima 73% rebuilt Development of residential land with relocation to higher land Fishing ports Areas able to resume farming Nuclear Power Plant Accident: Area under evacuation order Damaged railroads restored. JR Joban Line resumed full service (March 14, 2020) 18,226 (planned number 18,226 (100% as of of units) December 2020) 6,284 schools were damaged 19,690 ha 18,560 ha (94% as of September 2021) 1,150 km2 (August 2013 337 km2 (29% as of maximum) July 2020) 51 Even so, public confidence over the extent and success of the government’s reconstruction program was taken aback when NHK (the official Japan Broadcasting Corporation) released results of a survey conducted with residents from disaster-stricken areas in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures to mark the previous decade’s rebuilding (n=1,850). While the Japanese government reported that most reconstruction was complete, the NHK survey results indicated vastly different opinions about the state of recovery efforts and the pace of progress (Japan Bullet, 2021). For example, on the rebuilding status of communities where respondents lived at the time of the calamity, 50.7 per cent had a negative view, indicating `no progress at all’ or `less progress than expected,’ which was five percentage points higher than the number of positive responses recording that `the work is complete,’ or that there was `more progress than expected.’ Perhaps not surprisingly, disaggregation of survey results by the three prefectures shown in Figure 1 indicated that in Fukushima prefecture there were fewer who responded that reconstruction had been completed or that more progress has been made than anticipated - just 28.6 percent of respondents - compared to 58.9 percent recorded in Miyagi prefecture and 44.9 percent in Iwate prefecture. This gap reflected the lingering effects of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. In 2021, a number of evacuation orders were still in place in areas deemed `difficult to return to’ surrounding the plant (see inset map, Figure 1). Further opacity surrounding the degree and success of recovery was highlighted later in the same year when the delayed summer Olympics and Paralympic games finally took place in Tokyo. These games were promoted by the government initially as the `Recovery and Reconstruction Olympics,’ an event that would showcase Japan’s disaster recovery efforts to the world in cooperation with the disaster-affected areas (International Olympics Committee, 2021). By way of example, the Olympic torch was exhibited in the Tō hoku region as the `Fire of Reconstruction’ during the preceding two years, and it was intended that Olympic baseball games would be played in Fukushima prefecture while Olympic soccer games would be held in Miyagi and Ibaraki prefectures. Other Olympic events were planned to involve volunteers from the disaster region interacting with international visitors, introducing them to local food. Victory bouquets using flowers grown in Fukushima were to be used, providing an opportunity to improve this area’s image as well as thanking the international community for their support at the time of the disaster. However, during the Olympics (held eventually in July 2021) those messages were never conveyed. Both overseas and domestic spectators to the games were forbidden to visit the area of reconstruction due to safety restrictions introduced amidst the Covid-19 pandemic in Japan, and all Olympic competitions were held behind closed doors (Martin, 2021). In light of the considerable ambiguity surrounding the success of reconstruction progress in Tō hoku at the 10-year mark, several fundamental questions arise, such as `what is a successful disaster recovery?,’ `when does recovery finish?,’ and `how do we know if it has been achieved?’ Certainly, the rebuilding of towns and communities devasted by the 2011 GEJE, tsunami and nuclear accident posed a remarkable series of challenges in planning, development, engineering, and infrastructure programs (Shaw, 2014). And for this reason, it has been difficult to comprehend the overall picture of recovery progress. 52 In a similar vein, a review of the disaster recovery literature by Horney et al. (2018) noted that there were few studies that systematically assessed whether or not a successful recovery had occurred, and little research that systematically addressed temporal and spatial variability between the various communities that are typically affected by large-scale catastrophes such as major earthquakes, fires or floods. In part, Horney et al. (2018) argued that this was due to the dearth of well-accepted definitions of a recovery end-goal as well as the many challenges in developing comprehensive metrics to determine this at a local community scale. These authors also noted that there was little understanding of the specific factors that contributed to the effective and efficient recovery of a community, especially those communities that were not economically prosperous before a major disaster. That said, disasters are inherently spatial and consequently geographers have the skills to map, predict and ultimately understand not only potential hazards, but also point to which settlements carried out post-disaster reconstruction more speedily and why (Curtis and Mills, 2010). While recognizing the dynamic and multifaceted nature of recovery from a natural disaster, in this study I emphasize the role played by geography and variations in the natural terrain. Empirically, I examine the differential replacement of permanent housing for survivors along the 600-kilometer Tō hoku seaboard shown in Figure 1. Over such a large area it is likely that diversity in the physical shoreline (e.g., whether the coastal shoreline and its immediate hinterland is broad and level or shallow and steep) would affect the pace of disaster mitigation programs and the provision of new housing for displaced residents. Indeed, the Pacific Tō hoku region provides an opportunity to examine how space and place shapes recovery. This is because a range of coastal communities were affected but as will be shown, they all operated under similar nationally driven governance structures and programs for reconstructing permanent replacement housing. The condition of communities in Fukushima in 2021 suggests that recovery outcomes there were distinctive due to the nuclear plant accident and because radiation levels were higher than considered safe in some locations. Accordingly, I examine the repopulation of communities evacuated by the nuclear power plant accident. Overall, I base my findings on data collected in 2021 from the 42 municipalities shown in Figure 1 that suffered significant loss or damage during and after the GEJE event, as well as observations made in the course of conducting semi-structured interviews with local and national officials involved in the recovery process. These were gathered during my field work in the study area from 2011 to 2018 (reported in Edgington, 2014, 2016 and 2017). The paper proceeds in the following way. The next section develops a framework that underscores the various factors that account for the spatial variation in disasters and their recovery. Then comes a section dealing with the GEJE and government recovery programs as the context for my study. After a brief research methodology section, I compare recovery among the communities in Iwate, Miyagi and northern Fukushima using indicators of housing reconstruction and population change at the 10-year recovery mark. I then turn to the special case of Fukushima to examine the persistence of government-mandated evacuation orders and how this has affected reconstruction and the return of population during 10-year study period. The paper ends with a conclusion that offers policy recommendations and suggestions for further research. 53 2. Geography and recovery from disasters Earlier approaches to conceptualizing post-disaster recovery emphasized unidimensional, stage-oriented, and linear processes that stressed reconstructing the built environment so that disaster survivors could be rehoused, and businesses could again serve customers (Quarantelli, 1998). According to this perspective, the end of a successful recovery would occur when broken infrastructure and building stock were restored and life returned to normal (Quarantelli, 1999). The foundation for this viewpoint was the empirical model of longterm recovery developed by Kates and Pijawka (1977) identifying four stages of the recovery process: emergency, restoration, replacement and reconstruction, and finally developmental reconstruction. While this characterization is often thought to oversimply what is a complex process, it has been useful in focusing research attention to the various types of activities involved, and in underscoring that some solutions to restoring both housing and livelihoods depend on repairing or replacing building stocks and infrastructure for the recovery process as a whole (Johnson and Hayashi, 2012). As in the case of Japan after the 2011 GEJE, governments have often adopted this traditional approach and have marked recovery in terms of the successful repairs of roads, bridges, harbors, and other public infrastructure damaged by the disaster. In actual fact, however, a full recovery is now perceived to involve much more than rebuilding critical infrastructure. Despite the primacy of physical reconstruction as the foundation for disaster recovery, this is now seen only as a means to the end of rebuilding communities in terms of their long-term sustainability (Alesch and Sambieda, 2012). New ways of thinking about recovery emphasize that the pace of progress varies with each disaster, both temporally and spatially (Johnson and Olshansky, 2017). Contemporary research approaches also recognize the many social and political inequalities in those settlements and regions subject to hazards also lead to disparities in recovery outcomes (Rovai, 1994). Smith and Wenger (2007) acknowledge this point explicitly by defining recovery as a `differential process’ that varies over time and space due to both pre-existing physical, economic, social and governance factors as well as the multitude of specific decisions regarding the allocation of resources for recovery. Moreover, they point out that as recovery involves much more than rebuilding infrastructure and buildings and is really about restoring lives and livelihoods, then the process really has no clear end point. Recovery outcomes are often not necessarily similar to what existed before. Rather they comprise a `new normal’ where previously unfamiliar situations become usual or expected due to the disruption in daily lives caused by a catastrophic disaster (Comerio, 2014). Olshansky et al. (2012) observe that there is a natural tension between the speed of recovery and the extra time and effort required for planning high-quality outcomes. This tension has to be appropriately dealt with and managed. In reality, however, speed of recovery is often difficult to resist especially in a compressed time environment with many public and private actors wanting to rebuild quickly immediately after the disaster event. 54 Bearing in mind these new theoretical emphases on recovery as a multi-dimensional concept, together with the ambiguity and unevenness of recovery outcomes, it is clearly important to have (a) some means to measure progress and outcomes as well as (b) a theorization of causal factors that shape recovery. Indicators of recovery progress and outcomes. Rathfon (2010) notes that many types of data could be used as reliable indicators of progress, such as the removal of debris after the disaster and the recovery of critical lifeline infrastructure (electricity, gas, and water). Longerterm rebuilding could be also assessed by examining the opening of public building (such as schools) and replacement housing. Yet these types of indicators are not always available in a consistent form across jurisdictions and time periods. In past studies, Chang (2010) used officially published statistics on population, businesses, economic production, income, and port traffic to examine recovery in Kobe city after the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake. Yet only population census data was available to indicate the spatial dimension of recovery among Kobe’s various neighborhoods. Stevenson et al. (2010) employed data on building permits to identify the spatial and temporal dimensions of recovery in coastal Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina. Platt et al. (2016) applied a mix of indicators derived from satellite imagery, household surveys and official statistics to compare recovery from natural disasters in Thailand and Pakistan. Aldrich (2016) utilized a unique data base measuring recovery among various municipalities in Tō hoku during the first two years after the GEJE disaster. Indicators in his study included the removal of debris and repair of infrastructure, the restoration of schools and hospitals, together with the number of people still evacuated or living in evacuation shelters. Horney et al., (2018) also used a wide variety of indicators, such as recovery of businesses, reopening of community facilities, as well as population and unemployment data, to compare recovery outcomes for six disasters in Texas. Causes of variation in recovery progress. Beyond the search for useful recovery indicators, an additional step is to investigate the underlying causes of variations of postdisaster recovery across the disaster location and to develop hypotheses for the causal factors involved. In this context, Sadri et al. (2018) note that the factors that explain the speed and unevenness of rebuilding communities after disasters remain contested and that there are few empirical studies which rigorously test various factors within a unified modelling framework. In large part this is because most case studies distill a single aspect of the recovery for in-depth analysis focusing on specific recovery themes, such as the role of community cohesion and local leadership (Joshi and Aoki, 2014). For instance, Nakagawa and Shaw (2004) emphasized the importance of social capital (relationships among households, neighbors, and community organizations) following a disaster, and used post-earthquake cases of Kobe, Japan, and Gujarat, India, to illustrate its critical role. Rumbach et al. (2016) examined a wide variety of spatial indicators to indicate how aspects of `place’ shaped household disaster recovery among municipalities affected the 2013 Colorado floods. The results pointed to a number of placelevel variables, including physical exposure to hazards, local government planning culture and citizen participation, as well as the strength of social capital networks. A heroic model. Based on the small but expanding research literature into recovery theorization, Figure 4 conveys that the determinants shaping the speed and quality of recovery can be reasonably grouped into four factors: physical geography and environment; economic 55 and business characteristics; social vulnerability; and governance issues. These four categories are clearly related to each other and are neither mutually exclusive nor exhaustive. Nonetheless, to assist conceptualization Figure 4 also indicates representative examples of how these four broad factors can influence the speed and quality of post-disaster recovery by: (1) their impact in shaping pre-disaster vulnerabilities; (2) how they unfold as important features of the disaster and the immediate response; (3) how they evolve in terms of influencing patterns of recovery and long-term resilience; and (4) representative indicators of recovery progress for each broad theme. First, physical geography and the natural terrain can shape pre-disaster vulnerability through differences in exposure to hazards among different communities (Figure 4). Some places are simply more dangerous than others. During the emergency period physical terrain will determine the extent of damage, and in the case of stricken communities that are far from major cities (for instance mountain villages and remote coastal communities) the local terrain may also affect the efficacy of emergency rescue operations by first responders (ambulance, military, and other emergency crews). Generally speaking, the more intense damage to houses, property, and critical infrastructure then the longer and more difficult they are to rebuild. Apart from the rate at which different locations sustain damage, the physical characteristics of communities also shape recovery activities. For instance, Rumbach et al. (2016) notes that mountainous communities often find it impractical or prohibitively expensive to rebuild in winter time. The ease of transporting resources to disaster locations also affects the rate of recovery. Suitable indicators to capture recovery variations due to physical geography and terrain in this instance would include the relative speed of repairing roads and the provision of replacement housing. Second, economic and business research on disasters has focused primarily on the extent and effects of disaster losses in revenues and property (e.g., Wouter Botzen et al., 2019). However, spatial variations and the importance of place also shape economic and business losses as well as recovery; and by turn the recovery of jobs and the ability of communities to retain households and population (Figure 4). For instance, the pre-event attributes of the local economy will shape disaster outcomes as local communities with high unemployment and low household income levels may not invest sufficiently in disaster mitigation programs. In the emergency stage, the extent of economic disruption (damage to capital and stock) varies with the type of disaster, together with the commercial and industrial profile of each community. In the post-disaster period, local governments’ budget capacity, together with the level of business entrepreneurship, will impact on community resilience and recovery (Doern et al., 2019). In terms of suitable indicators, Horney et al. (2016) argue that an accurate and ongoing inventory of community businesses is needed to understand how to increase the likelihood of small business that experience the shock of a natural disaster from returning. Job opportunities are also a critical component of a community’s economic health, and thus changes in the unemployment rate can help identify disaster-related effects on employment. In addition, a comparison of pre- and post-disaster population data can help identify the effect a disaster has had on a community and identity whether residents are leaving, returning, or both (Horney et al. 2018). 56 Third, there is now a consensus that disasters are largely social in origin and are deeply rooted in everyday inequalities that create vulnerable populations (Figure 4). Yet there are few studies that focus on the various factors involved in recovery at a community level. Most sociological research has focused on family and household recovery (Rovai, 1994). Social pre-conditions, such as poverty, ethnicity, and household income levels, play important roles in producing uneven vulnerability before disasters as well as emergency outcomes (Adeola and Picou, 2017). Social vulnerability produces uneven recovery processes and outcomes, often especially so in housing recovery, as demographic, gender, age, and socioeconomic indicators influence the number of people living in temporary shelters and the speed at which disaster survivors can access reconstructed housing (SAMHSA, 2017). Overall, deprived and more marginalized communities have a harder time recovering from catastrophic disasters (UNISDR, 2017). Poorer households and worse-off neighborhoods also show inequalities in health and general well-being. Indicators revealing progress in recovery that focus on social issues include changes in population and the provision of housing after disasters. Other useful indicators could be the timing of the re-opening of community facilities, such as schools and libraries (Horney et al, 2017). Figure 4. Variables Influencing Recovery from Catastrophic Disasters Finally, it is perhaps self-evident that those municipalities with sound governance structures in both pre- and post-disaster are more likely to survive a major disaster. Disaster recovery is, in many respects, a function of good local governance, including the capacity, actions and leadership of elected officials and their staff (Figure 4). Although recovery typically 57 involves many individuals and institutions within a community, local government planners and politicians typically take a major role. The pre-event political and planning mix will influence post-disaster outcomes. In this regard, Olshansky et al. (2006) found that previously existing land use and emergency plans could improve both the speed and quality of postdisaster decisions. In the emergency period local leadership is critical. Of particular importance is the role of public participation (Rumbach et al., 2016). Failure to include relevant local stakeholders who possess a deep local knowledge base and trusted relationships can limit the search for creative solutions and the development of local recovery plans. Writing in the North American context, Rumbach et al. (2016) note that the pre-event level and quality of public services often differ greatly among neighborhoods impacted by disaster, and they point out that this variation will impact the speed of recovery. Similarly, the capacity of local towns and districts to administer a recovery plan, together with view on the appropriate role of local government varies. In other jurisdictions, such as East Asia, the national government is typically more important in directing post-disaster recovery programs (Brassard et al., 2014). Financial and other resources for recovery come from many sources, including national and local governments, as well from NGOs and international aid organizations. The national political context is thus a crucial factor in explaining how resources are delivered. In numerous cases the ruling political party allocates aid based on the importance of the affected region in upcoming elections (Olshansky, 2005). Suitable indicators for measuring the influence of governance issues on recovery progress include the reconstruction of public sector facilities and infrastructure. In sum, the search for both explanatory factors shaping the speed and quality recovery reveal a wide diversity of possible variables and suitable indicators. Depending on the type of disaster, some causal elements are relatively fixed (such as a community’s pre-disaster physical vulnerability to hazards) and so to a large degree lie outside the direct control of decision-makers and planners. Then there are those factors that are that are amenable to decision-making, such as the capacity to prepare emergency and long-term recovery plans. In many cases not all types of indicators will be available to measure rates of recovery (Horney et al., 2018). Platt (2018) points out that due to the dynamic and multifaceted nature of recovery from a natural disaster, there is a danger of treating the explanatory variables as independent when they are possibly inter-related. Accepting these several limitations, I now turn to examining how the four factors listed in Figure 4 informed my study of Tō hoku’s post-disaster reconstruction and variations along the disaster coastline. 3. Recovery from the great east Japan earthquake disaster There are numerous accounts of the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster as well as the post-disaster period. These include official reports, highly critical analyses, as well as more balanced evaluations (Ranghieri and Ishiwatari, 2014; Karan and Sugimoto, 2016; Kingston, 2016; Tsunekawa, 2016; Faculty of Societal Safety Sciences, Kansai University, 2018a; Santiago-Fandiñ o et al., 2018; Matsui, 2019; Aldrich, 2019). From these accounts I evaluate how significant the four variables in Figure 5 were in shaping outcomes, especially differential rates of recovery between different localities in the study area. 58 In terms of the physical terrain, Tō hoku is overall a hilly and mountainous region in which areas of level lowland are relatively scarce (Trewartha, 1965). However, this broadscale characteristic varies throughout the study area by different sections of the Pacific coast. Figure 1 indicates four sections of the Tō hoku Pacific coast impacted by the earthquake and devastating tsunami (Umitsu, 2016). In the far north of Iwate prefecture, the coastline from Hirono township (2021 population 14,804) to Noda village (population 3,849) is characterized by the Tanesashi coastline that stretches north into adjoining Aomori prefecture (see Figure 1). For the most part this coast comprises an elevated coastal terrace, both sandy and rocky beaches, and a gently sloping topography inland from the sea (Noh and Kimura, 1983). While this coast was furthest away from the quake’s epicenter, tsunami run-up heights of around 30 meters were measured at Noda due to the local topography (Tsuji et al., 2014). Further south, the Sanriku coast stretches 275 kms from around Fudai in Iwate prefecture (population 2,444) down to the Oshika peninsula in Miyagi prefecture (part of Ishinomaki city, population 137,690). The Sanriku topography is more rugged than the coast further north and features a `Ria’ or sawtooth coastline of steep inland hills and small bays suitable for fishing ports. Flat land close to the seashore is scarce (for an example of a Sanriku coastline see Figure 5). Indeed, from ancient times, the Sanriku coast has been damaged by tsunamis triggered by massive offshore earthquakes. These produced tsunamis that became very high and more powerful in the narrow bays along this coast (Tsuji et al., 2014). Further south again, the coastline changes to the Sendai plain approximately 40 meters long, and with a width inland from the coast of up to around 9 kilometers that grows narrower toward the south. For instance, it is less than three kilometers wide in the area of Yamamoto town, Miyagi prefecture (population 11,642). Even further south, the Hamadori coast of Fukushima also has gently sloping plains with land running inland for around five to ten kilometers to the Abukuma Highlands in the hinterland (Noh and Kimura, 1983; Takano, 2011). Figure 5. Image of the Sanriku coast at Taro, Iwate Prefecture Source: Wikipedia Commons, Iwate Pref. coastline, creative commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taro_coast_Iwate_prefecture_Wikivoyage_banner.j pg. As intimated earlier, in respect of economic and social characteristics the entire Tō hoku region has long been characterized by a certain backwardness due to its substantial reliance on primary industries, such as fishing, forestry and agriculture (Wilhelm, 2018). Moreover, during Japan’s high-growth period following WWII, Tō hoku was a major source of human labor for the industrial and commercial centers of Kantō (Tokyo) and Kansai (Osaka) (Mantanle and Rausch, with the Shrinking Regions Research Group, 2011). The fisheries sector experienced long-term decline starting from the 1970s, and since then small-to-medium sized 59 urban centers, such as Kesennuma and Ishnomaki, have exhibited an unremitting outflow of young people and an ageing population, a demographic trend that affects all of Japan’s rural peripheries. Sendai city is an exception as it has been able to attract service jobs and population from other parts of Tō hoku. Sendai is the center of the Tōhoku region's economy and is the base of the region's logistics and transportation (Tō hoku Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2020). The Fukushima Hamadori coast and its immediate hinterland have experienced similar economic and social patterns to Iwate and Miyagi prefecture. In the 1970s local coal mines closed in places such as Tomioka (population 12,096), and affected communities focused subsequently on attracting nuclear power plants that were seen as a new source of energy for Tokyo. In the south of the study area, Iwaki city (population 332,043) is a center for manufacturing machinery, wood-based products, and chemicals (Tō hoku Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2020). In order to reverse the trend of overall stagnation of the Tō hoku Pacific coastal economy, the national government introduced financial assistance and fiscal transfer programs during the 1970s to local municipalities in the area to address longterm decline in the local primary economy and the area’s limited attractiveness for new businesses (Research Institute for Urban and Environmental Development et al., 2017). What of governance issues during the 10-year recovery period? In general, the political structure of Japan is strongly centralized, and the national government maintains a close oversight over local prefectures, cities, and towns, setting national standards through control of finances and restrictions on the delegation of decision-making (Takao, 1999). Following the negative impact of the GEJE on the Tō hoku region, already facing economic and population decline, the national government aimed for a resilient recovery, one able to withstand any future tsunami attacks. Accordingly, the reconstruction program was characterized by three notable features. First, was the marshaling of a series of large supplementary budgets to support reconstruction. Japan’s Diet (parliament) approved three disaster-related supplementary budgets in 2011. Much of the first two budgets of Y4.01 trillion and Y1.9 trillion (about US$40 billion and US$20 billion respectively in 2011) was targeted at the emergency response and early relief efforts. The third supplementary budget of 11.7 trillion yen (about US$117 billion) focused more on funding longer-term rebuilding, including the replacement of houses lost through the tsunami (Iuchi et al., 2013). A second feature was the establishment of a national Reconstruction Design Council tasked with developing general concepts for recovery and rebuilding. In June 2011, the Council released its national recovery vision entitled `Towards Reconstruction: Hope Beyond the Disaster’ (Reconstruction Design Council, 2011). This vision underscored physical recovery and disaster mitigation measures in the form of extensive sea walls together with restrictions over land uses along the coast. In detail, the Council proposed three methods of minimizing the future impacts of giant tsunamis. Along the Sanriku coast, where flat land inward from the sea shore was scarce, a strategy was developed of moving commercial and residential areas that were located in hazardous areas to new sites developed at higher elevations in the hills far behind the coastal towns. If no such suitable land was available, then a second type of strategy was adopted – one focused on literally `raising up’ land by around 20 meters – and land in the central parts of any municipality that was deemed as hazardous. This drastic and expensive recovery `solution’ was proposed with the aim of protecting stricken city areas from future tsunami attacks. In this case only fishing harbors and marine production facilities would be 60 allowed to remain on the shoreline. For relatively flat coastlines, such as along the Tanesashi coast, the Sendai Plain and northern Fukushima, the Design Council’s ideas were that communities should be rebuild inland and protected by coastal levees constructed as parkland, together with farmland buffer zones and elevated highways. By contrast to these bold policy recommendations the Council’s report was silent on the restoration of those communities that had to evacuate following the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident and the release of radiation. Later in 2011, this issue was addressed through separate provisions made by the national government for extensive decontamination of the soil in Fukushima’s evacuation areas and surrounding municipalities (Edgington, 2016). A final governance feature was a special national Reconstruction Agency set up in 2012 with a Minister of Reconstruction who reported directly to the Prime Minister. This Agency was empowered to manage the overall recovery budget, from which it could distribute funds either to various ministries or directly to local governments to implement various projects. In this way it was hoped that the Reconstruction Agency would have considerable authority to cut across traditionally rigid and separate structures in order to bundle programs and services to disaster-affected communities directly (Reconstruction Agency, 2021c). The Reconstruction Agency established procedures for local and prefectural governments to follow in applying for and receiving recovery funds. Essentially, local municipalities had first to complete local recovery plans and then apply for specific recovery project funding to the Reconstruction Agency, together with detailed designs and implementation plans (Iuchi et al., 2013). Following on from the Design Council’s recommendations, the first year after the disaster involved the national Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism (MLIT) carrying out an assessment of local damage and then generating rebuilding strategies to fit local conditions. Hazardous areas vulnerable to future tsunamis in each locality were identified through simulations, which lead to potential designs for coastal protection infrastructure, mainly 10- to 15- meter-high sea walls sufficient to protect against 100-year tsunami events. In Japan, prefectural governments are responsible for coastal management. Consequently, this level of government was in charge of the final design and implementation of local sea walls, often in the face of opposition when coastal communities either proposed higher levees to increase safety, or lower sea wall heights due to concerns over aesthetics and access to the coast for fishing households (Edgington, 2017). Also consistent with the national reconstruction vision, many local plans included land use controls that allowed industrial and agricultural uses on the flat coastal ground behind sea walls while restricting housing and commercial uses, which were to be relocated on elevated land or far inland. Local towns were charged with the responsibility of preparing reconstruction plans, and these were set up in accordance with the national and prefecture’s disaster mitigation policies to protect communities against future tsunamis, such clearly marking designated escape routes. To obtain national government funds, local fishing towns first had to submit applications for local projects that aligned with national guidelines for reconstruction programs (Iuchi et al., 2013). In sum, the characteristics of recovery guidance involved national government funding of large-scale recovery projects in Iwate, Miyagi, and parts of Fukushima, together with special decontamination programs in the Fukushima exclusion zone and surrounding 61 communities. In light of the magnitude of devastation the national government also put itself in the position of taking responsibility for `building back better’ so as to improve disaster mitigation against future tsunamis. In addition, it covered about 95 per cent of all financial requirement, and also provided extensive human resources and know-how for reconstruction in the form of national engineers. These supporting programs recognized that smaller coastal communities (outside of Sendai city) had neither the governance capacity or finance to design or implement `build-back-better’ infrastructure programs by themselves. Indeed, the significant loss of local leaders and the staff of local fishing towns in the catastrophe further complicated and limited local governance capacity for recovery. Nonetheless, apart from designating the height of sea walls the national government left it to municipal authorities to prepare detailed plans, including relocating town centers and residential areas, either by cutting away hills and/or raising land, as well as laying new roads and underground infrastructure pipes and cables, compacting soil and erecting sea walls (Edgington, 2017). Naturally, the sum total of designing and implementing the projects up and down the coast involved enormous amounts of time, finance, and manual labor. In the case of the stricken nuclear power station and its evacuation zone the national government aspired to reduce the stigma of radiation contamination in the designated exclusion area and worked with the plant’s owner (the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO) to provide a long-term safe environment for the communities that were evacuated (Yamakawa and Yamamoto, 2016). With regard to the various factors influencing the speed of recovery there were a number of intertwined features that slowed rebuilding over the 10-year study period. As already alluded to, all rebuilding programs in the coastal region took time to plan and finalize, as well as to implement. These projects included terracing hillside slopes and preparing new areas for housing, building protective sea walls and embankments, as well as raising land close to the seashore (Imakawa, 2021). On the one hand, some of the reasons for delays in project finalization affected all municipalities, such as the lack of construction crews, the rising costs of construction, and the need to first remove vast quantities of debris left in the tsunami’s wake (Ministry of Environment, 2013). On the other hand, local policies and processes varied widely across municipalities due to different damage patterns as well as the varied scale of various recovery engineering projects utilised together with local land use controls.2 Reconstruction strategies and large financial programs at the national level certainly helped local governments to plan for and initiate rebuilding. But at the local level a consensus-building approach to final decisions was preferred even in complicated circumstances. As a result, it often took much time to achieve local community agreement on issues such as the height and design of sea walls, as well as the specifics of relocating to safer ground those communities considered to be at risk from tsunamis in the future. For instance, consensus among local landowners to move coastal settlements was considered essential, and redevelopment required each owner in hazardous coastal locations to exchange their properties for newly developed sites away from the coast (Edgington, 2017). In Fukushima, the national government faced criticism over the slow pace of decontamination of radiation-polluted areas, due mainly to severe weather in winter and the difficulty of securing appropriate storage sites for contaminated soil materials (Edgington, 2016). Even for those locations where evacuation orders were lifted, a lack of trust that their homes were safe, together with the lack of post-disaster services for daily life – such as medical 62 services, schools, and shopping centers – delayed the return of evacuees (Maly, 2018). The following section explains the research design and data sources used to measure how these delays impacted the various municipalities shown in Figure 1. 4. Research design and data To understand the complexity of recovery in the study region and the varying speed of recovery among affected municipalities, the challenge was to select indicators that were common to all communities. In addition, the situation of evacuees in the Fukushima evacuation area and their recovery was quite distinctive from the rebuilding of small fishing communities further north in a major part of the study area, and so required different indicators of recovery. Accordingly, I chose two distinct methodologies for the affected regions. First, to provide a suitable indicator to measure the speed of recovery from tsunami damage along the coasts of Iwate, Miyagi, and northern Fukushima, I examined the pace at which permanent housing was built for displaced survivors. Comerio (2014) notes that housing is a basic need and is often seen as the most important sector of disaster recovery by local residents. Affected populations in this part of the study area have gone through several states of displacement during the 10-year study period, including immediate evacuation to shelters (such as high-school gymnasiums or community centers) and then to temporary housing provided by prefectural governments, either in the form of small prefabricated units on land lying safely away from the coast or various types of existing rental housing (Brasor and Tsubuku, 2017). The final stage of recovery comprised providing permanent housing for survivors, after disaster mitigation measures were completed and land made available, in new districts for either private or public housing units. The latter type was typically in the form of higher-density apartment blocks (Faculty of Societal Safety Sciences, Kansai University, 2018b). In terms of research analysis for this component of the study, I hypothesize that the four coastal terrain zones affected the rate of building permanent housing due to spatial variations in the ease of finding suitable land for new housing developments. I argue that interruptions in moving survivors out of temporary accommodation to new permanent housing had a critical impact on overall community recovery. This was because life in cramped temporary houses provided by provincial governments led to many problems due mainly to the meager space offered and the poor quality of their construction (Bris and Bendito, 2019). Accordingly, those municipalities that delayed providing permanent housing reconstruction caused hardship for survivors and local businesses located in temporary accommodation. In particular, long delays in replacing lost housing led young workers to leave coastal towns in search of suitable housing and better job prospects in large urban centers, such as Sendai and Tokyo. Indeed, towards the end of the study period the majority of remaining residents in temporary housing were the elderly who had no alternative housing options other than to wait for local public housing units to be completed (Tokuyama and Mine, 2019). 63 Due to Covid-19 restrictions in Japan during 2021, I was unable to conduct field work at the time of the 10th anniversary events in the Tō hoku region. Accordingly, a data base of population and housing statistics was collected from 29 relevant coastal local governments, either through telephone inquiry or through a search of municipal web sites, by the Sendaibased `Communa Consulting Company (Communa, 2021a). This data base included (a) the number of totally damaged houses due to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami; (b) the number of new private housing units and new public housing constructed from 2011 to 2021; (c) the date (month/year) when the last survivors left temporary housing to occupy permanent housing; (d) March 2011 pre-tsunami population; and (e) March 2021 population levels. Second, evacuees from the area surrounding the stricken Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima faced a more uncertain recovery due to the contamination of land by radiation. As the radiation fallout pattern became better understood after March 2011, an additional inland corridor covering roughly 207 square km and stretching away from the initial 20-km zones was also designated for evacuation. Over the next few years, a precondition for any type of infrastructure repairs or housing reconstruction was the clean-up of the nuclear accident. This involved substantial removal of soil in all affected areas (except for mountainous terrain) and the decontamination of the exterior of houses and other buildings that remained. The initial decontamination program commenced in 2012 and was completed in 2014 (Edgington, 2016). With progress on the removal of contaminated soil overall radiation levels decreased, albeit unevenly throughout the affected area, official evacuation orders were relaxed gradually from 2014 onwards after local and national government inspectors confirmed safety levels and repaired lifeline utilities in readiness for evacuees to return (Hiroshi, 2017). As of March 2021, there remained some 340 square kilometers of land where evacuation orders were in place. These comprised those areas near the crippled nuclear power plant with continuing high levels of radiation known as `the difficult-to-return zone’ (kitaku konnan kuiki), which in large part encompassed hilly forest-covered terrain that has proven difficult to decontaminate (The Asahi Shimbun, 2022). To examine the hypothesis that the speed of return was influenced by the rapidity of decontamination in Fukushima prefecture I utilized the Communa Consulting Company to gather population statistics from the 13 municipalities affected by evacuation orders (shown in the inset map of Figure 1) together with dates when evacuation orders were lifted, and the intentions of survivors whether or not to return back to their original homes (Communa 2021b). While recognizing that these two data sets can only indicate a snapshot of a prolonged recovery of many communities after a devasting catastrophe, the following section presents the results of data analysis for the 42 municipalities in the study area and reveals interesting patterns of the spatial variation of the speed of recovery. 