Urban Culture in Pre-War Japan (Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia Series)

Politically the 1910s and 1920s were dark days for Japan: economic instability, frequent political assassinations, and increasing violent military interventions at home and overseas affected many. This book explores the literature of the period, showing how it contributed to this overall mood. It focuses on the Tatsukawa Library, an unusual collection of military chronicles based on traditions of popular storytelling found in the yose -- a network of small theatrical venues that provided the masses living and working in Japan's major cities with affordable entertainment. Capitalising on local advances in Western-style printing, the series facilitated a 'new wave' of literature that appealed especially to young, marginalised, economically-insecure urban youths. This book discusses how the narrative content of the Tatsukawa Library, which focuses on historical samurai struggling valiantly against adverse circumstances, helped inspire a generation with admiration for violence. This work also examines how this outlook fitted with the Japanese state's reintroduction of imperial propaganda. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of figures 9 Acknowledgements 10 Preface 12 Translator’s foreword 16 1 Introduction: contextualising the Tatsukawa bunko 18 2 Transitional literature: advances in popular Japanese publishing 33 3 Human networks: cholera, mass migration, and publishing rivalries 53 4 Resonant voices: performative traditions in a time of mass media 75 5 Hyper-masculinity in Sarutobi-sasuke: decoding transcultural influences in the text 102 6 Reflections of industrial urbanism: hyper-masculinity and social violence during the Taishō era 126 7 Congruent bodies: popular culture and imperial ethics 142 Yamada family tree 178 Tatsukawa timeline 179 Appendices 182 A Sanada yukimura shokoku manyūki 184 B Sarutobi-sasuke: sanada yukimura san yūshi ninjutsu meijin 188 Episodes 1–38 189 Index 281 In 1910s and 1920s Japan there was economic instability, political assassinations, and violent military interventions. This book explores the literature of the period, focusing on the Tatsukawa Library. It discusses how the books helped inculcate the generation that fought for Japan's emerging empire with admiration for marital violence.