Reflection on Final Paper and Class

Well, it's been a good month and a half since I started this research project, and I am pretty satisfied with the results.  The primary argument of my paper was that in modern and postwar Japan there continued to exist a tension between old and new attitudes toward suicide, evidenced in reactions to General Nogi's suicide and consistently high suicide rates; thus, modern Japanese literature emerged as a way to address this ongoing tension between traditional and contemporary views of suicide.

Although I feel like I made good use of the research I conducted, I was somewhat dissatisfied with my inability to delve more deeply into the religious and gender-based aspects of these various views of suicide.  All of the major postwar works I read and discussed in my paper were inherently biased from a male perspective, offering little room to address how gender and gender roles might affect attitudes toward suicide.  In addition, most of my sources focused on the sociological rather than metaphysical aspect of suicide.  Had I been given more time and space to conduct further research, I would have certainly explored these two topics.

As an English and Japanese major, it was nice to be able to finally use the resources from both my majors and synthesize them in an impressive research project.  Throughout this semester, I have faced extraordinary amounts of homework, papers, and projects--but I have managed to survive (no pun intended).  Writing 340 didn't teach me anything new about the technical aspect of writing, but it did present a challenge in trying to balance paper assignments with homework from my major classes.  I definitely became better at time-management and, as a result, produced better papers.  This semester has required me to write academically more than any other, but the constant practice ultimately showed me how to write professionally without compromising my personal, creative style.

Writing 340 has also taught me how to properly research.  The librarian gave me invaluable tips when trying to locate information in two very different fields.  ProQuest ended up being a wonderful resource, but I found a few articles through other databases that I wouldn't have originally thought to check.  Because I intend to go to graduate school in the next couple years, Writing 340 gave me multiple opportunities to practice researching and presenting my findings in cohesive, interesting analyses.  I probably won't maintain a blog in the future, but I will most certainly continue to employ the skills I have gained from this class.

Sorry for the rambling!  Now, I just want to extend a BIG THANKS to everyone who read any part (or all!) of my academic blog.  I'm sorry I won't be able to keep it up (it is an interesting topic after all!), but who knows--maybe you'll eventually see a giant book about suicide in Japan with my name on it. :)

P.S. Here is a trailer for the Norwegian Wood movie from 2010 (see older post for info on the book).  I haven't seen it yet, but I plan to!

The Sensational Suicide of General Nogi

In continuing with some extra research, I discovered a book entitled Suicidal Honor: General Nogi and the Writings of Mori Ōgai and Natsume Sōseki by Doris G. Bargen.  Because I haven't focused too much on specific suicides, I've decided for this post to discuss one of Japan's most famous deaths--that of the (in)famous General Nogi (1849-1912).

First, a little background information.  During the Meiji period 明治時代 (1868-1912), Nogi Maresuke 乃木 希典 was a well-known and highly respected general in Japan's imperial army.  But after losing the imperial banner in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, Nogi began to exhibit a peculiar longing for death that never abandoned him.  It wasn't until the day of Emperor Mutsuhito's funeral on September 13 that Nogi finally took his own life alongside his wife.

The historical and cultural significance of Nogi's death lies in the manner in which he executed it.  Nogi committed a form of seppuku called junshi 殉死, which literally means to "follow one's Lord into death."  In spite of the massive and ubiquitous Westernization that Japan was experiencing at the time, Nogi opted for an ancient ritualized form of suicide.  The effects his suicide had, however, were ultimately polarizing.  Several Japanese peoples lauded the act as a rekindling of the traditional Japanese values of self-sacrifice and loyalty; others viewed it as an unnecessary and outdated return to a pre-modern past.  Unsurprisingly, foreigners had the most trouble comprehending the violent display.  But indisputably, Nogi became a sort of paragon for Japanese values; he epitomized self-sacrifice and honor and immortalized himself as a hero of Japan.

What struck me was this tension between the East and the West.  Even today, there seems to be the question of how "Western" Japan should strive to be--and what parts of its indigenous tradition it should preserve.  Only in the past decade or so did Japan's MHLW begin to promote suicide prevention in light of the peak in suicide rates starting in the late '90s.  But why did it take so long for Japan to address the issue of suicide when self-inflicted deaths had been a problem for decades?  Could it have had anything to do with Japan's attempts to distinguish itself from the West and to avoid typical Western measures such as prevention programs?  It is my belief, and one that I hope to prove in my research paper, that there is still a struggle between traditional values and progressive foreign thought when it comes to suicide.  But it remains a complicated concept.  What do you think?