64 5. Data analysis 5.1. Recovery of Municipalities from Tsunami Damage along the coastline of Iwate, Miyagi, and Northern Fukushima. To understand the spatial variation in housing and population recovery in this part of the affected coast, the 29 municipalities used in this analysis were grouped into the following coastline classifications: (1) the Tanesashi Coast of northern Iwate (comprising three municipalities); (2) The Sanriku Coast of Iwate (9 municipalities) and northern Miyagi (4 municipalities); and the Sendai Plain in southern Miyagi (11 municipalities) and (4) northern Fukushima (2 municipalities). At this level of spatial disaggregation, a number of patterns relating to the speed of housing recovery and the closure of temporary housing programs are apparent (see Table 2). Table 2. Recovery and Reconstruction along the coasts of Iwate, Miyagi, and northern Fukushima Prefectures Source: Communa (2021a) Location Totally New New Final Date PrePopulation % Private Public that tsunami Population (see Figure 1) Damaged Housing Housing Remaining Population in March, change 2021 units units Survivors (2011Houses (March (2011(2011Occupied 2021) 2011) 2021) 2021) Temporary Housing (Month/Year ) (1) Tanesashi Coast (Iwate) Hirono 10 Noda 311 Kuji 65 1 14 15 1 177 4 06/2015 17,820 1 100 08/2017 4,626 1 11 06/2016 36,821 14,804 -16.9 3,849 -16.8 32,392 -12.0 (2a) Sanriku 65 Coast ( (Iwate) Fudai 0 0 0 Tanohata 225 61 63 Miyako 2,767 365 655 Otsuchi 3,092 1,401 876 Iwaizumi Yamada Kamaishi Ofunato Rikuzentakata 177 59 51 N/A 3,071 2,444 -20.4 05/2016 10,753 8,498 -21.0 09/2020 18,560 06/2016 03/2020 3,838 -15.9 03/2019 1 15,239 10,797 -29.1 03/2019 40,689 2,957 1,269 1,316 3,805 1,954 895 8,483 1,572 1,962 03/2020 63,223 2,924 754 859 09/2019 801 -36.3 46,889 1 1,191 627 2,996 55,759 2,762 2,789 640 / 12/2020 03/2021 39,454 23,254 14,120 31,420 34,058 17,898 -23.9 -20.4 -16.3 -23.0 (2b) Sanriku Coast (Northern Miyagi) Kesennuma Minamisanriku Onagawa Ishinomaki 3,143 20,036 782 2,626 734 4,456 10/2019 01/2020 17,391 51,229 1 10,765 -19.0 9,979 5,578 -44.1 1 160,630 1 137,690 -38,1 -14.3 66 (3a) Sendai Plain Area (Southern Miyagi) Higashimatsu- 5,515 Shima 604 1,101 03/2019 42,849 38,754 -9.6 Matsushima 221 8 52 N/A 15,031 13,090 -12.9 Shiogama 672 99 390 09/2017 56,355 51,775 -8.2 Tagajo 1 1,746 83 532 03/2017 Natori 2,801 Rifu Sichigahama Sendai Iwanuma Watari Yamamoto (3b) Sendai Plain Area (Northern Fukushima) Shinchi Soma 56 0 25 676 628 30,034 734 3,179 736 1 170 210 2,217 166 2,389 439 1 1,044 311 200 237 118 212 655 477 490 1129 398 N/A 03/2017 34,174 35,424 20,393 63,085 +3.7 17,699 -13.2 61,888 -1.9 10/2016 1,046,907 1,092,217 +4.3 04/2016 44,187 1 44,348 +0.4 16,647 1 03/2017 73,516 02/2017 34,827 05/2018 8,188 09/2017 05/2018 37,751 79,245 32,881 +7.8 +5.6 11,642 -30.1 7,841 -4.3 34,472 -8.7 First, those municipalities recording the most delayed housing recovery (in terms of when survivors were able to finally leave temporary housing) were all located along the Sanriku coast. This is the area where it was the most challenging to provide suitable flat land for new housing due to the hilly topography immediately inland from the sea shore. The recovery plans of local government areas, such as Miyako, Yamada, Kamaishi, Rikuzentakata 67 and Ishinomaki, required extensive engineering projects to create new development areas for either private or public housing. These municipalities reported survivors having to live in temporary housing until 2020 or 2021, up to nine to ten years after the tsunami event (see Table 2, column 5). Outliers included the towns of Fudai, Tanohata and Iwazumi in northern Iwate. Fudai township had built a substantial sea wall several years before 2011 that effectively protected residential areas from the tsunami (Suppasri et al., 2012). In Iwazumi, the bulk of the town lay about 20 kms inland from the coast (see Figure 1). Consequently, it was able to successfully complete its permanent housing programs for survivors in 2016, several years earlier than other Sanriku towns (The Mainichi, 2016). Second, and conversely, localities in the northern Tanesashi coast of Iwate prefecture (for example Hirono, Kuji and Noda), or along the Sendai Plain area in the southern part of the devastated area (such as Sendai city and Iwanuma in Miyagi prefecture, also Shinchi and Soma in northern Fukushima prefecture) completed their replacement housing projects during the 2016 to 2018 period (Table 2, column 5). These municipalities were able to find suitable land more easily for replacement housing due to the gentler nature of the terrain inland from the shoreline compared to the ria coastal area (for an example of the coastline around Soma, northern Fukushima see Figure 6). Higashimatsushima in the northern part of the Sendai Plain is an outlier as it closed down its temporary program later, in 2019. Its residential areas were close to the seashore, and it sustained tsunami damage to around two-thirds of its buildings. Higashimatsushimayama does not have substantial flat land inland from the inundated zone. Accordingly, the reconstruction plan called for relocating much of the devastated local communities to a new development in the hills behind the existing town, which delayed final recovery (interview with Mr. Shuya Takahashi, Director, Revival Policy Bureau, Revival Planning Division, Hagashimatsushima City, Miyagi prefecture, 14th March 2017). Figure 6. The coast at Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture 68 Source: Wikipedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:相馬市_大洲海岸 .jpg. A third pattern identified in Table 2 is that only five municipalities in this study retained or recovered their pre-tsunami population levels over the 10-year recovery period. Large falls in population were recorded at locations in all three types of coastlines (Table 2). Moreover, population levels declined both in those municipalities that ended their temporary housing programs in less than five or six years (e.g., Tanohata and Yamamoto) as well as those that suffered very long periods of survivors living in temporary accommodation (e.g., Rikuzentaka and Minamisanriku). This adverse result, however, must be evaluated against the long-term historical decrease in Tō hoku population mentioned earlier as well as the overall decline in Japan’s population from 2011 to 2021 at the national scale (about -1.8% in this period) (Macrotrends, 2022). Sendai city and its surrounding commuter towns (Rifu, Natori, Iwanuma and Watari) alone recorded gains in population during this 10-year period (Table 2, column 8). As the largest population center and commercial hub in the Tō hoku region, the wider Sendai area saw population increases after 2011 due to the influx of substantial construction crews working on rebuilding damaged infrastructure all along the disaster area. Moreover, similar to Japan’s other large regional cities (such as Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka), Sendai continued to generate service sector jobs and benefited from a continuing inflow of new residents from smaller centers - not only from towns along the disaster coastline further north, but also from other parts of the Tō hoku region (The Asahi Shimbun, 2021). 5.2. Recovery from the Nuclear Accident in Southern Fukushima and Long-term Evacuations Compared to tsunami-hit communities that developed recovery plans and programs to rebuild in the first year or so after the disaster, questions of recovery for residents displaced by radioactive contamination were more complex. Even after 10 years the number of evacuees remained high. The official number of evacuees reported by the national government from all municipalities in Fukushima – including towns outside the 2011 evacuation zone - was 67,000 in 2021 (Lam, 2021b). Each of the 13 affected municipalities indicated in Figure 1 (inset map) were asked to provide data on their pre-tsunami registered population, as well as levels of their residents who were registered with the municipality in March 2021 (see Table 3, columns 5 and 6).3 In addition, each municipality indicated the 2021 number of residents who had returned, and those who still resided outside their home municipality. To assess evacuees’ intentions to return (or not), local governments in the evacuation area produced annual surveys of residents’ intention to return (Table 3, column 7). As evacuation orders had been fully lifted from a number of municipalities (e.g., Naraha in 2015, Kawauchi in 2016) some surveys have not been administered in recent years. A number of patterns can be identified from the data presented in Table 3. 69 Table 3 Recovery from the Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident in Southern Fukushima Source: Communa (2021b) Location 2011 Pre- 2021 # Evacuation 2021 # 2021 # % of All tsunami Resident Order Lifted Residents Residents Residents (see residential Who Still Who Want to (month/year) Returned Evacuated Return/Do Figure 1) population (201121 (% of Not Want to Whole Area Change total) Return (Year or Partial %) of Survey) Area Iitate 6,132 Kawamata 15,505 Minamisoma 70,752 Katsurao 1,524 Namie 20,854 Tamura 40,234 Futaba 6,891 Okuma 11,570 Kawauchi 2,819 4,773 (-22.2%) 12,993 (-16.2%) 58,529 (-17.3%) 1,344 (-11.%) 21,117 (+1.3%) 34,531 (-14.2%) 5,680 (-17.6%) 03/2017; Partial Area 1,234 (25.9%) 3,539 (74.1%) 33.5%/30.7% (2017) 07/2016; 54,590 (93.3%) 3,939 (6.7%) 69.0%/13.4% (2019) 03/2017; Whole Area Partial Area 06/2016; Whole Area 03/2017; Partial Area 04/2014 Whole Area Not yet lifted 10,168 04/2019; 2,017 06/2016; Whole Area (-12.1%) (-28.4%) Partial Area 12,348 (95.0%) 448 (33.3%) 1,237 (5.9%) 34,410 (99.6) 0 (0.0%) 356 (3.5%) 1,581 (78.4%) 645 (5.0%) 896 (66.7%) 19,880 (94.1%) 121 (0.4%) 5,680 (100.0%) 9,812 (96.5%) 436 (21.6%) 60.4%/30.7% (2020) 47.9%/31.8% (2019) 18.9%/54.5% (2020) 79.8%/3.0% (2015) 10.8%/62.1% (2020) 12.1%/59.5% (2020) 63.7%/12.6% (2016) 70 Tomioka 15,989 12,096 04/2017; Naraha 7,676 6,689 09,2015; Hirono 5,386 Iwaki 341,463 (-24.3%) (-12.9%) 4,616 (-14.3%) 332,043 (-2.7%) Partial Area Whole Area N/A N/A 1,790 (14.8%) 10,306 (85.2%) 34.3%/48.9% (2020) 4,151 (89.9%) 465 (10.0%) N/A 4,124 (61.7%) 329,516 (99.2%) 2,565 (38.3%) 2,527 (0.8%) 54.3%/27.5% (2017) 57.7%/39.4% (2014) First, eleven of the 13 municipalities in this region recorded significant losses in the number of registered residents (either those who returned or who are counted as still evacuated). For instance, the total number of registered residents declined in Kawauchi village by 28.4 per cent between 2011 and 2021 (Table 3, column 3) In large part these post-tsunami declines matched those recorded among the coastal fishing towns in Iwate and Miyagi. Namie township (19,880 population) was an outlier as it recorded a slight increase of residents, perhaps in part due to new jobs resulting from the opening of a major hydrogen generation complex there in 2020 (Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation, 2020). Hirono town (Fukushima prefecture) and Iwaki city, which both lay just outside the official evacuation zone (see inset map, Figure 1) saw a decline or largely retained their 2011 resident populations (Table 3, column 3). Second, there were a large number of residents who, even in 2021, continued to remain as evacuees. In total, Only14,000 had returned to live in the areas where evacuation orders had been lifted (see inset map, Figure 1), representing around 15.9 per cent of the 88,000 or so residents recorded at the time of the disaster (Table 3, columns 4 and 6). The national government supported those who evacuated from the official exclusion zone with income support programs, together with rent-free housing provided in Tokyo and elsewhere. These support programs ended in 2017 (McCurry, 2017). Nonetheless, as already noted around 36,000 people were voluntarily living away from their former residents after evacuating amid the catastrophe, according to official data in 2021. Even though evacuation orders began to be lifted for some parts of the exclusion zone in 2014, the municipalities of Iitate, Katsurao, Namie, Okuma and Tomioka recorded that over 65 per cent of their residents continued to live outside their home municipality (Table 3, column 6). Futaba, which is located adjoining the stricken nuclear power plant, had the most severe evacuation controls in place at the end of the study period due to high radiation levels, and even in March 2021 no residents were allowed to live there. Third, the local government surveys of residents’ intentions recorded in the `difficult to return to’ zone that well over half did not want to return to their home municipality. This 71 area comprises about 370 square km and straddles six towns and villages, including Namie (where 54.5% recorded that they did not wish to return), Okuma (59.5%), together with Futaba (62.1%) (Table 3, column 7). In Tomioka, residents recorded that 48.9 per cent of residents did not wish to return, alongside a somewhat smaller percentage of residents in Katsurao (31.7%) and in Iitate (30.7%). In sum, 10-years later many former residents at locations in the exclusion zone continued to express profound concerns about the future and intended to live outside their home town, either in another city in Fukushima or in or in another prefecture. As noted by Maly (2018), uncertainty about the long-term impact of radiation, as well as whether timely and adequate health care, education and commercial services would be provided or not, led to different opinions from evacuees about whether to return or not, even when evacuation orders were lifted. 6. Conclusions This paper contributes to the literature on conceptualizing recovery after a catastrophic disaster as a rather chaotic and uneven process with uncertain outcomes that extend beyond the reconstruction of broken infrastructure. Rather than the coherent reconstruction progress often represented in official reports, the complexity of reconstruction programs in the coastal Tō hoku study area led many survivors to feel that reconstruction had taken too long, and they did not see steady progress, as indicated in the NHK survey reported at the beginning of this article. To better track actual progress, I underscored the importance of both collecting and analyzing spatially disaggregated data sets of recovery benchmarks and indicators, as well as searching for explanatory factors shaping the speed of recovery in affected communities. Using the case of the Great East Japan Earthquake this study analyzed data that indicated the role that coastal terrain played in shaping housing recovery in coastal fishing towns, and how the long duration of evacuation orders led to uncertain futures and to the hesitation of residents to return to their home towns around the Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. These results are only indicative, and further research is required to further examine how the broad-scale patterns identified here operated at the local level through specific case studies. However, there may be useful policy implications for jurisdictions that are planning for catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis, either in other parts of Japan or elsewhere (Edgington, 2019, 2021). One lesson from the GEJE case is that recovery is a very long process having its roots in the pre-impact period, when preparedness and mitigation could be planned for, or not. For instance, apart from the Tō hoku region there are likely many coastal communities elsewhere located in rocky and steep terrain that are risk to a possible tsunami event and which will experience difficulty preparing suitable sites for re-housing displaced survivors. Therefore, learning from the GEJE event, they should plan ahead to examine rebuilding options and possible outcomes, and recognize likely differences in successful local implementation of recovery when designing funding programs and other preparatory policies. There is much at stake, including the welfare of survivors and the long-term sustainability of stricken communities. For instance, this study points to the long-time (measured over many years) that residents must likely wait in temporary housing before moving into permanent 72 housing, or to return to their home towns after exclusion orders have been made, and the consequent need to incorporate these sorts of long delays into a pre-disaster recovery plan. Long-term community losses, such as an outflow of population, can also be anticipated by inquiring into likely recovery differentials across various municipalities. Planners can then foresee long-term population losses when planning the `new normal’ for their communities, and to what extent they should undertake pre-disaster risk reduction programs based on costbenefit projections. Naturally, there are many limitations to this study, including the emphasis on a single explanatory factor (the natural terrain) and the need to further evaluate competing and complementary economic, political, and social factors shaping recovery outcomes at the local level. This additional research should include the role of local policy actors, such as mayors, administrative decision-making, and community networks (e.g., see Aldrich and Ono, 2016). What is more, in order to use coherent indicators for this analysis the spatial scale utilized was necessarily restricted to the overall municipal level. Then again, in the context of the Tō hoku region such broad-scale spatial analysis has many conceptual problems due to the myriad of small coastal hamlets found within any municipal boundary along the Tō hoku coast, each with their own particular challenges in terms of hazards and topography. More detailed analysis is therefore necessary to examine how the local terrain of local communities impacted the relocation of survivors to new housing projects inland away from the coast (see Miyasada and Maly, 2021). Finally, in the coastal communities of Iwate and Miyagi further research is necessary to evaluate the post-2021 recovery projects that remain to be finished. These focus on the revival of fishing and farming as well as community revitalization are outlined in the Reconstruction Agency’s 2020 Report (Reconstruction Agency, 2020). In Fukushima prefecture, physical reconstruction is still not fully complete. There is a need to measure the success (or not) of additionally planned government projects, such as disposing contaminated soil and processing contaminated water at the nuclear plant site, as well as the work involved in decommissioning the Dai-ichi nuclear plant over the next 30 to 40 years (The Asahi Shimbun, 2022). Scholars should also evaluate recent government plans to lift all further evacuation orders by the end of the 2020s and implement new enterprises along the Hamadori coast focusing on high-tech industries, such as robotics and hydrogen energy production (Fukushima Prefecture, 2020). Acknowledgements. The author acknowledges the help of Kanno Haruka and Saito Takaharu at Communa Consulting Corporation in providing the data used for the preparation of this paper, together with the assistance of many other colleagues. These include Billy McMichael at Fukushima University, also friends and informants in the Tō hoku region and elsewhere in Japan. Eric Leinberger prepared the figures. Funding for this study was provided by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant #410-2005-0005. 73 Footnotes 1. All told the Great East Japan Earthquake impacted 12 prefectures. For an interesting example of damage sustained further south along the Ibaraki prefecture coastline see Kubo et al. (2014). 2. While many coastal towns in the study area commenced massive tsunami-defense mounds and ground-raising programs, perhaps none was more extensive than construction projects in Rikuzentakata city (population 17,898). Here, the city center was elevated more than 10 meters using fill. In 2014, a mammoth conveyor belt system was built to carry rock from a hill across the Kesen River to the city center. The conveyor belt system featured a long suspension span that crossed the river, and which was named the `Bridge of Hope’ (Yoshida, 2017). 3. 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A review of Kappa: From demon to festival mascot and a promoter of places and natural landscapes Tom Waldichuk Department of Environment, Culture & Society (Geography), Thompson Rivers University Email: twaldichuk@tru.ca Abstract Japanese folklore has produced mythical creatures, some good and bad. One such creature that is associated mostly with rivers and lakes is Kappa, which is now generally portrayed as a child-size, human-like creature with webbed feet. Ancient documents indicate that Kappa has lived all over Japan under regionally different names. The image of Kappa has changed over the years. Once thought of as a demon, Kappa is now generally accepted as a harmless mascot that promotes communities. Through a literature review and a review of community websites, as well as the results of field work in Ushiku (Ibaraki) and Asakusa (Tokyo) this paper reviews the metamorphosis of Kappa and demonstrates the role of Kappa as a mascot in promoting places and the natural environment. The findings are that ancient images of Kappa going back to 300 C.E. are associated with water creatures as well as monkeys and humans. Historically, rural communities organized festivals to worship Kappa as a deity. Nowadays Kappa is used to foster local pride and promote places to increase tourism. Kappa’s image also promotes a cleaner environment through its placement on outdoor signage to stop the dumping of garbage. The principal conclusion is that Kappa has morphed into a national mascot as a promoter of communities and natural landscapes. However, in the future its effectiveness to promote places may be challenged by newer mascots. Keywords: Kappa, Japanese folklore, yurukyara, community 1. Introduction – Kappa and mythological creatures in Japan Kappa is one of five major yōkai, or mythological creatures, found in Japan – the others being Tengu (boasting man), Kitsune (fox), Tanuki (racoon dog), and Oni (devil) (Foster, 2015a, p.111). Some yōkai are water deities (suijin), which exist in water bodies, rice paddies, near springs and wells (Frédéric, 2002, p.910). Kappa is the most notable mythical water creature of Japanese folklore (Ishida, 1950, p.140). In the English language folklore and anthropology literature in Japan, much has been written about Kappa, most recently by Foster (e.g., 1998, 2009, 2015a, and 2015b) and earlier by Casal (1960), Ishida (1948) (translated into English in 1950), Ouwehand (1964), and Yanagita (1910) 84 (translated in 1975 and 2008). 1 Ito (2019) reviews research written about Kappa in Japanese and states that folklore and local history studies are at the centre of this research. Marusharu’s (1998) report, accessible on the internet, gives an historic and contemporary overview of Kappa in Japanese. There are some English language blogs and non-academic web articles on Kappa, e.g., Schumacher (1995-2015); and Kappa… (2014); however, most academic English language writing about Kappa—including this paper—defers to Foster’s publications 2 (see Foster, 1998, 2009, 2015a, 2015b). Kappa is a human-like, child-sized creature and usually has a hard shell on its back with a depression on top of its head filled with water and covered with a dish (Foster, 1998, p.4). Some versions of Kappa are identified as half turtle and half monkey (Casal, 1960, p.158). Kappa is found in rivers, ponds, and swamps (Foster, 2015a, p.157), and occasionally the ocean. In Shikoku, Kappa is considered the little child of the water goddess (Casal, 1960, p.158) (Figure 1). If Kappa loses the water on top of its head, it loses its power and can die (Foster, 1998, p.4; 2015a, p.157). Generally, if one helps Kappa fill the cavity on 1The following is a summary of the anthropological and folklore literature in English about Kappa. Ishida (1950) looks at the relationship among Kappa, horses, monkeys, cows and other water deities, and talks about similar stories in Europe and Asia. Ouwehand (1964, 203-220) also examines the connection among Kappa, horses, and monkeys. He says that Kappa was called Kawawaro in river environments and Yamawaro in mountain settings and that there was a seasonal migration from water to mountain in autumn, and from mountain to river in spring. Kappa on land was more benevolent than Kappa in water. 2Foster also suggests reading (or refers to) the following Japanese print sources on Kappa. Foster (2015b) suggests reading Nakamura, T. (1996) Kappa no Nihonshi [History of Kappa in Japan]. Nihon Edita-suku-ru shuppanbu, for a comprehensive history of Kappa in Japan. (Foster (1998) also refers to the same source). Foster (2015b) also suggests reading Wada, H. (2005) Kappa denshō daijiten [dictionary of Kappa traditions], Iwata Shoin, for a variety of Kappa-related information. Foster (2015a), regarding the use of the word “Kappa,” refers to Komatsu, K. (2006), Yōkai bunka [Introduction to Yōkai culture], Serika shobō; regarding the evolving image of Kappa, he refers to Kagawa, M. (2012), Kappa imē-ji no hensen, [Changes to Kappa image], in Kappa to ha nanika: Dai 84-kai rekihaku fōramu, ed. Kokuritsu rekishi minzoku hakubutsukan, Kokuritsu Rekishi Minzoku Hakubutsukan, pp. 6-9; regarding Kappa becoming more familiar in the Edo era, he refers to Iikura, Yoshiyuki, ed. (2010). Nippon no Kappa no shōtai [Invitation of Japan’s Kappa], Shinjinbutsu ōraisha, pp.39-45. Foster (1998) refers to the following key Japanese sources: Orikuchi, Shinobu. (1955). Kappa no hanashi [A Discussion of Kappa]. In Orikuchi Shinobu zenshū. [The collected writings of Orikuchi Shinobu], vol. 3: 288-317, Chūō Kōronsha; Ōshima, Tatehiko. (1988). Kappa. Sōshi Fōkuroa Shiten, which contains a collection of edited essays on Kappa; and Foster (1998 and 2015a) both refer to Komatsu, Kazuhiko (1985). Ijinron-minzokushakai [The strangers in Japanese folk society], Seidosha, 226-227. Foster (1998 and 2015a) both refer to Ishikawa, Jun’ichirō (1985). Shinpan Kappa no sekai [World of the Kappa, new edition). Tokyo: Jiji Tsūshinsha, which deals with Kappa-related data and analysis (cited in Foster, 1998), including the mapping of Kappa names. 85 the top of its head with water, or if one overpowers Kappa, it becomes indebted and cooperative. Figure 1. Contemporary image of Kappa. (photo source: Helen Markano) Kappa has the following likes and abilities. It likes cucumbers (Foster, 2015a, p.157) and sumo wrestling (Foster, 1998, p.4; 2015a, p. 157), and Kappa is known to be a good bonesetter and can teach the skill (Foster, 1998, p. 8). According to the Wakan Sansai Zue (an encyclopedia published in the early 1700s during the Edo Era), Kappa had flexible arms and could also stretch out one of its arms to twice its length (Cited in Casal, 1960, p. 159), and it could slide its arms side to side (Terajima, 1987, p. 159, figure 3 cited in Foster, 1998, p.6). The arms were connected and elastic-like (Yanagita, 1964, p.108, cited in Foster, 1998, p.6). By the late 1800s and early 1900s, the image of Kappa had become a “slimy,” “amphibious” character (Kagawa, 2012, p.6, cited in Foster, 2015a, p.160). Casal (1960, p.159) further notes that, in more recent times, Kappa in western Japan is green, whereas in the east it is reddish – in general, Kappa can change the colour of its skin to mislead humans. The word “Kappa” means river child (Casal, 1960, p.165; Foster, 1998, p.3). Kappa is also known as Kawatarō (Foster, 2015a, p.157, 158), or Kawako (Casal, 1960, pp.157; 165; Foster, 2015a, pp.157, 158), with “kawa” referring to the river, or it can be called Suiko (Casal, 1960, p157). Over 80 regional variations of the name Kappa exist (Ōuno, 1994, p.14, cited in Foster, 1998, p.3). For example, people in the area of Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of Japan used the word Mizushi (Ishida, 1950, p.116) or Misushi or Mitsujishi (Casal, 1960, p.161). Ouwehand (1964, p.204) mentions that most of these name variations are 86 related to “river boy,” e.g., Kawa-wappa. Casal (1960, pp.161,165,166) gives a detailed account of name variations throughout Japan. 3 Some names fostered respect for Kappa. 4 Kappa names varied in part because the images of Kappa were different, and these images may have varied regionally. For example, in western Japan, including Kyushu and parts of Shikoku, a hairy, upright monkey or ape-like creature was called Kawatarō (Foster, 2015a, p.160; see also Casal in terms of the hairy description, 1960, p. 158). Kappa have also been called Enkō—referring to a monkey-like character (Ishida, 1950, p.140; Foster, 1998, p.3) (Figure 2, p.6). The western part of central Japan and Shikoku have used the name Enkō (Casal, 1960, p.167). Foster (1998) mentions the close tie between Kappa and monkeys, in particular the Japanese macaque, but he states that Kappa’s origin is not from any one animal. He notes that Yanagita, Ishida, and Ouwehand also looked at the tie between the monkey and Kappa. 3Casal (1960) states for example, in Iwate and Aomori in the Tohoku region of northern Japan, Medochi was used, and the Ainu used the work Mintsuchi (p.161). In Sagami, now part of Kanagawa Prefecture, Kappa was known as Fukutarō (“Luck boy”) (p.166). Casal further states that in Ise, western Japan, Kappa is known as Kawara-Kōzō (“river urchin”) or Kawa-warambe (“river boy” or river child). Shortened versions of these names were Kawa-Kōzō and Kawa-Rambe, which were found in Owari province, part of modern-day Aichi Prefecture (p.165). In Hyuga, Kyushu, Gawara or Gawarō was used (p.165). In the Kumamoto and Nagasaki areas of Kyushu, the names Garappa and Gawappa were used (p.166). In other parts of Kyushu Kappa was known simply as Suijin (water deity) (p. 166). In Okinawa, Kappa was known as Kamurō, with Kamu referring to biting (p.166). 4 For example, according to Casal (1960, p.166), in Aomori, Kappa was known as Retsu- sama (Lord Retsu); in the west of Japan Kawa-no-tono (Lord of the river, with tono referring to a feudal landed lord). At a shrine in Tanushimaru Town in Kurume City, Kyushu, Kappa have been referred to as Daimyōjin (“Great Lord”) (Ito, 2019, p.26). Similarly, in Izumo, in Shimane Prefecture on the Sea of Japan, Kappa was known as KawaKo Daimyōjin (Casal, 1960, p.166). 87 Figure 2. Upright ape-like version of Kappa. Source: Terajima, R. (c. 1600). Wakan sansaizue (Illustrated Sino Japanese encyclopedia), 105 巻首(kanshu,beginning)1 巻尾(kanbi, end)1 巻 (kan, roll or volume) [27]. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/2596374/1/21 Foster (2015a, p.165) describes Hyōsube, a water yōkai with name variations such as Hyōsuhe, Hyozunbo or Hyōsubo, which is found in Saga and Miyazaki Prefectures in Kyushu and may also be a species of Kappa. Two other creatures similar to Kappa exist: Gamishiro and Kawauso. 5 Casal (1960) mentions that some names of Kappa are only written in kana, so the meanings of these names are probably less clear. Foster (1998, p.3) states that the name Kappa started in the Kantō and Tōhoku areas (Foster, 2015a, p.158), and spread to other parts of Japan (Komatsu, 2006, pp.109110, cited in Foster, 2015a, p. 158). However, Casal (1960, p.165) does not make the same 5 One similar mythical creature to Kappa is Gamishiro (or Gamishirō or Gameshirō) from the ocean of Kagoshima, Kyushu (Foster, 2015a, p.167-168), but there is no illustration of it. Gami may refer to “Kami” (deity) or “Game” may refer to “Kame” or turtle The river otter—Kawauso—which is also a mythological character found throughout Japan—is in some places considered a Kappa (Foster, 2015a, p.164-165), and Kawauso and Kawaso are sometimes used as variants of the label Kappa. 88 claim, and instead mentions that the name Kappa has been used for a long time in Kansai and central Japan. The main legend or story about Kappa is that it lures horses into water (Ishida, 1950, pp.115 & 135). This is especially true in northern Japan (Foster, 2015a, p. 161). The story is elaborated in the book by Yanagita, Kunio titled Kappa Santō mindan shū, published in 1914 (cited in Ishida, 1950, pp. 115 & 135). In some places this practice was called Komahiki or horse pulling; cattle were also pulled (Foster, 2015a, p.161). In some stories a Kappa has its arm pulled off when trying to pull a horse or cow into water. In order to receive its arm back, Kappa pledges to never harass people or animals again and offers to work in farm fields or teach how to set broken bones (Foster, 2015a, p.161). This story is also one of the legends of the small city of Tōno (Yanagita, 2008). In the legend, the horse actually drags the Kappa back to its stable, where the Kappa hides under a feed bucket. The Kappa’s life is spared by the villagers after it agrees to no longer harass the horse. Yanagita (2008) does also mention that variations of this story exist around Japan. Casal (1960) refers to several other stories about Kappa. In all cases, a Kappa is never killed and is given a chance to live again if it promises to improve its behaviour. However, there is mention of Kappa drowning or killing people and livestock in the past. More recently, Kappa is associated with video games, e.g., Animal Crossing and Final Fantasy VI; and film, e.g., kaiju film Death Kappa, King Kappa, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (Kappa (folklore), 2022). Kappa has also appeared in the movie Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban (Foster, 2015a, p.164). In a modern-day context, Kappa is also connected to the mascot literature (e.g., Lindstrom, 2019; Occhi, 2012). Foster (1998) writes about the transformation of Kappa into a mascot and later elaborates on this literature (Foster, 2015a, p.94). Barrows (2014) examines mascots in the context of urban planning. The third area of literature that Kappa can be related to is the rural and regional promotion and development literature. Foster (1998) does touch on this literature, especially from the viewpoint of protecting rivers from environmental damage. Ito (2019) focuses on this same environmental issue in Tanushimaru Town, Kurume City, Kyushu. Barrows (2014) looks at place promotion using mascots. In this paper, similar to Foster (1998), I will highlight the transformation of Kappa from a mythological figure into a mascot, and I will examine how Kappa has influenced the sense of place of urban and rural communities. I will use Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture; Jozankei resort near Sapporo; Tanushimaru Town in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture; the Kappabashi area of Tokyo; and Tōno City, Iwate Prefecture as my main examples. 2. Ancient History of Kappa Foster (1998) does not mention that the origins of Kappa is in China, but later in his book on mythical creatures (yōkai) he acknowledges the cultural connection between Kappa and China (Foster, 2015a, p.157). Casal (1960) mentions that Kappa may have 89 originated in China or Korea as a river dragon or other river monster. He refers to Ishida’s (1950, pp.119-120) discussion of water gods in China and Korea. Casal (1960, pp.163-164) also talks about a story that is told at Sō gen temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, which claims that Kappa originated in central Asia and that one group of Kappa migrated to Europe while another group moved down the Yellow River across the Yellow Sea as far as Yatsushiro, Kyushu in the Nintoku era (313-399 B.C.E.)—these were the first Kappa in Japan. Ishikawa (1985, cited in Ozawa, 2011) and Ito (2019) also tell this story. Ito (2019) also mentions that this story is known in Tanushimaru Town in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Casal (1960) mentions that Kumamoto Prefecture is famous for Kappa and Kappa legends. In sum, there is no certainty regarding the origin of Kappa (Ozawa, 2011). Foster (1998, p.2; 2015a, p.159) argues that written records about Kappa first appeared in 379 C.E. in Nihon Shoki (or Nihongi), an historical text about early Japan, in the form of a water snake called midzuchi (Maruyama, 1966, vol.2, pp.245-246 and Aston, 1972, pp. 298-299, cited in Foster, 1998, p.2). Casal (1960, p.160) also refers to this water snake in Nihon Shoki and states that there are probably no earlier texts that infer the existence of Kappa. Aston (1972, p.22) does actually refer to gods of the river mouths (Haya-aki-tsubi no Mikoto). He states in footnote 1 (p.299) that the water snake is considered a water god in Japan. Further down in the footnote, Aston refers to river gods in China being small water snakes (although there is no connection made to Kappa). Foster (2015a) as in his 1998 article also mentions this connection between water snakes and Kappa—he says that Kappa can be used as a generic label for water creatures. Thus, Kappa originated as a water deity (suijin) (Foster,1998, p.13 & 17; 2015a, p.158). These suijin are associated with Shintō religion and are found on Kyushu (Frédéric, 2002, p.910). A good example is the presence of Kappa shrines in Tanushimaru Town in Kurume City (Ito, 2019), where Kappa is still worshipped as a water god. However, there is evidence of worshipping Kappa as a water god elsewhere in Japan, e.g., the Tsugaru area of Aomori, Tohoku (Frédéric, 2002, p.480; Ito, 2019), and in Kappabashi, Tokyo. If treated well as a water deity, a local Kappa will provide water for irrigating farm fields (Foster, 2015a, p.158). On the other hand, if a Kappa is neglected, it can cause drought or flooding. Thus, worshipping Kappa at festivals is important. Casal (1960) states that a clear description of Kappa does not occur before 1695. This was when a cookbook published in the late 1600s titled Honchō Shokkan appeared and describes Kappa under the section of suppon (snapping turtle) as Kawarō or “river boy.” In general, during the Genroku Era (1688-1704) the origin of Kappa was not clear. Casal mentions that scholars of that period thought that Kappa might originate from a turtle (suppon) or an otter (kawauso). He continues that at the end of the Genroku Era written references to Kappa became more common, e.g., sightings along river banks (Casal, 1960, p.165). By the Edo era, illustrations of Kappa started to appear. Foster (2009) mentions that the earliest illustration of Kappa is a hairy ape-like image called Kawatarō in Wakan 90 Sansaizue in approximately 1713, which is an illustrated series of texts containing several yōkai. Also, in 1776, Toriyama, Sekien’s illustration of Kappa, which he also calls Kawatarō, appears in the 3 volume Gazu Hyakkiyagō. Legends about Kappa became more common throughout the Edo era (Iikura, 2010, cited in Foster, 2015a, p.159). In the Meiji era with new ideas about science and rational thinking coming from abroad, people started to dismiss stories about mythological creatures (Foster, 2009, p.76), such as Kappa. Still, modern-day civil engineering has been associated with the creation of Kappa dolls, which have represented—in a negative light—workers involved in engineering projects (Nakao et al., 2016, 2017). 3. Changing image of Kappa: from yōkai to yurukyaras (mascot) The image of Kappa was “mischievous” and “vicious” during the Edo and Meiji eras (Foster, 1998, p.2). Thus, Kappa was thought of as a metaphor for violence in nature There is a double image of Kappa: that of a “…trickster figure with negative and destructive qualities…,” and that of a “…water/agricultural deity with positive … qualities” (Foster, 1998, p.8). Ishida (1950, p.116) states that: “Kappa (were) water-gods … that degenerated into water (demons).” Foster discusses 3 Kappa, eras based on those by Kappa Renpō Kyowa Koku (1991, p.28, cited in Foster, 1998, pp.13-16). (a). After 1927: This was the year the short novel titled “Kappa” by Akutagawa, Ryūnosuke was published (Akutagawa, 1971). Also, the artist Ogawa, Usen (1868-1938) who lived on the shores of Ushiku Lake in Ibaraki Prefecture was painting images of a Kappa. In both these cases, Kappa was considered a human. In the novel Kappa, a Kappa expressed human feelings (Foster, 1998). Ogawa expressed his feelings through the Kappa that he painted (Ide, 1991, p.13). As well, artist Ogawa portrayed Kappa as a happy character (Foster, 2015a; Konishi, 2011). Konishi (2011) further elaborates that Kappa were free-spirited, peaceful, eating only vegetation, and that they represented “deep” (p.248) human emotions. These characteristics were illustrated in the context of Japan warring with Russia and becoming a militarized nation in the early 1900s. Ogawa and his artwork of Kappa were part of the non-war movement in Japan (Sakai, 2020, p.821). In the 1900s, some manga series with Kappa were developed (Foster, 2015a, p.163). Kizakura Sake brewery was established in 1925 (Kizakura, n.d. -a), and Kappa was adopted as the company’s character in 1955 (Kizakura, n.d.-b). (b). 1950s-1960s: There was a continuation of Kappa as a metaphor for humans by the children who grew up with the image of Kappa developed by Akutagawa and Ogawa (Foster, 1998). By the 1960s, a “Kappa craze” in the Tokyo area developed (Casal, 1960). (c). Renewed interest in “regional nature of Kappa, ” mid-1970s to 1990s: The Mura okoshi (village revitalization) movement started to take place in the 1970s. Part of that involved domestic tourism (Graburn, 1983). Kappa turned into a symbol of nostalgia and represented a new image of Japanese countryside – that of village revitalization. Kappa is 91 not just used for tourism but for creating a hometown feeling and local identity – furusato zukuri (Foster, 1998, p.16). During the 1970s and 80s when people were moving from rural to urban areas, rural communities started to develop local “Kappa lore” for village revitalization projects (Foster, 2015a), e.g., promoting the relationship between Kappa and agriculture, trying to attract tourists and sell products, and trying to create a traditional hometown image. The image of Kappa changed to that of being “cute” (Casal, 1960, p.190; Foster, 1998, pp. 3 & 11), and was transformed into generic versions (Foster, 2015a, p.93). Casal (1960, pp.190-191) calls this a Kappa “craze,” although when he wrote this, the “craze” had not taken place in the Kansai region nor in the “old-fashioned” countryside, where Kappa was still feared. Kappa was then used as a PR (public relations) mascot for DC credit card (Foster, 2015a, p.93). Foster mentions that the Kappa Renpō Kyōwa Koku (Federal Republic of Kappa, FRK) (n.d.) started using Kappa as a mascot for water cleanup campaigns (Kappa Renpō Kyōwa Koku, 1992, p.147; figure 6 cited in Foster, 1998, p. 18). The early 1990s probably marked the beginning of when mascots were used for marketing places. However, Lindstrom (2019) mentions that the use of mascots in Japan for marketing really started to take off in the mid-2000s. By then Kappa was considered a “symbol” of the countryside and nation (Foster, 1998, p.11). This new image of Kappa as a mascot has been used for promoting tourism, commerce, and clean water change. Since 2000-2010 yurukyara, 6 which means loose character (Foster, 2015a, p.94; Occhi, 2012), and refers to people wearing—often loosely fit—character costumes, have been developed for characters like Mickey Mouse and used for advertising and PR (Foster, 2015a, p.94). The term was created by Jun Miura, who produced his first yurukyara in 2002 (Tan, 2014). Miura is considered the “Godfather” of yurukyara—he mentions that the movement of yurukyara is unstable, yet it is a message of “local love” (Miura, 2009). Lindstrom (2019) discusses yurukyara in the context of promoting biodiversity in Japan. Foster (2015a, p.94) states that yurukyara are occasionally inspired by yōkai, e.g., Kappa. In some places though, local characteristics are put together to create a hybrid character mascot (Occhi, 2012, p.113; Foster, 2015a, p.94), e.g., the Sento-kun mascot for Nara City (Foster, 2015a, p.94), which is a Buddhist image of a boy with antlers. In Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Kyūchan, the mascot image of Kappa, was created in 1989 and by tradition it usually lives in Ushiku Lake, and Kyu is the cry that a Kappa makes (Ushiku Kankōkyōkai, 2003-a.). According to Barrows (2014) Kyūchan is a good example of a mythical creature that is used for a mascot. Some characters consider the relationship between humans and nature and are associated with Japanese religion (Occhi, 2012, p.114), e.g., Sento-kun, mentioned above, is associated with Buddhism. One important point of distinction is that if a mascot is created by a professional artist, it is called a gotōchi kyara, whereas a mascot designed by a non-professional is called 6 Yurukyara are associated with localities (Occhi, 2012, p.110). Characters are sometimes related to local deities or mythical creatures, e.g., the mascot for Tajima City, Gifu Prefecture is based on a local Kappa who once controlled rainfall (Occhi, 2012, p.113). 92 a yurukyara (Barrows, 2014; Tan, 2014). Tan (2014) states that yurukyara are not cute like Hello Kitty, but that they have public appeal. Kyūchan from Ushiku is a gotōchi kyara. According to Miura (2004, cited in Barrows, 2014), yurukyara are “crudely designed.” Yuru comes from yurui, meaning unfinished as well as loose (Lindstrom, 2019). Foster (2015a, p.95) mentions the regulations surrounding the use of characters. The most successful yurukyara are those with minimal copyright (Foster, 2015b). 4. Rural festivals and Kappa Yanagita (1914, p.86; 1942, p.110), in his early 20th century publication, mentions that Kappa festivals take place around Japan (cited in Ishida, 1950, p.116). These festivals were local, took place in farm communities (Foster, 2015a, p.158), and. some still exist today (Foster, 1998, p.9). Ouwehand (1964, pp. 209-210, 215) discusses traditional Kappa festivals in more detail. The rural Kappa festivals were related to water and were often seasonal. In December, mochi was put on river banks or thrown into rivers as offerings to the water gods, i.e., Kappa, to prevent being harmed by Kappa in the water during the coming summer. Mochi was also given to horses to protect them from mischievous Kappa. Cucumbers, a favourite food of Kappa, were and still are part of festivals (Foster, 1998, p.5). Ouweland (1964) mentions festival activities, potlaches, or contests such as wrestling, rope-pulling, or boat races. These water festivals also took place to ensure the irrigation of rice paddies, a healthy crop, and the health of cows and people. They were often called Gion festivals, similar to the ones in Kyoto. Some examples of recent festivals 7 are the Kappa festival at Jozankei hot springs near the Toyohira River in southwest Sapporo, the annual Ōgata Kappa festival in Joetsu City, Niigata Ken (Joetsu Shi, 2021), the Mahoroba Kappa Festival in Takahata Town, Yamagata Prefecture (Nihon Kankō Shinkō Kyōkai, 2020; Kappa…, 2015), the Iwato Gaku, Kappa dance in Hita City, Oita Prefecture (“Kappa odori”…, 2018; Hita-shi, 2020); the Tanishimaru festival in Kurume City, Kyushu (Ito, 2019), and finally, in Ushiku City where Ogawa, Usen lived, there is the Ushiku Kappa festival (Ushiku Kappa Matsuri Jikkō Iinkai, n.d.-a; e.g., Ushiku Kankōkyōkai, n.d.- a), which is an urban festival that started in 1981 to bring the old-timer residents together with the newcomer residents. The following contains more detailed information of some of these festivals. Ichikawa (2013, p.27) states that the first Kappa festival in Jozankei, Hokkaido was held in August 1965. This involved a Kappa Daigunmai (Large group dance) parade. The purpose of the festival has been tourism promotion – a folklore connection between the community and Kappa does not exist. In Kyushu there are at least two Kappa-related festivals. For example, the Tanushimaru, Kyushu festival started in 1986 (Ichikawa, 2013), and it is held on August 8 (Ito, 2019). It is known as the Kappa Daimyojin festival and involves a Shinto priest and an omikoshi (portable shrine). There is a shrine to worship Kappa (Ito, 2019), and according to Ichikawa (2013, p.24) “Kappa worship” takes place as Kappa is recognized as a god in 7 For examples of current festivals, see Kappa…, (2018) 93 Tanushimaru and has become a symbol of the region (Ichikawa, 2013, p.24). Ichikawa mentions that the festival has continued more for the pleasure of the residents than as a form of tourism promotion. Another Kappa festival focuses on dancing. Yamamoto (1995) gives a detailed description of folk dancing involving Kappa in Hita city, Kyushu and the broader region of Oita, Fukuoka, and Yamaguchi prefectures. According to a news article from Nishi Nippon Shimbun, the dance is an act of gratefulness for an abundant harvest and to pray for a life without sickness. It is also a prefectural intangible folk cultural property (“Kappa odori”…, 2018). The annual Ushiku Kappa festival started in the summer of 1981 (Shōwa 56) and most recently took place along Hanamizuki-dori (street) over two days (Ushiku Kankōkyōkai, 2003-b), with over 10,000 dancers involved (Ushiku Kappa Matsuri Jikkō Iinkai n.d.-b). There have been changes to the festival since 1981 (Ushiku Kappa Matsuri Jikkō Iinkai, n.d.-a). In 1981, the festival was called the Furusato Matsuri. From 1982 onward, the name changed to the Kappa matsuri, which took place every year except 1985 when the Tsukuba Science Expo took place. Also, the spelling of Kappa in the festival changed from katakana to hiragana in 1992 (Ushiku Kappa Matsuri Jikkō Iinkai, n.d.-a). The main part of the festival is the Kappabayashi dance parade, for which a group of local citizens wrote the music and choreographed the dance (Ushiku Kappa Matsuri Jikkō Iinkai, n.d.-b). The 32nd festival in 2013 focused in part on green energy (Dai 32-kai Ushiku Kappa Matsuri Jikkō Iinkai, n.d.). On the 2013 event map (below), next to an image of Kappa three rules are listed about cleanliness and garbage (Ushiku Kappa Matsuri Jikkō Iinkai, n.d.-c). In sum, traditional Kappa festivals were tied to the worship of water, either for crop irrigation or in terms of water safety and preventing drownings. Rural residents also recognized that Kappa migrated from the rivers to the mountains in the summer (Ouwehand, 1964), and this affected the content of festivals. Most Kappa festivals now seem to take place in small cities or towns rather than rural farm hamlets. I would argue that many of these festivals are now secular, focusing on promoting their local communities and tourism. 