The Ideologies of Japanese Tea : Subjectivity, Transience and National Identity

This provoking new study of the Japanese tea ceremony ( chanoyu) examines the ideological foundation of its place in history and the broader context of Japanese cultural values where it has emerged as a so called ‘quintessential’ component of the culture. It was in fact, Sen Soshitsu Xl, grandmaster of Urasenke, today the most globally prominent tea school, who argued in 1872 that tea should be viewed as the expression of the moral universe of the nation. A practising teamaster himself, the author argues, however, that tea was many other things: it was privilege, politics, power and the lever for passion and commitment in the theatre of war. Through a methodological framework rooted in current approaches, he demonstrates how the iconic images as supposedly timeless examples of Japanese tradition have been the subject of manipulation as ideological tools and speaks to presentations of cultural identity in Japanese society today. Table of Contents ......Page 8 Preface ......Page 12 Acknowledgements ......Page 16 Introduction: Tea, Aesthetics and Power ......Page 20 Tea, Authority and Identity......Page 22 Tea, War and Society......Page 23 The Pleasures of Hakata Tea......Page 26 Tea Pleasures as Power ......Page 34 Introduction......Page 39 The lethal aesthetic of ‘Japan the beautiful’......Page 41 Nation building demands a politicized culture......Page 42 Lethal transience in Meiji literature: beauty and death as citizenship......Page 44 Showa era painting: foreign beats native......Page 53 Meiji era tea: the aesthetic seduction of an ideological tool of state......Page 57 Conclusion......Page 60 Introduction......Page 61 Tea as transience: divine flowers and sacred Japaneseness......Page 62 Wartime sakura: patriotic transience......Page 68 Persistent sakura......Page 69 Conclusion......Page 82 Introduction......Page 83 Kokutai no hongi: tea as cultural nationalism......Page 85 Marketing militant harmony: tourism and tea......Page 92 Tea-room harmony: war and peace......Page 98 Rikyu in 1940: tea as state nationalism......Page 104 Tea spirit and state nationalism......Page 107 Tea as state nationalism: Grand Master lectures......Page 110 Tea for peace......Page 112 Conclusion......Page 114 Rikyu as representative: tea as national pride......Page 116 Rikyu in wartime tea literature......Page 120 Zen is Tea as imperialism: Zen is the sword, Zen is Bushido......Page 127 Wartime tea literature......Page 134 The Way of Tea in citizen education......Page 135 Debates about the values of the Way of Tea......Page 142 Conclusion......Page 148 Historical background of the Grand Master system......Page 150 Sensational location: iemoto in popular culture and literature......Page 152 Thousand Cranes by Kawabata Yasunari......Page 157 Conclusion......Page 172 Introduction......Page 173 One context: teaching and research connected......Page 176 Read the text so closely it alarms its protectors......Page 178 How discourse shapes experience in institutional contexts......Page 185 Reading against Anderson from outside: Kramer versus Anderson......Page 188 The hard reflexivity of future tea......Page 195 Conclusion......Page 198 Introduction......Page 200 Written history: qualifying the legendary status of Sen no Rikyu......Page 201 Anecdotal accounts as national myth: tea is cultural......Page 210 History into film: consuming the nation......Page 214 Positioning the audience: genres in national cinema......Page 218 Tea film, tea practice: the critical power of voice-over......Page 229 No final position: othering the Self......Page 235 Conclusion......Page 237 Introduction......Page 238 Critique of everyday myths: locating Kumai’s work......Page 239 Counter-Orientalism deconstructed: lethal politics of ‘Japan the beautiful’......Page 242 Cinema’s resistant and reactionary framing of the nation: jidai geki......Page 244 Film as history: tea’s aesthetic of seppuku and sakura......Page 248 History into film: emphasizing transmission and ‘authenticity’......Page 255 Cinema as meta-history and the politics of Sen cooperation......Page 258 Structural outline: anecdotes as quotation marks......Page 259 Qualifying the narrative......Page 264 Protect me from what I want......Page 267 Conclusion......Page 268 Desire: shopping for authenticity......Page 269 Tea worlds......Page 272 Post-war tea as anime: ‘One bowl, one final bow’......Page 274 Endnotes ......Page 277 Bibliography......Page 315 Index......Page 332 Table of Contents 8 Preface 12 Acknowledgements 16 Introduction: Tea, Aesthetics and Power 20 Tea, Authority and Identity 22 Tea, War and Society 23 1 What Is Twenty-first Century Tea? 26 The Pleasures of Hakata Tea 26 Tea Pleasures as Power 34 2 Inventing the Nation: Japanese Culture Politicizes Nature 39 Introduction 39 The lethal aesthetic of ‘Japan the beautiful’ 41 Nation building demands a politicized culture 42 Lethal transience in Meiji literature: beauty and death as citizenship 44 Showa era painting: foreign beats native 53 Meiji era tea: the aesthetic seduction of an ideological tool of state 57 Conclusion 60 3 Lethal Transience 61 Introduction 61 Tea as transience: divine flowers and sacred Japaneseness 62 Wartime sakura: patriotic transience 68 Persistent sakura 69 Conclusion 82 4 Japanese Harmony as Nationalism: Grand Master Tea for War and Peace 83 Introduction 83 Kokutai no