Tatsukawa: Orality, Ethics, & Regional Renaissance in Industrial Japan

Abstract

Drawing on various aspects of media history, oral tradition, and pedagogical studies, my PhD research thesis — 'Tatsukawa: Orality, Ethics, & Regional Renaissance in Industrial Japan' (2015) — examines the effects of oral tradition on ethics in Japanese mass media. The Tatsukawa bunko (c.1910-25) published by Bunmeidô makes liberal use of gokiroku mono (feudal annals), stock characters like kyôkaku mono (‘men of honour’), sewa mono (poignant episodes of daily life), and shinkôki (stories of saints), all of which were integrated with kôdan (classical narratives) some time around the Muromachi era (c.1333-1573).

During the late nineteenth century, these epic poems were frequently adapted for the commercial publishing market in the form of sokkibon (stenographical novels). Embedded in these works are the vocal rhythms of the kôdanshi (classical narrators) who performed them. Their popularity contributed much to the success of contemporary publishers in Japan like Kodansha, Iwanami Shoten, and many others still operating today.

As a genre of literature rooted in an oral tradition, kôdan recognised the sanctity of the imperial institution. However, it also celebrated ethics associated with the samurai. Both aspects appealed to bureaucrats working in the Monbushô (Ministry of Education) tasked with creating a new state system of schooling after the imperial Restoration of 1868. Congruence between the Tatsukawa Bunko and educational texts published by the Monbushô demonstrate that oral tradition was alive and well during the early twentieth century in Japan. I argue that the interplay between oral and printed forms of kôdan provided an effective platform of learning for the working class, many of whom were cultural polyglots, able to easily shift their attentions between both forms. A significant part of my thesis examines the ideological messages embedded in both sets of literature.