5. Kappa as a promoter of places and natural landscapes Related to the third era of Kappa outlined by Foster, there are groups of people who are fond of Kappa (Foster, 1998, p.17). This resulted in the creation of the Kappa Renpō Kyōwa Koku (n.d.) – The Federal Republic of Kappa, and a “Kappa Summit” (Foster, 1998, p.17), where Kappa supporters could meet. Also, communities with a Kappa interest started to identify themselves as “Kappa mura (villages).” As mentioned above, Kappa became a mascot – yurukyara (e.g., Suzuki & Kurata, n.d.) or a gotōchi kyara (Barrows, 2014) – part of a pop culture trend, and these mascots were being used to promote tourism and places, e.g., village revitalization (mura okoshi) (Foster, 2015a, p.93). (a) Urban Place Promotion: 94 Near the Asakusa district of Tokyo, Kappa has had a major influence on one neighbourhood known as Kappabashi, where since 1912 (Taisho 1), many tool and antique shops have existed (Kappabashi Dōgukai, n.d.) (Figure 3). There are two theories about how the word “Kappa” became associated with the local area (Kappabashi Dōgukai, n.d.; Kappabashi-dori, 2020). The first theory is that “Kappa” originated from the act of low ranking samurai hanging rain jacket-like clothing called “Amagappa” (雨合羽), which were made of feathers, to dry from a bridge (Kappabashi Dōgukai, n.d.; Kappabashi-dori, 2020). The other theory is that a local man named Katsupaya Kihachi (or Aibaya Kihachi) (合羽屋 喜八), who lived in the early 1800s (Kappabashi Dōgukai, n.d.), was slowly digging drainage ditches to prevent flooding in the area. The Kappa from the nearby Sumida River were impressed with his work and helped him during the night (Kappabashi Dōgukai, n.d.; Kappabashi-dori, 2020). According to Kappabashi-dori (2020), the Chinese characters for Kappa in the word Kappabashi are 合羽, which means “raincoat.” The characters are also the same as those from the family name—katsupaya—of Katsupaya Kihachi (合羽屋). These are not the characters representing the creature Kappa, but since the sound is the same, merchants have associated the neighbourhood with Kappa (Kappabashi-dori, 2020). Kappa is written in hiragana by the Kappabashi Dōgukai (n.d.), rather than in Chinese characters (Kappabashi-dori, 2020). Kitchenware shops in the Kappabashi area have adopted Kappa as a mascot (Kappabashi-dori, 2020) [see photo of large Kappa standing outside a kitchenware shop (Figure 4) and a photo of a Kappabashi Dori road banner from a neighbourhood association (Showakai) (Figure 3)]. The local temple—Sōgenji—has associated itself with Kappa since at least the early 1800s (Sōgenji, n.d.). In the temple photo (Figure 5) one can see a cucumber offering at the Kappa shrine. 95 Figure 3. Kappa Road in Kappabashi, Asakusabashi. (Photo Source: H. Markano) 96 Figure 4. Kappa statue outside kitchen utensil shop, Kappabashi, Tokyo. (Photo Source: H.Markano) Figure 5. Sōgenji temple in Kappabashi, with cucumber offering. Source: Jeanjung212. (2017, Jan.30). Sogenji temple with cucumber offering, [photograph]. CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Kappadera_Temple_garden.jpg The following changes related to Kappa have occurred to the Kappabashi Tool Street (Kappabashi Dōgukai, n.d.). In 2002, the Kappabashi Tool Street CM (commercial message) 97 song was created as well as the Kappa no Kawatarō costume character. Thus, this was the beginning of the local Kappa mascot. In 2003, the golden statue of Kappa Kawatarō was erected in a pocket park as a project for the 90th anniversary of tool street. In 2006, the mascot companion of this Kappa was created. In 2014, there was a page posted on the internet showing Kappa Kawatarō and his Kappa companion in a reddish pink Kappa outfit visiting Shinnyaka, the mascot for Asakusa Shinnaka shopping street (Kappa Kawatarō-kun ga yatte kimasu, n.d.). Thus, the transformation of Kappa into a mascot (yurukyara) was complete by approximately 2014 in Kappabashi. Foster (2015a, p.93) does mention that a Kappa yōkai mascot has been used to promote Kappabashi. Another Kappa mascot is present near the Sky Tree in Sumida Ward, which is close to Asakusa and Kappabashi. It is Kappa no Kotarō of the Kitajukken River (Kappa no Kotarō, n.d.). According to the website, this is a Kappa child that lives in the shopping district along side the river. The website states that its hobby is walking, and it likes to meet people. Its name also appears in an advertisement on the sugamon.jp website with two other mascots advertising a Christmas event scheduled for December 25, 2021 (Sugamojizō-Dori…, n.d.). This Kappa exemplifies the new friendly image of Kappa. It is not clear from the website whether this Kappa is involved in environmental promotion. However, one can say that Kappa mascots are used in urban neighbourhood place promotion, especially where there is historical connection, or where there is a play on words as in “Kappabashi,” or where there is a connection with rivers, such as the Kitajukken River in the case of Kappa no Kotarō. (b) Rural and small city place promotion due to rural & regional cultural connections with Kappa: Jozankei hot spring near Sapporo has made use of Kappa for tourism promotion for a number of years (Ichikawa, 2013). Examples are the annual Kappa festival mentioned previously, lanterns with Kappa that have been displayed throughout the town, a Kappa pool, and a “Kappa the Great” statue that was built in about 1969. In 1991, “Meruhen” or “fairy tale” Kappa sculptures were placed in various spots around Jozankei hot springs town, and orienteering takes place among the sculptures. The Kappa festival stopped for a brief time in the early 2000s, due in part to an aging, declining population, rising costs, and a lack of local interest. Recently a new mascot has been adopted—Kappon—to try to increase tourism. Ichikawa (2013) states that Kappa has helped distinguish the Jozankei hot springs (located about 30 km southwest of Sapporo) from other ones nearby and has helped machizukuri (community building) activities. For example, there is a Kappa bus and Kappa rally. In sum, Kappa has become a symbol for this area. Tōno City, in Iwate Prefecture is known as the “City of Folklore” (Tohoku Tourism…, n.d.). The city has long been associated with Kappa (Foster, 2015a), especially since Yanagita, Kunio wrote “The Tales of Tōno” (Tōno Monogatari) in 1910. In Tōno, Kappabuchi pond has become a tourist attraction (Foster, 2015a) (Figure 6). Also, Foster (2015a) mentions that the police box at Tōno train station looks like a winking Kappa. There are 119 legends recorded in Yanagita’s (2008, most recent edition) Tōno Monogatari, but only five of them deal with Kappa. Yet Kappa seems to have a major influence on tourism in Tōno, almost disproportionately relative to the other 114 legends, based on the 98 quick appearance of Kappa-related text or images if one does a Google search of “Tono, Iwate Prefecture.” Figure 6. Kappabuchi Pond, Tōno City. 663highland. (2007, August 24). Kappabuchi Pond, [photograph]. CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Kappa-buchi03s3872.jpg The city of Ushiku, in Ibaraki Prefecture promotes tourism using Kappa in part by promoting the local artist Ogawa, Usen, described earlier, who painted images of Kappa (figure 7). The public can visit the house on bank above Ushiku Lake—called Kinenkan— where he used to live and paint (figure 8). Not far from Kinenkan, in the Tokugetsu Buddhist temple parking lot, there is a billboard with a map on it called the Kappa walking route (Figure 9). This has existed since at least the early 1990s and probably before. A Kappa path (Kappa no shōkei) has existed along Ushiku Lake since 2012 (Kappa Go…, 2018). About 1.5 km away across from Ushiku No.3 Junior high school, there is now a Kappa no Sato Shogai Gakushu Senta- (Kappa village lifelong learning centre), where one can view many of his art pieces. The bus service in Ushiku is also called Kappago. An NPO (Non-Profit Organization) known as the Ushiku ekimae Kappa Tsuka Jikko iinkai has produced a map for the Ushiku train station area known as the Ushiku eki shūhen Kappa Tsuka Mappu. One can also buy Kappa branded rice, watermelon, and daikon radishes, all 99 locally produced in Ushiku (Ushiku Shi, 2021). Even storm drain covers have images of Kappa on them, labelling Ushiku as Kappa sato (Figure 1: Photo of storm drain cover). Figure 7. Kappa in front of Ushiku Lake. Source: Matsui, T. (2013a, July 13). Ogawa Usen’s Kappa, [photograph]. CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Ogawa_Usen%27s_Kappa__panoramio.jpg Figure 8 Ogawa Usen’s Kinenkan, where he used to live and paint. Source: Matsui, T. (2013b, July 13). Ogawa Usen’s Kinenkan, [photograph]. CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/%E5%B0%8F%E5%B7%9 D%E8%8A%8B%E9%8A%AD%E8%A8%98%E5%BF%B5%E9%A4%A8__panoramio.jpg 100 Figure 9. Kappa no Sato, Jochu Shuraku Sansaku Ko-su (Kappa village, Jochu hamlet, Walking course). Photo Source: Tom Waldichuk Tanushimaru town in Kurume City has also used Kappa for promotion (Ichikawa, 2013). As far back as 1956, this involved selling souvenirs and constructing a statue of Kappa in front of the train station. Also, the station’s building was rebuilt in the form of a Kappa. The Tanushimaru train station, in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture, is now in the shape of a Kappa (Ichikawa, 2013) with a Café named Kapteria inside (ANA Japan Travel Planner website, n.d.). This was part of a Furusato Sōsei Jigyō (Fursato Creation Project) (Ichikawa, 2013). As mentioned previously, Kappa was treated as a water god but also became more of a mascot. There is a second Kappa-related train station in Fukuoka Prefecture. Imagawa Kappa train station is located in Yukuhashi City (Foster, 1998, p.16), on the south side of Kitakyushu City, where one can find a statue of Kappa standing near the train station (Imagawa-Kappa Station, 2020). Foster (1998, p.16) describes Imagawa’s connections to Kappa. According to a 1995 Yomiuri Shinbun newspaper article, Imagawa District underwent revitalization (village okoshi). This involved a local contest for the best stories and pictures of Kappa. The community was making use of Kappa’s popularity to help revitalize the village. Due to the popularity of the Kappa theme, the village decided to name its train station after Kappa. Other rail lines in Japan have used Kappa images for tourism promotion, e.g., in Aomori, where a nearby hot springs resort is connected to Kappa (Figure 10). 101 Figure 10. Local train at Ōhata Station on the former Shimokita train line (Ōhata eki…, 2023) in Aomori with Kappa images. A Nearby hot springs resort – Okuyagen Onsen -also brands itself with Kappa (Okuyagen onsen resutohausu, n.d.). Source: Tsuda. (1996, August 1). Ōhata station [photograph]. CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Shimokita_Kotsu_KiHa_851_Ohata_Station_19960801.jpg Foster (2015a) refers to two other Kyushu communities that have embraced Kappa. Ukiha City near the Chikugo R. east of Kurume City in rural Fukuoka has a shop selling traditional Japanese sweets, many with a Kappa theme. The owner is fascinated with all things Kappa and has a private Kappa museum. The community of Satsuma-Sendai in southern Kyushu uses Kappa as a mascot, but people there call it by its local name Garappa (Foster, 2015a, p.93). (c) Nature and place promotion: The above examples illustrate how Kappa has been used to promote communities. Some of this promotion involves the outdoors, as with the case of the walking route along Ushiku Lake. Some promotion involves farm products, as in the case of Ushiku City, e.g., a local Kappa rice (Ushiku Shi, 2021). Other places have produced buildings in the shape of Kappa, as in the case of the Tanushimaru train station in Kurume City. Some of these activities are related to mura okoshi (village revival) or Furusato Zōsei (hometown creation) projects. Some of these projects now place a greater emphasis on nature. Kappa symbolizes unspoiled nature (Foster, 2015a, p.163). The Federal Republic of Kappa (FRK) logo slogan is “Water is life; Kappa is heart” (Foster, 1998, p. 18) and the Kappa image communicates the message not to litter (Foster, 2015a, p.163). The Kappa image is also used to promote river cleanup (Foster, 1998, p.18). In addition, an ocean cleanup advertising also makes use of Kappa—an example is an online youtube video for Aichi Prefecture (Aichi Ken, 2016). 102 Ito (2019) investigates environmental conservation and regional development using Kappa in Tanushimaru town, which is now part of Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture. According to Matsumura (2014, cited in Ito, 2019, p.23), a riparian (stream-side or shoreline) environmental conservation movement with Kappa as a mascot is spreading across Japan. In general, Kappa has been used successfully as a symbol for waterside environmental conservation, but as will be shown shortly Kappa has not yet received high praise in local areas for its use to promote regional development (Ito, 2019, p.25). Riparian conservation takes place in Tanushimaru Town (Ito, 2019). As well, Ichikawa (2013, p.25) mentions that in 1986, a Ministry of Home Affairs Machzukuri Tokubetsu Taisaku Jigyō [“Special Measures Machizukuri Project”] was carried out in Tanushimaru, which involved building the train station in the shape of a Kappa. Ito (2019) undertook a questionnaire study and landscape observations in Tanushimaru. In the questionnaire study about 77% (56) of people wanted to protect riparian areas where Kappa were supposed to be living (Ito, 2019, Table 7, p.29). More than 82% (60) of respondents positively viewed Kappa-related events (Ito, 2019, Table 4, p.29). More than a third (28) of the 73 respondents believed that promoting Kappa and riverside environmental protection had a positive effect on promoting the town (Ito, 2019, table 2, p.28). But almost 40% (29) of respondents were ambivalent (16) or did not know (13). Also, almost 40% (29) did not think that the town profited economically from events using Kappa images (Ito, 2019, Table 3, p.27). Thus, based on this survey, overall, one cannot say that most of the people think that using Kappa has an effect on regional promotion. Still, at least 53% (39) of respondents felt that there was an increase in interaction among people of the town as a result of events using Kappa (Ito, 2019, Table 3, p.27). To summarize, most people want the streamside environment protected and support using Kappa to do that, although it is not known exactly how many people believe that Kappa are living in the stream. 6. Summary & Discussion: Kappa’s uniqueness among mascots The origins of Kappa are unclear. One story is that Kappa came from China and settled in Kyushu. Others have referred to the Nihon Shoki and say that Kappa originated as a water god in about 300 C.E. This mythological figure—or yōkai—has taken on several forms, from a hairy ape-like creature to a more slimy, smooth-skin cross between a turtle and a monkey. This latter, smooth-skin version eventually became the dominate image countrywide. There were even more variations of what this creature was called across Japan, but eventually Kappa became the dominant name. Foster (1998, p.18) summarizes the transformation of Kappa as follows. More than a mascot—Kappa has been transformed into a commercial icon similar to Hello Kitty. But Kappa was not invented in the marketing world like Hello Kitty, who does not have a folklore connection. Kappa has also been adopted by Mangaka (cartoonists): it has become an icon of pop culture in its commercial use—Kappa is now “…pacified, harmless…” (Foster, 1998, p.18, 19). 103 The folklore connection with Kappa in terms of attitudes, stories, and cultural activities has been more rural than urban – and many of them involving fear of Kappa (see Ouwehand, 1964). Yet from the 1970s onward Kappa has been used to help revitalize rural areas through, for example, tourism marketing and later on with government assistance in the form of Furusato Sōsei projects (Ichikawa, 2013). Thus, attitudes toward Kappa as a yōkai and mascot must have changed quickly in these rural communities. Kappa has also been used to promote environmental protection. Up until Japan started to modernize in the Meiji era, people -- especially in rural areas -- feared Kappa as they feared other aspects of the natural world. But humans now dominate nature, and Kappa now represents the fragility of the environment. Foster (1998, p.18) mentions that Kappa has “symbolic power” to represent “society and nature….” Thus, the transformation of Kappa mirrors the evolving human-land relationship in Japan. Humans now represent a danger to Kappa – Kappa is no longer dangerous to humans (Foster, 1998, p.18). Therefore, Kappa has been used to promote environmental conservation and protection, e.g., efforts to stop littering or preserving water quality. Kappa is now a metaphor of nature. Nonetheless, Kappa signs still warn people not to enter dangerous waters, although I have not seen one of these signs in the last few years. Kappa is now called a yurukyara, or more properly gotōchi kyara, as in most cases it has been designed professionally (see Barrows, 2014). Many communities, some schools and companies have Kappa mascots according to the Yurukyara Grand Prix website (Kappa and other Yurukyara can be searched) (Yuruba-su, n.d.). This begs the question, where does Kappa call home in Japan? I have highlighted Tōno City, Ushiku City, and Tanushimaru Town, but as Ito (2019) points out Kappa has also been celebrated (in terms of its legend) in Shikama Town, Miyage Prefecture (Shikama Town, n.d.), Shiki City, Saitama Prefecture (Hokoku Shiki, 2017), (in terms of a festival) in Abiko City, Chiba Prefecture (Abiko Shi, n.d.) , and (in terms of other mythical characters) in Fukusaki Town, Hyogo Prefecture (Fukusaki Machi, 2023). Historically, how has Kappa helped to market communities? How has this changed over time as the image of Kappa has changed? Related to this, how have communities changed the use of Kappa for marketing or promotion over the years? How does Kappa compare with other mascots in terms of community promotion? With the proliferation of other mascots used in marketing places, has the marketing power of Kappa diminished? These are questions for further study. Lindstrom (2019) mentions that mascots are not effective at promoting individual action toward improving biodiversity. Their behaviour or “visual language” as costume characters does not “call for action,” in terms of having people undertake activities that promote biodiversity (Lindstrom, 2019, p.245). Could one make the same critique against Kappa as a yurukyara in terms of trying to promote individual action toward decreasing littering in the environment? Does the presence of a Kappa mascot in a community encourage tourists to visit? The results from Ito’s (2019) study show that many local residents do not believe that tourism has boomed because of Kappa—at least in one community, Tanushimaru. But local people still like that Kappa is associated with their community. In Kappabashi, Tōno, Ushiku, and other communities where Kappa is used as a mascot, do people feel the same 104 way? The presence of the Kappa Renpō Kyōwa Koku (n.d.) across Japan and the number of Kappa-mura communities is indicative that support for Kappa is widespread. One could argue that – in the context of Japan – Kappa is associated with what Relph (1976) terms “placelessness” as Kappa is not tied to one place – it transcends all Japanese society. Still, Kappa only really promotes a small number of communities in Japan, e.g., Ushiku city and Tanushimaru town. 7. Conclusion Kappa has been transformed from a feared water creature to a harmless mascot all over Japan—it has been important in promoting rural areas, smaller cities, e.g., Ushiku City, and even part of Tokyo—Kappabashi. Kappa is unique among mascots as it has a rich history in Japanese folklore (Foster, 1998) as a mythological creature—or yōkai—rather than being a corporate creation. A benevolent Kappa continues to promote communities, water safety, and the preservation of the natural environment around Japan. In 2018, for example, Kaparu – the Kappa character representing Shiki City in Saitama Prefecture, came first place among all mascots at the Yurukyara Grand Prix (Jiji, 2018). The residents of Tanushimaru town, as an example, seem to like their community’s association with Kappa (Ito, 2019). The same could probably be said for Ushiku, Tōno, and Kappabashi in Tokyo. However, as Kappa is not tied to just one town or city in Japan, it is probably not as effective as it could be in promoting each of those communities as if it were promoting just one place. Perhaps these communities should band together and promote each other as an association of Kappa communities. This association could be linked to the previously mentioned Kappa-mura labels for communities associated with the Federal Republic of Kappa. Kappa may not always be the most popular mascot, e.g., the kappa representing an elementary school was ranked 50th in the 2020 Yurukyara Grand Prix (Yuruba-su, n.d.- b). But it is still popular as there were four other Kappa characters that ranked at least 160 out of at least 300 entries. 105 References 8 663highland. (2007, August 24). Kappabuchi Pond, [photograph]. CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Kappa-buchi03s3872.jpg Abiko shi. (n.d.). Dai 16 kai Abiko Kappa matsuri [16th Abiko Kappa festival]. https://www.city.abiko.chiba.jp/event/event_moyooshi/shiminmatsuri/abikokapp amatsuri.html Aichi Ken, kankyōkyoku, shigen junkan suishin-ka. 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Yuruba-su official website [Reiwa 5 nendo yuruba-su entori- gaiyou] [Fiscal year 2020 Yuruba-su entry outline]. https://www.yurugp.jp/jp/ Yuruba-su [Yuru-Chara Grand Prix Executive Committee] (n.d.-b). Yuru-chara grand prix 2020 area ranking list. https://www.yurugp.jp/en/ranking/?year=2020&page=16 113 7. Buddhism and Science in Japanese Popular Culture Sachiyo Kanzaki École de langues, Faculté de communication, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Abstract E-mail: kanzaki.sachiyo@uqam.ca For a time now, the relationship and the compatibility between Buddhism and science has been on the mind of Buddhists and contemporary scholars alike. In this paper I will examine the Japanese popular culture discourse to explore the Japanese perception of this issue. In particular, I will focus on the incorporation of the Buddhist concept of Arayashiki, the eighth consciousness or repository consciousness, which appears from time to time in popular culture, like in the recent animations Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015-2017) and Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song (2021-). We can trace the influence of Arayashiki as early as the 1980s, in the third and last arc of the famous manga Saint Seiya, and even going back to the 1970s, in the Mishima Yukio’s Sea of Fertility tetralogy that should be carefully analyzed in relation to the Buddhist point of view alongside the western nihilism perspective it is also viewed from. I will address how contemporary Japanese literature conciliate religious philosophy by examining the concept of Arayashiki as it has appeared in popular culture. Keywords: Arayashiki, Japan, manga, anime, Buddhism 1. Introduction Some contemporary scholars and Buddhists discuss the relationship between Buddhism and science. Some people even argue that Buddhism is scientific. This discussion is not limited to the recent boom of “mindfulness and meditation” practice as we can see by the popularity of the word Zen. Important scientists were interested in Buddhism principles. For example, based on Schopenhauer’s insights into Buddhism, Albert Einstein described Buddhism ascontaining a strong cosmic element (Schweber, 2008). Robert Oppenheimer, known for his quote from the 114 Bhagavad Gita, holy scriptures for Hinduism, upon seeing the nuclear test, 1 referred to Buddha when he described Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. This link between Buddhism and science is sometimes evident in Japanese popular culture. This paper examines how Buddhist concepts are integrated into contemporary Japanese novels, manga, and anime. We will proceed in the light of the concept of Arayashiki. 2. Japanese Buddhism: Yuishiki and Arayashiki The Arayashiki concept that constitutes the basic doctrine of the Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism arose in India and was brought to Japan through China and developed under the Hossō school. The Hossō school’s philosophy is known as Yuishiki in Japanese. Yuishiki, Vijñānavāda, translated as “consciousness only,” advanced in Mahayana Buddhism, became a major philosophical base for Japanese Buddhism. In Saiyūki, 2 known as Monkey (Wu, 1958) in English-speaking countries, the purpose of Sanzō Genjō Hōshi's visit to India, is actually to bring back a book of Yuishiki. This becomes the principal teachings of several temples, including Kōfukuji, Yakushiji and Hōryūji built during the 7th century in Nara. Yuishiki, “consciousness only,” teaches that “all phenomena that one experiences as external realities are manifestations of one’s consciousness or mind” (Baroni, 2002). Yokoyama Kōitsu, who specialized in the study of Yuishiki Buddhism, highlighted the relation between religion, philosophy, and science (Yokoyama, 2011). He published A Consciousness-Only-Dictionary of Buddhism to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of Kōfukuji temple. He indicated that Yuishiki is the basis of Japanese Buddhism, no matter what the school of thought is. According to Yokoyama, Mahāyāna Buddhism developed Yuishiki based on the principle of “empty awareness” (kū, śūnyatā), because of the existence of “kokoro.” “Kokoro” in Japanese can be translated as heart or mind, but also as emotions, feelings, spirit, soul, and so on. Yuishiki suggests that each mind has eight levels of consciousness. The first five are related to the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Yuishiki explains the workings of human psychology. The ordinary mind, which processes the sensory perceptions, is the sixth sense. In Yuishiki, in addition to these six consciousnesses, there is manashiki, the source of desire and other emotional responses. At the deepest level, there is Arayashiki, translated as the “repository consciousness,” in which “all previous experiences and impressions are stored as seeds. These seeds become the basis for evaluating all present and future experiences and are projected outward, creating the false impression of an external 1 “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds […]” (National Science Digital Library, 1998-2020). 2 Not related to the Buddhism concept, but we can think of Toriyama Akira’s famous work Dragon Ball as well as Minekura Kazuya’s Gensōmaden Saiyūki that are inspired by the tale of Saiyūki. 115 reality outside the mind” (Baroni, 2002). As a religion, its teaching should not be understood as a mere philosophical position denying the existence of any external reality—rather, it is meant to be a way to reach enlightenment (satori) by mediating human consciousness and the mind function. 3. Mishima’s attempt in Sea of Fertility [1969-1971] Mishima Yukio’s tetralogy of novels Sea of Fertility also addresses this concept of Arayashiki. Sea of Fertility treats the concepts of reincarnation or rebirth. 3 The supposed reborn characters must die before the age of twenty. It is the role of Honda, who was the friend of the hero of the first book, to observe the reincarnation in the last three books. In other words, without him as witness, reincarnation does not exist in the story. In the first book, Matsugae Kiyoaki says to Honda that they will meet again “beneath the fall.” In the second book, Honda finds Isao, the son of the late Kiyoaki's tutor, showering beneath a waterfall and notices moles on his left flank identical to Kiyoaki's. Honda accepts that Kiyoaki returned in a new skin. Kiyoaki, dying for his passionate love, was reborn with the passionate dedication to his beliefs. The third book begins with Honda’s visit to Thailand on business. He meets Princess Ying Chan, seven years old, who claims that she is the reincarnation of a Japanese person and asks him to bring her back to her native land. Ying Chan is the daughter of a Thai prince that Honda met at Kiyoaki’s house. In the last book, The Decay of the Angel, famously known as Mishima’s last work, published in 1971 after his death, Honda tries to stop the cycle of death by adopting Toru, who Honda believes is Kiyoaki reborn. The concepts of Arayashiki and Yuishiki were briefly mentioned in the first book and argued by Honda in the third book titled Temple of Dawn (Akatsuki no tera). Temple of Dawn is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok. Honda travelled from Thailand to India in the first part and returned to Japan during the war. Chapters 13 to 20 are dedicated to the description of Honda’s understanding of Yuishiki. Those 38 pages on Honda’s thoughts explain his state in the 42nd chapter: […] what Honda really really really wants to see ultimately exists/will be found only in the world where he does not exist. To see the one he truly wants, he has to die […] According to Yuishiki theory, it is the world that Honda’s Arayashiki created. (Mishima 1970, pp.380-381) 4 3 Buddhist traditions vary on this point. Some say Buddhism is about “rebirth” more than “reincarnation,” and some Japanese Zen followers do not even consider this concept since they emphasize on the present moment. 4 Unofficial translation from Japanese by Sachiyo Kanzaki. 116 The first “really” refers to the six senses (rosshiki) , the second “really” refers to the seventh consciousness (manashiki), and the third “really” refers to Arayashiki. Some consider the novel Temple of Dawn as a failure (Ozawa, 1989). However, Mishima said in the last interview before his death that “the last book will be incomprehensive without the first part of the Temple of Dawn” (Arimoto, 1987). Therefore, the last volume, The Decay of the Angel (Tenningosui), should be analyzed in relation to the Buddhist and Yuishiki points of view. However, if some Western readers see the nihilism perspective in this tetralogy, it explains the interest of modern scientists in Buddhism. 4. Saint Seiya [1986-1990] In the1980s, Saint Seiya, a manga written by Kurumada Masami became popular and its animation is one of the most successful. The characters’ costumes and setting are inspired by ancient Greek culture, but the terms and the ideas used are inspired by Buddhism in addition to the bushido concept as is often the case in shonen manga: it is worth mentioning that Japanese religious sensibility and religious syncretism is evident here. In this manga a hundred boys are raised to become warriors to protect Kido Saori. Saori is the reincarnation of the Greek goddess Athena, Protector of the Earth. Athena reincarnates every two hundred years. When they fight the enemy, their source of energy is called kosumo. It is the power of the Saints which is an inner spiritual essence derived from the Big Bang. The story focuses on an orphan named Seiya who, upon awakening his kosumo, becomes the Pegasus Saint. In the manga, the katakana characters inform the reader to pronounce this word “kosumo (コスモ), but it is written with the Japanese kanji characters 小宇宙, a term used in Buddhism that actually reads “shōuchū” and that is understood in this context by “one’s inner space.” In Saint Seiya, the word Arayashiki appears in the last chapter, the Hades Chapter. One of the kosumo’s levels of strength, and the source of invisible power is called “seven senses,” therefore, the ones who get to that stage of strength become the saint warriors. How do they attain the seventh sense? They get to “a state close to dying” or temporarily burning their kosumo to “the maximum.” It suggests that it is easy to awaken when other senses are considerably weakened. So, the way to attain that stage of strength is similar to the way to attain manashiki (seventh senses) in the theory of Yuishiki. According to the explanation in the manga, those who are not awake think of the kosumo as an extension of the six senses (five senses + consciousness), but it is not. Seiya is a Bronze Saint warrior, lower classed than Gold Saint warriors. Gold Saints are in the state of “seven senses” all the time and Seiya is able to attain it and expand his power only occasionally. In the Hades Chapter, we learn that one Gold Saint warrior named Shaka reached the state of “eight senses” (written in katakana) or “Arayashiki” (written in kanji and rōmaji)” and could access the world of Hades, god of the underworld. Shaka is another word for the Historical Buddha, therefore 117 the reference to Buddhism is obvious here. To get access to the underworld, or ghost world, they need to transcend the dichotomy between life and death by attaining the eighth sense—Arayashiki. 5. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans [2015-2018] The anime series Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans was released in 2015. The main mobile suit in this edition is called Gundam Barbatos. It is one of the important 72 Gundam frames used in the Calamity War that occurred 300 years ago. Here, it refers to the seventy-two demons of The Lesser Key of Solomon. The story of the Gundam series is set in space. In this one, the protagonists are the humans on Mars trying to improve their livelihood. Despite the advancements of the technology of the time, many people live in impoverished conditions on Mars as a colony of Earth. The child and teen orphans, looked down on as human debris, owned by the civilian security company, rebel against their adult higher-ups, and form a new security company. The new company is named Tekkadan, the Iron Flower Group in English. Their leader, Orga Itsuka says in the eighth episode: “We’re connected. The blood our dead comrades spilled, and the blood we have spilled have mixed and hardened like iron. So… We cannot quit on each other. We’re not allowed to.” 5 Like Mishima’s tetralogy, most of the main characters die before becoming adults. In episode 13, at the moment of his death, a character named Masahiro tells his brother Akihiro that he feels relieved, and he talks about the souls that will be reborn. So here, he talks about the Buddhist concept of rebirth or reincarnation. In this animation, the main technology which connects the pilot to the machine is called the Arayashiki system, which is an organic interface that enables pilots to maximize the abilities of the mobile suit weapon by expanding the sense of spatial awareness. As an orphan, Mikazuki Orgus has received no formal education and does not know how to read or write, but he can pilot the mobile suit Gundam Barbatos and operate its Arayashiki system. The pilots of Earth do not use the prohibited Arayashiki system, which is considered as an inhuman technology, because of its cruelty and because it transcends the human being. It asks for a rejection of one’s consciousness to attain the Arayashiki State. We learn that few can access the Arayashiki system and rare are those who can handle it. The need to overcome our bodily limitations without losing the physical body can be compared to the training to achieve enlightenment (satori). The device is implanted into a pilot’s spine at a very young age, so that it will fuse with the nervous system as the pilot grows. In other words, the adults cannot implant it on the body, but they can operate the system if they have lost their body. There is a link to be made here with the seventh consciousness of Manashiki. 5 Translation by Sachiyo Kanzaki. 118 Also, implanting the system in the human brain is not always successful. Mikazuki was a rare child who could get through three surgeries. Therefore, he can use Gundam Barbatos, but he starts to lose some abilities beginning with the sight of his right eye, and the use of his right arm. However, when he is connected to Barbatos through the Arayashiki system, he can fully feel his lost bodily senses. Later, we learn that the Arayashiki system was originally designed for surpassing human limitations to fight against non-humanoid AI mobile armours. 6. Myriad Colors Phantom World [2013-2016] Myriad Colors Phantom World is a Japanese fantasy light novel series and the winner of the 4th Kyoto Animation Awards Novel Category Encouragement Award adapted to animation in 2016. This is not a well-known animation despite the fact that it was created by Kyoto animation. In this story a terrorist attack on a genetic modification facility resulted in an outbreak of a special virus that mutated human brain structures. Now everyone is able to see what they call “Phantoms.” A “Phantom” in this story is similar to yōkai, in Japanese. Some children have the ability to seal “Phantoms.” The majority of “Phantoms” are harmless, but some are threats to humanity; therefore, they should be sealed. In this story, the Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturing company responsible for the research having generated the virus is called Arayashiki-sha. In the second episode, the hero explains that “Biologically speaking, humans create a model of the world via the brain’s functions. Put bluntly, what we call ‘reality’ is a mere illusion created by our brains,” 6 a quote that is reflected in the opening song of the series on the subject of the ability of the six senses. 7. Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song [2021] In the animation series released during spring 2021 Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song, the heroine is an AI robot named Diva, called Vivy by her first fan. Vivy encounters another AI who claims to be sent by Dr. Matsumoto from a hundred years in the future to change the course of history. In a hundred years, the war begins between AI and humans. We have seen before the themes of war between AI robots and humans, and returning to the past to save humanity. We all remember The Terminator from 1984. What is a bit different here is that the mission of the AI robot from the future is to destroy artificial intelligence at the source, in the time it was created. In this story, technological advancement enables humans to create autonomous humanoid AI robots. However, because of the technological constraints, AIs are programmed to perform one specific task or mission. Vivy’s is 6 Translation by Sachiyo Kanzaki. 119 making people happy by singing. However, her creator also added that, to fulfill that mission, she has to sing from the heart (kokoro wo komete). Since she was the first autonomous AI robot, her mission is ambiguous and fuzzy, compared to the missions of other AIs. Until the last episode, Vivy repeatedly asks about the meaning of “kokoro” and how to sing from the heart. In Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song, Arayashiki is a communication tower for AI, built by the big AI company named OGC. In the future, it will become too high to see its summit. The higher the tower, the more AI evolves, because all the AI robots are connected to the tower’s Archive to query for information as well as sending information. So, when Vivy needs to know about an event that happened in the past, she virtually talks to the Archive. The Archive is set with the mission of collecting data through AI robots' experiences while watching over humanity and contributing to human evolution. 7 Here it refers to the Arayashiki’s original definition of “repository consciousness.” 8. Conclusion These days, we discuss the worldwide decline of religion (Inglehart, 2020). Some have pointed out earlier that the decline is not in terms of ideological reasons but in terms of affiliations (Abrams and Yaple & Wiener, 2010), and Japan also witnesses its decline in terms of affiliations. In fact, by looking at the continuous integration of the philosophical thoughts of Buddhism in Japanese popular culture, it is safe to say that the decline is not the philosophical one. We observe that the Yuishiki Buddhist philosophy introduced in Japan in the 7th century continues to be narrated in different ways, directly and indirectly, through popular culture, reconciling religious philosophy and science. It implies that the disappearance of religious beliefs with the spread of scientific knowledge would not necessarily happen in a straightforward way. By creating and consuming these cultural products, Japanese today reproduce and reinterpret religious philosophy to match their own vision of the world. 7 “Humans” are defined as “Independent, creative, have their own free will.” This setting will lead to the war. 120 References Abrams, D. M., Yaple, H. A. and Wiener, R. J. (2011). A mathematical model of social group competition with application to the growth of religious non-affiliation. Physics and Society, arXiv:1012.1375 [physics.soc-ph]. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1012.1375 Arimoto, N. (1987). Mishima Yukio “Hōjō no umi” ron: ‘Kyakkansei no byōki’ no yukue [Yukio Mishima's the temple of dawn: the disease of objectivity], Essay on Modern Literature : Kindai Bungaku Shiron. Hiroshima University, 25, 40-53. [In Japanese]. Baroni, H.J. (2002). The illustrated encyclopedia of Zen buddhism, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. Inglehart, R. F. (2020). The global decline of religion. Foreign Affairs, 99(5), 110–118. Mishima, Y. (1970). Akatsuki no tera - Hōjō no umi 3 [The temple of dawn: the sea of fertility, 3] Japan: Shinchō sha. [In Japanese]. National Science Digital Library (1998). J. Robert Oppenheimer “Now I am become death...”, AtomicArchive.com, 1998-2020. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://www.atomicarchive.com/media/videos/oppenheimer.html Ozawa, Y. (1989). The structure of the temple of dawn and the decay of the angel, Bulletin of Faculty of Education, University of the Ryukyus, 34,181-207. [In Japanese]. Schweber, S. S. (2008). Einstein and Oppenheimer: the meaning of genius. London: Harvard University Press. Wu, C. and Waley, A. (1958). Monkey: folk novel of China, New York: Grove Press. Yokoyama, K. (2011). Arayashiki no hakken: Yoku wakaru yuishiki nyūmon, Tōkyō: Gentōsha. 121 8. Japanese Phenomenology: East and West1 Jay Goulding 2 Department of Equity Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada Abstract Email: jay@yorku.ca Much appears regarding the impact of Japanese thought on Martin Heidegger (18891976). This essay explores Heidegger’s reciprocal impact on Japanese philosophy. (1) Heidegger is the first to create a philosophical lexicon between East and West with hermeneutic and existential phenomenology. (2) Heidegger’s students utilize Zen to explore Western thought while Heidegger utilizes Western thought to explore Zen. Both sides embrace Being and Nothingness. The Japanese are intrigued with Heidegger’s Being while Heidegger is fascinated with Japanese Nothingness. (3) Elite commentators of Dōgen Zenji 道元禅師 (1200–1253) are Heidegger’s students, including Tsujimura Koīchi 辻村公 一 (1922-2010) and Abe Masao 阿部正雄 (1915-2006). (4) Pre-Socratic philosophy enters Japan imbedded in the corpus of Heidegger. (5) The Japanese expression tetsugaku 哲學 (philosophy) engages two figures: Henri Bergson (1859-1941) and Heidegger who are perceived to approximate Zen. (6) Japanese handshaking with Western civilization comes through the Freiburg and Marburg “pilgrimage” to Heidegger as an obligatory trek. (7) Japanese philosophers believe that Heidegger parallels Dōgen with Schritt zurück (the step 1 I wish to thank both Tom Waldichuk for his superb editorship, and two reviewers for their important comments and suggestions. 2 Jay Goulding is Professor in the Department of Equity Studies, York University, Canada. In December 2008, he edited China-West Interculture: Toward the Philosophy of World Integration, Essays on Wu Kuang-ming’s Thinking (Global Scholarly Publications) for the Association of Chinese Philosophers in America. He was honoured by the Journal of Chinese Philosophy (published by Wiley-Blackwell) as a distinguished scholar in Chinese philosophy and comparative thinking, contributing to the fortieth anniversary volume with “The Forgotten Frankfurt School: Richard Wilhelm’s China Institute” (41.1-2 [2014]: 170–186). In recognition of prominence in hermeneutics and philosophy, he recently published “Cheng and Gadamer: Daoist Phenomenology” (48.4 [2021]: 368-382) for a Special Issue of the Journal of Chinese Philosophy (published by Brill) commemorating the works of Cheng Chung-ying, founder of the International Society for Chinese Philosophy, and Hans-Georg Gadamer, celebrated student of Martin Heidegger and kingpin in phenomenology. He published a long chapter (27,000 words) on “Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology” for David Chai (ed.), Daoist Resonances in Heidegger: Exploring a Forgotten Debt (London: Bloomsbury, 2022), the first book devoted exclusively to Daoism and Heidegger with a leading chapter by Graham Parkes, pioneer in the field of Heidegger and East Asia philosophy. 122 back) that shadows taiho 退歩 (the step back). (8) Sōtō Zen echoes Buddha’s dharma while disappearing into its Daoist cousin—nothingness, shadow, periphery, silence, and murmur. Dōgen resonates throughout Heidegger’s poetry and philosophy while Heidegger reverberates throughout Dōgen scholarship today. Keywords: Dōgen, Heidegger, phenomenology, hermeneutics, vertical reading 1. Introduction 3 More than three decades ago, Graham Parkes charts philosophical intersections between Dōgen Zenji (1200–1253) and Martin Heidegger (1889-1976): It is a telling and little-known fact that the first substantive commentary on Heidegger’s philosophy (aside from a few brief reviews) was published in Japan, in 1924 [Tanabe Hajime]. The first book-length study of Heidegger to appear was written by a Japanese philosopher and published in 1933 [Kuki Shūzō] It is sometimes claimed—maybe correctly—that there is more secondary literature on Heidegger published in Japanese than in any other language. At any rate, Japan leads the field in translations of Sein und Zeit: the first Japanese version appeared in 1939 (twenty-three years before the first translation into English) and was followed by no fewer than five further translations in the subsequent three decades [only two in English over a near century]. 4 As the literature blossoms, Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht underscores Japan’s debt to Heidegger: This had also become evident, for example, in the invitation that the otherwise internationally still unknown Heidegger received in 1924, three years before the publication of Sein und Zeit, for an extended stay as a research fellow at the University of Tokyo…and, above all, in the lasting importance of his writings for the academic institution of philosophy in Japan. That a fascination for Heidegger’s style of philosophizing did exist in Japan since his earliest publications is, then, an undeniable fact…the obvious reason for the philosophical convergence between Heidegger and his admirers in Japan must have been the fascination, felt on both sides, of the notion and the philosophical problem of “nothingness.” 5 3 All translations are mine unless otherwise noted. 4 Graham Parkes, “Translator’s Preface,” in Reinhard May, Heidegger’s Hidden Sources: East Asian Influences on his Work, trans. Graham Parkes (London: Routledge, 1987), vii. Parkes spawns the field of Heidegger and East Asian philosophy. This paper addresses Western thinkers of Japan, who in their respective approaches, champion the interaction between Heidegger and Dōgen including John C. Maraldo, Bret W. Davis and Steven Heine. 5 Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, “Martin Heidegger and His Japanese Interlocutors: About a Limit of Western Metaphysics,” Diacritics, 30.4 (2000): 86. 123 Yamanouchi Tokuryū (1890-1982), scholar on Nāgārjuna 龍樹 (C. Lóngshù, J. Ryūju 龍樹) reads Edmund Husserl’s Logical Investigations with Heidegger in the 1920’s and founded Greek philosophy at Kyoto University; his mentor, Tanabe Hajime (1885-1962), touted as Japan’s most important philosopher, shares Heidegger’s love for ontology and nothingness alongside a fear of technology; he proclaims that Heidegger is “the only thinker since Hegel.” 6 The main objective and purpose of the paper is to show reciprocal influences between Japanese thinkers and Heidegger as the ideas of tetsugaku 哲學 and φιλοσοφία (philosophia) begin to take shape together as world “philosophy,” East and West. The paper explores these reciprocities in eight ways: (1) Heidegger is the first to create a philosophical lexicon between East and West with hermeneutic and existential phenomenology. (2) Heidegger’s students utilize Zen to explore Western thought while Heidegger utilizes Western thought to explore Zen. Both sides embrace Being and Nothingness. The Japanese are intrigued with Heidegger’s Being while Heidegger is fascinated with Japanese Nothingness. (3) Elite commentators of Dōgen are Heidegger students including Tsujimura Koīchi and Abe Masao. (4) Pre-Socratic philosophy enters Japan imbedded in the corpus of Heidegger. (5) The Japanese expression tetsugaku engages two figures: Henri Bergson (1859-1941) and Heidegger who are perceived to approximate Zen. (6) Japanese handshaking with Western civilization comes through the Freiburg and Marburg “pilgrimage” to Heidegger as an obligatory trek. (7) Japanese philosophers believe that Heidegger’s Schritt zurück (the step back) parallels Dōgen’s taiho 退歩 (the step back). (8) Sōtō Zen echoes Buddha’s dharma while disappearing into its Daoist cousin— nothingness, shadow, periphery, silence and murmur. Dōgen and Heidegger resonate throughout each other’s poetry and philosophy. 