Nostalgia, Big City<->Hometown

[Davide]

Maiko haaaan!!! by Kankur? Kud? was also a very interesting example
where we see nostalgia hyper-fetishized by a now 38 years old director
who seems fairly free to do whatever he wants with memories of
tradition and instances of nihonjinron discourse.

Davide

On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 8:23 AM, Melek Ortabasi <mortabas at hamilton.edu> wrote:
> Hi Ken,
>
>  As Faith already mentioned, nostalgia (also in film) was present before
> WWII, and encompasses both longing for the countryside, as well as longing
> for a more tightly knit village type of community in the city. I don't think
> there was a "switch" to longing for the country; I think that given the
> fairly long history of cities in Japan that the urban nostalgia you are
> thinking of was probably always a feature that coexisted with pastoral
> fantasies.
>
>  I'm more familiar with literature than film, but here are some thoughts. I
> have no doubt that Kinejapanners with a focus on the prewar period can give
> more film-specific information.
>
>  Being a student of Yanagita Kunio's work, I'm more familiar with
> city/country dichotomies (he was definitely more interested in the country
> than the city); from the late Meiji period onwards he, and many of his
> literary peers, wrote longingly of the country. Probably the most popular
> novel of 1890 (by contemporary accounts, including Yanagita's) was Miyazaki
> Koshoshi's _Kisei_ (Homecoming), which tapped into what was already
> developing into the furusato (hometown) idea. So that's way, way prewar.
> WWII anyway.
>
>  For a more urban shitamachi image: Tanizaki's _Tade kuu mushi_ (Some Prefer
> Nettles) springs to mind - when the protagonist Kaname waxes poetic about
> his merchant class upbringing in Tokyo. There's not a whole lot there, but
> it's a very different Tokyo from the roaring twenties chaos we generally
> think about. So even with a "decadent" like Tanizaki we have a nostalgic
> conception of the city. And of course Tanizaki got only more nostalgic as he
> got older;-)
>
>  Also as Faith already said, you've got your work cut out for you. But maybe
> the question to ask is not, when did nostalgia begin, but rather, how has
> the portrayal of nostalgia changed, even if it is still informed by the
> urban/rural divide? Or, maybe focusing only on the shitamachi motif might
> help.
>
>  A pastoral film fantasy, just as an afterthought: Takahata Isao's animated
> feature _Omoide poro poro_ (1991), where a young Tokyo woman finds "home" in
> the country.
>
>  Shitamachi communal ideas pop up in Kitano's Kikujir? no natsu (1999):
> Kitano's character is not related to the little boy whom he accompanies on a
> journey to find his mother. It's a neighborhood babysitting arrangement that
> accidentally turns into the development of a deeper, almost familial bond.
> The neighborhood where they live (don't remember, it's Tokyo I think??) is
> definitely of the shitamachi variety. Just a thought.
>
>  All right, I really should get back to class prep.
>
>  Cheers,
>  Melek
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Greetings all,
> >
> > With the recent passing of Showa Day here in Japan I've been thinking
> about the portrayal of nostalgia and how this is dealt with in Japanese
> cinema, particularly in terms of the hometown(kokyo) and urban city
> contrast. I'm looking for films, books or articles in Japanese or English
> that deal with 'returning home' or 'leaving home' and idea of creating of
> collective nostalgic experiences. Psychologically, socially, how are these
> feelings of nostalgia created, particularly when set in the  increasingly
> distant Showa period. For example, from the 1950s onward we see popular
> novels and films that portray a more communal 'shitamachi' urban environment
> of Osaka in Toyoda Shiro's "Myoto Zenzai", or Tokyo in the Tora-san.
> >
> > More recently, the hugely popular "Always 3-chome" films have established
> the Showa 30s/1955-65 as a popular site of nostalgia created by filmakers
> who never experienced this period themselves but nonetheless create an
> period depiction appealing to a surprisingly wide range of ages, a nostalgia
> that 10 year olds and 70 years olds can enjoy (weep) together.
> >
> > I am curious about the history of this "community now forgotten" theme,
> does it begin before or after the war, and when, if ever, do things switch
> from longing for the upward mobility of the city to longing for the
> simplicity and community of small town life? I would greatly appreciate any
> recommendations not only related to urban nostalgia but also dealing with
> how the hometown/urban contrast was used to emphasize the sense of the
> fading forms of culture and society in film, art, and literature.
> >
> >
> > Thank you for your help,
> > Ken Shima
> >
>
>
>  --
>  Melek Ortabasi, Ph.D.
>  Assistant Professor
>  Department of Comparative Literature
>  Hamilton College
>  Clinton, NY
>