Eto-ology

[shh@gol.com]

Echoing Anne(IU(Js surprise at the coverage of Eto Jun(IU(Js suicide:
Despite the apparently immediate reason for Eto(IU(Js suicide portrayed in
the Asahi Shimbun as an inability to face the world alone after his wife
(IU(Js death, it is surprising that no attempt was made to link Eto(IU(Js
suicide to anything outside of his relationship to his college
sweetheart and lifetime partner. Considering both Eto(IU(Js early postwar
pronouncements Japan should possess its own nuclear armaments to
liberate itself from the yoke of the American domination (the Japanese
nation-state being a mere product of America) and secondly, the
tradition of suicide by prominent literary figures during times of
crisis, (beginning early in the century with Akutagawa Ryunosuke through
Mishima Yukio and Kawabata Yasunari two years after Mishima), it does
seem rather odd not to connect Eto(IU(Js suicide, at least metaphorically,
with the looming conflict in the region that has played itself out
mainly in territorial related naval skirmishes over the past couple
months involving both Koreas, China, Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines.
At any rate, Eto(IU(Js death doesn(IU(Jt seem to just be part of the recent
suicide boom inspired by the economic recession (32,863 people  and
counting in 1998 according to the Mainichi Daily News).

Sharon Hayashi
University of Chicago