2. Tetsugaku 哲學 and φιλοσοφία (philosophia) In the 1870s, Nishi Amane (1829-97) translates φιλοσοφία (philosophia) with tetsugaku (philosophy). Sent by the Tokugawa shogunate to the Netherlands to study Western thought, he initially considers using ki-tetsugaku 希哲學 with the graph for ki 希, now employed as an archaic Japanese word for the prefix “Greco” or “ancient Greece.” 7 Heidegger explains φιλοσοφία: …even the Greeks had to save and protect the astonishment of this astonishing— against the grip of the sophistic understanding which had ready a scientific explanation [Erklärung] for everything that was immediately comprehensible for everyone and brought it to market. The salvation of this astonishment—being in Being—happened because some set off in the direction of the astonishing, i.e., the 6 Tsujimura Kōichi, “Martin Heidegger’s Thinking and Japanese Philosophy,” trans. Richard Capobianco and Marie Gobel, Epoché, 12.2 (2008): 350. 7 James W. Heisig, Thomas P. Kasulis and John C. Maraldo eds., Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2011), 555. 124 σοφόν [sophon]. As a result, they became those who strived for the σοφόν and, through their own striving, awakened and kept other people longing [Sehnsucht] for the σοφόν. The φιλεῖν τὸ σοφόν, that already mentioned unison [Einklang as attunement or the joint that fits one thing into another] with the σοφόν, the ἁρμονία [joint, fitting together, unison], thus became an ὄρεξις [yearning, desire appetite], a striving for the σοφόν. The σοφόν—the being in Being—is now specifically sought. Because the φιλεῖν is no longer a primordial fit [ursprünglicher Einklang] with the σοφόν, but a special striving toward the σοφόν, the φιλεῖν τὸ σοφόν becomes “φιλοσοφία.” Their striving is determined by Eros. 8 Heidegger interrogates Parmenides’ fragment D13 in Plato’s Symposium 178b. Beyond standard renditions: “Genesis (Birth) invented Love before all other gods,” Heidegger unfolds two arguments. In 1932, he translates πρώτιστον μὲν Ἔρωτα θεῶν μητίσατο πάντων: “Als erster aber der Gӧtter all wurde Eros ersonnen [But Eros was devised as the first of all the gods].” A supplemental note reads “(der bildende Drang) —Unterweg [the configuring urge— Underway].” 9 In 1946, Heidegger translates again: “als höchsten zuerst freilich Eros unter den Göttern be-dachte (Moira [μοῖρα]) von allen” [Eros, be-thought as the highest and first amongst the gods (Moira)].” My translation reads: “the very first beginning, indeed, of all the gods, she [Moira] herself thinks up (conjures, concocts) Eros.” In Heidegger’s view, Parmenides connects Moira (fate) to Being. 10 Note that μητίσατο is a deponent verb in aorist tense, middle voice, and 8 Martin Heidegger, “Was ist das – die Philosophie?” in Identität und Differenz, Gesamtausgabe, Band 11, ed. Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 2006), 15. In his 1932 notes from a seminar on Plato’s Phaedrus, the expression “ἐροτικὸς λόγος” (erotic logos, “love-speech”) from 227C regarding Phaedrus’ dialogue with Lysias, shifts Heidegger’s attention toward Diotima’s proclamation that Eros (neither mortal nor immortal) is a great spirit (Δαιμων) between (μεταξύ) divine (θεοῠ) and mortal (θνητοῠ) in Symposium 202E: “So, the essence of logos = eros transformed and thus human – philosophia. Eros = the striving of Being [Damit Wesen des λόγος = ἔρος verwandelt und so Mensch – φιλοσοφία. Ἔρως = Seinsstrebnis].” Regarding Syposium 202B, he states: “Eros a metaxu ti (betwixt what) between beauty and ugly-being, between-being [Der ἔρος ein μεταξύ τι zwischen Schön- und Hässlichsein, ‘Zwischensein’].” Martin Heidegger, Seminare: Platon – Aristoteles – Augustinus, Gesamtausgabe, Band 83, ed. Mark Michalski (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 2012), 85, 145. 9 Martin Heidegger, Der Anfang der Abendlandischen Philosophie Auslegung des Anaximander und Parmenides, Gesamtausgabe, Band 35, ed. Peter Trawny (Frankfurt: Klostermann, 2012), 189. 10 Heidegger writes: “Apportionment [Moῖpa] is the dispensation of presencing as the presencing of what is present, which is gathered in itself and therefore unfolds of itself. Moῖpa is the destining of “Being,” in the sense of ἐόν [anwesen as coming into presence]. 125 indicative mood. The aorist refers to a single act finished in the past; the middle voice is reflexive as acting upon oneself; the indicative makes a definitive statement. Inherent in the verb, there is a sense of the spontaneous generation from the Void. We remember that Eros has no parents. The verb ersonnen as a past form of ersinnen is interpreted as be-dachte from bedenken. Ersinnen is a translation coming from Schneider for μητίσατο. 11 Both mean to think up or “conjure” or “concoct” something as in “be-thought.” Eros is not the material product of the striving as in the love between persons but is originary force as appetite that yearns toward the jointure of the cunningly devised prudence of the wise (sophon) – hence the “love of wisdom” (philosophia). The direction of the astonishing supersedes its fact. Heidegger’s Eros parallels Dōgen. Watsuji Tetsurō (1889-1960) explains: Dōgen says body-mind must be abandoned for the sake of the Dharma. This abandonment of body-mind has extremely important meaning for “loving thy neighbor as thyself.” The greatest force obstructing love is selfishness, which takes root in what Dōgen calls body-mind; this can be nothing other than attachment to self. When one throws away all desires to preserve one’s body-mind, empties the self, and lets oneself enjoy coming into contact with others, then love freely flows with the force of one’s whole personality. 12 In Daoist fashion of doing by not doing (wéi wúwéi 為無為), Dōgen eliminates desire and loses the self in order to love freely—a releasement akin to Heidegger’s Gelassenheit. 13 Beyond fixating on Buddha’s compassion, Watsuji observes: “Dōgen’s love is that of a seeker of the way.” 14 This aligns Heidegger’s Unterweg (underway) with Laozi’s Dao 道 (the way). Watsuji summarizes: “Dōgen teaches of the possibility of a broad, all-encompassing love within the transparent world, from which attachment to self and love of fame are banished. If we think of the saving power of this love as being beyond reach, it can be seen as [Pure Land] Amida’s compassion actualized in humanity.” 15 Steve Bein notes Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki 正法眼蔵隨聞記 (The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Record of Things Heard) of 1241: “Issai ni korenaru hiroi ai (一切に是なる広い愛). This is understood as a love that is extended toward all things or as a love that constitutes all Moῖpa has dispensed the destiny of Being, τό γε [this indeed] into the duality and thus has bound it to totality and immobility, from which and in which the presencing of what is present comes to pass.” Martin Heidegger, Early Greek Thinking, trans. David Farrell Krell and Frank A. Capuzzi (New York: Harper and Row, 1975), 97. 11 Johann Gottlob Schneider, Kritische Griechisch-Deutsches Handwӧrterbuch, volume 2 (Züllichau and Leipzig: Friedrich Fromman, 1798), 99. 12 Steve Bein, Purifying Zen: Watsuji Tetsuro’s Shamon Dōgen, trans. with commentary (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2011), 65. 13 See Jay Goulding, “Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology,” in David Chai (ed.), Daoist Resonances in Heidegger: Exploring a Forgotten Debt (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022), 89. 14 Bein, Purifying Zen, 68. 15 Ibid., 151. 126 things.” 16 The basic urge is not for fame or material gain but the passion to cast off bodymind and realize the truth. Dōgen is a foundation of Heidegger’s thought. A hint resides in the Zen nickname “Keisei” 谿声, bestowed upon Heidegger’s associate Nishitani Keiji (19001990). When Nishitani signs his nickname to Heidegger’s death poem, the spirit of Dōgen is invoked. 17 I explain: As Heidegger states: “The thinker speaks Being. The poet names the Holy [Der Denker sagt das Sein. Der Dichter nennt das Heilige].” Here “naming” is the process of gathering the essence of Being. Haiku remains an inspiration for the rest of his [Heidegger’s] life as do other forms of poetry. On the occasion of Heidegger’s death in 1976, the Zen monk Hisamatsu Shinichi 久松真一 creates a work of calligraphy while Nishitani Keiji delivers a uniquely befitting poem: 月夜 孤深 明 In der Tiefe der Nacht leuchtet der helle Mond einsam The translation into German comes from celebrated Zen monk Tsujimura Kōichi, student and successor of Tanabe Hajime (1885-1962) as chair of philosophy in Kyoto, and prominent scholar Hartmut Buchner (1927-2004). We recall that Nishitani not only studies with Heidegger from 1938-1940 in Freiburg but visits him in 1964 while teaching at Hamburg and again in 1972 when receiving the Goethe medal for advancing intercultural language and scholarship. Their depth of understanding together [with] Zen, Heidegger and Nishitani, yields a rich translation. It reads: In the depths of night, the bright moon shines alone With this version, Nishitani captures Heidegger’s embrace of Laozi’s 老子 inner landscape in the poem. A closer look at the Chinese characters conjures up more possibilities. It appears to be a Tang Dynasty style poem composed in Japanese style. We might suppose the Japanese sounds are as follows yo fukete meigetsu hitori 夜深明月孤 and the Chinese being ye shen mingyue gu. A medieval Chinese reader might say: 16 Ibid., 151. 17 Jay Goulding, “Heidegger’s Japanese Interlocutors Revisited,” in Norio Ota (compiler), Conference Proceedings of the 33rd Japan Studies Association of Canada Annual ad hoc Conference (Toronto: York University, 2021), 1-27. 127 Middle night, moon bright lonely. With a preliminary reading, the first two characters (夜深) suggest “deep” night. A closer look might promote “middle” night or a time of death. In ancient East Asian culture, the time of death as a witching hour is often three o’clock in the morning rather than the mysterious midnight as in the West. Whereas Nishitani invokes Heidegger’s idea of Lichtung in the use of “bright” (明), it most surely combines with moon (月). Likewise, renowned philosopher Chang Chung-yuan’s 張錘元 (19081988) [1972] dialogue with Heidegger aligns Lichtung with the Daoist ming 明. 18 Zen scholar Horio Tsutomu (1940-2006) recalls that in 1943, Yamazaki Taiko (1875-1966) at the prompting of his successor Ōtsu Rekidō (1897-1976) gives Nishitani the nickname (kojigō 居士号) of Keisei – “Sound of the valley stream,” stimulated by a Song Dynasty poem: “The sound of the valley stream is the preaching of the Dharma; the form of the mountains is the Buddha’s pure body.” 19 The lyric of calligrapher and pharmacologist Su Shi 蘇軾 (Su Dongpo 1036-1101) reappears in 1240 as “Keisei sanshoku” 谿声山色 (xisheng shanse, The Sound of the Valley Stream, the Forms [Colours] of the Mountains) in Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō. The interconnection between Dōgen and Nishitani stimulates Heidegger’s own poetry. Steven Heine renders Su Shi’s poem: The valley stream’s sounds are the long tongue [of Buddha], The mountain’s colors are none other than the pure body [of Buddha]. With the coming of night, I heard eighty-four thousand songs, But how am I ever to tell others in days to come? [谿聲便是廣長舌/山色無非清淨身/夜來八萬四千偈/他日如何擧似人]. 20 The sound of the valley stream can range from a primordial gurgling, purling murmur to a raging, rushing roar; the mountains’ colours (countenance) paint a lavish, coquettish face on the landscape: Although he does not try his hand at rewriting the master’s kanshi [漢詩] verse, Dōgen’s Japanese poetry collection includes a waka that, as one of a group of five poems on the Lotus Sutra, celebrates Su Shi’s experience without the irony embedded in the prose comments cited above: 18 Ibid., 15-16. 19 Horio Tsutomu, “The Zen Practice of Nishitani Keiji,” The Eastern Buddhist NEW SERIES, 25.1 (1992), 97. 20 Steven Heine, “Dōgen, a Medieval Japanese Monk Well-Versed in Chinese Poetry: What He Did and Did Not Compose,” in Steven Heine (ed.), Dōgen and Sōtō Zen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 96. 128 Mine no iro Colors of the mountains, Tani no hibiki mo Streams in the valleys [echoes of the valley stream], Mine nagara All in one, one in all. Waga Shakamuni no The voice and body Koe to sugata to. Of our Sakyamuni Buddha [峯の色 谷の響も 皆ながら 吾が釈迦牟尼の 声と姿] 21 In recognition of Heidegger’s sources of inspiration from poet Friedrich Hӧlderlin (17701843), Baron Kuki Shūzō (1888-1941), Zen monk Bashō (1644-1694) and Daoist Laozi, we append Zen monk Dōgen with his three gems: the echo of the mountain brook (keisei 谿声), the step back (taiho 退歩), and the shaping of the mountain valley (sanshoku 山色). Heidegger’s own composition leaves a resonance of Dōgen: When the mountain brook in night’s stillness tells of its plunging over the boulders… We may venture the step back out of philosophy into the thinking of Being as soon as we have grown familiar with the provenance of thinking… 22 Dōgen recalls Su Shi’s verse in the Shōbōgenzō books Mountain and Water Sutras (Sansui Kyō 山水經), and The Nonsentient Preach the Dharma (Mujō Seppō 無情説法). 23 Bernard Faure describes the legend of Su Shi. The vernacular story (huaben 话 本 ) reads: “Chan Master Wujie Has Illicit Relationships with Red Lotus” (Wujie chanshi si Honglian 五戒禪師私紅蓮) regarding Chan priests Wujie 五戒 (Five Precepts) and Mingwu 明悟 (Clear Realization), and a young girl Hong Lian 紅蓮 (Red Lotus). Wujie is the abbot of a monastery in Hangzhou, and Mingwu his disciple. They take in a child, Red Lotus who eventually develops into a beautiful young woman. Wujie falls in love with her and wrongfully “takes her virginity.” 21 Ibid., 96-97. 22 Martin Heidegger, Poetry, Language and Thought, trans. Albert Hofstadter (New York: Harper and Row, 1971), 10, 12; Cf. Martin Heidegger, Aus Der Erfahrung des Denkens 19191976, Gesamtausgabe, Band 13, ed. Hermann Heidegger (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 2002), 82, 84. 23 Eihei Dōgen, Shōbōgenzō: The Treasure House of the Eye of the True Teaching, trans. Rev. Hubert Nearman (Mount Shasta, California: Shasta Abbey Press, 2007), 141-155 and 653665. 129 The poetic account of the tragic “defloration” reads: “What a shame that the sweet dew of bodhi 菩提 / Has been entirely poured into the corolla of Red Lotus!” Mingwu sees with his “eye of wisdom” that Wujie has transgressed the rules and subsequently invites Wujie to a poetic meeting, choosing the topic of lotus flowers in full bloom. His own poem ends with: “In summer, to admire lotuses is truly delicious, / But can the red lotus be more fragrant than the white?” Wujie is so remorseful that he fashions a death poem while sitting in dhyana (chan 禪) meditation. Realizing that Wujie’s karma would foster a rebirth hostile to Buddhism, Mingwu commits suicide. He is reincarnated as the poet-monk Foyin Liaoyuan 佛印了元 (1032–1098), whereas Wujie is reborn as the Song poet Su Shi “whose only shortcomings were not believing in Buddhism and abhorring monks.” Encountering Foyin during a trip to Mount Lu, Su Shi is awakened and becomes the Daoist immortal Daluo Tianxian 大羅天仙. Red Lotus herself is saved. As his favourite, the story of Su Shi’s “enlightenment” is well known when Dōgen journeys to China a century later. 24 In “Keisei sanshoku,” he ponders: We must understand that were Original Nature not the contour of a mountain and the rippling of a valley stream [my emphasis], then Shakyamuni would not have begun His voicing of the Dharma by holding a flower aloft, nor would Eka’s [Huike 慧可 (487-593)]reaching the Very Marrow of what Bodhidharma was teaching have come about. Because of the merit that comes to fruition …the great earth and its sentient beings simultaneously realize the Way, and there are Buddhas, such as Shakyamuni, who awaken to the Way upon seeing a morning star. 25 3. The Past is Future; the Future is Past Kuki Shūzō is creator of East-West dialogues with Heidegger on the aesthetic of iki いき, and in 1933 publishes the first book on Heidegger, The Philosophy of Heidegger (Haideggā no tetsugaku ハイデッガーの哲學); Watsuji Tetsurō brings Dōgen back into play in Japanese thought and is the first to introduce existential philosophy to Japan; Nishitani Keiji is the celebrated Kyoto philosopher who lives in Germany from 1938 to 1940, and again in 1964 and 1972—working primarily on parallels between Buddhist emptiness and Heidegger’s nothingness as the essential unfolding of Being; Tezuka Tomio (1903-1983),expert on German literature, is interlocutor for Heidegger’s imaginary 1959 “A Dialogue on Language: Between a Japanese and an Inquirer;” Hisamatsu Shinichi (18891980) is Buddhist monk and instigator of Zen revival who conducts a colloquium with Heidegger on “Art and Thinking” in 1958; Tsujimura Koīchi as Kyoto Chair of Philosophy and translator of phenomenological works, laudits Heidegger as the crossroad that leads 24 Bernard Faure, The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998), 147-148. 25 Eihei Dōgen, Shōbōgenzō, 70-71. 130 from Zen Buddhism to philosophy. Abe Masao (1915-2006) as a Heidegger student, produces exquisite translations of Dōgen. 26 As I explain below: Table 1. Summary Comparison of Heidegger and Dōgen Heidegger Dōgen Schritt züruck (the step back) taiho 退歩 (the step back) verweilen (whiling time) uji 有時 (just for the time being, sometimes) augenblick (Kairos, right moment of vision) nikon 而今 ([right] moment, just now, immediacy of awakening 27) Erstrecken 28 (to stretch along; “stretched-outkyōryaku 經歷 (ranging, 29 flowing in ness of Dasein’s temporality” all directions) Source: Jay Goulding, “Japan-West Interculture,” 19. I elaborate: Beginning in the 1920s and extending over a fifty-year period, Heidegger creates a new world of existential thinking. Rather than being in time, he moves to being and time, time and being, and eventually time in being. Hence, verweilen as whiling time (living in a moment), and Augenblick (as revelatory time) are crucial for reversing the Aristotelian view of time as a succession of now-times (Jetztzeit) pacing the modern material world of spatialized linear progression…And furthermore, time is reversible as a future’s past: “In being futural Dasein is its past; it comes back to it in the ‘how.’ The manner of its coming back is, among other things, conscience. Only the ‘how’ can be repeated. The past— experienced as authentic historicity—is anything but what is past. It is something to which I can return again and again” [Heidegger, The Concept of Time (1992), 20E]. Hence, the moment of vision (Augenblick) halts the everyday while yielding primordial insight [Heidegger, 15E]. 30 26 See Jay Goulding, “Japan-West Interculture: Time’s Step Back—Dōgen, Watsuji, Kuki and Heidegger,” in Aya Fujiwara and James White (eds.), Proceedings of the 31st Japanese Studies Association of Canada Annual Conference, Japan’s World and the World’s Japan: Images, Perceptions and Reactions (Edmonton: University of Alberta, 2019), 1-26. 27 Steven Heine, “Zen Master Dōgen: Philosopher and Poet of Impermanence,” in Gereon Kopf (ed.), The Dao Companion to Japanese Buddhist Philosophy (Dordrecht: Springer Nature B.V., 2019), 382. 28 Graham Parkes, “Dōgen/Heidegger/Dōgen: A Review of ‘Dōgen Studies’ and ‘Existential and Ontological Dimensions of Time in Heidegger and Dōgen,’” Philosophy East and West, 37.4 (1987): 446. 29 Thomas A. Kasulis, “The Zen Philosopher: A Review Article on Dōgen Scholarship in English,” Philosophy East and West, 28.3 (1978): 370. 30 Jay Goulding, “Japan-West Interculture,” 20. 131 Our Anwesen (coming into presence) as Aufenthalt (sojourn) in the world is just for a while, stretching from life to death in Erstrecken as temporal in-betweenness. The step back from the technocratic world of moving forward or upward is strategic for Heidegger’s reversal—a sinking down to a Friedrich Schelling’s (1775-1855) “deepest grounds of being” (tiefsten Grunde des Seyns)—a primordial dip into the Void. 31 Similarly, Dōgen introduces three parallel ideas around his taiho: uji, nikon and kyōryaku: Uji (just for the time being) underscores “sometimes” from its Chinese roots. Dōgen interrogates the graphs of “being” and “time” separately, contemplating them deconstructively side by side, “for the time being.” 32 Nikon (just now) is not clock time but an eternal time that never slips away. Taiho (the step back) as a meditative shift reveals the dissemblance of uji into component parts of time and being. The flux of being-time yields (a) right now (nikon) and (b) continuous flowing (kyōryaku)—both stillness and motion in all directions. Dōgen’s primordially eternal nows differ markedly from the “accumulative line” succession of Aristotle’s nows of before and after. Nikon, as “eternal now” encompasses (“chews up”) and surpasses (“spit out”) the everyday view that “time flies.” Kyōryaku is the interpenetration of moments where time-points are not successive. 33 Dōgen and Heidegger share alternatives to Aristotelian linear time and Euclidean rectilinear space: 34 This is summarized below: Table 2. Western Civilization and East Asian Civilization Western Civilization East Asian Civilization Euclidean geometry—ideal shapes such as mountain as triangle; cloud as oval, lightning as slash; singular vanishing point (imaginary horizon where earth and sky meet) Linear Time; Aristotle’s time as a number of movements between before and after Non-Euclidian geometry—fractal geometry, Chinese Chaos theory; no vanishing point or multiple points as in scroll painting; Daoist ultimate polarity taiji 太極; [Dōgen’s taiho (the step back); Heidegger’s Schritt zurück (the step back)] Non-Linear Time, reversibility; “orthogonal time… everything that was, just as the grooves on an LP contain the part of the music that has already been played; they don’t disappear after the stylus tracks them”; “That an orthogonal or right-angle time axis could exist, a lateral domain in which change takes place—processes 31 Jay Goulding, “Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology,” 57-60. 32 Jay Goulding, “Japan-West Interculture,” 20-22. 33 See Jay Goulding, “Japan-West Interculture,” 21-22. 34 Ibid., 10-11 for the full chart contrasting Western and East Asian civilizations. 132 occurring sideways in reality;” 35 “syntonic translimination” [Philip K. Dick (19281982)] 36 Source: Jay Goulding, “Japan-West Interculture,” 10. As I explicate: Heidegger’s phenomenology seeks to make visible the invisible … Heidegger learns about Daoism and Buddhism as he interrogates the relationships between Being and being, Being and Nothing, and Being and Time. His near monastic lifestyle draws him closer to the Lichtung (the clearing) where beings are illuminated.… [I focus] on an alternative spotlight – not ‘‘the history’’ of the China Institute as a collection of dates and facts but the question of the opening of a concealed convergence. Following Heidegger as a “thinker of history” (Geschichtsdenker) rather than an “historian,” I attempt to restore history itself to its inexplicability (Unerklärbarkeit) as Heidegger might say. Most of history avoids history by speaking of itself as the past. Phenomenological history is not past but futural. It ‘‘springs up’’ or ‘‘emerges’’ (Geschehen) as an ‘‘event’’ (Er-eignis) that stands before us as that which comes into view. 37 This reversal of “standing before” parallels Dōgen’s taiho. For Heidegger and Dōgen, time is reversible as there is no vanishing point. They defeat the numerical as the origin of time (as in clock time) through breaching the sequence of “nows” by dimensionally descending the rabbit-hole. Dōgen’s nikon as an eternal now (Heidegger’s augenblick) accomplishes this breach, just now, just for the time being as the right now. Uji flows in all directions: the past is the future; the future is the past. Steven Heine articulates: Dōgen repeatedly stresses that the unity of being-time does not function in the human or anthropocentric dimension alone, but it is fully trans-anthropocentric in encompassing all forms of existence, and it is especially evident through a contemplation of the beauty of nature and the cyclicality of seasonal rotation. Like many Zen masters in China and Japan, as well as other East Asian mystics in the Daoist and Shintō traditions, Dōgen seemed most content after he moved from the secular, highly politicized strife in Kyoto to the splendor of the Echizen [越前国] mountains, where he experienced a constant state of communion with the natural environment. In his writings he frequently equates the Buddha-nature with phenomena such as mountains, rivers, and the moon, and he eloquently expresses 35 Philip K. Dick, The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick: Selected Literary and Philosophical Writings, ed. with an introduction by Lawrence Sutin (New York: First Vintage Books Edition, 1995), 216, 235. 36 Phillip K. Dick, The Exegesis of Phillip K. Dick, eds. Pamela Jackson and Johnathan Lethem. Erik Davis annotations (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), 31, 73. 37 Jay Goulding, “The Forgotten Frankfurt School: Richard Wilhelm’s China Institute,” special 40th anniversary issue, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 41.1-2 (2014): 183-184. 133 an aesthetic naturalist rapture in which the rushing stream is experienced as the voice of the living Buddha, while the mountain peak synesthetically becomes Buddha’s face. 38 With Aristotle and Euclid, the Western world’s reliance on a priori (εκ των προτέρων) and a posteriori (εκ των ὕυστέρων) as logical enframings of cosmology are rendered useless in East Asia. Euclid proves all properties of space as theorems marching forward with Aristotle’s linear cadence of time’s πρότερον (prior) and ὕστερον (posterior). The Roman Empire calls it by its name: space is time. Spatium is Latin for time from which we derive the word space. Limēs (reflecting current idea of limit) originally marks an imaginary line between two pieces of property in Rome—another spatialized metaphor. 39 In the Greek world, one’s vision pushes beyond the limit; in our world we are reluctant to go beyond the limit (as in speeding). In syllogistic reasoning, Albert of Saxony (1316-1390), Rector of University of Paris and Bishop of Halberstadt, first to use the Latin terms, defines a priori as cause to effect and a posteriori as effect to cause. A priori starts from first principles. A posteriori as second is a linear progression of “first principles” later reduced to rationalist thinking by idealist Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). The flatline, sentential logic of Saxony and Kant have little to do with Aristotle’s prior and posterior motion. Aristotle’s αἰτία (postulation, investigation of matter, form, agent, end) is translated by early Europeans as “cause” (the preceding process and consequences), thus pinning it to cause and effect logic. Heidegger unanchors it. In 1939, Heidegger envisions 38 Heine, “Zen Master Dōgen: Philosopher and Poet of Impermanence,” 386. 39 Likewise, the Roman lens distorts our understanding of Plato and Aristotle when addressing a pairing of now accepted logical indicators: ἀπορία and εὐπορία. From today’s scholarship on the Greeks, ἀπορία is often connected to the introduction of logical contradictions while εὐπορία entails the conclusion or solution to said contradictions. A good example appears in W. R. M. Lambs’ translation of Plato’s Protagoras 321c and 321e. In “perplexity” (ἀπορία), Prometheus does not know how to balance out the powers of humankind that are misaligned by his brother Epimetheus. Some humans are fashioned fast but weak; others are made slow but strong. All lead to perpetual misbalance and conflict, hence aporia. The solution as “facility” (εὐπορία) finds Prometheus stealing wisdom and fire from Hephaestus and Athena. This causes him eternal pain. The pairing owes more to metaphysics than logic. It finds a “perturbation in the reality field” (as science fiction writer Philip Dick might say [Exegesis, 762]) through a later expression in Protagoras 324d that stands as a primordial crossroads: τούτου δὴ πέρι, ὦ Σώκρατες, οὐκέτι μῦθόν σοι ἐρῶ ἀλλὰ λόγον. Lamb translates: “On this point, Socrates, I shall give you argument [λόγος] rather than fable [μῦθός].” Plato, Laches, Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus, trans. W. R. M. Lamb (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1924), 141. A Heideggerian inspired translation might yield: “Round about this point, Socrates, I will proclaim [ἐρῶ] to thee no longer [οὐκέτι] the telling [μῦθός] but the laying that gathers [λόγος].” In this case, μῦθός and λόγος are not the opposites as the Romans might think (fable as falsehood versus argument as truth) but are synonyms. As equals, λόγος unfolds from within μῦθός as Being itself. 134 Aristotle’s replacement of αἰτία by ἀρχή: “φύσις [emergent nature] is ἀρχή, the egress [Ausgang] and enjoinment [Verfügung] of motion and rest specifically in a moving being that has ἀρχή in itself…Aristotle defines φύσις as ἀρχή κινήσεως.” 40 In 1941, Heidegger restores pre-Socratic ideas through non-linear time: To be sure, ἀρχή is that from which something emerges, but that from which something emerges retains, in what emerges and its emerging, the determination of motion and the determination of that toward which emergence is such. The ἀρχή is a way-making for the mode and compass of emergence. Way-making goes before and yet, as the incipient, remains behind by itself [my emphasis] Ἀρχή is not the beginning left behind in a progression. The ἀρχή releases emergence and what emerges, such that what is released is first retained in the ἀρχή as enjoinment [Verfügung, urging the order of an action]. The ἀρχή is an enjoining egress [verfügende ausgang, ordering an action of going out]. In this we perceive that from whence (ἐξ ὦν) there is emergence is the same as that back toward which evasion returns. Everything begins with ἀρχή that accompanies it into a blossoming ἀρχή within. 41 In non-Euclidean space, Heidegger and Dōgen share common ground. 4. X Marks the Spot In “Concerning the Question of Being” of 1955, Heidegger differentiates the ontological and the ontic (Being [Sein] from being-in-the world [Seiende]) through a crossing out of the word “Sein” as what is neither there nor not there: In his essence, the human is [not merely] the re-cord of a gathering to heart [Gedächtnis as cors cordis] of Being, but of Sein. This says: the human essence belongs to that which, in the crossways striking through of Being, takes thinking into 40 Martin Heidegger, “Vom Wesen und Begriff der Φνσις. Aristoteles, Physik B, 1 (1939),” in Wegmarken, Gesamtausgabe, Band 9, ed. Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 1976), 247-248. I rely on Gary E. Aylesworth’s renditions of Ausgang as “egress” and Verfügung “as enjoinment.” See Martin Heidegger, Basic Concepts, trans. Gary E. Aylesworth (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993), 93. William J. Richardson lucidly explains: “Heidegger translates αἰτία by Ur-sache, interpreting it as ‘Source’ (Ursprung) of all things (Sachen) and their thing-ness (Sachheit). The hyphenation suggests that he intends it to be understood as ‘ultimate Source,’ but not (necessarily) as First Cause.” William J. Richardson, Heidegger: Through Phenomenology to Thought, 3rd edition (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1974), 304. 41 Heidegger, Basic Concepts, 93. 135 the claim of a more primordial hail [Geheiß, Richardson, Through Phenomenology to Thought, 618]. 42 Heidegger disrupts the linear, horizontal and surface reading of the word submerged in Euclidean space, enforced by pedestrian versions of Aristotelian time (walking from one moment to the next), Cartesian subject, and “concept” as representation (Vorstellung). Attending Heidegger’s eightieth birthday party at Messkirch in 1969, Tsujimura instructs us to empty our cups: Right after my first encounter with [Heidegger’s] Being and Time when I was still in secondary school, I sensed that at least for us Japanese the only possible access to a genuine understanding of this work of thinking is concealed in our tradition of Zen Buddhism. And this is so because Zen Buddhism is nothing other than a seeingthrough (Durchblicken) to what we ourselves are. For this seeing through, we first have to let go of all representing, producing, adjusting, altering, acting, making, and willing, in short, all consciousness and its activity, and then, following along such a way, to return to its ground source. [my emphasis]. As one of the greatest Japanese Zen masters, Dōgen, says as well: “You shall first learn the step back [taiho 退歩] …” (Dōgen, Fukanzazengi [普勧坐禪儀]). 43 Heidegger’s crossing out as a reminder of the ontological scission between Being and being-in-the-world influences Jacques Derrida’s (1930-2004) elusive sous rature (under erasure) as a marking of non-presence of presence as the non-origin of origin. 44 As above, Heidegger uses an X over the word Being to indicate that it does not simply dwell in an everyday, ontic dimension. It sinks into a primordial, ontological dimension that is both there and not there. Hence, I utilize this practice as kreuzweisen Durchstreichung (the crossways striking through) on the proper name Heidegger itself to open a portal to ontological dimensions regarding East Asia (China and Japan). The name Heidegger is crossed out in order to show that it is there and not there, visible and invisible. It is no longer simply a proper name of a person but an invitation to a deeper dimension of thought through a vertical reading or Delian dive as explained below. Hence, X marks the spot for a treasure hunt or dig that lies beneath a mere surface, horizontal reality. 42Martin Heidegger, “Zur Seinsfrage (1955),” in Wegmarken, Gesamtausgabe, Band 9, ed. Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 1976), 411. 43 Tsujimura Kōichi, “Martin Heidegger’s Thinking and Japanese Philosophy,” 352. 44 See Jacques Derrida, Of Grammatology, trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), 60, 75. At the level of sentential deconstruction, Spivak explicates: “the gesture of sous rature implies ‘both this and that’ [ambiguous presence] as well as ‘neither this nor that’ [ambiguous absence] undoing the opposition and the hierarchy between the legible and the erased.” See Spivak, “Notes to Translator’s Preface,” Of Grammatology, 320. 136 The crossways striking through marks the place of a gathering into a new constellation (a fellowship of the dig as described below) that I dub “Chinese” Heidegger (hǎidégéěr 海德格爾) that interacts with the essence of Lao-Zhuang and Dao alongside “Japanese” Heidegger (Haideggā ハイデガー) that interacts with the essence of Dōgen and Zen. 45 I see four cornerstones of the intersections of Zen and Dao, followed by Heidegger’s interventions: (1) non-Cartesian subjectivity (there is no ‘I’ but a person as temporally/dimensionally ‘in-between’ (renjian 人間). (2) non-Euclidean space (fractal geometry, Chinese chaos theory; no vanishing point). (3) non-Aristotelean time (reversibility of time; every moment an instance of a different time). (4) non-representational thinking (thing as itself, that which things a thing is not itself a thing) imbedded equally within Heidegger’s thought as within Daoist cosmology…. (1) Dasein (there-being, non-Cartesian subjectivity as a collection of beings searching for primordial there). (2) Das Ding (the thing, non-Euclidean space as four-dimensionality within essential spirit). (3) Die Kehre (the turn, non-Aristotelian time as a reversibility). (4) Vernehmen (ap-prehension, approception, proception) as alternative to Vorstellung (representation). The material West contrasts to the spiritual East through reversibilities including time and space. Western binaries such as center and periphery, shape, and shadow, interior and exterior, stillness and motion give way to East Asian dipolarities that do not culminate or overcome each other as in dialectical practices but are mutually conditioned linked opposites that are necessary for each other as co-constitutive, co-resonating and equiprimordial. 46 45 I accompany the best of Heidegger scholars from North America for the official return of philosophy to China with renowned Confucian scholar Cheng Chung-ying 成中英 where we meet Zhang Xianglong 張祥龍, China’s leader on Heidegger. Those include Richard Palmer (1933-2015), accomplished translator of Gadamer, and Robert Neville, Dean of Divinity at Boston University, inventor of “Boston Confucianism.” William J. Richardson (1920-2016), Chaplain at Boston College claimed he was “too old to travel” but would have been the best of the best as Heidegger’s first and foremost English-speaking student in 1955. 46 Jay Goulding, “Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology,” 61. 137 5. “The Fellowship of the Dig” Brothers Marty Lagina and Rick Lagina refer to their search for treasure on the History Channel television program “The Curse of Oak Island” as the “fellowship of the dig.” Examining Japanese and Western philosophies together is a hermeneutic “dig” that discloses concealed convergences, the tip of invisibilities that would otherwise not manifest. This leads to post-metaphysical philosophies of the echo. 47 47 Ibid., 70. In moving from Sache (proposition) to Ding (the thing), Heidegger shifts the entire field of phenomenology by opening a gamut of meanings relating the words thing to thinking to thanking. The old High German Dingen means to assemble and discuss before an assembly. Heidegger’s jug is not simply a thing in the Western sense of object but “it things” as a sheltering of the Void and as a gathering of the fourfold (Sky, Earth, Gods, Humans) similar to Laozi’s comments on the jug. In the essay “Sprache” of 1950’s Unterweg Zur Sprache, Heidegger connects Gebärde (gesture) to the seminal idea of Austrag (giving issue to, perdurance): “Unsere alte Sprache nennt das Austragen: bern, bären, daher die Wӧrter »gebären« und »Gebärde«. Dingend sind die Dinge. Dingend gebärden sie Welt [Our old language calls the issuing as carry out: bern, bären (proto-West Germanic to bear, to carry) hence the words »to carry, to give birth« and »bearing, gesture«. Thinging are the things. Thinging, they gesture (gestate) World].” Martin Heidegger, Unterwegs zur Sprache, Gesamtausgabe, Band 12, ed. Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 1985), 19. Cf. Martin Heidegger, Poetry, Language, Thought, 200. Furthermore, Heidegger writes: “The German prefix Ge- always refers to a gathering, to a collection of things, as in Ge-birge [mountain range], which is a collection of mountains. From its human origins, ‘gesture’ means one’s gathered [gesammelt] bearing and comportment.” Martin Heidegger, Zollikon Seminars: Proticols – Conversations – Letters, ed. Medard Boss and trans. Franz Mayr and Richard Askay (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2001), 90. Gebärde is not simply an ontic “gesture” toward objects in the world or an “expression” of one’s personal feeling but is a “showing forth” (ἀπόφανσις [apophansis]) of the ontological co-relationality of Being and being as Austrag. Austrag is founded upon the slash in dif-ferre, the gathering that by its very separation bears out the “carrying apart” (dis [apart] and ferre [to carry]) with an eternal fervour as perdurance of the ontological scission (Entscheidung). See Martin Heidegger, Identity and Difference, trans. Joan Stambaugh (New York: Harper and Row, 1969), 17, 65. The thing-in-itself (Ding-ansich) of Heidegger’s phenomenology gathers together through Dōgen’s gesture of “true suchness” that puts the ever into the everyday. Steven Heine says it best: “Dōgen’s approach culminates in deceptively commonplace evocations of true suchness (Skt. tathatā Jp. inmo 恁麼), as evoked in the kanbun sermons of the Eihei Kōroku 永平廣録, such as ‘my eyes are horizontal and nose is vertical’ (鼻与臍対, 耳対肩) or ‘every single day the sun rises in the east, and every single night the moon sets in the west (朝朝日東出, 夜夜月落西 ).’” See Steven Heine, “‘When Mountains Can No Longer Be Seen’: A Critical History of Interpretations of an Ambiguous Shōbōgenzō Sentence,” Journal of Chan Buddhism, 2.1.2 (2020): 10. 138 Western scholars embarking on explorations of East Asian philosophy should consider the following as methods: 1. Emptying Your Cup: Empty Cup philosophy. The martial artist Bruce Lee 李小龍 (19401973) once reportedly said: “In order to taste my glass of water, you must first empty your glass. Friends, give up all your preconceived and fixed ideas and stay neutral. Do you know why this glass is useful? Because it is empty. An empty glass can hold a perfect drink. This is why we named the store Empty Cup Café.” 2. Vertical Reading/ Vertical Phenomenology: X marks the spot for a treasure hunt on my own essays. Choose a word of interest and dig down deeply into its meaning. This is hermeneutics. Explore strange new worlds that you find at different levels where there are possible portals to alternative dimensions. This is phenomenology. To get started, use Walter Skeat’s Etymological Dictionary. 48 Cracking the hegemony of a word is breaking an Easter egg—find a prize inside. 48 For English etymology, consult Walter W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (New York: Dover, 2005). For Japanese etymology, consult Kenneth G. Henshall, A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters (Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1988). See Andrew N. Nelson, The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary (Shinpan Neruson Kan-Ei jiten 新版ネルソン漢英辞典), completely revised by John H. Haig (Tokyo: C. E. Tuttle Co., 1997). For Chinese etymology, consult Leon Wieger, Chinese Characters: Their Origin, Etymology, History, Classification and Signification. New York: Dover, 1915. See Li Leyi, Tracing the Roots of Chinese Characters: 500 Cases, trans. Wang Chengzhi (Beijing: Language and Culture University Press, 1993). See Zhang Dainian, Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, trans. and ed. Edmond Ryden (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002). For Dōgen’s vocabulary, see A. Charles Muller (ed.), Digital Dictionary of Buddhism 電子佛教辭典 http://www.buddhism-dict.net/ddb/. For Heidegger’s etymology, consult Michael Inwood, A Heidegger Dictionary (London: Blackwell, 1999). See William J. Richardson, Heidegger: Through Phenomenology to Thought for etymologies, translations and commentaries that are the richest and deepest of all. As we live in an artificial, cybernetically-centred imaginary world that does everything for us including designer robots that read, my motivation for exploring vertical reading comes from Martin Heidegger’s 1972 statement: “In the information age, the chances to learn how to read have been obliterated [Im Informationszeitalter sind die Möglichkeiten, noch lessen zu lernen, ausgelöscht (annihilated, extinguished, wiped out)].” Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger, Letters 1925-1975, trans. Andrew Shields (New York: Harcourt, 1998), 200. In regard to Heidegger’s pathbreaking book on Friedrich Schelling’s “strange and profound opacity,” Arendt adds: “No one reads or has ever read like you [Heidegger].” Ibid., 199. In respect to his pre-Socratic, non-conceptual thinking/thanking and the other beginning, Heidegger adds: “All this is perhaps a halting attempt at a thinking that has to come ‘by stealth’ [auf Taubenfüssen] and thus necessarily remain unheard in the din of the contemporary world.” Ibid., 198. A vertical reading and Delian dive on Taubenfüssen as “dove’s feet” yields Friedrich Nietzsche famous expression: “It is the stillest words that bring on the storm. Thoughts that come on doves’ feet direct the world. [Die stillsten Worte sind es, welche den Sturm bringen. Gedanken, die mit Taubenfüßen kommen, lenken die Welt].” Friedrich 139 3. Delian Diving/Delian Seeing: get accustomed to deep diving and the darkness to be able to see in murky waters. Explore different phenomenal worlds along the way as you descend through the rabbit-hole. 49 Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and Nobody, trans. Graham Parkes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 127. Uniquely, Parkes takes Zarathustra’s Taubenfüssen to mean “quote marks,” referring to “the special power that great thoughts have when they are quotable.” Ibid., 307. Perhaps Parkes is referring to the shape of inverted commas that resemble doves’ feet (or possibly ducks’ feet). Recalling biblical symbolism of the Holy Spirit, and Noah’s Ark, John Keats (1795-1821), whom both Nietzsche and Heidegger read, describes a dialogue between Hermes’ and a snake: “The God, dove-footed, glided silently Round bush and tree, soft-brushing, in his speed.” John Keats, Lamia Annotated Text, Part I https://henneman.uk/john-keats-biography/lamiaannotated-text-part-1-lines-1-26/. In regard to Nietzsche, Jacques Derrida explains the difference between à pas de loup (footstep of the wolf) and à pas de colombe (footstep of the dove): the first by stealth and discreet deception, the second by light, flitting, gentle silence. Jacques Derrida, The Beast and the Sovereign volume 1, trans. Geoffrey Bennington (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), 3. In koan 公案 223 of Shinji Shōbōgenzō 真字 正法眼蔵 (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, 300 cases), “Nanyue [Nangaku Ejo 南嶽懐譲 677-744] Examines Mazu [Baso Dōitsu 馬祖道一 709-788],” Dōgen explains: “The monastic reports Mazu’s words: ‘For thirty years following confusion, there has never been a lack of salt and soy sauce.’ This is called ‘promoting the good that has already occurred.’ Master Dōgen says, ‘It is the Buddha having seen for himself the bright star, going on to make others see the bright star.’ This has been the great matter and the sole reason for the eighty-six ancestors’ having ceaselessly entered the room. Before it has been seen, it all seems like a mile-high mountain, like an iron wall. When you are finally able to pass through, it becomes clear that from the very beginning, it was you yourself who was the mile-high mountain, the iron wall. If you want to attain such a state, you must trust yourself and be intimate with the whole of reality. At such a time, one obtains realization right there.’” Dōgen, The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dōgen’s Three Hundred Kōans, trans. Kazuaki Tanahashi and John Daido Loori (Boston: Shambhala, 2009), 305. Later appended, a capping phrase reads: “Years of struggle and anguish lost in the forest of brambles. Now in the dawn of the first day, startled by the sound of the mourning dove.” Ibid., 305-306. 49 See Lewis Carroll, The Annotated Alice, The Definitive Edition: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, introduction and notes by Martin Gardiner, original illustrations by John Tenniel (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1960), 11-19. Many believe that Alice Liddell (1852-1934), daughter of Lord Henry Liddell (1811-1898), Dean of Christ Church Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and Head of Westminster School, to be the inspiration for the character. For Ancient Greek etymology, see Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, 1st edition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1843). For rabbit-hole adventures in Wonderland, compare the German editions on which it is based, Franz Passow, Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache, 4 volumes (Leipzig: Vogel, 1831), and Johann Gottlob Schneider, Kritische Griechisch-Deutsches Handwӧrterbuch, 2 volumes (1797 and 1798). 