"Yasukuni"'s inciting incident

[Junkerman John]

I have sent a query to Li Ying about this, but have not heard back  
(he's in China, where his father is very sick). I think it's almost  
certain that Li is referring to a symposium that was held at Kudan  
Kaikan on July 31, 1999 (as Jason suggested in his response to  
Aceface). It was called "[A Symposium] to Put an End to the Greatest  
Lie of the 20th Century, 'The Nanking Massacre'". It was organized by  
the conservative Jiyu Shugi Shikan Kenkyukai and was largely a  
response to the 60th anniversary symposia that were organized by  
liberal groups who have worked to document Nanking. All of the  
details Li described in discussing the symposium coincide with this  
1999 meeting (starting with the venue, the speakers, and [I believe]  
the screening of the wartime Nanking documentary).

It's very likely that Li simply confused these two events, since they  
took place around the same time, during his initial research for the  
film. Aceface's questioning this mistake is certainly legitimate, but  
I think he goes beyond that to suggest that perhaps Li fabricated the  
event and/or his attendance at the event. These events and the  
provocative statements and publications of the denier school are  
common and well-publicized. Implying that the impetus for Li making  
his film is based on a fabrication, it seems to me (at the risk of  
further inflaming the discussion), only makes sense if you begin with  
the assumption that Chinese people frequently lie (the same  
assumption that allows the deniers to dismiss thousands of eyewitness  
accounts of the Nanking massacre as fabrications).

Aceface also question's Li's credibility regarding the sword that is  
an object of worship (shintai) at Yasukuni. It is true that the  
shintai sword is not a Nihonto (a one-sided Japanese sword like those  
that were forged at Yasukuni during the war), but a two-sided sword  
(tsurugi or ken) of a kind that is worshipped at many Shinto shrines.  
No one is allowed to see it, so it's not clear what it looks like,  
but it's still a sword. The film may well lead to some confusion  
about this, though the shintai sword is referred to as a "katana,"  
not a "Nihonto" or a "Yasukuni-to." As Li has said many times, his  
film is an exploration of the symbolic meanings of Yasukuni, so the  
fact that a sword is worshipped there remains a powerful symbolic  
connection, regardless of the shape of the sword. The sword smith  
Kariya Naoji is described in the film as the last surviving Yasukuni  
sword smith, and the forging of the sword documented in the film is  
always described as a "recreation." He inscribes the finished sword  
with the words "Yasukuni devotee." There is no implication that  
Yasukuni swords are still being made at the shrine. It seems  
something of a stretch, again, to challenge Li's credibility on these  
grounds. Perhaps if Aceface had seen the film before he posted his  
comments, he would have had a better understanding of Li's intentions  
and would have seen his integrity in a different light.

I'll be posting more on Yasukuni in the next day or two, and I'll be  
sure to pass on what I hear back from Li.

John

On May 7, 2008, at 1:53 PM, Jason Gray wrote:

> One issue that hasn't come up in the mainstream media
> (Japanese or English) is the veracity of the event that
> inspired Li to make his documentary in the first place,
> which he has cited in several interviews (the McNeill
> article for example
> http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/JD09Dh01.html).
>
> Li states a symposium to mark the 60th anniversary of
> Nanjing was held at Tokyo's Kudan Kaikan (a venue near to
> and associated with Yasukuni) in 1997, and the reaction of
> those in attendance inspired him to make his film. Did it
> happen, or not?
>
> On my blog, in an entry about Nippon Connection where the
> film screened as well, there are some interesting comments
> about this point from "Aceface," a very knowledgeable
> figure in the blogosphere who works at NHK.
>
> http://jasongray.blogspot.com/2008/04/nippon-connection-ga- 
> kakkoii.html
>
>
> The Gorecki montage lulled me to sleep. Nice music.
>
> jg
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------
> GANBARE! NIPPON! Win your ticket to Olympic Games 2008.
> http://pr.mail.yahoo.co.jp/ganbare-nippon/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/private/kinejapan/attachments/20080507/b3dd0b22/attachment.html