hongi: tea as cultural nationalism 85 Marketing militant harmony: tourism and tea 92 Tea-room harmony: war and peace 98 Rikyu in 1940: tea as state nationalism 104 Tea spirit and state nationalism 107 Tea as state nationalism: Grand Master lectures 110 Tea for peace 112 Conclusion 114 5 Wartime Tea Literature: Rikyu, Hideyoshi and Zen 116 Rikyu as representative: tea as national pride 116 Rikyu in wartime tea literature 120 Zen is Tea as imperialism: Zen is the sword, Zen is Bushido 127 Wartime tea literature 134 The Way of Tea in citizen education 135 Debates about the values of the Way of Tea 142 Conclusion 148 6 Grand Master: Iemoto 150 Introduction 150 Historical background of the Grand Master system 150 Sensational location: iemoto in popular culture and literature 152 Thousand Cranes by Kawabata Yasunari 157 Conclusion 172 7 Tea Teachings as Power: Questioning Legitimate Authority 173 Introduction 173 One context: teaching and research connected 176 Read the text so closely it alarms its protectors 178 How discourse shapes experience in institutional contexts 185 Reading against Anderson from outside: Kramer versus Anderson 188 The hard reflexivity of future tea 195 Conclusion 198 8 Teshigahara's Rikyu as Historical Critique: Representations, Identities and Relations 200 Introduction 200 The film Rikyu as a considered historical intervention 201 Written history: qualifying the legendary status of Sen no Rikyu 201 Anecdotal accounts as national myth: tea is cultural 210 History into film: consuming the nation 214 Positioning the audience: genres in national cinema 218 Tea film, tea practice: the critical power of voice-over 229 No final position: othering the Self 235 Conclusion 237 9 Lethal Transience as Nationalist Fable: kumai Kei's Sen no Rikyu: Honkakubo Ibun 238 Introduction 238 Critique of everyday myths: locating Kumai’s work 239 Counter-Orientalism deconstructed: lethal politics of ‘Japan the beautiful’ 242 Cinema’s resistant and reactionary framing of the nation: jidai geki 244 Film as history: tea’s aesthetic of seppuku and sakura 248 History into film: emphasizing transmission and ‘authenticity’ 255 Cinema as meta-history and the politics of Sen cooperation 258 Structural outline: anecdotes as quotation marks 259 Qualifying the narrative 264 Protect me from what I want 267 Conclusion 268 10 National Identity and Tea Subjectivities 269 Desire: shopping for authenticity 269 Tea worlds 272 Post-war tea as anime: ‘One bowl, one final bow’ 274 Endnotes 277 Bibliography 315 Index 332 9781905246755 BRILL NV Annotation This new volume in Genji studies comprises a collection of six individual essays by leading international scholars addressing the Tale of Genji Scrolls and the Tale of Genji texts in the context of new critical theory relating to cultural studies, narrative painting, narratology, comparative literature and a global view of medieval romance. Uniquely, it also links new critical theory with multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary interests. Increasingly, scholarly research views & lsquo;reading & rsquo; TheTale of Genji Scrolls as an inseparable part of & lsquo;reading & rsquo; The Tale of Genji itself. Hence this book, which is subdivided into three sections: Reading the Genji Scrolls; Reading the Genji Texts; Reading the Genji Romance. The contributors are Yukio Lippit (Harvard), Sano Midori (Gakushuin), Richard Okada (Princeton), Murakami Fuminobu (Hong Kong), Jeremy Tambling (Manchester) and Richard Stanley-Baker (formerly Hong Kong) This new volume in Genji studies comprises a collection of six individual essays by leading international scholars addressing "The Tale of Genji Scrolls" and "The Tale of Genji" texts in the context of new critical theory relating to cultural studies, narrative painting, narratology, comparative literature and a global view of medieval romance. Uniquely, it also links new critical theory with multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary interests. Increasingly, scholarly research views reading "The Tale of Genji Scrolls" as an inseparable part of reading "The Tale of Genji" itself. Hence this book, which is subdivided into three sections: Reading the Genji Scrolls; Reading the Genji Texts; and, Reading the Genji Romance. The contributors are Yukio Lippit (Harvard), Sano Midori (Gakushuin), Richard Okada (Princeton), Murakami Fuminobu (Hong Kong), Jeremy Tambling (Manchester) and Richard Stanley-Baker (formerly Hong Kong). Preliminary Material /T. Cross -- Introduction: Tea, Aesthetics And Power /T. Cross -- 1. What Is Twenty-First Century Tea? /T. Cross -- 2. Inventing The Nation: Japanese Culture Politicizes Nature /T. Cross -- 3. Lethal Transience /T. Cross -- 4. Japanese Harmony As Nationalism: Grand Master Tea For War And Peace /T. Cross -- 5. Wartime Tea Literature: Rikyū, Hideyoshi And Zen /T. Cross -- 6. Grand Master: Iemoto /T. Cross -- 7. Tea Teachings As Power: Questioning Legitimate Authority /T. Cross -- 8. Teshigahara's Rikyū As Historical Critique: Representations, Identities And Relations /T. Cross -- 9. Lethal Transience As Nationalist Fable: Kumai Kei's Sen No Rikyuū: Honkakubo Ibun /T. Cross -- 10. National Identity And Tea Subjectivities /T. Cross -- Endnotes /T. Cross -- Bibliography /T. Cross -- Index /T. Cross Edited By Richard Stanley-baker, Murakami Fuminobu And Jeremy Tambling. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.