140 4. Subterranean Philosophizing: The earth is the in-between, namely in the midst of the concealment of the subterranean and the disclosive luminosity of the supraterranean. 5. Orthogonality: moving diagonally or transversally to “the company line of ideas.” Time in being; time as helix. 6. Non-representationality: “approception” rather than “conception” as between East and West: non-Cartesian subject (without the I); non-Euclidean space (through the vanishing point); non-Aristotelian time (non-sequential/reversible). 6. The Uncanny 50 Unpacking Dōgen and Heidegger stands as the most meaningful encounter between Japanese philosophy and the Western world. It is the single most crucial interlacing with phenomenology. In 1223, Dōgen travels to China on a four-year sojourn to live in Buddhist monasteries. On return, he revolutionizes Zen with Sōtō style 曹洞 seated meditation as described in Fukanzazengi (Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen) of 1233. 51 He alters the Japanese perception of nature coming from Daoism with Chan monk Yongming Yanshou’s 永明延壽 (904-975) Zōng jìng lù 宗鏡錄 (Record of the Source Mirror), written in 960—a manual on the supernatural. Yanshou engages five vital forms of power that Dōgen eventually turns back inside everyday experience. Dōgen explores ramifications of “Miracles,” and recalls a story regarding Yanshou in Shobogenzo Zuimonki. Collectively, Dōgen calls “the supernatural” phenomena jinzū 神通 (the passage through or permeation of the gods or kami); ironically, he dismisses all its forms as “small miracles” in favour of “big miracles” of everyday life (breathing, sitting, and contemplating the moon). He shed grandiose Indian Buddhist apertures in favour of humble Daoist essences; he dismisses Zen wizardry in favour of return to a natural environment. Likewise, Heidegger deconstructs small miracles of Western metaphysics in favour of big miracles of everydayness. In 1936, Heidegger explains: “Hier liegen die Blöcke eines Steinbruchs, in dem Urgestein gebrochen wird [here the blocks of a quarry lie, in which the primordial stone is broken].” 52 These everyday blocks—yet to be excavated—include thinking (Das Denken), history (Die Geschichte), there-being (Da-sein), and the essential holding sway, prevailing or presiding of Being (Die Wesung des Seyns). Heidegger creates a parallel universe with Schritt zurück (the step back) which shadows Dōgen’s taiho (the step back). Heidegger explains the doubling of the extra- 50 For an elaboration on this section, see Jay Goulding, “Dōgen’s Jinzu 神通,” in Owen Griffiths (ed.), Conference Proceedings of the 32nd Japan Studies Association of Canada Annual Conference, Japan and the Environment: Lessons for the World (Sackville: Mount Allison University, 2022), 3-22. 51 Ibid., 14-18. 52 Martin Heidegger, Beiträge zur Philosophie [zum Ereignis], Gesamtausgabe, Band 65, ed. Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 1989), 421, 509. 141 ordinary back into the ordinary as the heart of everyday phenomenon—itself a manoeuvre resembling Dōgen’s existentialist twist. No direct comparison is possible between Dōgen and Western thinkers or between yesteryear and today. In their own right, Dōgen and Heidegger are incomparable. They are understood on their own accounts, their own natures and in their own environments, such as it is. Such as it is as the Daoist zìrán 自然 (Japanese Shizen) is popularized in Meiji from Daoist roots 53: “self so; so of its own; so of itself” and “naturally; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events.” Kuki Shūzō adds a second level, a “vertical” phenomenology which is no longer an existential reality but a “mystical ekstasis”: “each instant, each present, is an identical moment of different times. Each present has identical moments, in the future as well as in the past [Each is an instant whose thickness is of infinite depth]; time is in this sense reversible.” 54 It flows back upon itself as a retrograde temporality or as a reversibility of time. Word (kotoba 言), event (koto 事) and meaning (kokoro 意) are synchronous; the ancient past folds into the now. 55 Heidegger’s horizontal phenomenology of everyday life lays out and gathers up, while Kuki’s vertical phenomenology of mystical ecstasis emerges from what lays hidden since each moment is an identical instance of different times—a reversibility. Horizontal phenomenology as corporeal and vertical phenomenology as spiritual reveal as they conceal. In 1944, Heidegger anchors both in the “horizonal”: [I understand “horizontal” not in contrast to “vertical” but rather in the sense of “horizonal,” harkening to this essence of an open circle-of-vision or a fleeing line of sight (fuga) that envelops it in all directions. What you mean by the vertical is possible only within the horizonal so understood]. 56 Both Dōgen and Heidegger embrace dipolarity: the visible and the invisible, the present and the absent, the real and the unreal, the speakable and the silent, and the 53 Aldo Tollini, “Japanese Buddhism and Nature: Man and Natural Phenomena in the Quest for Enlightenment,” in Bonaventura Ruperti, Silvia Vesco and Carolina Negri (eds.), Rethinking Nature in Contemporary Japan (Venezia: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2017), 82-83. 54 Kuki Shūzō, “The Notion of Time and Repetition in Oriental Time,” in Stephen Light, Shuzo Kuki and Jean-Paul Sartre: Influence and Counter-influence in the Early History of Existential Phenomenology (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987), 45-46. 55 Jay Goulding, “Kuki Shūzō and Martin Heidegger: Iki いき and Hermeneutic Phenomenology,” in Joseph F. Kess and Helen Lansdowne (eds.), Why Japan Matters!, volume 2 (Victoria: Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, University of Victoria, 2005), 682. 56 Martin Heidegger, Feldweg-Gespräche (1944-45), Gesamtausgabe, Band 77, ed. Ingrid Schüßler (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 1995), 83. 142 material and the spiritual. It is within this grid of Daoist phenomenology that I understand a crucial but neglected element of Dōgen’s Zen—that of Jinzū— “the supernatural” or the “supernormal” or “miracles”—the “extra-ordinary”—which bears much on the topic of nature and the environment. The Chinese shén tōng 神通 literally means what passes through by way of the gods, hence superhuman ability or magical power. I understand jinzū not through comparison but through a mutual interpenetration of the uncanny. This hermeneutic task is in and of itself uncanny. Heidegger explains “translating the untranslatable” by shifting übersetzen (translation) into übersetzen (transportation); translation is a transportation within and between languages as is Dōgen’s task within Japanese and between Chinese and Japanese texts. Heidegger relates: “This is certainly true for every translation, because every translation must necessarily accomplish the transition from the spirit of one language into that of another.” 57 Heidegger outlines in Introduction to Metaphysics: “We are taking the strange, the uncanny (das Unheimliche), as that which casts us out of the ‘homely,’ i.e., the customary, familiar, secure.” 58 7. Koto no ha 言の葉 (the leaves of words) In March 1954, based on long discussions with Kuki from the 1920s, Heidegger conducts an imaginary dialogue with a Japanese interlocutor, prompted by Tezuka Tomio (1903-1983), a visiting Tokyo scholar of German literature. Michael F. Marra, translator of Japanese classics and commentator on Heidegger’s Japanese students, recalls Tezuka’s account: He [Heidegger] then asked me: ‘In Japanese there is presumably a word for language so called: what is the original meaning of this word?’ I replied: ‘The word you are asking about is kotoba [言葉]. … I think that the [sound] koto is connected with koto [事 meaning “matter”] of kotogara [事柄] meaning “event” or “affair” (Sache). The ba is a sound transformation of ha and has connotations of “many” or “dense,” as with leaves (ha) on a tree. If this is right, then the koto [言] of “language” and the koto [事] of “matter” are two sides of the same coin: things happen and become language (kotoba). The word “kotoba” may have its roots in ideas of this kind.’ … In that case, Herr Tezuka, the Japanese word for “language,” kotoba, can mean Ding [thing].’ 59 Marra elaborates that Tezuka could have suggested gengo 言語, two Chinese characters meaning “the speech of words.” Instead, he relies on an ancient Japanese word from the 57 Martin Heidegger, Hölderlin’s Hymn “The Ister,” trans. William McNeill and Julia Davis (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996), 62. 58 Martin Heidegger, Introduction to Metaphysics, trans. Ralph Manheim (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961), 127. 59 Michael F. Marra, “On Japanese Things and Words: An Answer to Heidegger’s Question,” Philosophy East and West, 54.4 (2004): 566. 143 Yamato vocabulary kotoba 言葉: “the foliage of speech … Tezuka introduced a term that lent itself to etymological play—an enterprise very close to the heart of Heidegger, and one that was also very popular among Japanese thinkers.” Kotoba incorporates the sound koto to means both “thing” 事 and “word” 言 as in Mikoto 御言 (God, or “the honourable thing”), makoto 真言 (truth, or “the true word”), kotodama 言霊 (soul, or “the spirit of words”), and kotowari 理 (reason, or “the splitting of things”). As Marra relates: “The thingly component of kotoba was not simply an objectifiable presence that can be counted, analyzed, and disposed of, but rather a poietic ‘act’ that has the power to create a reality by transforming the named thing (koto 言) into a real thing (koto 事) [my emphasis].” 60 Marra elaborates: In his explanation of the word “koto” in the Iwanami Dictionary of the Ancient Language (Iwanami kogo jiten 岩波古語辞典), the linguist Ono Susumu argues that in ancient Japanese society “koto” meant both reality/events (koto 事) and its expression in words (koto 言). Any differentiation between reality and its verbal articulation was unknown until the Nara and Heian periods, when the word “kotoba” (language) claimed independence from “koto” (Thing). However, as the etymological meaning of kotoba (lit., “the leaves of things”) indicates, kotoba (words), far from capturing the complexity of Things, had to content itself with simply expressing the surface of reality. 61 Finally, Marra explains: … poetry opens up a view on the world of pure experience, while its language brings koto to light without ever exhausting it. Things (Ding, mono 物) are always ‘‘particular things’’ (aru mono 或る物). However, for particular things to exist, they, first of all, must ‘‘be’’ (aru mono 有る物). The fact (Sache, koto 事) that they are is the difference that a thing makes to human beings (mono 者), and this difference is voiced by the language (kotoba 言葉) of poetry. 62 In “Things and Words,” the introductory essay to Japan’s Frames of Meaning: A Hermeneutics Reader, Marra affirms that independently from the earliest etymologies, poems and linguistic expressions are compared to “leaves” with the use of the expression kotonoha. Marra writes: “especially the local poetry in Yamato language, beginning with Ki no Tsurayuki [紀貫之 872 – 945, compiler of Kokin Wakashū 古今和歌集].” 63 60 Ibid., 556. 61 Ibid., 562. 62 Ibid., 565. 63 Michael F. Marra, “Things and Words,” in Michael F. Marra (ed.), Japan’s Frames of Meaning: A Hermeneutics Reader (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2010), 12. 144 Following up Tezuka’s explanation of kotoba as “the dense foliage of events,” Marra turns to Heidegger’s version of the dialogue that extends the metaphor of leaves: “ba [葉 Yō, ha] means leaves, including and especially the leaves of a blossom—petals. Think of cherry blossoms or plum blossoms [ba nennt die Blatter, auch und zumal die Blütenblatter. Denken Sie an die Kirschblüte und an die Pflaumenblute].” 64 Heidegger’s etymology is essentially correct as 葉 is a leaf, petal, page of a book or an historical period in traditional Chinese character etymology. Kenneth G. Henshall adds the meaning of “generation” or a “binding of wooden writing tablets.” 65 Contemporary Tokyo calligrapher Tagawa Goroh succinctly explains: …the act of conveying and telling stories of ‘things’ (‘koto’ or 事) was expressed as ‘koto’ (言). Each word or phrase that formed this ‘koto’ was called ‘kotoba,’ meaning the ‘edge’ of koto (言の端). As for the kanji for ‘kotoba,’ there were many ways of writing it. In Man’yōshū (A Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves [万葉集 ]) from the Nara period, they spelled it as ‘言葉,’ ‘言羽,’ or ‘辞 [辭]’; in Makura no sōshi (The Pillow Book [枕草子]) from the Heian period, the author used the letter ‘ 詞’ until she gradually settled on ‘言葉,’ the spelling most commonly used today, combining the letters for ‘word’ and ‘leaf.’ The origin of the expression ‘kotonoha’ ( 言の葉) can be traced back to Kokin waka shū …The preface that is said to have been written by the poet Ki no Tsurayuki, in kana (a Japanese system of syllabic writing, as opposed to the classical Chinese writing consisting only of kanji) introduces the nature of poetry native to Japan, or the songs of Yamato: 「やまと歌は、人の心を種として、よろづの言の葉とぞなれりける。」 (Yamato uta wa, hito no kokoro wo tane to shite, yorozu no koto no ha to zo nare ri keru). ‘The songs of Japan take for their seeds the heart of the people, turning them into myriad [leaves of] words.’ In other words, the poet uses ‘seed’ as a metaphor for the heart, and ‘leaf’ for the word. ‘Kotoba’ or ‘kotonoha’ are eloquent expressions, but today, when a passing remark can spread all over the Internet in a matter of seconds, perhaps the older spelling of ‘言の羽(the wings [feathers] of ‘koto’) is also quite an apt way of putting it. 66 64 Martin Heidegger, “A Dialogue on Language,” in Martin Heidegger, On the Way to Language, trans. Peter D. Hertz (New York: Harper and Row, 1971), 45. 65 See www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-etymology. Cf. Kenneth G. Henshall, A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, 122. 66 Goroh Tagawa, “Kotonoha ことのは（言の葉) word,” Calligraphy Works Official Website. https://sho.goroh.net/kotonoha/. 145 An alternative Chinese character for kotonoha —辭 (ことのは)—from Tsurayuki’s preface to Kokin Wakashū tells another tale. The Chinese character cí 辭 meaning word, speech, expression, phrase is utilized as the more contemporary and simplified Japanese ji as in jiten 辞典 which is a lexicon or dictionary. The right side of the radical is a tattoo needle. The Chinese cíhǎi 辭海 as a sea of words might cause us some thought about a maritime metaphor transforming into the Japanese metaphor of leaves; the sea of words becomes the leaves of words: both Man’yōshū 万葉集 as “the ten thousand leaves” of poems and Hagakure 葉隱 as “hidden leaves” as a samurai ethical code comes to mind. (In 1940, Watsuji published an abridged version of this samurai manual). 67 Dōgen too utilizes 67 I am not the first to recognize (see Yui Kajita’s Kotonoha: Japanese English translations and art at https://kotonohajptranslations.wordpress.com/) the prominence of leaves for both Japanese culture and the Cumaean Sibyl at Baiae near Naples at the entrance to the supposed Greco-Roman Underworld; here she composes prophecies on oak leaves (revered by the Greeks and Romans). In Aeneid III, 441-452, Vergil recounts: “huc ubi delatus Cumaeam accesseris urbem divinosque lacus et Averna sonantia silvis, insanam vatem aspicies, quae rupe sub imafata canit foliisque notas et nomina mandat. quaecumque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo, digerit in numerum atque antro seclusa relinquit. illa manent immota locis neque ab ordine cedunt; verum eadem, verso tenuis cum cardine ventus impulit et teneras turbavit ianua frondes, numquam deinde cavo volitantia prendere saxo nec revocare situs aut iungere carmina curat; inconsulti abeunt sedemque odere Sibyllae [And when, thither borne, thou draw near to the town of Cumae, the haunted lakes, and Avernus with its rustling woods, you will see an inspired prophetess, who deep in a rocky cave sings the Fates and entrusts to leaves signs and symbols. Whatever verses the maid has traced on leaves she arranges in order and stores away in the cave. These remain unmoved in their places and do not quit their rank; but when at the turn of the hinge a light breeze has stirred them, and the open door has scattered the tender foliage, never thereafter does she care to catch them, as they flutter in the rocky cave, nor to recover their places and unite the verses; inquirers depart no wiser than they came and loathe the Sibyl’s seat].” Virgil, Eclogues, Georgics, Aeneid 1–6, trans. H. Rushton Fairclough, revised G. P. Goold (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999), 401-403. Friedrich Nietzsche observes: “Während in jedem Worte Heraklit’s der Stolz und die Majestät der Wahrheit, aber der in Intuitionen erfaßten, nicht der an der Strickleiter der Logik erkletterten Wahrheit, sichausspricht, während er, in sibyllenhafter Verzückung schaut, aber nicht späht, erkennt, aber nicht rechnet: ist ihm in seinem Zeitgenossen Parmenides ein Gegenbild an die Seite gestellt, ebenfalls mit dem Typus eines Propheten der Wahrheit, aber gleichsam aus Eis und nicht aus Feuer geformt und kaltes, stechendes Licht um sich ausgießend [Speaking out in every word of Heraclitus (is) the (noble) pride and majesty of truth, only of truth captured in intuitions, not the truth climbed by the rope ladder (gangway) of logic, while in Sibylline rapture he looks (gazes) but does not peer, recognizes but does not calculate: he [Heraclitus] is juxtaposed with a counter-image of his contemporary Parmenides, also a type of prophet of truth but formed as it were from ice and not from fire and pouring out frigid, piercing light around itself].” Friedrich Nietzsche, Die Philosophie im tragischen Zeitalter der Griechen. Nietzsche Source—Digitale Kritische Gesamtausgabe, Werke und 146 Briefe (eKGWB), 18. http://www.nietzschesource.org/eKGWB/ index#eKGWB/PHG. While Heraclitus’ fiery look (gaze) is captured “in Sibylline rapture” by Nietzsche’s metaphor, Parmenides’ icy peer “pouring frigid, piercing light” might itself gain inspiration from encountering the Sibyl in person, since Parmenides lives at Elea (Velia) nearby Cumae. While Nietzsche no doubt refers to the Sibyl of Delphi with Heraclitus living at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, we see the Sibyl of Cumae as a counterpart with Parmenides living at Elea in southern Italy. Nietzsche could have visited Velia since he sees Paestum which is only 26 miles away. See Jay Goulding, “Cheng and Gadamer: Daoist Phenomenology,” Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 48.4 (2021): 368-382. Renowned Vergil scholar Alexander G. McKay adds insight to Nietzsche’s Anaximander inspired hot-cold juxtaposition of Heraclitus (fire) and Parmenides (ice): “Horace [Epistles I, 15, 14-24] testifies that the [icy, chilling, gelida] cold [paralyzing, frigid, frigus] mineral waters of Velia offered stiff competition to the hot sulphur springs and baths at Baiae [near Cumae].” Alexander G. McKay, Vergil’s Italy (Greenwich: New York Graphic Society, 1970), 247. The cult of healing at Lake Avernus near Cumae (home of Vergil) finds its complement in the cult of healing at Velia (home of Parmenides). Hence, Parmenides receives the accolade Οὐλιάδης (Ouliades) “son of Apollo, Oulios, the Healer [and Seer].” See McKay, Ibid. Parmenides’ contemporary Heraclitus possesses the epithet σκοτεινός (the obscure) that I render the darkling to retain its underworld association. Indeed, the darkling possesses the sense of “shadow summoner” as in GrishaVerse fantasy novels and roleplaying games. Heidegger unlocks the meaning of σκοτεινός. The bearer of light (Apollo) and the bearer of dark (Artemis) who share the Titan mother Λητώ (concealment) neither unite as opposites nor culminate and overcome as antipodes of dialectics but exist together ontologically as dipolarities of mutually conditioned equiprimordiality. Heidegger writes: “Das Dunkle und das Lichte gehören zusammen, und zwar nicht nur in dem Sinne, daß, wo Dunkel ist, überall auch Licht sein muß und umgekehrt. Vielmehr >ist< das Dunkle in seinem Wesen das Lichte und das Lichte >ist< in seinem Wesen das Dunkle [The darkling (Dunkle) and the lighting (Lichte) belong together, and not only in the sense that where there is darkness, there must be light everywhere and vice versa. Rather, the dark ‘is’ in its essence the light and the light ‘is’ in its essence the dark.” Martin Heidegger, Heraklit, Gesamtausgabe, Band 55, ed. Manfred S. Frings (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 1979), 33. In an uncanny fashion, the Chinese character míng 明 (J. mei) has a dipolar mate míng 冥 (Japanese mei). The first embraces the idea of brightness or clarity and translates Heidegger’s Lichtung (clearing) while the second refers to the immense darkness of the Underworld; I dub it the darkling to emphasize its abysmally deadly dankness. Old Greek to Latin dictionaries renders σκοτεινός as tenebrōsus (tenebrae, the lurking haunt of Tartarus, origin of the Star Wars series on Sith Master Darth Tenebrous). See Cornelis Schrevel, Cornelii Schrevelli lexicon manuale Graeco-Latinum et Latino-Graecum (London: Sumptibus J. F. & C. Rivington, 1791), no page. Greek to German dictionaries call it Dunkel or sinister (a rare German word for hellish evil). See Johann Gottlob Schneider, Kritische Griechisch-Deutsches Handwӧrterbuch, volume 2, 530. The East Asian approximation of σκοτεινός and tenebrōsus would possibly be míng 冥 (J. mei) as the darkling (more than a dimming down or obscuring). Sparkling is a lighting from without that illuminates the immense darkness around the abyss; Darkling is a lighting from within that illuminates the immense darkness from the abyss itself. Whereas 147 kotonoha 言の葉. Following Heidegger’s extended interpretation of “leaves of words.” Steven Heine highlights two poems where he translates koto no ha as “petals of words:” The creative tension between speech and silence, engagement and detachment is similarly conveyed in a couple of Dōgen’s Japanese poems. The first of these bears a title stressing renunciation that is contraindicated by the verse’s content, featuring the potentially productive role of language: 詠不立文字 “Furyū monji” 言ひすてし Ii suteshi その言葉の Sono koto no ha no 外なれば Hoka nareba 筆にも跡を Fude ni mo ato o 留めざりけり Todome zari keri. “No reliance on words or letters” Unlimited By language [petals of words], It is ceaselessly expressed— So too the way of letters Can display but not exhaust it. The next example expresses Dōgen’s own sense of uncertainty about his qualifications as either writer or renunciant: 春風に 吾が言の葉の 散りぬるを 花の歌とや 人のながめん Haru kaze ni Will their gaze fall upon Waga koto no ha no The petals of words I utter, Chirinuru o As if only the notes Hana no uta to ya Of a flower’s song Hito no nagamen. Shaken loose and blown free by the spring breeze? 68 Commensurate with Heine, the Sōtō Zen abbot Shōhaku Okumura Roshi writes: “Koto no ha” (言の葉) literally means “leaves of word” that refers to words in general or a waka poem. In a spring day, flowers, probably cherry blossoms, are Heraclitus points to the Greek abyss, Parmenides descends into it. Whereas Friedrich Schelling points to the Daoist abyss, Heidegger descends into it. Whereas Nietzsche free falls helplessly into the abyss, Heidegger creates a plateau to rest with in it. See Jay Goulding, “Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology,” 47-48. Whereas Shakyamuni Buddha is the pureness of light, the Daoist inspired Dōgen is hikage no koma wa 日影の駒は (the [colt] horse of sun shadow [progenitor of anime heroes), the fifth waka of Lotus Sutra, popularly viewed as echoing Zhuangzi chapter 22: 人生天地之間，若白駒之過郤，忽然而已 (Human life between heaven and earth is like a white horse passing the opening of the valley ravine [郤 ], and suddenly disappearing). See https://dogeninstitute.wordpress.com/2016/06/12/vanishing_act/. On the Chinese etymology of the valley ravine and mountain gorge (gu 谷), see Jay Goulding, “Cheng and Gadamer: Daoist Phenomenology,” 377-378. 68 Steven Heine, “Dōgen, a Medieval Japanese Monk,” 88-89. 148 blown by the wind and falling. Dōgen’s mind is also blown by the spring wind and a waka poem was generated using the leaves of words. This is what “my words are blown and scattered” means. This also means Dōgen does not cling to his words that are scattering. In Shobogenzo Keiseisanshoku (Sounds of Valley Stream and Colors of Mountain), Dōgen comments on Su Shi’s poem that says the sounds of valley stream are voices of Shakyamuni’s expounding the Dharma and the colors of the mountains are the pure body of the Buddha. …Then, as Dōgen says in the beginning of Genjokoan, we see myriad things as Buddha-dharma. 69 8. Conclusion We recollect from Heine’s Heideggerian inspired commentaries on Dōgen poems that the ancient expression koto no ha might have the opposite effect to the later rendition of kotoba as simply words. Disseminating sound in its return to the valley stream as in Dōgen’s poem may be the undoing of kotoba as simply an everyday word into its primordial parts that include nature’s murmur (Keisei). In that sense, kotoba and koto no ha may gather opposite feelings although they ostensibly are the same—but not identical as Heidegger might say. 70 The Daoist take would be that the echo is more pronounced than the sound itself. Heidegger’s students have an immense impact on Japanese philosophy; Japanese philosophy has an immense impact on Heidegger. Heidegger is an echo of Dōgen. The continuation of contemporary Dōgen studies is an echo of Heidegger through Kuki, Watsuji, Nishitani, Abe and others. Koto no ha is the echo that precedes the complete, compact and produced word of representational thought. 71 Sōtō Zen is the echo of Buddha’s dharma as it disappears into its ancient Daoist cousin—nothingness, shadow, periphery, silence and murmur through the works of Dōgen and is reflected in Heidegger’s own poetry and philosophy of reversal and fading away into nothing as the essence of Being. 72 Shōhaku Okumura Roshi, “Lyrics on the Wind,” The Dogen Institute: Disseminating the Teachings of Eihei Dōgen Zenji. https://dogeninstitute.wordpress.com /2017/04/09/blossom-words/. On falling cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums, see Jay Goulding, “Chūshingura’s Innovation: From Kaishaku (Execution) to Kaishakugaku (Hermeneutics),” in James H. Tiessen (ed.), Conference Proceedings of the 27th Japanese Studies Association of Canada Annual Conference, Designing Japan: Innovation in a PostGrowth Society (Toronto: Ryerson University, 2016): 8-18. 70 This is suggested by Norio Ota of York University’s Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. 71 In regard to the echo, see Jay Goulding, “Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology,” 68-71. 72 Famed Zhuangzi translator and phenomenologist Wu Kuang-ming adds fuel to this interpretation when he visits Confucius’ home to see the wind pick up a swirl of leaves, create a shape, and then return them to nothing as they disperse back into the whispering wind. “Qiao wei xu 竅為虛—the hollows are made empty” gasps Wu as he understands at last Zhuangzi’s metaphor. Wu asks: “What are things? We must raise this question again with Aristotle and Heidegger. Things have their peculiar ‘wild meanings;’ things have their 69 149 own birth of meanings, ‘wild’ when found. Such meanings are found to be singing their own ontological vibrations. Things have their waves of voices, their ‘hollows’ that sing. As we ‘hollow ourselves’ we can ‘overhear’ and then become part of their voices; we call it language [yan 言]. Our utterances can ‘sing the world’ with trees, hollows, birds, insects, subatomic systems of energy. Vibrations of our souls resonate with those of monkeys, cicadas, snakes, and butterflies. We become them as they become us, and we are one, one in all our differences. For without distinction there would have been no resonance which sings the world.” Kuang-ming Wu, The Butterfly as Companion: Meditation on the First Three Chapters of Chuang Tzu (Albany: SUNY, 1990), 221-222. 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The Now in [Nō能]-where: The Invisible Apparatus of a Body Before a Body John Zackary Michael Vintila York University Email: michael.vintila01@hotmail.com Abstract The famous nō theatre performer and choreographer Yoshi Oida in The Invisible Actor (1997) explores the invisible by means of disappearing only to reappear in a different character through the performance. This re-appearance includes masks, makeup, costumes, and language. The stage is your body where the actor situates himself by way of the “othering” by embracing the invisible within the visible. Dance is like the art of acting. The “othering” of dance arises when both technique and idea dissolve together. The dance dances the body rather than the body dancing the dance. With an eye to Zen meditation and Heidegger’s step back, this paper features an extension of Oida’s classical Japanese forms to the practice of contemporary Western improvised dance. A realm of genuine, authentically raw movement emerges through Oida’s chapters Beginning, Moving, Performing, Speaking and Acting. These are compared with Western techniques. A cross-examination between two modes of somatic practices solidifies “the what” (movement) alongside the unseen as in the altered state of “breaking the line.” With help from Heidegger’s fourfold, an “intolerable aesthetic” garnishes an invisible actor that exists in dramatic arts and improvised dance both in Japan and the West. Keywords: Dance, Martin Heidegger, Yoshi Oida, Existential Phenomenology, Hermeneutics 1. Introduction The forgotten body that exists prior to the dancing body is the body of contemplation; a residual, dynamic substratum of imagination powered through liveness, technique, and passion. Through this former pensive body, the latter physical body that initiates from silence then translates an impulse for movement through what many call choreography. Similar to the dramatic arts, the dancing body is an acting body. The body that remains capable of acting out numerous inner lived experiences [Erlebnis] by simplifying neural impulses to a collection of chances and errors mobilized though the lens 156 of improvised creativity. Japanese nō theatre icon Yoshi Oida’s seminal work The Invisible Actor, while discussing the five regiments of the acting body (beginning, moving, performing, speaking, and learning), identifies an invisible apparatus, something that I define as a body before a body, or perhaps more appropriately an existence before an existence, that viscerally manifests into movement. Oida insightfully identifies the locus of what I mean by “a body before a body” by differentiating the misrepresentation between the body as the site of expression after the fact, and the body that compels the invisible trance that powers the becoming of the unseen before the fact: Master Okura, a famous teacher of Kyogen, once explained the connection between the body and the stage. In Japanese, the word for stage is butai, the bu part meaning ‘dance’ or ‘movement,’ and tai meaning ‘stage.’ Literally, ‘the platform/place of dancing,’ However, the word tai also means ‘body’, which suggests an alternative reading: ‘the body of dancing’. If we use this meaning of the word butai, what is the performer? Okura said that the human body is ‘the blood of the dancing body’. Without it the stage is dead. 1 The causal, synergistic balance between these two bodies are supported though what Oida describes as “cleaning up”, which is a process that I unfortunately believe seldom influences creative processes here in the West. Cleaning up, as Oida notes, is a process that involves the caring of The Nine Holes, the two eyes, two nostrils, two-ears, one mouth, one hole for passing water, and one hole for defecation. 2 In Western improvised contemporary dance forms, most practitioners of creative movement ignore this observation entirely; by replacing the notion of caring of one’s own individual parts with the favourability of pervading egoism though “how good” a certain something looks or feels insofar of the aspect of publicity. For example, the eyes carry the role of not only being observed by another body as an apparatus of capture, 3 but they also delineate the factor of balance in movement outcome that the performer comes to embody. Without balance, a dance cannot exist, as the principles that come prior to what eventually viscerally manifests are hindered early in the process. Choreographer ocularcentrism is an example of what hinders creative movement potentiality; the ability for movement to resonate with both chance and error simultaneously without the implicit force of authority from systematized roles acting contrary to the body before the body. What exactly constitutes the difference between the body before, and the body that follows? The body before can best be described as the cultivation of stillness before it can be sensed at the centre of motion. The body after is what 1 Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor, (New York: Routledge, 1997), xviii Ibid., 4 3 André Lepecki, (2007) Choreography as Apparatus of Capture, (MIT Press) 2 157 Dr. Jay Goulding calls a visceral manifestation 4 of the becoming of the unseen; a suspension of the cultivation of stillness during the centre of motion. Looking to supporting elements that coincide with both acting and dance, music has often caused much confusion for practitioners of these two art forms. Music has wrongfully been described to implicitly guide and dictate the trajectory or outcome of movement in a dance. This could not be further from the truth. Rather, the music is only but a supplement to the dance, while the dance is the motive that ultimately guides and informs the music. Oida discusses the importance of certain regions of the body that at times exist as separate to their physiological function. For example, in Western contemporary stage dance, the core (abdominal region) is nothing more than a centrifugal structure that remains capable of anatomically balancing certain movements that are widely recognized as aesthetically appealing. This limited view often distorts the core’s deeper, more spiritual values that rid the dancing body of creating an absolute threshold of proprioception, or the ability to sense and feel through space. Oida discusses the importance of the core by denoting the following observation: When Japanese people talk about the ‘hara’ (腹, as the abdomen) they are referring to the area of the/body that lies a few centimetres below the navel. This is the centre of gravity of the human body, and, in western terms, corresponds to the term ‘the belly.’ But the Japanese concept of the hara is seen as something more than a physical location; it is the core of the entire self. It is the centre of a person’s strength, health, energy, integrity, and sense of-connection to the world and the universe. Not only is a strong hara essential for a healthy life, it is impossible to do any kind of physical or spiritual discipline (such as the martial arts, meditation, or theatre) without involving this area. Consequently, training in these fields always incorporates exercises to develop and strengthen the hara. 5 Martha Graham, the modern dancer that developed and refined the technique of the ‘contraction’ in many of her works such as Errand into the Maze (1947) was fully aware of the deeper sense of the core. Besides stability, flexibility, awareness, balance, presence, and energy, the core offers a creative mover a reason to be drawn toward the want of discovering the ‘othering’ of what dance brings forth to the body. Essentially, it is not the body that dances the dance, but the dance that dances the body. Oida also offers the reader and practitioner of both acting and dancing the ability to expand their intellectual capacity in these art forms by using strong spiritual connotations that emerge from Zen Buddhism. For example, Oida insightfully claims that “the audience 4 Jay Goulding, (2003) “‘Visceral Manifestation’ (藏象): Chinese Philosophy and Western Phenomenology (現象學).” In Fang Keli (ed.), Chinese Philosophy and The Trends of the 21st Century Civilization, volume 4 (Beijing: Commercial Press), 360-417. 5 Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor,10. 158 should never see you concentrating.” 6 This is likely because if the audience suspects saturated concentration, the body, perhaps unwilling, exposes a realm of superficiality by visually appearing as trying too hard by forcing itself to enter into a state of narrative. Here it is important to note that narrative does not mean the telling of a story, although this may very well be the actors’ or dancers’ intention. Rather, narrative here discusses the attempt to mimic and replicate a given narrative as it was demonstrated by a choreographer or director during the time of rehearsal. Many contemporary dancers are victims of this method. Their experience of letting the dance find them rarely occurs, as following the means from codified languages promulgated by systematized, authoritative roles dictate outcome in movement creation that significantly inhibits them during the time of a performance. Oida embeds the passivity of the emotion of guilt when an actor or dancer makes a mistake: Ideally, any physical exercise that you do should also become an exercise of the imagination, not just working your body. There is another benefit as well. If you do a simple exercise such as knee bends and think only about the muscles involved, your legs will quickly become heavy and painful, and the movement becomes hard labour. But if you use the image of strings and moving between sky and earth, the action becomes easier, and you have a focus for your inner concentration. When you are doing an exercise, you tend to think, Oh, this is just an exercise. If I make a mistake, it doesn't really matter. However, if you make a mistake on the stage, you have to keep going and attempt to cover up the error. You can't stop and try again. 7 In Western theatrical stage dance (contemporary dance), few skilled dancers often resort to using their imagination before and during a performance rather than just before. When the dancer manages to successfully bypass the given rules of a certain phrase of movement from confrontation with the choreographer, that is when they have managed to incorporate the elements of chance and error. In turn, this method abolishes the guilt associated with any mistakes that occurred as the dancing body allows itself to insert nuances of improvisation that are sporadic and unplanned. The improvised nuances replace and remove the guilt-associated emotions with the otherwise lack of momentum and precision the dancing body hoped to achieve by offering the same tranquility affiliated with imagination prior to performing. In fact, it could be argued that for dancers, the real dance only begins and becomes an extension of the body when what dance is thought to be ceases to exist. As a result, the philosophical grounding of Yoshi Oida’s seminal work suggests the possibility of identifying a number of important, reactionary modes of creative movement causation that a dancing body ought to consider. By positioning hermeneutics as a way to reference Oida’s ideas from The Invisible Actor, made specifically for the actor, an emerging 6 7 Ibid., 17 Ibid., 18 159 lens then becomes available for the dancer, as similarities from both art forms coalesce with one another. 2. Dance as the pure, unrefined and absolute Dance is not movement, but rather an altered state. Through the altered state, a trance envelopes the moving body dissolving external structures such as speed, distance, space, weight, precision, reason, aesthetic, and technique. Dance is a watchtower of our feeling which is carried out through what becomes the emerging movement [Poesis] that eventually un-dances itself. As a result, a theoretical framework would require a performing body to un-teach themselves what dance is in order to be able to teach or experience it. This complex methodology furthered through Oida’s Jo, Ha and Kyu magnifies the forgotten fragment of self-sustaining being that powers the moving body through Euclidian space. Oida describes the progression of Jo, Ha, and Kyu in relation to the becoming of the unseen: This rhythm of Jo, Ha, Kyu is quite different from the Western idea of ‘beginning, middle, end,’ since the latter tends to produce a series of ‘steps’ rather than a smooth acceleration. In addition; the concept of ‘beginning, middle, end’ usually only refers to the overall dramatic structure of the play, while Jo, Ha, Kyu is used to support every moment of a performance as well, as its structure. In Japanese theatre, each play has Jo, Ha, Kyu, each act and scene has Jo, Ha, Kyu, and each individual speech will have its own internal Jo, Ha, Kyu… From the audience’s point of view, there is a real sense of being constantly carried forwards. 8 Having observed the independent Jo, Ha, and Kyu that constantly replaces and emerges from every fourth coming step, it is clear that the dance is the you, the self, the being in the dance. There is no division between the dance and the you that dances. This idea closely embraces what Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz would describe as a monistic quality; dipartite substances (the dance and the dancing self) that exist as co-identical entelechies. The stage 8 Ibid., 31 Oida writes that the word “Jo” literally means ‘beginning’ or ‘opening’, “ha” as ‘break’ or ‘development’, and “Kyu” as ‘fast’ or ‘climax’. It is to be noted that these terms are to be independently recognized as intrinsic, internal qualities that occur as an extension of the dancing body. The “organic rightness” that Oida uses as a mode of function that delineates factors of reactionary enjoyment through how well audience members come to “feel” and “sense” a connection to what they visualize on stage is characterized through the simultaneity of the dancing body and its presence while enduring the trance. The trance embodied by the performer is a way of conveying the “othering” that the skilled performer readily recognizes over the often non-skilled audience members. It is the protruding energy that emits as part of the transformation endured by the dancing body that synchronizes the affect audience members come to understand as one in the same; an impetus that gathers and encapsulates both the active and static bodies that momentarily inhabit a common performing arena. 160 is also the you, for someone else to see. They [the dancer] loose the I as the you for the audience replaces it. Using Oida’s example in Kabuki theatre where an actor gestures with their index finger as they point to the moon, (see Oida xvii, The Invisible Actor) the space that you become is the void that exists between the apparition of a moon to become for the audience, and the moon that already exists for the actor. As a result, dance (the movement) is transportation into another dimension, not a or the trance. Dance is the portal, and the trance is a methodology, whereas freedom is the non-being of something before it is framed. Calling upon Martin Heidegger’s prevailing abandonment [Verlassenheit] followed closely by a calling back, or a releasing from [Gelassenheit] dance is essentially achieved by cultivating stillness at the centre of motion. An abandonment of being ought to be considered alongside the multiplicity of Jo, Ha, and Kyu that replace each other as new impulses constantly emerge overlapping old ones in each intrinsic layer of being. For example, there is the being of the breath, the being of the function of the breath, the being of the where the breath comes from and why it is a vital component of sustainability in creative outcome. Dr. Jay Goulding discusses the “in-betweenness” 9 of these aspects as a type of void, defined as di-polarity, or the event itself [Ereignis]. Revelatory time [Augenblick] is a feature of dance that involves progressive anticipation, which often nullifies Heidegger’s sense of awareness [Sein] through the body’s constant evolution dictated by the need to fulfill the choreography exactly as it was offered or meant to be danced by systematized roles such as the choreographer or critic. In order for revelatory time to suspend the notion of un-dancing the dance, the body must realize that both error and chance through spontaneity and improvisation remain the only way to bypass the enframing [Gestell] that the dancing body otherwise remains affixed to. In my latest work, Emancipating the Dancing Body (2020) I discuss a methodological framework used to liberate the dancing body by dissolving the systematization and stigmatization that creative movement forms remain subjected to. In attempts to simplify the compiled research and theoretical foundations, the essence of the work begins by acknowledging that an inevitable, simultaneous embodiment of all three roles (choreographer, dancer, and spectator) need be present at the time a dance occurs. In turn, this simplifies, amplifies, informs, and shapes the becoming of the unseen; a trance prior to the dance. Heidegger's standing out, but the standing out within [Ekstasis] might be said to relate to the concept discussed by science fiction writer Phillip K. Dicks ‘Ditheon dream’ (See Dick 762, The Exegesis of Phillip K. Dick, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2011) where he proposes the following: 9 . . . instead of a human mind crossbonding with the plasmate [human knowledge] to produce a homoplasmate, two human minds form the building blocks that compose the plasmate. This new life form has no body. Instead, “It utilizes the principle of organization to structure anything, a whole lot of things—ordinary things—into its “body.” Thus, it is “floating” . . . It amounts to a “perturbation in the reality field,” Jay Goulding, “Visceral Manifestation,” 382. 161 exerting valence or displacement. To it, reality is a series of ideas, not things, since it itself is an idea. 10 Dick’s Ditheon dream enables a hermeneutical assessment of how a lucid dream might inform a moving body. The perceptual, altered state that binds the non-dance to the dancing body ought to amount to what many describe as an ‘ethereal’ or ‘out of body’ experience. As Oida iterates for the acting body, “the rehearsal room is just the preparation that enables the discovery. The audience tells me how to play. I believe that the actor's job is not to show what he or she can do, but to bring the audience into another time and space; a place that the audience does not encounter in daily life.” (See Oida 5, The Invisible Actor) Studio rehearsals usually occur open-eyed and passively rather than closed-eyed and actively. The moment a dancing body un-teaches it-self the dance is when thoughtless-mindfulness generates the forgotten trance in dance, by causing fear through incalculable nuances of improvisation. [FÆRA]from Lt. [Experior] defined as a person who has gone through a fearful time relates Heidegger’s contemplation [Besinnlichkeit] as a viscerally reactionary mode that stands alongside what is known regarding movement vocabulary with what is unknown, through the breaking of the movement’s hegemony. However, these considerations are much easily said than achieved. Oida cleverly describes a set of exercises that should be practiced prior to identifying how a body might cultivate stillness at the centre of motion. Oida notes the following: There is an old saying: ‘Ordinary people breathe through the chest, wise people breathe through the hara, and the skilled person breathes through the feet.’ 10 The ‘wise person’ refers to the practice of meditation; if you do this, concentrate your breathing in the hara, the area just below your navel. The ‘skilled person’ is someone who uses their body in a highly developed way, such as an actor, or martial Phillip K. Dick, (2011) The Exegesis of Phillip K. Dick (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company), 762. Both Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem’s contributions to deciphering much of Dickian philosophical frameworks are crucial throughout his Exegesis. Phillip K. Dick references hybridization between humanism and divinity which can only be experienced through a suspension of space-time reality. The ‘Ditheon’ or as Jackson and Lethem describe as the ‘dual-brain double god’ encompasses the eternal oneness affiliated with Heidegger’s concealment or deception (Latera). Hermeneutically, this notion relates back to the dancing body by considering that the ‘what’ that remains concealed ought to be the trance that releases the eventual deception of a dance. In order for the body to embody the non-dance, an exterior notion of delivering choreography needs to cease by letting the body understand that there is no choreography, only chance and error guided by invisible, undeniable divine intelligence. Oida insightfully writes later in the Invisible Actor that “very often, actors will see an ‘effect’ and decide to imitate it, but this will not produce good acting. Instead, you need to understand where that ‘effect’ originates, and what causes it to come into being.” Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor, 72. It is when chance and error substitute desire and motive when performing that non-dance presents the essence of an embodied trance. 162 artist. People in these fields use the image of getting energy from the Earth to help them. Imagine that air is entering your body through the feet, then it travels to the hara. Exhale and visualise the breath leaving the body through the tan-den (the core point of the hara, about three centimetres below the navel), and travelling far into the distance. Again, you are working on two levels: the physical intake and expulsion of air through the lungs, and the image used to focus the breathing. 11 Martin Heidegger moves away from dependency on concepts, thereby rivalling representational thinking. Oida’s example of meditation above best delineates a similarity found in Heidegger’s sojourn, where a sojourn [Aufenthalte] unconseals [Aletheia] a haunting. Essentially, meditation is a place that exists beyond the concept of knowingness, a place that has no name, or perhaps a place that isn’t a place at all. Meditation paves way for the tracing of a trance as it beholds the reversibility of truth; the truth of essence. The Four Cornerstones embracing East Asian thinking as provided by Jay Goulding 12 refine the importance of how meditation manages to simplify a dancing body’s visceral trajectory into experiencing a trance leading into non-dance by dissolving pseudo-conceptual boundaries and limitations guided primarily by dissimulation, or concealment: (1) Non-Cartesian subjectivity (there is no ‘I’ but a person as temporally/dimensionally ‘in-between’) (2) Non-Euclidean space (fractal geometry, Chinese chaos theory; no vanishing point) (3) Non-Aristotelian time (reversibility of time; every moment an instance of a different time) (4) Non-representational thinking (thing as itself, that which things a thing is not itself a thing) imbedded equally within Heidegger’s thought as within Daoist cosmology. 13 11 Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor, 89. Jay Goulding, (2022) “Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology,” in David Chai (ed.), Daoist Resonances in Heidegger:Exploring a Forgotten Debt, (London: Bloomsbury Academic), 47102. 13 Ibid., 60-61 Considering Jay Goulding’s insights, ideally, the performing body proper (whether it being acting or dancing) should consider meditation as a method used to create a threshold of perceptual depth that a character later uses to pierce the veil of linearity in order to break and dissolve suggestive concepts. The ‘I’ ceases to exist as the dancing takes over the dancer and the danced, or perhaps the acting takes over the actor and the act. The lines of the stage vanish as there is no stage, but a new realm situated in a new place of existence. As there are no lines indicating where the stage ought to begin or end, there can be no time either, as the 12 163 In relation with this observation, calling upon Heidegger’s quadrate or fourfold continues to clarify what the realm of the pure, unrefined, and absolute entails for the acting or dancing body. Heidegger’s quadrate appears in his Contributions to Philosophy (1936) and when assessed hermeneutically for the purposes of explicating the role of the “what” an invisible actor does for the body experiencing it, alongside the bodies that gaze upon it, Goulding goes on to explain the fundamental importance of the quadrate’s centrifugal force that magnetizes its counterparts, both repelling, and attracting them. When assessed hermeneutically, Both Heidegger’s and Goulding’s philosophical groundings carry over and inform how non-dance might be achieved through an altered state. Goulding describes this centrifugal force: Man ( World E (encleaveage) Earth ) Gods Figure 1 We see the “E” for encleavage (Erklüftung) as the midpoint of the world-earth and man-gods axes as the “truth-ground” of the event (Ereignis). Da-sein unfolds at this central midpoint. An encleavage is an enfolding unto itself. The ontological difference is a “scission” between Being and beings that link each to the other by “cleaving” them into two. Da-sein is “the truth of being.” 14 Here, the fourfold can be used to assess the Western viewpoint in contemporary dance forms that lacks an ontological framework. Due to this absence and misunderstanding of why ontology remains instrumental to powering the causation of creative movement forms, seldom dancers ever come close to experiencing a trance that is necessary in order to coresonate transportation into the altered state of non-dance. In the West, if we use Heidegger’s fourfold as a cipher that questions the unnecessary stratification of systematized roles hindering pure, unrefined, and absolute movement, we notice the implicit replacement of headings comprising the fourfold, perhaps unconsciously, by most performers. As a result, Heidegger’s [Geborgenwerden], secretly hidden body consciousness [Bewusst-sein] as described as thinking with their body and not the mind, seizes before it ever begins. The shift, indicating the auxiliary terms ‘replacing’ the fourfold headings limit movement potential from ever transcending the grip of meaningless, somatic tension and turbulence wrongfully denoted as a possibility of embodying the virtue of a dance: new theoretical displacement of time renders it obsolete yet infinite through the emergence of the character (the becoming of the unseen). 14 Goulding, Jay. (2021) “Cheng and Gadamer: Daoist Phenomenology.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 48, no. 4: 368-382. 164 Man replaced with (performers) World replaced with (audience) E (encleaveage) Gods replaced with(choreographers) Earth replaced with (stage) Figure 2 The new fourfold, if assessed hermeneutically for the dancing or acting body, represents the notion as to why the finding of one’s ‘being’ is entirely missed, perhaps involuntarily. Calling upon Goulding’s earlier mention of the Four Cornerstones (that remain as inactive and unattainable for their ability to guide the performer toward experiencing the invisible actor concealed within them) the performer momentarily pursues only the superficial pleasures, desires, and temptations associated with audience satisfaction. Yoshi Oida denotes an important fact in regard to the perception of reality that might accidently investigate the notion of ‘fear’: Contrast and variety are necessary for the audience, since it is not possible for them to remain engaged with the performance if it remains locked on any one level. However, the need for contrast lies deeper than merely keeping the audience entertained. It is essential for creating theatre that is true to human life. In our daily existence there are many changes of rhythm, pace, and direction. We may sit still for several minutes, then suddenly jump to our feet, and then wander into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Even in a short period of time there will be a range of different actions and responses. Theatre needs to reflect this constantly shifting variety in order to appear truthful. In addition, all theatre compresses time. Events taking place over ten years, ten months, or a couple of days are squeezed into a show lasting a few hours at most. On stage, it is the essence of events that is reproduced, not every single detail. 15 15 Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor,105. 165 Comparisons between angst and fear in frameworks of dance Inwood’s Description of Heidegger’s angst and fear 16 Before the Dance Transition to the Dance Beginning as astonishment followed by fright [Erschrecken] and restraint [Verhaltenheit] precedes movement Falling [Verfallen] 17 as a mode of care that deepens the trance needed to experience non-dance Being in the During of the Dance Passion [Leidenschaft] as might the body feel relative to an empty vessel as it drifts into lucid slumber, floating, suspended between realms After the Enduring of the Dance Reality [Wirklichkeit] 16 Michael Inwood, (1999) A Heidegger Dictionary, (Blackwell Publishers), 15-17 Inwood notes that a variety of terms are affiliated with the conjunction of ‘fear’ including passion [Leidenschaft], affect/emotion [Affeckt], feeling [Gefȕhl], and mood [Stimmung]. These four sensations, as perhaps Freud would discern, might also generate the accumulation of fear if amplified or intensified. Interestingly, these four terms fit the condition of a dance perfectly, as many performers have claimed, including myself, that the experience of some or all of these sensations simultaneously generate fear regardless of their amount present at the time of embodiment. A number of these sensations are important to differentiate from their emotions; for example, affect/emotion might not be best assumed to be co-identical to emotion itself. Affect is used as a creative tool by suggesting the emergence of a suitable emotion. Affect is not itself an emotion, but many. In contrast, passion for example in dance, has wrongfully been listed as an ability to ‘deliver’ movement as a reflection of a certain cultural characteristic, revealing much of the dancer’s ‘fullness’ in redistributing given choreography that a normalized group of participants collectively agree upon as the standard worthy of embracing an aesthetically convenient merit. Passion in dance, is not what the audience sees in any aesthetic that may or may not be present, but rather what the audience successfully feels in conjunction with what and how is being danced. Passion can be rendered identical through both motives of hate and love, fear and worship, heroism or cowardliness. The importance is noticing the difference between how different variations of the same term ‘fear’ are often displayed and create a possibility for a conversion into a viscerally manifested altered state. 17 Michael Inwood notes in Being and Time (1927), that existence, facticity and falling are all coconstituents of care. With an emphasis on facticity, the term’s first usage appears with German Philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte as a means used to resist or refrain from interpretation. Inwood goes on to quote Heidegger (see Being and Time, 335), stating that “Dasein falls because it remains in the throw.” Hermeneutically, a body looking to harness non-dance through the trance must indeed feel as if it is falling back or receding deeper within itself. It must abstain from answers that feel ‘right’ for the self by negating explanation or interpretation as a safeground for fulfilling choreographic precision. 166 Sigmund Freud’s description of angst and fear “The frequent occurrences of conscious daytime phantasies bring these structures [memories] to our knowledge.” 18 Imaginative formation [Phantasiebildung] Censorship [Zensur] of narcissism that hinder dream potentiality Oida’s Japanese description of Angst and Fear fuan 不安&ritsu 慄 “You always have fear when you are on stage.” 19 “Fear is very close to excitement.” 20 “Fear is not necessarily a negative element. You have to go with fear.” 21 Etymology of headings as extensions for angst and fear Before defined from old Saxon as ‘in front of.’ Transition defined as ‘trans’ from Lt. beyond, across, over, or a crossing over.’ Being in the during of defined as ‘dure’ meaning to last or endure. Source: John Z.M Vintila, The Now in [Nō能]-where, 2022 Similarly to ‘side-real’ (see Phillip K. Dick) or anamnesis (memory trace) a longing for or reminiscing from the grip of the dance “Fear can give you extraordinary energy… turn it into its positive form: theatrical excitement.” 22 After defined as ‘behind’ from gothic Aftana meaning from behind, away. Table. 1 As mentioned earlier, the moment a dancing body un-teaches it-self the dance is when thoughtless-mindfulness generates the forgotten trance in dance, by causing fear through incalculable nuances of improvisation. [FÆRA] from Lt. [Experior] defined as a person who has gone through a fearful time relates Heidegger’s contemplation [Besinnlichkeit] as a viscerally reactionary mode that stands alongside what is known regarding movement vocabulary with what is unknown, through the breaking of the movement’s hegemony. In Oida’s quotation above, two sections are italicized by my choice to emphasis a stark difference between acting or dancing as performing modalities’ in the East and West. Firstly, it would seem that in the case of dance, dance indeed, should aim to compress time, as dance itself is ephemeral. Secondly, as Oida notes, the essence of the events reproduced should outweigh the reproduction of the event itself, as any attempt to convey a choreographic vision as the choreographer is nothing more than a mimetic re-vision of their own perceived dance, at most, a redistribution of an attempted, replicable memory that might or might not be understood, apprehended and embodied alike. Unfortunately, these two considerations are seldom practiced in the West as they are in the East. It is therefore crucial that the dancing body, once encapsulated in the threshold of movement, trusts only as much as it needs to when reproducing a certain phrase of choreography. Every dance should use sufficient improvised nuances that create enough 18 Sigmund Freud, (2010) The Interpretation of Dreams, (Basic Books), trans. James Strachey, 496 19 Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor, 93 20 Ibid., 93 Oida goes on to say that he disagrees with “the people that believe that if you have no fear, you performer better.” 21 Ibid., 93 22 Ibid., 94 167 fear that the moving body can employ in order to dissimulate and liberate itself from the hegemonic origins of structured choreography so to otherwise pursue an intolerable aesthetic. Featured above, a chart using Michael Inwood’s Heidegger Dictionary (1999) as a fundamental reference, distils the various degrees of movement causation by identifying the impetus of fear that activates the trajectory of what I call the ‘intolerable aesthetic’. In turn, as a trance becomes readily available and externalities such as space, speed, and subject begin to dissolve, non-dance replaces the body’s dance with the dances’ absolute body from an invisible dimension. The table above also renders three different perspectives accounting for the various phases needed in order to achieve the dance in its pure, unrefined, and absolute altered state. From these perspectives, it is important to note that like Martin Heidegger who employs his double cross [KreuzweisenDurchstreichung] 23 to alter the valence of a selective term by abolishing its contextual framework confining it to its immediate definition by otherwise suggesting a ‘portal’ through its crossing out, the term dance should itself be crossed out in order to seek the connections needed to experience the non-dance that remains embedded within the altered state of the invisible, as Oida might suggest. The graph above also utilizes hermeneutics as a strategy to bridge the Freudian notion of the psycho-somatic and the dream-world with that of dance; the altered state that resonates a trance in dance cultivating stillness at the centre of motion is understood best through its dream-like qualities. Finally, an etymology of the terms fear and angst overlooking each category (before, transition, being in the during, and after the enduring) fuses a crosscomparative analysis between three fundamental notions of logic used to inform the practice of creative dance forms. 3. From The Visible To The Invisible: The Hermetic, Existentialist Synthesis Generating Movement Causation This section, rooted in Heideggerian existentialism, investigates the role of the dancer in correlation to the paronomasia (homonymic resemblances) between the terms prance, lance, chance, trance and dance, while simultaneously interpolating the particularity of three German idealist, phenomenologically centred and compatible terms: Geisteswissenschaften (human sciences, or the interaction of subjective and objective elements), Gleichursprünglichkeit (equiprimordiality or the gliding) and Erlebnis (inner lived experience). 24 By using hermeneutics to propose a harmonizing latency of 23 Jay Goulding, (2022)“Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology.” In Daoist Resonances in Heidegger:Exploring a Forgotten Debt, ed. David Chai, :47-102 24 Goulding writes: “In early Heidegger, Augenblick or Instanz is an equiprimordial moment inbetween Schicksal (fate, fortune, mingyun) and Geschick (destiny, tianming). It connects individual fortunes to social destinies. The Chinese translation of Augenblick is Yanxia. Yan refers to an eye, a small hole, a key point, a look or a glance; Xia refers to down, under, be-low 168 pensiveness available for embodiment, initiated through the causal, synergistic alchemy that these particular terms create, Oida’s conception of the invisible actor creates what I call to be ‘the summoning’ of and for a dance to be brought into visceral manifestation. These three phenomenologically centred terms act as an impetus for activating the cerebral impulse needed to suspend a being ‘in-between’ the visible and the invisible. An altered state then reinforces and recalibrates a dancer’s awareness much like various exercises Oida speaks on, such as breathing techniques used to support the actor’s transformation. Table 2 below can be used to distill the generic copula “as being” conveyed in the following statement that I created—“being in dance cannot exist without the prance, as the prance in dance creates the trance.” This statement should be used as a neurological tenet before and during the movement exploration. It also acts as a suitable linguistic prompt that a dancer might follow, similarly to Oida’s imagery exercise that focuses one’s attention on the tactile steadiness and surface area of their skin. (See Oida 89, The Invisible Actor, 1997) In addition, visualization plays a major role in identifying the occultist origin of what a trance actually is. As Oida also mentions numerous times that repetition is vital; in this case, of the statement —“being in dance cannot exist without the prance, as the prance in dance creates the trance” as it engages and prepares the mind accordingly to accept a possibility that the body alone might not be able to. The graph is a first step that creates a passageway for understanding how and why these five terms generate a portal of accessibility into the altered state of the invisible: or forming an idea; Yanxia is then a formation of a glance down, under or below, hence at the moment, at present, now, currently. Heidegger etymologically connected Augenblick, the instance, Kairos, the blink of an eye, with Ereignen, or the old spelling Er-äugnen, the eyeing of something. It is not much of a leap then to Eignen, to be adapted to, to be the property of, and Aneignung, ap-propriation. Since Heidegger seemed to like visual metaphors, Augenblick as a ‘blink of an eye’ and Ereignis as the ‘eyeing’ of the truth might be etymologically connected. Each is equiprimordial; each passes through the clearing. The translation of “equiprimordial” is also quite intriguing. Tongdongyuanshi [同等源始] refers to the equality of origins [Gleichursprünglichkeit]. It does recall, in my mind, the old Chinese expression mu you ben, shui you wen, the tree has a root, the river (water) has a source. It also recalls Cheng Chungying’s expression benti (onto-cosmology) insofar as ontology always has a primal origin (the cosmos).” Jay Goulding, (2004)“Xiong Wei 熊偉: Chinese Philosophy and Hermeneutic Phenomenology” Gate of Philosophy,哲學門Beijing University’s Journal of Philosophy Special 90th Anniversary of the Dept. of Philosophy, vol. 5: 120-121.Goulding also writes: “My original encounters with Gadamer and Cheng produce a unique Erlebnis (an inner state) that never fades. It generates a lifetime of my own Erfahrung (a going forth) on the way to Grunderfahrung (a ground or fundamental experience) of the Being of being (des Seins des Seienden) between Eastern and Western civilizations. See Goulding, (2021) “Cheng and Gadamer: Daoist Phenomenology.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 48, no.4: 368-382 169 Table 2. There-being before and the clearing of their being in duration (Da-sein) (of the respective creative mover) in nuanced, improvised dance forms Stages of the summoning and etymology Hermeneutic Translation from German as applied to the dancing body Examples of Diffusion of mindbody-matter transformation into visceral manifestation Prance ‘To strut about, to bound gaily and proudly as if for display’ 25 Gleichursprünglichkeit the act of the prance ↓ Defined as equiprimordiality or the gliding Geisteswissenschaften to (the) being of the lance ↓ Defined as human sciences or the interaction of subjective and objective elements Zeitig Improvised nuances enveloping known, determined choreography ↓ Defined as ‘happening at the right time’ 28 The beginning of a dance. External elements such as time, distance space, and lines or boundaries of a formal performing space dissolve and disappear. Piercing the veil of uncertainly; spirit does not over-think but rather acts quickly and instinctively, a troupe of lancegay. Lance From ‘lancegay’ meaning a kind of spear-head 26 mostly having been associated with a quick, sharp composition Chance What befalls, an event, Lt. Cadentia as ‘that which falls out favorably’ 27 Trance Catalepsy, ecstasy, loss of selfconsciousness. ‘Extreme fear or dread from Lt. Transīre to go or pass over or to have a sense of dying’ 29 Erlebnis the trance embodied by (the) being in the dance ↓ Defined as inner lived experience Improvised nuances reconfigure given choreography by inserting the element of chance as a ‘bridging mechanism’ between the known and unknown, the visible, and invisible, the emerging tolerable and intolerable aesthetic. Spirit prevails and body recedes into a dream-like death, momentarily offering the spirit full control of emerging the invisible actor through the altered state embodied. 25 Walter W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, (Dover Publications, New York, 2005), 469 26 Ibid., 328 27 Ibid., 102 28 Michael Inwood, A Heidegger Dictionary, (Blackwell Publishers, 1999), 220-221 Inwood explains that ‘early,’ supported Zeitigen, defined as ‘to let, bring to maturity, bring about, and produce.’ In relation to dance, Inwood’s observation that Zeitigen has the tendency to retain its own production of (itself) within time relates to the idea of abstraction in movement causation. By emphasizing production, chance outcome, is not a principle of movement but an extemporization that aims to act as an antagonist to what is expected within time itself. As a result, Heidegger’s Innerzeitigkeit defined as ‘within-time-ness’ would seem more suitable as a chance appropriating mechanism. 29 Ibid., 659 170 Dance ‘To trip with measured steps, from Lt. Tendere as to stretch’ 30 Erfahrung Altered state resonates non-dance through suspension of non-being ↓ Defined as experience Source: John Z.M Vintila, The Now in [Nō能]-where, 2022 Non-dance prevails as a result of the dance; its immediate counterpart as a remnant of the unseen dimension of spirits unhindered potentiality converted into visceral manifestation. Although all stages of the summoning of the dance are important to consider, the stage of the trance is undoubtedly the most important. To understand the notion of what a trance entails once embodied, one must have a basic understanding of where it comes from and how it co-creates what Phillip K. Dick would dub as a ‘perturbation in the reality field.’ As the trance traces remnants of darkness as it emerges from the dimension of the unseen, certain aspects central to spiritualism and the occult sciences inform the proponents of a trance as it becomes one and the same as the dance. Essentially, given that the etymology of the term ‘trance’ comes from the Latin term [transīre] meaning ‘to go, pass over, or to have a sense of dying’ there is a clear association between the living world and the world of the dead. Theoretically, in order for a dancing body to experience what a trance would otherwise create as being identical to Oida’s invisible actor, a body must pierce the veil of life and light in order to recede into darkness and death. Here, the invisible actor would then emerge or rather become, from the dimension of the unseen, as a result of the altered state the physical body endures from the bearing of the trance acting upon it. Emanuel Swedenborg from Heaven and Hell (2000) discusses an extension of this epiphenomenon by retrieving the role of a spirit-person in conjunction with its direct relation to evangelical Christianity and ecclesiastical history: This may be grasped [that everyone is a spirit inwardly] even more clearly from the fact that we are human because of our spirit, not because of our body, and because our physical form is appended to the spirit on keeping with its form, not the other way around, since a spirit is clothed with a body that suits it form. As a result, the human spirit acts upon the individual parts of the body, even the smallest ones, even to the point that any part that is not activated by the spirit, any part in which there is no spirit acting, is not alive. Anyone may realize this by considering that thought and intent activate absolutely everything in the body and are so completely in control that nothing dissents, and that if anything does not consent it is not part of the body. It is actually expelled as something with no life in it. 31 Swedenborg’s fragment from after death, we are in complete human form classifies the trance powering the dance as something intrinsically induced. The invisible actor, as a visceral manifestation from spirits’ emergence as the becoming of the unseen, retains with 30 Ibid., 154 Emanuel Swedenborg, (2000) Heaven and Hell (West Chester: Swedenborg Foundation), 342:§453. 31 171 it a dualistic property; that of darkness and evil, and lightness and good. Swedenborg goes on to explain the value of such equilibrium between the forces of Heaven and Hell that when converted as virtues that the spirit relies on gathers as the cultivation of stillness at the centre of motion 32 through the essence of the invisible actor at work in a reverse dimension of the living world: For anything to happen, there needs to be an equilibrium of everything involved. If there is no equilibrium, there is no action and reaction because the equilibrium occurs between two forces, one acting and the other reacting. The state of rest arising from equal agents and reagents is called an equilibrium… Every event, or every result, happens in an equilibrium, or happens by one force acting and another allowing itself to be acted upon, or by one force actively flowing in and the other accepting and yielding appropriately. In the natural world, what acts and reacts is called force or energy but in the spiritual world what acts and reacts is called life and volition. 33 If assessed hermeneutically, Swedenborg’s identification of equilibrium as it pertains to spirit might not be as farfetched to suggest that a trance actually occurs as an attempt used by a spirit to repossess the body only to retrace a wholly or holy sensation of an altered state the body craves to discover in what should be an intellectual performing modality. The possessive tendency of the spirit to reclaim the body’s ability to translate its own thoughts and feelings come from a dimension of the unseen where the physical body literally experiences a death-like-dream stasis as the spirit takes over and moves the body accordingly. The physical example of this theoretical deduction is most often observed through the performers’ ‘closing of their eyes’ on stage. The materialization of their vocabulary in terms of acting, or their movement in terms of dancing seems to become more than it was to begin with as it becomes embellished and revitalized with the spirit’s translatability that the body alone was incapable to produce. As the invisible actor prevails, it is actually the spirit’s unhindered potentiality that dictates the unseen dimension of movement that exists alongside the dimension of the visible. The becoming of the unseen is literally a hermetic conversion or evocation of matter that activates the presence of spirit whose essence becomes naturalized through the dissolution of physical properties the body willfully relinquishes, so to experience a momentary sensation of death and darkness. An extension of a phenomenological example of what the trance evokes from the cultivation of stillness at the centre of motion 34 includes the example from the Japanese filmmaker Takashi Shimizu. In one of his best known film franchises, Ju-On, translated as “The Grudge,” he describes the pervading occult force that gathers and becomes conceived as a result of accumulated rage. Shimizu mentions that “the grip of a powerful rage co32 Jay Goulding, “Visceral Manifestations,” 264. Swedenborg, 443-444:§589. 34 Jay Goulding, “Visceral Manifestation,” 364. 33 172 creates a gathering of a curse that is later picked up and mutable by those who encounter it. This curse is essentially ‘reborn’ as it is passed along accordingly.” 35 I will go on to explain the relationship between Heidegger’s notion of the “gathering” later on in this section which differs from my own hermeneutical deconstruction of Shimizu’s vision of his supernatural grudge. Yet the grip of a powerful rage can be directly related to the instance of non-dance as it literally comes to possess the body during the altered state of the trance. As discussed previously, a theoretical, hermeneutical assessment of this phenomenon involves the essence of a body receding back into the dark and unknown, by way of discovering the potential of an altered state. Experiencing a moment of partial death, rage becomes not an available emotion or sensation, but rather an actual place. The place of rage runs adjacent to a locus of anathema, aberrant to what most dancers describe as improvised movement enveloping constructed, choreographed movement. The activity of the phenomenological impulse that gathers and becomes one with the same body enduring the trance, itself, dismantles what Sir Francis Bacon argued as being named Idola Specus. The syllogism from his Novum Organum (1620) conveys a fallacy from perceived individualistic biases that carry with them the tendency to be wrong. Considering the particular instance of Bacon’s Idola Specus to act as a moralizing linguistic tactic that carries with it the ability to criticize and reform convention, structure, and concept by analyzing the root causes of assumptions thereby eliminating the need for passive speculation, Idola Specus can be said to prompt an engagement with the becoming of the unseen by forgetting what is known and tolerable, and replacing it with what is unknown and intolerable. Additionally, it is worthy to note that kinesthesia continues to work with the body as it endures the trance, but it no longer dominates, censors, or manipulates the body as it would otherwise prior to the deepening of the altered state. It would be impossible to assert that the hylozoistic viewpoint many choreographers, dancers, and spectators acknowledge that the act of the dance carries can ever seize to exist. This would mean that the true nature of dance is itself a lifeless one. Perhaps it is here where one can come to challenge the dimension of the trance and what an altered state implies. As the dancer uses the cadence that the music used to create the dance, a temporality comes to exist prior to its own destruction. As revelatory time (Augenblick) replaces constructed or perceived time with timelessness as the emergence of an unperceived event, a similarity of what one would expect when the experience of death detaches itself from normative assumptions or predictions. The past (Gewesenheit) does not inform the present non-dance as it fails to hold sway over the unexpected. Non-dance steals (Singularum Tantrum) dance from destabilizing the depth of an altered state by reconditioning the body to recede into darkness where what is, has, or will be expected cannot occur due to the spirit’s conversion into the becoming of the unseen from what is currently concealed (Latera). For example, Professor Donald Klive Stuart asserts that the origin of Greek Tragedy carries with it that dance in question is originally or centrally that 30 See cinematic synopsis or introductory clip from the Ju-On film (呪-怨), (2002) Takashi Shimizu. 173 of Dionysus; and it regards Dionysus, in this connection, as the spirit of the Dithyramb or Spring Drômenon, an ‘Eniautos-Daimon,’ who represents the cyclic death and rebirth of the world, including the rebirth of the tribe by the return of the heroes of dead ancestors. 36 Thereby, the concept of Ekstasis, the standing outside of the body, and of the corresponding need to step back into the body, is central to an understanding of Dionysus. 37In this case, there is no doubt that for the Greeks, dance carried a certain degree of spiritual kinship that strengthened the bond between the dimensions of the visible and hidden. Many examples of Greek dance embedded death as an existential reasoning and motive behind the artistic mimicry of tragedy, which was then embodied choreographically to translate a visceral tribute of spiritual revival. One of these examples included the ritualistic dance known as the ‘wing-sleeved’ dance of Dionysus. In such an activity, the Greek evolved what they called Cheironomia⸺ a whole code of gestures and symbolic movements the extent and complexity of which are almost beyond our comprehension, but the effect of which even upon foreigners was immediate and convincing. Music, poetry, the dance⸺they were all facets of the same thing, the art which they called mousiké, “the art of the muses.” 38 The combination of muses that the Greeks used managed to transpose dance with its counterpart through non-reliance on a specific muse in order to create another, with a goal of generating equilibrium between all muses, simultaneously emphasizing the “moving body as its own dance”. As a result, unlike a modern representation of dance where it is often claimed that the music guides, or rather dictates, the dance, for the Greeks, the dance guides the music, and the dance dances the body. With a look to Heidegger’s insights on what he denotes as Paideia, an elucidation of what is needed to experience the phenomenological impulse that powers and maintains the trance becomes evident. For Heidegger, to have Paideia is to know what is suitable and what is not; not to be taken in by the apparent self-evidence of the Principle of Ground, which is evidence of only “average everydayness,” but to realize that a reflection is needed upon what “ground” means, even at the risk of “groundlessness.” 39 Essentially, one who wishes to experience the non-dance would purposefully have to want to get lost in order to find themselves. Here, “groundlessness” is not classified as a state of instability or bewilderment upon attempts to grasp an understanding of it. On the contrary, any attempts to grasp the notion of what groundlessness might mean would abolish any chance of ever experiencing it. Yoshi Oida’s 36 Donald Clive Stuart, (1916) “The Origin of Greek Tragedy in the Light of Dramatic Technique.” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 47: 173– 204. https://doi.org/10.2307/282834. 37 Michael Turner, (2003) “The Women In White: Dionysus And The Dance Of Death.” Mediterranean Archaeology, 16: 138–48. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24668032. 38 Lillian Brady Lawler, (1947) “The Dance in Ancient Greece.” The Classical Journal 42.6: 346–49. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3291645. 39 John D. Caputo, (1978) The Mystical Element in Heidegger’s Thought (New York: Fordham University Press), 52-53. 174 Invisible Actor creates a framework that clarifies how the inception of embodying “groundlessness” can be adopted. Inwood denotes that it [groundlessness] takes prefixes, especially as Abgrund, strictly “earth going down (wards)”, i.e. “Unfathomable depths, abyss, underground, etc.”; day needs, Dasein is never a pure making present; it springs from a retention that awaits, and exists in a world on the ground of this retention or as itself this “ground”. 40 Heidegger would agree with the poet, Kūkai, where in his “Treatise on Distinguishing the Two Teachings: Exoteric and Esoteric” he carefully examines the differences between the exoteric and esoteric: Whereas the Buddha has three bodies, there are two kinds of teachings. Those delivered by the celestial (ō) and historical (ke) embodiments are “exoteric teachings” (kengyō). Being publicly expressed and abridged, those words are suited to the audience’s circumstances. The speeches of the cosmic embodiment (hosshin), on the other hand, are “esoteric teachings” (mikkyō). Obscure and interior, those words are the authentic exposition. 41 Clearly, Kūkai’s insights on the cosmic embodiment (hosshin) or what he deemed “esoteric teaching” are those of a “substance derivative” that are infallible alongside human nature. Consequentially, Heidegger’s “groundlessness” resonates Kūkai’s authentic exposition from the sense that through a cosmic grounding that later envelopes Oida’s Invisable Actor, groundlessness comes to replace the state of existence associated with the “what” dance is thought to be, with a moment of non-existence through the altered state and non-dance as the “what” dance is rarely embodied and thought to be. As mentioned earlier, Heidegger’s notion of the “gathering” which differs from my own hermeneutical deconstruction of Shimizu’s vision of his supernatural grudge also informs how the altered state develops into non-dance, and non-being. Heidegger’s Being as an active, undulating life-force of existence powers the fundamental non-dance before becoming a body of dance that can be recognized by another living body. Yet what powers this life-force in its own rite of summoning? Is it the essence of God that lives through it, thereby allowing it to viscerally manifest? Nietzsche’s belief that the absence of God implies a nihilistic, onto-theology that points to an uneasy claim that the invisible cannot be guided as long as there is evidently an atheistic dwelling, creating a difficulty at assuring sceptics 40 Michael Inwood, (1999) A Heidegger Dictionary, (Blackwell Publishers): 82-84. Inwood quotes from Heidegger’s Being and Time. In dance, it is the goal of Beyng that rivals what purists of the art form have often argued against. The essence of the retention of groundlessness is the unstable [Instabilis] (see Latin-English and English-Latin dictionary, Charles Anthon, (1875), 1247) grasp of non-being that re-places and re-traces the body in demand of itself as opposed to in demand of the external dance. It is existentially pragmatic to assume that the use of ‘groundlessness’ can inform a dancing body even superficially at its utterance in order to guide it at experiencing the ‘abyssal hallowing’ of the self. 41 Thomas P Kasulis, (2018) Engaging Japanese Philosophy, A Short History(University of Hawai’i Press), 110. 175 attempting to assess any ‘invisible realm.’ As opposed to such view, Heidegger constantly speaks of ‘god(s)’, but his/their ontological status is obscure: ‘God [Der Gott] is neither “existent” [‘Seiend;] nor “non-existent” [‘Unseiend’], nor to be equated with beyng; beyng essences [west] temporo-spatially as that “Between” [‘Zwischen’] that can never be grounded in God, and not in man either as present-at-hand and living, but is Da-sein. God needs beying but is not identical to it. Beying is between gods and beings, like the ‘hearthfire in the centre of the dwelling of the gods. 42 The gathering is not itself an expression, but an ‘enframing’ of the ‘uninframable’ that supplements a site of refuge and care that the definitive body remains incapable of. Through the gathering, a sense of what ‘a soul’ might mean comes to a suspension between the visible and invisible realms of what rigidly and obscurely often gets defined as ‘dance.’ A clear, more poetic example of the soul that clarifies the primordial synthesis of the altered state and non-dance might include the poem ‘The Cherubinic Wanderer’ by Angelus Silesius that echo’s Meister Eckhart’s mystical insights. The Mysterious Rose by analogy comes to reflect the tranquil nature of the body enduring the altered state. Like a synonymous non-representation of what’s expected, the ‘rose’ in the poem could be replaced with any verb altering the existentially applicable, phenomenological tribute in Silesius’s poem: The rose is my soul; the thorn, the pleasures of the flesh; The spring is Gods favour; His scorn the cold and frost; Its blossoming is doing good without paying mind to its thorn, the flesh. 43 Replacing the verb ‘rose’ with ‘dance’ might come to inform the scope of identifying the phenomenological underpinning in order to relate the ‘gathering’ to ‘non-dance’: The [dance] [is my] soul; the thorn, the pleasures of the flesh; The spring is Gods favour; His scorn the cold and frost; Its blossoming is doing good without paying mind to its thorn, the flesh. Reintroducing Heidegger’s ‘double cross’ (KreuzweisenDurchstreichung) 44 the strikingthrough of the verb ‘dance’ in the altered version of Silesius’s poem signifies the jointure between both the abyssal nature of abolishing the concept of dance with non-dance, 42 Michael Inwood, A Heidegger Dictionary, (Blackwell Publishers, 1999), 82. See Angelus Silesius, (1960) Der CherubinischeWandersmann, (Munich W. Godman), 30. 44 See Jay Goulding, (2021) “Japanese Phenomenology: East and West,” 1-60. Annual Conference Japan Studies Association of Canada (JSAC), Conference Coordinator Tom Waldichuk, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, B.C., September 30 - October 3. 43 176 alongside the holiness associated with the primordial, invisible dimension gathering as a divine, visceral manifestation. In terms of occult philosophy and its relation to parapsychology, the notion of the invisible actor and how it informs the practice of non-dance rendering the apparition of a dance can further be understood through topics exclusive to the dark arts and existential phenomenology. Interestingly, the contemporary dancers’ technique should be invisible to begin with. 45 Along with this consideration, “non-being,” what Heidegger would call [Nichtsein] would seem almost impossible not to carry with it certain invisible properties securing what most parapsychologists and even demonologists would deem as a conjuration, or silent incantation used to materialize the internal experience of non-dance into the external appearance of a dance. For most dancers, a trance acts accordingly, embracing both similarities to that of a conjuration and incantation; a conjuration used to expel one’s own spirit’s innermost desires after being trapped in a body that mimics what a choreographer imprints for them, and an incantation by way of, for example, repeating the stages of the summoning situated in the table mentioned earlier for the spirit to experience an eventual abandonment of being [Verlassenheit] creating a releasement [Gelassenheit] from the enframing [Gestell]. 46As the invisible dimension should be presumed to be in and of itself timeless, the shift from being ‘someone’ or a represented ‘something’ before the clearing of being produces non-dance through the threshold of the trance ought to be a seamless procedure. Like the invisible dimension which demands to be brought into visceral manifestation as the becoming of the unseen, time itself would only suppress the attachment of one’s altered state resonating non-dance through the suspension of nonbeing. An earlier mentioning of what I call an intolerable aesthetic would perhaps better be called an intolerable dimension, as what is invisible is often associated with darkness and death and is thereby intolerable. As nuanced improvisation inserts over the bulk of known and mimicked choreography, the invisible actor prevails through one’s trance of imbuing what is tolerable and known, with what is intolerable and unknown. This method, like a multitude of Oida’s exercises, takes practice for the developing dancer. Essentially, an equilibrium between an intrinsic understanding of spirit and its inseparable perceptivity of fear unbalances the expected outcome of movement causation generating the enframing of a perceived or desired aesthetic. The emerging fragments from the dimension of the invisible, through momentous transitions of nuanced improvisations, or as an extension applied to this theoretical methodology as what Jay Goulding brilliantly describes as the 45 JaanaParviainen, (2003) Dance Techne: Kinetic Bodily Logos and Thinking in Movement (Oslow: Nordisk EstetiskTidskrift), 161. 46 See Jay Goulding, “Heidegger’s Daoist Phenomenology” throughout for “Gelassenheit” and “Verlassenheit.” Also see Jay Goulding, “Japanese Phenomenology.” 177 ‘emergence of concealed convergences,’ 47 traces the forgotten trance in dance through the invisible actor that dances it through non-dance. Occult philosophy offers the developing dancer much to consider especially if a performer has become used to the embedded sense of the term “transcendence” [Überschreiten, exceed]. Heidegger uses Überschreiten to disconnect himself from the technical language of Kant’s transzendenz. 48 It is to be noted that the instance of a trance, along with its death-like qualities has a particular ability of overpowering the sense of kinesthesia binding the three roles of choreographer, dancer, and spectator. 49 Rather than kinesthesia occurring as a fundamentalist feature of arbitrary movement output, the trance powering the dance magnifies and intensifies the relative perception that becomes available once gazed upon by a spectator. For example, in some early Christian communities, processions or formal dance patterns formed part of the prayer service. 50 Presumably, these dances reflected embedded motives of eschatology like references identified in the scripture that were furthered shared and preached from worshipping members. The occult world, whose 47 See Jay Goulding, (2021) “Japanese Phenomenology: East and West,” 1-60. Annual Conference Japan Studies Association of Canada (JSAC), Conference Coordinator Tom Waldichuk, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, B.C., September 30 - October 3, 2021.A number of Goulding’s essays mention ‘the emergence of concealed convergences’ as remnants whose emergence from an invisible dimension creates the substance associated with Heidegger’s uncanny [Unheimlich]. See Jay Goulding, (2014)“The Forgotten Frankfurt School: Richard Wilhelm’s China Institute,” Journal of Chinese Philosophy edited by Cheng Chung-ying, Linyu Gu, and Tim Connolly, special issues entitled “Chinese Philosophy as World Philosophy: Humanity and Creativity (III)” 41:1-2 (March–June), 183. Here, Goulding writes: “Following Heidegger as a ‘thinker of history’ (Geschichtsdenker) rather than an ‘historian,’ I attempt to restore history itself to its inexplicability (Unerklärbarkeit) as Heidegger might say.” With this article, Goulding is recognized by Journal of Chinese Philosophy as “a distinguished scholar in Chinese philosophy and/or comparative thinker,” contributing to the 40th anniversary celebratory volume. 48 Michael Inwood, (1999) A Heidegger Dictionary, (Blackwell Publishers), 225-228 Inwood’s dissemination of Heidegger’s Überschreiten applies to many performers that are often misguided by how transcendence applies to movement causation. More often than not, transcendence in creative movement points to a limited, superficial claim governed by antithetical neurological tenets such as ones that use the sense of ‘an escape’ through demonstrated technique as a means to supply an ethereal, somatic sensation of joy or awakening through solitude while moving. However, the escaping of the ‘what’ and ‘why’ seldom supports a dancer’s response when asked. It would seem that Heidegger’s third description (Fundamental-Ontological transcendence) (See 226, A Heidegger Dictionary, 1999) best serves the purpose of understanding its connection to achieving non-being in dance: “surmounting [Übersteigung], being a distinctive feature of Dasein indicates that it ‘always stands in the open of beings.’” 49 See J.Z Michael Vintila, (2020) Emancipating the Dancing Body (Toronto: York University, York Space). 50 See Encyclopædia Britannica, Dance, The Art of, sec. Basic Motives: self-expression and physical release, Vol. 16, 935-936. 178 etymology, from Lt. [Occultus] literally defined as hidden, secret or [Occultātio] meaning ‘a hiding’ 51 clearly conjoins phenomena of the supernatural and paranormal as factors informing the field of the occult. In relation to dance, it would not be difficult to notice the similarities between the experience of a trance and occult philosophy. As being joins a hiding with the unseen realm, an altered state through the trance gives rise to non-being through the emergence of the invisible actor as the spirit that becomes from the unseen. Naturally, non-dance prevails through the spirit’s ability to recalibrate an otherwise unattainable threshold of depth perception, an invisible dimension that vivifies the possibility of viscerally manifesting a dance. The fabled English mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead described what he dubbed as ‘the fallacy of misplaced concreteness’ as what occurs when one treats an abstraction (however useful it may be to denote the behavior of properties of objects under specific circumstances) as if it were a material thing. 52 All movement begins as an abstract impulse even though later mobilized, embodied, and archived by a dancing body. The bodies’ neurological ability to convert contemplated movement into a visceral demonstration of somatic calculability that can be mimicked accordingly suggests nothing more than employing the skill of duplicity; in this case, creating ideal choreography that is one and the same of something that was originally meant to be unique and different. Due to this interruption and erasure of original movement that travels over, around and within concrete concepts such as space, distance, speed, and interpretation, mimicked movement nullifies what was meant to be used by and for the dancing self, thereby treating the dance itself as if it were a material thing. This is a problem as the condition of a trance is hindered early in the process of movement causation. Considering the earlier mentioning of the etymology of the term ‘trance,’ from Lt. [Transīre] ‘to go or pass over or to have a sense of dying,’ Heidegger’s elaborate use of his contention on anxiety proves to work in unison with Søren Kierkegaard’s dread or angst: For the 20th-century German Philosopher Martin Heidegger, anxiety is one of the distinctive ways through which Dasein (the historical person) is disclosed as a contingent being; and thus, anxiety is that through which fear first becomes possible. 53 This example, when applied to the trance used to produce non-dance, is a matter of solidifying the ‘what’ in Oida’s invisible actor, which emerges as a counterpart of the natural, physical realm. As noted earlier, the moment a dancing body un-teaches it-self the dance is when thoughtless-mindfulness generates the forgotten trance in dance, by causing fear through incalculable nuances of improvisation. [FÆRA] from Lt. [Experior] defined as a 51 Walter W. Skeat, (2005) An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, (Dover Publications, New York), 408. 52 See Encyclopædia Britannica, Death, sec. The Biological Problems, 16: volume 16, 983-984. 53 See Encyclopædia Britannica, Ready Reference, 4: volume 16, 217. 179 person that has gone through a fearful time, related Heidegger’s contemplation [Besinnlichkeit] as a viscerally reactionary mode that stands alongside what is known regarding movement vocabulary with what is unknown, through the breaking of the movement’s hegemony. As an accumulation of fear develops, the invisible actor is forced to emerge as a remnant from the darkness that cloaked its existence prior. The altered state, similar to that of the latency associated with a dream, includes the intolerable dimension that pursues non-dance as the fundamental characteristic that revitalizes dance as the pure, unrefined, and absolute practice it ought to be. This is perhaps why dance cannot be taught, similarly to how acting cannot be acted upon. The invisible actor is not a shared or shaded entity, but rather its own. In dance, a poetic image of the invisible actor that emerges and embraces the cultivation of stillness at the centre of motion could best be described as the spirit’s ascension into its own altered state though unhindered darkness, as its immediate counterpart of a remnant of the unseen dimension regains it potentiality converted into a visceral manifestation as a body before a body. 4. Conclusion The undying ambition of both dancer and actor should willfully and harmoniously include the goal of utilizing the ideas noted within this essay as a conscious mode of artistic activism of which an active body, upon embodiment and participation, autonomously recognizes as a portal used to define and experience one’s own invisible actor. The pensive state that most actors resort to using by means of memorizing forms and concepts such as behavioral design, physiological structures, feelings, emotions, and meanings often create an overt, artificial character whose existence depends solely on the factor of eliciting audience enjoyment as a crude theatrical objective. Rather, the goal of discovering the altered state through the presence of a body before a body need not be considered an intellectual, metaphysical framework that an actor needs to force upon themselves frequently in order to liberate their own performing bodies from the subject and method confining the invisible actor residing within. It should rather be used to facilitate a dreamlike connection with an invisible dimension that craves exploration through the forgetting of the physical body in a controlled, often censored, so called performing space. Oida’s closing remark notably ties together the sensitive nature of experiencing the multitude of interconnecting facets responsible for deeming the invisible actor as a sacred body proper, overpowering the secular physical body that often envelopes its emergence, perhaps at times unwillingly: The invisible part of the actor is the plate that gives rise to and supports the visible action of the performance. You don't notice its presence. Only its absence. Consider the Heart Sutra in Buddhism. It says: ‘phenomenon is emptiness and emptiness is phenomenon.’ In a sense, everything arises from ‘emptiness’ or ‘nothingness.’ 54 54 Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor, 123 180 As Oida believes that the stage is a body where the acting body situates itself by way of the ‘othering,’ an unfettered suspension of non-being through the altered state a trance offers should be the only impulse granting access into the spiritual world of the invisible within a material world of the visible. 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Oslow: Nordisk Estetisk Tidskrift, 2003. Skeat, Walter W. An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Dover Publications, 2005. Swedenborg, Emanuel. Heaven and Hell. West Chester: Swedenborg Foundation, 2000. Turner, Michael. “THE WOMAN IN WHITE: DIONYSUS AND THE DANCE OF DEATH.” Mediterranean Archaeology 16 (2003): http://www.jstor.org/stable/24668032. Michael J.Z Vintila, (2020) Emancipating the Dancing Body: Bridging the Interdependency of Aesthetic Theory with Separated Roles in Contemporary Dance to Solidify the Phenomenology of Creative Movement Causation. Toronto: York University, York Space. 183 10. Narrative-based advanced and post-advanced Japanese language courses Norio Ota York University Abstract Since the advent of IT, language programs have gone through changes. Now, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, languages are taught online using video-conferencing. Online teaching and learning is expected to be the new normal, even after this pandemic subsides. Besides technological considerations, language professionals must develop a new framework, new content, and new approach in order to establish meaningful and developmental language programs in university education. In this paper, an attempt is made to revamp advanced and post-advanced Japanese courses at York University with purported narratives. Introducing narratives into the curricula will enhance the opportunity to place language programs at the next level with new content and intent. With various narratives the language program will be given a new portal to the further development of language programs, as an established discipline for university education. 1. Preamble My main objective in Japanese language education has been three-fold: (1) to establish a full four-year Japanese language program; (2) to investigate how a language program can be an integral part of university education; (3) to explore sustainable and progressive teaching strategies for IT-based course design for the future. A four-year language program , an Honours Minor Degree program, web-based courses and materials, and a distance education model have been achieved. The missing piece in the entire project was to design AP/JP3000 6.0 Advanced Modern Standard Japanese (JP3000) and AP/JP 4000 6.0 Postadvanced Modern Standard Japanese (JP4000) courses. Whereas I could experiment and develop JP3000, based on a ‘narrative approach,’ I could rarely offer JP4000 due to lack of students. In recent years, however, as more students have become interested in the Honours Minor Degree program, I could offer JP4000 more frequently. The on-going pandemic also has provided good opportunities to explore, experiment, test and develop the design of ‘narrative-based’ curricula for JP4000, based on the experience obtained in designing JP3000. While I was teaching JP4000 online last year, I had a ‘eureka’ moment and was very excited about the future prospect, realizing that this narrative-based design might be the key to successful implementation of all the above-mentioned objectives. 184 2. Language education in university education First, let us re�lect on the role of language education as a part of university education. Language instruction is still considered as the teaching of learning skills, and acquiring tools, for ‘content’ courses. The lingering question is whether or not language courses are quali�ied as a necessary and indispensable part of university education. In my view, language courses should offer students diverse knowledge and training that they do not acquire in non-language courses, or at the least, augment them. They can also create a foundation of further learning and enhance what they have learned. The bene�its of learning a language are often described in a rather abstract manner, such as learning timemanagement, how to deal with uncertainty, how to put knowledge into practice, crosscultural communication, and so forth. The next question is whether or not we are consciously implementing these bene�its through teaching and instructional materials, and if indeed students are acquiring them. In our beginners’ and intermediate courses at York University, various activities, assignments, and homework are designed to enhance these objectives. For advanced and post-advanced courses, these fundamental objectives remain the same, but a lot more are added in terms of concrete targets and in different approaches. Students are encouraged to create their own narratives in the four skill areas, being exposed to a variety of narrative resources available online. This contributes to raising the quality of language education to acquire legitimate status in university education. I was extremely pleased to hear several students who took JP3000 commenting in class that this course was the �irst university-like course they had taken at York University. The third question is what kind of new approaches are necessary to design and develop viable, sustainable, and progressive advanced and post-advanced courses, particularly for online course delivery. 3. Narrative, Narrative theory & Narrative paradigm There exist many de�initions of ‘narrative,’ but for the current discussion the following de�inition will suf�ice: ‘a way of presenting or understanding a situation or series of events that re�lects and promotes a particular point of view or set of values’ (quoted from Merriam Webster, 2021). Narrative Theory (Project Narrative, OSU, 2021) states: ‘Narrative theory starts from the assumption that narrative is a basic human strategy for coming to terms with fundamental elements of our experience, such as time, process, and change, and it proceeds from this assumption to study the distinctive nature of narrative and its various structures, elements, uses, and effects. 185 Narrative theorists, in short, study how stories help people make sense of the world, while also studying how people make sense of stories. Narratives of all kinds are relevant to the �ield: literary �ictions and non�ictions, �ilm narratives, oral narratives occurring during the give and take of everyday conversation, as well as narratives told in courtrooms, doctor’s of�ices, business conference rooms – indeed anywhere.’ Walter Fisher shows an interesting comparison between Narrative paradigm and Rational world paradigm. Narrative paradigm Rational world paradigm 1. Humans are storytellers. 1. Humans are rational. 2. Decision-making and communication are based on "good reasons." 2. Decision making is based on arguments. 3. Good reasons are determined by matters of 3. Arguments adhere to speci�ic criteria for history, biography, culture, and character. soundness and logic. 4. Rationality is based in people's awareness 4. Rationality is based on the quality of of internal consistency and resemblance to evidence and formal reasoning processes. lived experience. 5. We experience a world that is �illed with stories, and we must choose among them. 5. The world can be understood as a series of logical relationships that are uncovered through reasoning. Source: Wikipedia on Narrative paradigm, 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_paradigm The narrative approach encompasses this narrative paradigm and is de�ined here as a new paradigm to design and develop advanced and post-advanced courses in particular. 4. Narrative in language education The importance of narrative activity and analysis in foreign language teaching and learning has been discussed by scholars in ESL and in Japanese language education. Mori 186 (2008) emphasizes the importance of learners’ narrative activities as an integral part of a communicative approach; Shimazu (2018) argues that the practice of narratives for both learners and teachers is important in constructing and presenting their identities; Yagi (2015) claims that the fusion of narrative and ethnography will help learners to construct identities in the global and multi-cultural environment. Fedorenko, et al. (2021) argue that: ‘multimodality, grounded on information technologies, is introducing entirely new semiotic resources into the communicative environment of foreign language learning. It is also generating innovative ways and forms of oral and written interaction.’ (p.178) Their sample of multimodal learning activities in ESL are very innovative and instructive. They conclude: ‘Multimodal learning activities enhance the methodology of foreign language acquisition. Summing up, the educational environment with digital technologies of transformation, storage and transfer of information creates a powerful source of knowledge, and, apparently, allows the students to get the practical application of a new multimodal narrative-based approach to actualize their creative talent.’ (P. 186) They describe the current situation and new directions in foreign language teaching and learning very succinctly as follows. ‘….it is necessary to stress that the multimodality of the 21st century has changed traditional approaches to teaching a foreign language. The speech activities (reading, listening, speaking, and writing) remain the same, while the forms have transformed, as multimodal capabilities allow exploiting presentations, videos, blogs, etc. Such process requires a new communicative discourse of learning a foreign language.’ (p. 180) ‘Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly popular in a multimodal environment of learning a foreign language to turn to an interactive digital narrative, since on the one hand, the digital narrative is characterized by interdisciplinarity, and, on the other, enhances the development of students’ critical and creative thinking, communication skills, and digital competence.’ (p. 180) 187 ‘Awareness of the importance of narrative as a way of understanding the world around us and ourselves in this world has led to rethinking the educational process in general and learning a foreign language in particular.’ (p. 181) ‘Narratives involve not just the presentation of students’ thoughts about a particular event, deed, etc., but contain a transfer of their attitudes to what they describe. At the same time, re�lection becomes an integral attribute of the narrative as a sociocultural tool that provides students with deeper self-understanding and complements the communicative system of foreign language acquisition with metacognition and values of life meaning.’ (p. 181) Their view is very much in line with what I have been trying to do in designing the upperlevel courses in Japanese. 5. Narrative-based language course design Developing and teaching online courses for advanced and post advanced levels brought forward a small breakthrough in conceptualizing a model for both. The key concept is narrative. For example, in JP4000 one of the narratives was a critical view of neoliberalism. Students read an article, watch a lecture and discussions on YouTube, engage in a discussion within a small group, and write an essay on the same theme. When we were discussing ‘neoliberalism,’ one of the students stated that he learned about it in other courses, but he understood the concept very clearly after we read and discussed it in the Japanese class. The �irst online courses last year were very exciting because so many resources were available on the Internet. Smaller numbers of students in both JP3000 and JP4000 helped too, but despite very demanding and advanced resources, the students did very well, and their pro�iciency was much improved. Their online presentations and papers based on the same topics were excellent in terms of their own narratives. Now I would like to share the current syllabi for JP3000 and JP4000. JP3000 https://buna.yorku.ca/japanese/jp3000.html The reading texts are all my own narratives on personal experience, interpretation and opinions of events and activities. Students engage in their own narratives in group conversations and discussions, debates, interviews, and oral presentations. They write their own narratives based on �ilms, videos, and lectures. Translation exercises and error 188 analysis exercises are also given. Short story videos are for listening comprehension and short group conversation. Video-recording is available for review purposes. One of the narratives inserted is about Chiune Sugihara, a pre-war Japanese diplomat who saved the lives of 6000 Jewish refugees. The �ilm was based on his wife’s narrative. After watching it, one of the Chinese students said that everything she had learned about Japan was negative, but this narrative changed her view about Japan and Japanese. JP4000: https://buna.yorku.ca/japanese/jp4000.html Just as in JP3000, all the reading texts are my own narratives, but consist of texts of different genres such as description, opinion piece, travelog, diary, lecture, speech, presentation, etc. More advanced narratives, such as the Olympics, the Abe regime, sleep debt, generic medicine, post-CORONA social welfare, photography and original experience, languages on the verge of extinction, the third wave of COVID-19, new political narrative on neoliberal policies, personalities, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and so forth are introduced via TED lecture series and YouTube videos. The documentary on the life of Sutematsu Oyama, who joined the Iwakura delegation to the United States as one of the �irst six female students at the age of 11 in 1871 and received a university degree as the �irst Asian woman. She made great contributions in promoting women’s positions in Japan and in establishing a school for nursing in Japan. Umeko Tsuda is better known, but the narrative of Sutematsu Oyama is also very insightful. Students were much impressed. I am thinking of introducing the narratives of Yoichi Hatta, who built a huge dam and contributed to Taiwan’s economic development under the Japanese occupation. There is an abundance of such narratives, and students learn about topics they do not learn in other courses in the Japanese program. Students can choose any topic to write their own narratives in the �inal essay. This narrative-based course design is progressive, �lexible, and open-ended with in�inite possibilities. My concluding remark for students was to create their own narratives and live in them, not in narratives created by other people. I believe that such an educational value should be incorporated in the Japanese language education in university. 6. Online delivery of language courses The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to offer courses online. I would like to compare jp3000 both in class (2019-20) and on-line (2020-21). 189 JP3000 (2019-20, in-class, 10 students): Final assessment summary JP3000 (2020-21, on-line, 15 students): Final assessment summary Although the sizes of the classes are different, the same materials, activities and approach were used. The quality and background of the students are also different. The comparison lacks in more chronological data as well. What I have noticed is that the on-line version scored higher in every category in the average. These results might be coincidental and in�luenced by the quality of the students. The only claim I can make from this, however, is that an online version could be more effective that an in-class version. The narrative approach discussed in this paper seems to be more conducive to the on-line version of the course. Many faculty members have quickly dismissed on-line versions of their courses without taking advantage of on-line teaching and learning. The learning curve for on-line teaching is very steep, and there are many areas unexplored. The narrative approach opens up excellent opportunities for on-line teaching and learning. What is expected for language professionals? 1. Improve their narrative skills both in Japanese and English. 2. Identify issues, become familiar with them, and have one’s own opinions and narrative. 190 3. Understand each student’s narrative ethnographically and globally to encourage her/him to construct identities in Japanese. 4. Share one’s own life experience and values with students. 5. Create one’s own narratives for instructional material. 7. Future prospect We are living in Tof�ler’s 3rd Wave civilization. Some talk about a 4th Wave and even a 5th Wave, characterized by IoT (the Internet of Things) (Montgomery, 2016). Futurists also predict a ‘technological horizon’ will take place by the year 2035, in which AI (arti�icial intelligence) would control every aspect of human life and diminish any differences in intelligence, skills, knowledge, talents among people, because no one would be able to surpass the power and knowledge of AI. We very often wonder whether or not the teaching profession would also be taken over by AI eventually. This may be a far-fetched conclusion, but this narrative-approach would make a breakthrough in maintaining human factors in teaching. 8. Conclusion The number of narratives is in�inite and changing all the time, so we can continue to design and create new advanced and post-advanced courses using a variety of narratives. I feel that this is the new beginning of such advanced and post-advanced level courses taught online. 191 References Fedorenko, Svitolana, et al. (2021) ‘Multimodality and Digital Narrative in Teaching a Foreign Language,’ Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Special Issue on CALL Number 7. July 2021, pp.178-189, https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/call7.13 Hazel, Paul (2007) ‘Narrative: An Introduction’, http://www.paulhazel.com/blog/Introduction_To_Narrative.pdf Montgomery, Bill (2016) ‘The 5th Wave’, Th IOT Magazine, Oct 26, 2016, https://theiotmagazine.com/the-5th-wave-4ee1ad8b3e9e Mori, Yoko (2008). 日 本語教育 と ナラティブ (Nihongo kyōiku to naratib). 関西外国語大 学留学生別科 日本語教育論集 (Papers in Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language). 18, 17-32. https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1050282812583206656 Ohio State University (2021) ‘What is narrative theory,’ Project Narrative, OSU, https://projectnarrative.osu.edu/about/what-is-narrative-theory Ota, Norio (2010) ‘Textbook dominance in foreign language teaching and learning,’ paper presented at the 2010 Power & Knowledge Conference, Tampere, Finland, September 6-8, 2010. _________ (2014a) ‘Washback and paradigm shift – the post-communicative paradigm with technology,’ paper presented at the 12th Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, Hawaii, January 10-13, 2014. _________ (2014b) ‘Making of a degree program in Japanese Studies,’ paper presented at the 2014 JSAC Annual Conference, Ryerson University, Toronto. October 17-19, 2014. _________ (2016) ‘Standardization vs. innovation in language education,’ in Globalizing Japan: Issues in Language, Linguistics and Japanese Society edited by D. Edgington, 2016, http://www.jsac.ca/jsac_web_pub/issrs_2015_pub_tokyo.pdf Shimazu, Momoyo (2018). 日 本語教育・教師教育において「語ること」の意味と意義 対話 に ナラティブ の 可能性 を 求 めて (The meaning and significance of “Telling Stories” in Japanese language education and teacher education of Japanese: Seeking potentialities of finding narratives in dialogues). 言語文化教育研究 (Studies of Language and Cultural Education), 16, 55-62. https: //doi.org/10.14960/gbkkg.16.55. Source: https://alce.jp/journal/vol16.html Wikipedia (2017) ‘Narrative Paradigm’, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_paradigm Yagi, Manami (2015). ナラティヴとの融合が示すエスノグラフィーの展開 (Developments in Ethnography Integrated with Narrative Inquiry). 日本語教育 192 (Journal of Japanese Language Education), 162, 50-65. https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1390001205162029824 193 11. Wagyu and the Factors Contributing to its Quality: Lessons for Canada Resulting from a Unique University Collaboration with Japan Dr. John Church Natural Resource Science, Thompson Rivers University Abstract Email: jchurch@tru.ca Today, the renowned beef brand name “Wagyu” includes not only cattle produced in Japan, but also cattle produced in countries such as Australia, the United States as well as Canada. The intense marbling of Wagyu tends to be its most noticeable characteristic. The high levels of intramuscular fat (marbling) content improve the texture, juiciness, and thereby overall Wagyu palatability. In addition to the unique genetic makeup of the Wagyu cattle breeds, the unique production systems employed in Japan also contributes to the development of high-quality Wagyu beef, factors which are largely ignored by Wagyu producers outside of Japan. With the objective of enhancing understanding of the true value of Wagyu, and the methods employed in its production, a tour of the Rakuen Gakuen University beef production facility took place near Sapporo, Japan, by Canadian researchers. Wagyu beef is increasingly being exported to the global marketplace and creating new market value as one of the world’s most luxurious food products. Beef producers outside of Japan in countries like Canada wishing to improve domestically produced Wagyu providence would be wise to better emulate the unique production methods employed by Japan’s beef industry in order to capture market premiums in the future. Keywords: Beef, Production, Quality, Japanese, Cattle 1. Introduction/Background Wagyu (“Wa” meaning “Japanese” and “gyu” meaning “cattle’) beef has swept across the growing niche market of luxury foods, not only in Japan but globally, gaining increasing popularity with gourmets around the world. The intense marbling of Wagyu tends to be its most defining characteristic, with the fat content of the rib eye sometimes higher than 50%; however, in addition to the actual appearance, its unique small-scale farming system in Japan is also remarkable and has led to Wagyu setting new standards for quality among 194 gourmet beef products (Motoyama et al., 2016). Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in North America, and risk factors include elevated plasma concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and depressed high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (Smith et al., 2020). The composition of fat in Wagyu is considerably different from that in other bovine breeds as it contains elevated amounts of the monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) oleic acid. For example, oleic acid concentration in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of Japanese Black, Hanwoo, Australian Crossbred, Angus (corn-fed), and Angus (hay-fed) are 52.9%, 47.3%, 39.8%, and 34.6 % respectively (Smith et al., 2006). There is a growing body of evidence that increased intake of oleic acid reduces the risk factors for metabolic disease in humans (Smith et al., 2020). High-oleic acid beef intervention studies have consistently increased HDL-C concentrations in humans. Therefore, the availability of high-oleic acid beef in the marketplace provided by a Wagyu beef product would provide consumers with a reasonable alternative to increasing dietary oleic acid beyond simply consuming high oleic acid oils. It is believed that the intensive feeding systems developed in Japan is necessary to produce their highly marbled beef, with an increase of more than 30% in the fat content of carcasses, demanded by consumers (Zembayashi and Inayaman, 1987). With the objective of enhancing understanding of the true value of the Wagyu beef product, and the methods employed in its production, a tour of the Rakuen Gakuen University beef production facility took place near Sapporo, Japan, by Canadian researchers (Figure 1, Figure 2). The ultimate purpose of the trip was to gain knowledge in order to potentially produce an authentic Wagyu beef product domestically in Canada. Due to its unique culture and geography, beef cattle production in Japan varies tremendously from Canada, where grazing land is vast and beef breeds, although numerous, vary widely from those used in Japan. Figure 1: Main Gate, Rakuno Gakuen University Beef Production Facility Figure 2: Author Dr. John Church with main Japanese Black herd matriarch Wagyu cow. 195 Wagyu cattle in Japan are classified into four distinct breeds, Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Shorthorn, and Japanese Polled. The most prominent Wagyu type is the Japanese Black which accounts for over 90% of total beef cattle and is distributed widely around Japan (Figure 3). Depending on the prefecture (similar to provinces in the Canada) in which they are raised, modern Japanese Black cattle were produced by crossing the original Japanese breeds with globally common breeds, such as Holstein, Simmental, Shorthorn, or Angus. Native Japanese cattle are Bos taurus and have similar phonotypes. Beef cattle raised in Japan exhibit an unusual ability to accumulate marbling, and their system for grading cattle is quite different from the Canadian beef Figure 3: Two Japanese Black Wagyu Steers close to finish weight, ~ value $15,000 USD each grading system. Carcasses receive a Beef Marbling Score (BMS) based on the amount of visible marbling in the loin muscle at the 6th and 7th thoracic rib interface. In contrast, carcasses in Canada are graded at the 12th and 13th rib interface. One of the earliest reports describing the ability of Japanese cattle to accumulate large amounts of marbling indicated that Japanese beef marbling scores (BMS) increase to 24 months of age and then plateau or level off (Yamazaki, 1981). It is generally accepted that Japanese Black cattle are genetically predisposed to deposit marbling over longer periods of time than British or Continental European beef cattle that are more commonly used in Canada. The tremendous capacity of 196 Wagyu cattle to accumulate marbling is based on their unique distribution of marbling adipocytes within their muscles. Wagyu marbling adipocytes cluster in large groups that resemble bunches of grapes, whereas marbling adipocytes appear like strings of pearls in other beef breed types. Cattle in Japan are fed for unusually long periods of time before slaughter (approximately 19 months past weaning), and this may contribute to the high monousaturated fatty acid levels seen in Japanese Black cattle relative to Canadian cattle. Cows and heifers are primarily bred by artificial insemination and have been raised at the Rakuen Gakuen University beef production facility over several generations. Natural breeding of cows is rare in Japan, because land is too valuable to commit to maintaining a bull. Instead, cows are impregnated by artificial insemination, which is seen in small farms, larger industrial farms, and university research centers like the one visited. The calves were 250 days of age and weighed 360 to 675 lb. at the start of the finishing phase. Conventional thinking in Japan assumes that marbling in Wagyu steers is “60% genetics and 40% production.” Culture, geography, and isolation all have contributed to the Japanese system of beef cattle production. Arable land suitable for crop production in Japan is as precious as it is in British Columbia, and as such the valley bottoms where the ground is level is generally restricted to the production of table vegetables and rice. Virtually no grains intended for animal production are grown in Japan, and livestock production itself is restricted to the foothills where it is more difficult to grow crops. Wagyu calves typically are raised in small barns or sheds, and often there is no grazing land available. 2. Use of Hydroponically Produced Fodder for Finishing Increasingly, there is a desire by consumers for beef producers to move away from concentrate fed cattle in developed countries like Japan and Canada to using more grass resources as a source of carbohydrate and protein as opposed to cereal grains (Gotoho et al., 2018). The main challenge with typical Canadian grass-finished beef production systems are limitations inherent in forage growth curves in Canada, creating a reliance on dry hay to finish animals, which often results in a lack of fat cover. As a result, the age at slaughter can often be more than 28 months, which leads to tenderness issues in the final grass-finished beef product. After touring the Japanese beef industry in Oct. 2019, we are convinced that a Hydrogreen production system, which produces fresh fodder from sprouted barley or wheat cereal grains, could be used to emulate the Japanese beef production system in BC. One of the main challenges with grass-finished beef production systems, due to limitations inherent in forage growth curves in Canada, is it tends to be a seasonal product. This hinders development of sustained markets for grass-finished beef. In addition, relying on dry hay to finish animals often results in a lack of fat cover required to properly hang and age the carcass, due to the drop in Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN). As a result, the age at slaughter can often be more than 28 months, which leads to tenderness issues in the final grass finished beef product, and also results in greater greenhouse gas emissions from enteric fermentation. The hydroponic grass/fodder production system (Hydrogreen) deployed at the Bakerview Ecodairy in Abbotsford, British Columbia, in collaboration with Thompson Rivers University, appears to have solved many of these problems (Figure 4). 197 This Hydrogreen method can produce certified grass-finished angus-cross carcasses remarkably quickly (15 months), which are consistently grading AAA/AA and are already in high demand and commanding a market premium. This product, known as “Hank’s grass finished beef,” is available fresh year-round. The speed which this “natural” beef (no additional or supplemental hormone growth promotants or antibiotics) can be produced is on par with beef produced from intensive grain finishing systems in Alberta that Figure 4: Dr. John Church with “Hydrogreen” hydroponic fodder system, Abbotsford, BC use hormone implanted steers. This novel hydrogreen system already allows our collaborator Bakerview to produce “grass-finished” beef with improved health attributes, which is similar in fatty acid profile to conventionally produce pasture finished beef (i.e., high omega 3 and conjugate linoleic acid enriched beef), in approximately half the time. An optimized Wagyu diet (likely containing a combination of Hydrogreen, liquid whey and seaweed supplemental) should result in a final beef product that is higher in omega-3 fatty acids when compared with a conventional grain diet. In addition, the Wagyu beef product is expected to have a distinct fatty acid profile richer in MUFAs compared with Angus cross animals. Many global initiatives are currently underway to develop new strategies to improve the sustainability of beef production including the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef Production and a similar Global Counterpart. The hydroponic beef production system is climate proof, efficient with respect to water, energy (via light emitting diode LED lighting) and land use and has tremendous potential to achieve grassfinished beef in shorter time periods (decreasing overall enteric emissions), which is especially important in producing premium Wagyu Beef. We are convinced that we can employ this new Hydrogreen production system to produce high value full blood Japanese Wagyu (Black) beef, which is more similar to that produced in Japan than Wagyu hybrids produced previously in Australia or North America, for domestic consumption in the 198 numerous fine dining Japanese restaurants throughout the Pacific Northwest and for export. 3. Use of Seaweed In addition, given that the world will require between 60-70% more animal products by 2050 to accommodate the growing human population, the livestock industry must explore options outside typical land-based agriculture products for animal feed. Looking beyond grain and grass-based feedstuffs, macroalgae (seaweed) has received recent attention as a high benefit component of forage rations. Interestingly, the use of macroalgae has often been included, and has a long history as a component of traditional Japanese Wagyu beef finishing systems (Dr. Osamu Dochi, Rakuen Gakuen University, personal communication with author, 2019). It is the tremendous species diversity, and the ease with which most of these macroalgae species can be cultivated at scale, which has attracted the recent attention of animal nutritionists. Enteric fermentation in ruminants as previously mentioned generates methane, which can represent an energy loss of approximately 2-12% for the animal and contributes significantly to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts are underway globally to develop nutritional strategies, based on the use of anti-methanogenic compounds, to help reduce ruminant methane production. A recent landmark study (Kinley et al., 2020) has demonstrated that a 0.2% inclusion (by dry matter) of the current gold standard antimethanogenic seaweed additive, Asparagopsis taxiformis, into a high grain total mixed ration (TMR) is capable of greatly reducing methane production in beef cattle (98% decrease) with no influence on dry matter intake (DMI) and average daily gain (ADG). Macroalgae would be especially valuable to include more formally in the finishing rations during Wagyu beef production in Canada to improve rumen digestibility and to potentially offset the emissions produced during the prolonged finishing period from enteric fermentation. The BC coast is incredibly rich in morphologically diverse macroalgae (or seaweeds) that have potential as components for high value animal feed. Seaweed additives have been presented as one of the leading strategies to decrease methane emissions in cattle. For decades, beef producers in Japan have used seaweed to obtain the extremely high-grade beef products, Japanese Wagyu beef, which have become world renowned. There are economic prospects and funding programs to aid economic development in many coastal communities, enabling and identifying new seaweed species that would be attractive candidates for animal feed. The development of a locally sourced seaweed feed additive would be a social and economic benefit to communities within British Columbia, such those on Vancouver Island. For example, there could be opportunities for new employment in harvesting, processing, and growing of seaweeds for animal feed formulations. And finally, we envision new opportunities for First Nations bands to expand their current seaweed aquaculture efforts to sustainably produce a highvalue seaweed product with minimal environmental impact. 4. Potential Economic Impact 199 The financial impact of a very high-end niche product like the Wagyu beef proposed in this project that targets high-end markets in the BC lower mainland is staggering. In Japan, true Wagyu beef is priced at least four to five times higher than the best Prime or Choice grades produced in North America (NA). The average price of a top-grade A5 wagyu steer carcass in the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market, a national benchmark, rose to a record 2,948 yen ($35.76 CDN) per kilogram in 2018. Each animal with a carcass weight of approximately 300 kg is worth $10,728 CDN in Japan, with export costs to NA needing to be added on if shipped to NA. Premium brands such as true “Kobe” beef are registered with the Japanese government, and export is tightly controlled. Most people who claim to have eaten “Kobe” beef in North America are likely mistaken and have simply eaten beef from a Wagyu cross animal finished with typical NA based feedlot grain-based methods. This Wagyu crossed beef from NA, and especially Australia, is considered grossly inferior in Japan. A beef carcass today is worth approximately $250 CDN per hundredweight. A 1400pound beef animal yields 750 lbs. and is worth $1875 CDN at these prices. Using conservative estimates for Wagyu beef sold in the lower mainland ($10000/animal), that would be 5 times more valuable than current Choice steers. Out of the approximately 90,000 calves available to market in BC, even if domestic production of Wagyu beef could capture just 2% of that market as premium Canadian Wagyu beef (2200 head), the value of that 2% would be worth over 22 million dollars. 5. Conclusion Wagyu cattle represent a unique breed type with a production history that distinguishes from the British and European beef breeds typically produced in Canada. Meat produced from Wagyu cattle is highly marbled, and the fat contained within the steak is softer as result of the higher levels of monounsaturated fatty acid, with a nutritionally better blend of fatty acids overall. What is truly remarkable about Wagyu cattle is that they can produce carcasses that are highly marbled, with a high concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids, even when fed hay or pasture-based diets. That is why we feel the use of hydroponic sprouts (fodder) from a system like Hydrogreens to produce Wagyu beef in Canada is more appropriate than using copious amounts of grain more typical in North American feedlot systems. We anticipate that Canadian consumers will appreciate the quality, nutritional attributes (especially the favorable fatty acid profile) and sustainability of a domestically produced Canadian Wagyu beef product. We are hopeful that this pioneering initiative will serve as inspiration to beef producers throughout the province of BC and will help initiate a potential path forward for branded domestic Wagyu beef production in British Columbia; as undoubtably, there is tremendous growth potential to raise Wagyu been in Canada to serve both domestic and premium beef export markets. 200 References Gotoh, T.; Nishimura, T.; Kuchida, K.; and Mannen, H. The Japanese Wagyu beef industry: current situation and future prospects – A review. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Science 2018, 31, 933-950. Kinley, R. D.; Martinez-Fernandez, G.; Matthews, M.K.; de Nys, R.; Magnusson, M.; and Tomkins, N.W. Mitigating the carbon footprint and improving productivity of ruminant livestock agriculture using red seaweed. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 259, 120836. Motoyama, M.; Sasaki, K., and Wantanabe, A. Wagyu and the factors contributing to its beef quality: A Japanese industry overview. Meat Science 2016, 120,10-18. Smith, S.B.; Lunt, D.K. Smith, D.R.; and Walzem, R.L. Producing high-oleic acid beef and the impact of ground beef consumption on risk factors for cardiovascular disease: A review. Meat Science 2020,163, 108076. Smith, S.B.; Lunt, D.K., Chung, K.Y., Choi, C.B; Tume, R.K.; and Zembayashi, M. Adiposity, fatty acid composition, and delta-9 desaturase activity during growth in beef cattle. Animal Science Journal 2006, 77, 478-486. Yamazaki, T. The effect of age and fatness on the meat quality and quantity of beef cattle. III. The changes of marbling score of the cut surface of loin, and inner muscular fat contents of various cuts with increase of age. Bulletin of the National Grassland Research Institute 1981, 18, 69-72. Zembayashi, M.; and Inayama, M. Fat partition and its distribution in Japanese black, Japanese shorthorn and Holstein steer carcass. The Japanese Journal of Zootechnical Science 1987, 58, 381-387. 201 12. Translanguaging in Japanese Language Classrooms Motoki Long-Nozawa MA Student, Department of Language & Literacy Education, University of British Columbia Email: motoki14@student.ubc.ca Abstract Japanese-Canadian curriculum scholar Ted T. Aoki conceptualized a pedagogical space called in-between where lived experiences of students and a planned curriculum intersect. Aoki’s depiction of the pedagogical space has directed my attention to diversity, filled with various, unique identities, in the classroom. It is a widespread notion that language and culture are deeply intertwined. While fully acknowledging the importance of studying about and with cultural practices in language classrooms, I have questioned whether my teaching may be one-directional, primarily framed by the norms for Japanese people and customs. The idea of translanguaging provides a possible direction for my line of questioning. The fundamental premise of translanguaging is that people refer to their whole linguistic and cultural repertoires while communicating. Translanguaging practices emerge “in the cracks and crevices of communication with others who language differently, gradually becoming in and of itself a way of languaging through complex communicative interactions” (Garcı́a & Wei, 2013, p. 16). In so doing, selecting certain linguistic features from one’s repertoire has much to do with one’s identity. With a queer student’s experience, I argue that the ideas of in-between and translanguaging would help Japanese language teachers reframe our pedagogies as the diversity of Japanese language classrooms increases. Keywords: Translanguaging, in-between, Japanese language education. 1. Identities in in-between space Japanese-Canadian curriculum scholar Ted T. Aoki (1919-2012), who taught at the University of Alberta for many years, conceptualized a pedagogical space called in-between (Aoki et al., 2004). Aoki depicted the in-between space from the perspective of Miss O, an elementary school teacher, and characterized it as a complicated space where the teacher strived to make the general curriculum work for each student in the classroom by paying particular attention to the lived experience of each individual. The key to the cultivation and enrichment of the in-between space is the teacher’s pedagogical efforts at on-going reconciliation between the two curriculum worlds⎯the curriculum-as-plan and the 202 curriculum-as-lived-experience. The curriculum-as-plan developed by a local or national government enforces discipline onto teachers and students and, to a great degree, expects obedience to its linearly structured contents. This formalized curriculum “assumes a fiction of sameness” (Ibid., p. 161). Sameness obscures students’ names, faces, and bodies and erases their unique experiences and personified perspectives. Under this curriculum, teachers become “installers of the curriculum” (Ibid., p. 160). By contrast, the curriculumas-lived-experience values the subjectivity and experience that every student carries. Aoki mentions that a teacher can get to know every student’s “uniqueness from having lived daily with them” (Ibid.). Designing a curriculum-as-lived therefore necessitates interaction, with care, with every student as a whole being. The curriculum-as-lived-experience therefore grows from and with teachers and students who have names, faces, and bodies and is situated in the midst of a specific time and space. Aoki’s thoughtful depiction of the pedagogical space has directed my attention to the diversity, filled with various, unique identities, in the classroom. The classroom is comprised of a student body from British Columbia and beyond. These students enter a Japanese classroom with complex identities, hidden or apparent (Vandrick, 1997), that are entangled with their socio-cultural upbringing, gender, sexual orientation, race, and so forth. With Aoki’s words in mind, I wonder how appreciative of diversity and inclusion the classroom is and how attentive to each student I am. As a Japanese teacher who identifies as gay and part Japanese and part Chinese, I also wonder how my teaching has created a space where students are able to affirm their complex identities. This questioning, inspired by Aoki and my teaching environment situated in Vancouver, Canada, has invited me to reflect on my teaching practices and consider what it means to teach Japanese in the Canadian context. 2. Teaching Japanese in Vancouver, Canada Canada, one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, has welcomed people from all over the world. According to the 2019 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration (Government of Canada, 2020), over 300,000 permanent residents and approximately 28,000 refugees made Canada their homes in 2018. In addition, more than 720,000 international students held study permits during the same year. Newly admitted permanent residents, refugees, and international students have long contributed to shaping multiculturalism in Canada. The 2016 census (Government of Canada, 2017) listed dozens of immigrant languages, along with over sixty indigenous languages together with French and English. British Columbia, where I currently live, also embraces its linguistic diversity as well as cultural complexity. This social composition is not necessarily reflected in the populations of higher education institutions, unfortunately. However, I can still see that a body of linguistically and culturally diverse students is contributing to a wide range of thriving communities on campus. One of my Japanese classes of twenty students, for instance, consists of speakers of more than five languages, and half are international students. The realities of Canadian society in general and my classroom in particular have driven me to create classrooms that embrace the 203 intersectionality of students and encourage them to construct their social identities while advancing their interpersonal skills using Japanese. It is a widespread notion that language and culture are deeply intertwined. In Japanese textbooks, a wide variety of social and cultural practices are introduced with grammatical concepts, semantic information, and phonetic rules. Along with the textbooks, Japanese language teachers have striven to utilize authentic materials, such as food menus and images of towns in Japan, in order to enhance practical language use of Japanese outside of the classrooms. These efforts create engaging language learning and help students deepen their understanding of Japanese culture. Nowadays, it is considered necessary to connect the teaching of linguistic features to the introduction of socio-cultural dimensions. I have introduced Japanese cultures and values in the classrooms. A majority of students in my class have shown interests in Japanese culture including history, music, entertainment, or cuisine at various degrees and enjoyed studying or experiencing them in the classrooms. However, while fully acknowledging the importance of studying about and with cultural practices in language classrooms, I have questioned whether my teaching may be one-directional, primarily framed by the norms for Japanese people and customs. 3. Introducing the idea of translanguaging The idea of translanguaging provides a possible direction for my line of questioning. The fundamental premise of translanguaging is that people refer to their whole linguistic and cultural repertoires while communicating. Translanguaging scholars encourage this practice for the acquisition of second or foreign languages. As opposed to code-mixing, a well-known idea in language education that suggests the existence of separate language codes in one’s brain, translanguaging scholars argue that “there is but one linguistic system with features that are integrated throughout” (Garcı́a & Wei, 2013, p.15). For instance, I, a speaker of English, Japanese, Cantonese, and Mandarin, use one or more language(s) depending on who I am speaking to and where I am speaking. Rather than switching one code to another, my language practices emerge “in the cracks and crevices of communication with others who language differently, gradually becoming in and of itself a way of languaging through complex communicative interactions” (Ibid., p. 16). Translanguaging space is “a space for the act of translanguaging as well as a space created through translanguaging” (Wei, 2011, p. 1223). A space for the act of translanguaging signifies bilinguals’ or multilinguals’ “capacity to use multiple linguistic resources to form and transform their own lives” (Ibid.); a space created through translanguaging illuminates “its own transformative power” (Ibid.) created through translanguaging practices. Translanguaging spaces that are interactionally constructed through communicative interactions embrace the concepts of creativity—“the ability to choose between following and flouting the rules and norms of behaviour”—and criticality —“the ability to use available evidence appropriately, systematically and insightfully to inform considered views of cultural, social and linguistic situations” (Ibid.). In Wei’s research, published in 204 2011, that examined the discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain, creativity and criticality are elicited by the analysis of their multilingual practices that entailed “tension, conflict, competition, difference, change in a number of spheres, ranging from ideologies, policies, and practices to historical and current context" (Wei, 2011, pp. 1223-24). This compelling research provides insights from the translanguaging perspective into how bilinguals and multilinguals navigate and craft their lives in the world. Also, it directs scholars’ and educators’ attention to the moments of tension, conflict, change, and so on, in relation to language practices in the social world, that bilinguals or multilinguals experience and make, in which they discursively construct their identities. 4. Co-constructing knowledge with a queer student Travis (He/they, pseudonym) participated in my research study examining queer students’ experiences of heteronormativity in Japanese language classrooms. He recalled a narrative told by his teacher who had an encounter with a bisexual person at a conference held in Canada and how the story created an opportunity for him to loosen up the normative, gendered speech of Japanese and explore the language that suits his identity, For me it was just less teaching practices, more just literally being told that is like something you can play with...I had one professor...told this interesting story about meeting a guy...who spoke very very feminine like extremely...she was saying you know he chose to speak that way because he's bisexual and just fit his personality...how proficient he is that he can play with, so through that story kind of just introduced the possibilities you can play around. I think that's the most important thing introducing the possibilities...you can play around these rules. The teacher framed the queer person’s speech with regard to their gender or sexual identity by saying, in Travis’ word, “he chose to speak that way because he’s bisexual and just fits his personality.” At the same time, the teacher reminded Travis of the norms as to the linguistic, gender, and sexuality in Japanese society that constitute discrimination: “My teacher told me that I can use Japanese in any way I want, regardless of gender. I just have to be prepared that my ways of speech may surprise some people, as Japanese society is still quite conservative and heteronormative.” The story had a tremendous impact on Travis’ Japanese learning as a queer person, him saying This was a revelational moment in my Japanese studies—I had been introduced to the possibility of breaking past the gender binary in Japanese speech. I also really appreciated that my teacher explained the context and the stakes of breaking gender norms in Japanese society, how it can perhaps lead to discrimination due to the dominance of heteronormativity. Pedagogical effects of queer narratives have been examined in several studies. For instance, Ó’Móchain (2006) introduced local queer narratives and demonstrated that they opened up class discussions about discourses around heteronormativity. For Travis, the narrative told by his teacher became a breakthrough moment when he was able to foresee the 205 possibilities for exploring his gender identity repertoire while using Japanese and breaking the gender binarism that he internalized before by “playing around" the rules. As such, creativity was nurtured in the interaction. Also, the teacher’s pedagogical practice, teaching the norms and introducing possibilities, drew Travis’ attention to criticality for Travis to “inform considered views of cultural, social and linguistic situations” (Wei, 2011, p. 1223) while using the target language and constructing his gender identity. Selecting certain linguistic features from one’s repertoire has much to do with one’s identity. While students are using the target language, teachers can help to construct their social identities, at the same time with the reconciliation with the norms of the target language community. Travis’ experience portrays the teacher’s effort to extend beyond the textbook and curriculum by introducing a queer narrative. In doing so, an in-between space, created between the normative and Travis’ queerness, was cultivated and enriched. In the in-between space, Travis was able to creatively and critically explore the gender norms of Japanese language and culture to widen his repertoire of gendered speech. 5. Final thoughts The universities where I currently belong use the communicative approach that has been adopted by many other institutions in Canada. This approach generally underscores interpersonal skills using Japanese. However, it is important to note that the language use and interactive practices of the communicative approach are primarily framed within those used by Japanese people and in Japan. Therefore, students’ diverse identities, along with their linguistic and cultural repertoires, are not taken into account seriously. Consequently, students are expected to follow the Japanese speaking community through the acquisition of the language and cultural practices. As the diversity of Canada and Japanese language classrooms increases rapidly in the twenty-first century, I believe the ideas of in-between and translanguaging would help Japanese language teachers in Canada reframe our teaching approaches. Canada encompasses a large number of people who are translanguaging every day, and these people will continue to build our multicultural nation. Aoki, a Japanese Canadian, once said, “but on this bridge, we are in no hurry to cross over; in fact, such bridges lure us to linger” (Aoki, 2004, p.316). The bridge or the in-between space that joins Japan and Canada is the place Aoki preferred to linger. As a Japanese language educator teaching in Canada, I strive to be attentive to in-between spaces in my Japanese classrooms, where many identity positionings and cultures intersect, through the appreciation of students’ complex identities and multilingual practices. 206 References Aoki, T. T., Pinar, W. F., & Irwin, R. L. (2004). Curriculum in a new key: The collected works of Ted T. Aoki. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Garcı́a, O., & Wei, L. (2013). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan. Government of Canada. (2017, August 04). Proportion of mother tongue responses for various regions in Canada. Retrieved April 1, 2021, from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dv-vd/lang/indexeng.cfm Government of Canada. (2020, July 09). The 2019 annual report to parliament on immigration. Retrieved April 1, 2021, from https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugeescitizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/annual-report-parliamentimmigration-2019.html O'Mochain, R. (2006). Discussing gender and sexuality in a context-appropriate way: Queer narratives in an EFL college classroom in Japan. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 5(1), 51-66. Vandrick, S. (1997). The role of hidden identities in the postsecondary ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 31(1), 153-157. Wei, L. (2011). Moment analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(5), 1222-1235. 207 13. A Virtual Group Study Program on Zoom: Challenges of Designing and Implementing the Program Akiko Sharp Japanese Language and Cultures, East Asian Language Program, School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cutures, University of Calgary Email: asharp@ucalgary.ca Abstract At the University of Calgary (U of C), we have offered a four-week length group travel and study program in Japan since 2005, except for 2011 due to the Tohoku Earthquake and for 2019 and 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021 we could not travel again. Therefore, we converted the program to a virtual format. In this presentation, the new opportunities, and challenges of designing and implementing a Virtual Group Study Program in Japan will be discussed. The Virtual Group Study Program was implemented from May 9th to 28th, 2021. For the 2021 Virtual Group Study Program, there were fifteen participants from the U of C from various disciplines and two students joined from China and Hong Kong. More than thirty participants from Seisen Jogakuin College in Nagano joined in a total of seven virtual conferences and exchange sessions. Seisen College students were recruited by the International Office of Seisen College, and their majors were Psychology or International Communications. The three-week intensive program was challenging but it became an unforgettable memory in many of our hearts. Keywords: Virtual Group Study Program, collaboration, virtual exchange, online tools, Japanese language 1. Introduction The Group Study Program to Japan (Japanese Language and Culture in an Immersion Setting) has been offered at the University of Calgary since 2005, except for May 2011 when it was cancelled due to the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant crisis in Japan, and in May 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the original version, students participated in the language course offered by Senshu University (Kanagawa, Japan) in the morning and executed their group and individual research or travel to various places in the afternoon. The program format was well received by students—there have been 20 participants every year since the program started in 2005. 208 As always, I submitted the proposal for a Group Study Program in May 2020, and we started recruitment in September 2020. Twenty participants were selected and notified before Christmas, but the program was officially cancelled in January 2021. The Covid pandemic brought so many changes to our lives. Unlimited opportunities to attend workshops and conferences around the globe gave me so many insights. I was well prepared to challenge anything new by the time the University moved the Group Study Programs online. When the program was cancelled in January 2021, I was already connected with Seisen Jogakuin University in Nagano, Japan, and planned to have Japanese students in my three language classes as volunteers to observe students’ responses in zoom settings for preparation of the Virtual Group Study Program in the spring. Although my classes were at 1am, 3am and 4am in Japan, twenty students visited my classes and brought fresh air to my classes. Thanks to the support from Japan during the pandemic, my adventure—implementing a three-week Virtual Group Study Program—was completed with a great success. This is a report on tips and suggestions for people who are interested in introducing a Virtual Exchange Program. It is my hope that this report will encourage not only language instructors but also educators in various disciplines to open their classroom doors. 2. Background 2.1. Group Study Program at the University of Calgary The program (Japanese Language and Culture in an Immersion Setting) has been offered since May 2005, except for May 2011, when it was cancelled due to the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant crisis in Japan, and in May 2019, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The May 2020 program was offered virtually with 15 participants. The program in 2022 will be the 16th program including the virtual exchange in 2021. Japanese courses introduced to the University of Calgary in 1989, and a new major, a BA in East Asian Language Studies (EALS) was introduced in 2006. There are over 57 EALS (Japanese) major students as of November 2021. Although EALS enrolment is increasing, the number of Japanese courses offered by the school remains at around 18 in the fall and the winter semester. Currently, the school is unable to accommodate many students who wish to register in a Japanese course. The proposed program will provide much needed additional Japanese courses. In the original format, all participants live in Senshu International House (I-House) while they are in Japan. Residents are Japanese students from various parts of Japan and foreign students who are participating in language programs, or foreign students who are registered as regular students. The daily life in the IHouse gives participants a valuable experience: almost all participants pointed out the experience at the I-House was a lifetime treasure. This program was created to meet students’ demands, originally. After a decade, it became an iconic program to make the Japanese program more attractive. It should be 209 mentioned that there were always students who entered the University of Calgary and take Japanese to join this program. 2.2. From Group Study Program to UGo Calgary The University of Calgary International introduced UGo Calgary (University of Calgary International, n.d.), a virtual version of Group Study Program in 2020. The programs were faculty-lead and short term, and students earned academic credit from the University of Calgary through the experiential learning. Students participated in virtual events and interacted with local community. To reflect all these requirements, this virtual exchange program was designed as follows: • • • Duration: 3-week intensive course (May 9 to 27, 2021) Course: JPNS310.01 Topics in Japanese Language in an Immersion Setting I (Virtual Learning I) and JPNS312.01 Topics in Japanese Language in an Immersion Setting II (Virtual Learning II) Partner University: Seisen Jogakuin College (Nagano, Japan) 3. Designing the Virtual Group Study Program 3.1. Challenges and Solutions From 15 years of experience of running the group study program, students’ demand for group study were confirmed, and it was crucial to recruit a sufficient number to run a virtual study program. It was also critically important to schedule the program to reasonably accommodate the 15-hour time difference between Japan and Calgary (Mountain Time Zone). Moreover, obviously, tools that are used in class are the key to success to complete the program since students’ work needs to be evaluated within a limited time. Three challenges will be discussed as a future reference to plan a virtual group study program. (a) Challenge #1: Students’ Desire and Reality If you were a student who is considering joining a new virtual exchange program, what would you expect of the program? Listing possible students wishes is the first step to design this new program. Students want: • • • • to improve Japanese language! to talk to Japanese people! to learn and experience Japanese culture! to know details about the program ASAP!! 210 • GOOD GRADES! In early 2021, most of us in Canada still experienced very restricted lives due to covid restrictions and most courses that were offered by the universities were online in the winter 2021. The thin hope to fly out somewhere – possibly Japan in spring had already become a dream. The concept of virtual tour or virtual conferences gained popularity and many of us started accepting new lifestyles, such as wearing masks, keep social distancing and not going out without reason. In terms of university courses, it is easy to imagine that students do not want certain things. Because this is a virtual program, and the program will be conducted online, and they could join from their own room. Therefore, students probably do not want: • • to spend extra money because they are at home to spend too long time on this course – but in practice how long? The most serious and grounded issue was that all participants were in one class – to encourage a cohort. Then there was a list of realistic issues that needed to be considered to design this program: • • • Is it possible to teach multiple level of students at once effectively (from late beginner (A2) to Intermediate (B2))? Is it possible to find a Japanese partner willing to work with us in May 2021? Do I have enough time to prepare? Different perspectives between an instructor and students existed and will exist to carry out a group virtual language program. (b) Challenge #2: Time Zones The time difference is large and a serious issue to design collaborative work with Japanese students. The time difference between Japan and Canada (Mountain Time) is 15 hours (in summer), and 16 hours (in winter). To accommodate two different time zones, the program was planned to run from 3pm to 8 pm (MST), which is 6 am to 11 am on the next morning in Japan. There is another matter that needs to be addressed as a factor to be considered for the preparation of the virtual exchange. It is the differences of academic calendars between Canada and Japan. The winter term in Canada starts in January and ends in April. On the other hand, the Japanese academic year ends in March and a new year starts in April. It means that student enrolment numbers in Japan will not be determined until the beginning of April. While outlines and details of the program need to be clarified for students, even the participant numbers will not be clear until later. Unfortunately, this is one factor that both instructors who are involved the program accept as an “unknown.” 211 It is likely that most of participants of the program tends to be students who the instructor has already taught in the past—therefore, the consequences of problems will be minimal. But this “time zone” factor is one of most challenging in designing the virtual exchange program. (c) Challenge #3: Tools, Learning Environment, and Language (i) Tools The selection of tools and platforms to run the virtual program is very important. Online tools were available far before the pandemic started. However, it is a different question whether students are familiar with these and most importantly, if an instructor can use any of these to run the program effectively. It was very fortunate that the Japanese program at the University of Calgary is actively promoting the introduction of technology into Japanese language classrooms. However, when it comes to the virtual exchange program, both students from Japan and Canada need to have common knowledge to use the tools and learning platforms comfortably. (ii) Accessibility Accessibility of tools and the internet is another issue. It is rather easy for students in Canada to set up their class time because the class is from 6pm to 8pm. However, participants in Japan may have difficulties accessing the internet at certain times because it may be their morning commute time or a time just before the class. As we all know by now, we have to deal with countless uncertainties when we try to meet up online. It may work one day, but it may not work on the next day. Being flexible to accommodate unknown and uncertain issues is a key to success to running the program online. (iii) Language Language usage in class time was also an important factor to consider. It is necessary to consider simple but very complicated matters to answer the following questions: • • How to control language usage? Can students communicate with each other? As it mentioned earlier, the range of students’ language capability in this program is very wide from A2 to B2 of the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR). Interestingly, almost the same range differences in English levels are seen among Japanese students. Prior to the virtual exchange sessions, experimental lessons were conducted in my three Japanese language classes in winter 2021. During the 3-week visiting period, about twenty students from Japan joined my three Japanese language classes at 1 am, 3 am and 4 am and left many comments in google forms. From observation and comments from students from Japan and Canada, they were very uncomfortable to speak their second 212 languages with strangers. However, many students in general always complained how difficult it was to speak in zoom classes anyways. Cutting off the conversation or sudden disappearance from zoom was not new for many of us. The feeling of discomfort may be one that we have to live with. Many of my students claimed that they were extremely nervous to meet new people on zoom. But at the same time, they were very excited to meet Japanese speakers to try to see if their Japanese is understandable or not. In the end, at the exchange time with Japanese students, English speaking time and Japanese speaking time were set up to encourage students to speak the target language for their language practice. 3.2. Solutions Many claimed that a Virtual Study Program could not replace a real exchange program. However, we need to adapt in an uncertain world, and the virtual program was almost the same as going to Japan as a group. At the program information session, the picture from “Howl’s moving castle” (below) was presented with the following slogans. Figure 1. a photo from “Howl’s moving castle” (2004) Sources: Studio Ghibli free image collections. © 2004 Studio Ghibli・NDDMT • • • We will go to Japan together! Create the program with students. Learning and experiencing together. There were about 10 students gathered at the information session, and fifteen students registered for this first virtual group study program. 213 Figure 2. The Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle (Kolb 2014). Source: Kolb (2004) Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development The Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle was used to design this program. • • • • Doing: Students have experiences first and these experiences will become concrete experiences. Reviewing: Then they review and reflect on their own experiences through reflective observation. Concluding: They learn from their own experiences by abstract conceptualization. Planning: They try using the skills that they have learned and apply knowledge to actively experiment. Students were asked to write reflective essays every day and were also given time to discuss them with a working group member. An example of an assignment and an assessment schedule will be shown later in this paper. 4. Implementation 4.1. Virtual Group Study Program 2021 (a) Program description Here is the program description, written in February 2021. 214 “This new program will introduce virtual international opportunities into the curriculum. Students will gain valuable international experience through virtual exchange classes and conferences with Japanese students. This program will also provide students opportunities to further develop their Japanese language skills and to experience the culture through virtual materials while working with Japanese students, who will be using English for their language practice. This program also aims to develop participants’ target language proficiency and cultural competency via practical exercises/activities that foster language acquisition. In this program, online language learning resources will be used to help students improve communication skills. Rather than focusing on grammatical knowledge, instead situations and everyday topics will be a centre for learning concepts in this program. Students will acquire new sets of various types of vocabulary and phrases that are commonly used in Japan, through collaboration and interaction with classmates and students from Japan. Online Japanese learning websites, such as “Irodori” or “Hirogaru” which were developed by Japanese language teaching specialists from the Japan Foundation, will be introduced to students to guide their journey to become more proficient Japanese language speakers, while learning Japanese culture through videos, presentations or discussions with Japanese students. Throughout the program, students will be exposed to uncontrolled and colloquial Japanese language so that they will be well equipped to navigate themselves in Japan and communicate with native Japanese speakers when they are able to visit someday in the near future. Japanese students will be joining the class as volunteer assistants to help participants improve communication skills. Virtual conferences with Japanese students are designed to give benefits to students from both Japan and Canada, therefore, participants are sometimes asked to use certain language (either English or Japanese) to help each other to improve their target learning language. Full participation is required for this 20-day intensive program. Class time will be in the evening. However, participants are required to be available before class to complete group projects or online quizzes/tests, assignments and projects. All participants will be asked to sign group contracts to complete their group projects. Individual project will not be accepted as replacement for any group project.” All students will be asked to show full respect to each other throughout this program. Regular university email checks and prompt replies are key to keeping good relationships with others. In summary, there are two goals for this program: • This program will provide students opportunities to further develop their Japanese language skills and to experience Japanese culture through virtual 215 • materials while working with Japanese students, who will be using English for their language practice. This program also aims to develop participants’ target language proficiency and cultural competency via practical exercises/activities that foster language acquisition. The Program Dates were from Sunday, May 9 to Friday, May 28, 2021, and the recruitment period was from February to March 2021. There were no extra costs for students to participate in this program. This means that students paid for two course equivalent costs. The University provided a one-time special $500 scholarship for early registered students. The offered courses were as follows: JPNS 310.01: Topics in Japanese Language in an Immersion Setting I (Virtual Learning I) JPNS 312.01: Topics in Japanese Language in an Immersion Setting II (Virtual Learning II) It was a challenge for instructors to have almost eighty hours of contact time in a short time of period. To attract students, the program needed to be reasonably short. We planned a combination of synchronous and asynchronous zoom classes. To maximize the benefits of a group study experience, team-based learning was used in many assignments and projects. The class was mostly synchronous (78 hours), including 11 exchange hours. Class time was from 3 pm (MST) to 8 pm on weekdays except Wednesdays. The following Zoom conferences and extra exchange sessions were scheduled with Japanese students, who accessed them from Japan. (b) Schedule Mon., Tues., Thrs., and Fri. 15:00 - 20:00 (Wed.: group work) Zoom #1 Sunday, May 9 (MST 18:00 – 19:30 / JST Monday: 9:00 – 10:30) Zoom #2 Thursday, May 13 (MST 18:00 – 19:30 / JST Friday: 9:00 – 10:30) Zoom #3 Thursday, May 20 (MST 18:00 – 19:30 / JST Friday: 9:00 – 10:30) Zoom #4 Thursday, May 27 (MST 18:00 – 19:30 / JST Friday: 9:00 – 10:30) EXTRA EXCHANGES #1: English “Conversation sessions” (twice - Tuesdays） EXTRA EXCHANGES #2: Japanese Language Support for UofC students (twice: Fridays) 216 (c) Participants and Exchange Partners Figure 3. Group photos of participants. Sources: Instructor’s photo album There were fifteen participants from eleven different degree programs, such as Japanese, East Asian Studies, International Relations, Business, Mathematics, Drama, Linguistics, Economics, Computer Science, Education, Geography and English. Their year of study was from 2nd year to 5th year, and the duration of study was from 130 hours to almost 400 hours. More than fifty students participated in the program from Seisen Jogakuin College (Nagano). Thirty of them were from a Canadian Culture course taught by Professor Greg Birch. We had four conferences with those students. There were twenty-two students who participated in the other exchange classes. (d) Online Tools Choosing tools for assignments is fun but a time-consuming business for instructors. There are many tools online, and they seem similar once you reach a certain point. To create a comfortable, safe, and attractive lessons, instructors cannot avoid using online tools. The following tools were selected for this program: • • • • • • • Bitmoji Wheel of Names Bingo VOCAROO Padlet Book Creator Google Sheets 217 • • Google Documents YouTube (e) Tools for Activities: Building Community Figure 4. Screen shots: Left – Bitmoji, right – Bingo and Wheel of Names. Source: Instructor’s presentation slides All participants were encouraged to use online tools as much as they could to connect with each other. Slack was used as a backup communication tool as well as other tools to connect with Japanese students instantly. Bitmoji was introduced at the beginning of the program, and students used their own character to identify themselves whenever possible. Wheel of Names and Bingo games were heavily used in the exchange sessions among students to fill out awkward time (so the students said). Carrying a conversation on Zoom is not an easy task for many students. Students like to share something on the screen in breakout rooms to focus on, and it is particularly important when they have to use their second language. To create a group spirit, Virtual Run was also introduced. Participants’ individual real-world run values counted towards the virtual group run. Students created groups of 4 people and virtually ran from Tokyo to Osaka (672km). It worked well in class to visit places and explore nearby tourist spots or local stores. However, it needs constant effort to move on to Osaka after finishing the program, and only half of the groups reached Osaka. Virtual Run is an interesting program for participants to explore places like Japan. With different tools, like Google maps or Google Earth, this is a great program to encourage students to collaborate on projects. Padlet is a user-friendly tool, and it shows all students’ work on just one page. It also has a map in which students can post their work, and it has a timeline display function. It requires a subscription fee over a certain number of uses, but it is a great tool to use in regular class as well. 218 (f) Tools for Assignments Figure 5. Examples of Tools for Assignments. Source: Class Padlet Tools for assignments also must be user friendly and accessible. VOCAROO is a simple recording tool to record and share instantly. Sharable tools, such as Google Sheets, and Google Documents worked perfectly to collaborate online. They can be shared with an instructor to monitor their learning process from time to time and it is easy to comment on students’ work. The easiest way to show students’ work within a limited time is to ask students to upload their recordings on YouTube and post their links on Padlet. Students can also post comments below the recordings (see the screenshot on the right above in Figure 5). Figure 6. Example of books that students produced. Source: Screenshot of Book Creator Book Creator was heavily used in the program. This tool can be used for collaboration work if you subscribe (see Figure 6). Students wrote activity records with group members, created story books, and produced their individual projects. Students created sixty-seven books in total in the 3-week program. The biggest problem of this tool is that students cannot add furigana reading. To provide Kanji with furigana readings on the top of each Kanji, they must create documents in Word with furigana, screenshot them and upload them in the book. My students put furigana in brackets right after the Kanji. This is not a perfect solution, but it is feasible to create books with minimal effort to provide both Kanji and furigana at this moment. 219 (g) Grading and Schedule Assessment and grading are always important topics among instructors when even a new program is introduced. Grading is particularly difficult when we offer the program that includes students who completed different level of language classes. In this program, there were only two students who were still late beginner level, thirteen of them had completed the beginner level class. They accepted that the program structure was possibly beyond their comfort zone. However, they completed the program without problems. Tables 1 and 2 show Course Outlines of JPN310.01 and JPNS312.02. Table 1. JPNS301.01 Course Outline. Source: Course Outline for JPNS310.01 JPNS 310.01 Topics in Japanese Language in an Immersion Setting I (Virtual Learning I) • Group Projects o o o • 50％ Relay Presentation (Virtual Conference) 20% (Talk about something related to Canada) Exchange sessions for Japanese and Canadian students 20% Book 10% Individual Project 20 % (20 MIN A DAY) (Peer evaluation) Genius Hour Project: (Discussion about one topic) (English and Japanese) • • • • Reflection essays Participation Proposal and reports Book ->312 TED Talk = recorded report (Q&A session in class) 20 % (#1=6%, #2=7%, #3=7%) 10 % (daily notes, practice reports, etc.) 220 Table 2. JPNS312.02 Course Outline. Source: Course Outline for JPNS312.02. JPNS 312.02 Topics in Japanese Language in an Immersion Setting II (Virtual Learning II) • Creative Projects 40％ Pair work (number of books may change) o o o o o • Book #1 Book #2 Book #4…… 10% Book three (Reflection 4%:Book 6%) “Rodoku=朗読”DRAMATIC READING comments 10% (谷川俊太郎 TED TALK 「生きる」谷川俊太郎「生きる」朗読 (youtube.com) 20％ 2% (Pass/Fail) 2 Genius Hour Project presentation (recorded) + Q&A 5/28(F) 18% Tests o o • 7% Book (Reflection 3%: Book 4%) Book #3 ….. 8% Book two (Reflection 3%: Book 5%) 1 Self Introduction • 5% Practice (Record + Book) (Reflection 2%: Book 3%) Writing Test Oral Test Participation 30％ 15% 5/25(Tues) 15% 5/26(W) 10％ (daily notes, practice reports, etc.) To execute group projects and assignments, students continuously worked for thirteen days. When students were in Japan, they did not have enough time to sleep because they took Japanese lessons in the morning and spend time on the cultural course in the afternoon. On top of that they usually spent time with Japanese students at the dormitory or hanging out with friends till late at night when they did their homework. It was ironic that students did not have enough time to sleep to complete the program online in Canada. This is a list of the work students completed in 13 days: • • 12 Daily reflections 3 reflective essays- exchange events 221 • • 2 Writing Tests - select one topic from a list and write an essay. 4 activity Reports - Extra exchange activities Half of the assignments were either group or pair assignments. Students had three different groups according to projects or assignments. Table 3 shows an example to show how we spend five hours a day together. Table 3. Example of class schedule. Source: Course Information to students 15:00-15:50 class 1. Virtual Run report (Run from Tokyo to Osaka 672km) 2. Reading exercise - pair work (for Recording Assignment “To Live” ”生きる” by Shuntaro Tanikawa) 3. Group meeting - for presentation 16:00-16:50 class: Group Presentation Rehearsal 17:00 - 17:50 break (open breakout rooms) 18:00 - 19:30 Virtual Conference / Exchange sessions 19:30 - 20:00 Reflection Recording assignment was used to encourage students to improve their Japanese pronunciation. The poem “To live” (生きる, ikiru) was introduced at the beginning of the program. There are many recordings with various translation and photos of the poem on YouTube. We read this poem together and students explore a variety of interpretations expressed by many groups of people mainly in Japan including Tanikawa himself, and we also listened to various beautiful choral recordings. Then students created their own recordings as an assignment. For that, students had an advisory session from Japanese students to improve their reading skills. An example of a project is shown in Figure 7. This is an example to show you how much they wrote. 222 Figure 7. Example of students’ work: Create a book “How to implement Exchange sessions.” Source: Google file from the program Many questions were asked intentionally to persuade students to write more. • • • • • What did your group do today? How was today’s virtual session? Is this better than the first one? Is there anything that worked well?? any failure? Would you like to try again? if you do it again, what would you like to do to improve even more? At the beginning, an English translation was provided, but it gradually was reduced and replaced by a list of new words or short phrases. An example of project records is shown in Figure 8. 223 Figure 8. Example of a student’s work: Project record. Source: Google file from the program Google Sheets is a good tool to keep individual project records. It is sharable with instructors, and it is easy to add comments while students are still working on their projects. 5. Ongoing and Future Projects Through this virtual group study experience, I also learnt that University of Calgary students would like to connect with people outside of their home, their friends’ bubble and beyond. Before concluding, I will just mention some of these other initiatives. With my colleagues at the University of Calgary, I planned to have a zoom gathering for students “zoom de koremite” (“Look at this on Zoom”) -- a kind of show and tell event. I am lucky to see professors in Japan who have a similar passion as ours. We have our first gathering on October 7 - at 6 pm Calgary time / 9 am on Saturday in Japan. We have about 60 students signed up from Canada and Japan. Participating universities in Japan are Hiroshima University, Konan Joshidai, Seisen Jogakuin University, Nagoya University of Foreign Language and Senshu University. There will be two more events planned in November and December. We are so excited to see how this small attempt will grow. I also introduced COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) with students in Nagoya University of Foreign languages to my third-year Japanese language class. The asynchronous part has already started, and we will have our first gathering on October 20 at 9:30pm in Calgary time. I will report about these attempts somewhere sometime in the future. In addition, the Virtual Group Study Program 2022 will be implemented from May 9 224 to 27, 2022. Twelve participants were selected, and Senshu University as well as Seisen Jogakuin College will work with us this year. 6. Conclusion What did I learn? We observed that students need much more synchronous interaction than we imagined, until they feel comfortable to communicate with each other. For the exchange sessions, this trend seems much more obvious. During the first three or so exchange sessions with Japanese students, they looked very worried, and they were very quiet. Long pauses between conversations made them more nervous, and I felt rather sorry to put them in such an awkward situation. However, their reflective essays were filled with potential strategies to overcome difficulties. Once they feel at home to spend time together online, they find ways to work effectively and became more and more productive. The whole process that I observed for three weeks was exactly what I learnt from Kolb’s experiential learning process. When we were connected online, the connection was easily cut for many reasons. To spend extensive hours online, several tools are essential while connected until reaching a point of building up enough trust. In conclusion, I would like to suggest three tips for success: 1. Have several tools that you can use comfortably! 2. Find a good partner university! 3. Don’t expect perfection! It must be mentioned that most participants commented that they would like to have more time with Japanese students. By the end of the program, it seemed that no one feared making mistakes, and they wanted more challenges. Although we could not physically go to Japan, we visited Japan together. I am so grateful to be able to spend three weeks with these brave students. I am so proud of them. The feeling on the last day, at the last moment was not any different from ones that I felt in Japan four times in the past. 225 References Book Creator. Retrieved from https://read.bookcreator.com/ on July 20, 2022. Edujapa. Retrieved from https://edujapa.com/mikke/level/bookcreator/ on July 20, 2022. Kolb, D. (2014). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Pearson FT Press. Retrieved from https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/experiential-learningexperience/9780133892512/ch02.html#ch02lev1sec06 on July 20, 2022. Padlet. Retrieved from https://padlet.com/ on July 20,2022. Studio Ghibli Free images. Retrieved from https://www.ghibli.jp/info/013344/ on July 20, 2022. University of Calgary International. University of Calgary International. Retrieved from https://ucalgary.ca/international/ugo-groups-outgoing. on July 20, 2022. VOCAROO. Retrieved from https://vocaroo.com/ on July 20, 2022. 226