Expression of Mental Illness in Modern Japanese Literature

Throughout much of modern Japanese literature, there is a consistency in the fact that mental illnesses of all sorts are displayed. Some of these displays are a reflection of the author's own mind, and others are expressions of encounters, connections, and relationships the author has had during their life. For much of the literature we have covered during this course, the modern vocabulary used to describe mental health-related issues did not yet exist in either Japanese nor English but instead was in the process of being developed in both languages. As a result of this development, the analysis of both the original Japanese and English translations are beneficial to understanding the maturation of these languages.

While these expressions of mental illness are utterly abundant within the reading we have covered, there are three particular examples that best portray mental illnesses as we know them today – namely, Mori Ogai’s Maihime, Edogawa Ranpo’s Ningen Isu, and Dazai Osamu’s Viyon no Tsuma. What makes these works so epitomizing as expressions of mental illness is that they all extensively cover elements of depression, obsession, and trauma. This means that direct comparison of their portrayals gives information into the author's views on the human mind in the context of each other's work. 

For the sake of accuracy, it is necessary that only the expressions of mental health are analyzed and that diagnoses are not made, as such a task is suited best for a psychologist.. Regardless, these expressions alone are sufficient information to gain insight on the historical views and conditions present in modern Japan. 

Depression

Within the three mentioned texts, Viyon no Tsuma best expresses feelings of depression. Specifically we see a consistent depression throughout Mr. Otani’s static character. Throughout the text he reveals himself to be an alcoholic with low self-esteem and no direction in life. He states time and time again that he wants to die and that he is afraid of becoming a cuckold. Mr. Otani’s depression shares greater similarities to clinical depression in the sense that it seems ongoing and constant whereas Toyotaro’s depression in Maihime seems closer to that of a trauma-induced depression. We can see this in Toyotaro as he makes claims such as “I am now aware of the fallibility of human emotions” (Ougai 1890). Toyotaro focuses on stating throughout his initial monologue that he is only now aware of these negative emotions and of his saddened view of the world which expresses that it was not present beforehand. This contrasts Mr. Otani who states “Ever since I was born I have been thinking of nothing but dying,” showing us that his bleak world view has always been a part of him. While Otani’s depression is expressed as being an innate part of him, something that he could not exist without, Toyotaro instead held both a sense of guilt and grief that caused his depression.

Both of these works share a similarity that makes their differing expressions particularly impactful, and that similarity is the fact both of these pieces are semi-autobiographical, so both works are made to represent the feeling and experiences the authors have had with some respect to reality. In the case of Dazai, his depression and focus on suicide is evident in his life and death alike. The tendency towards double suicide in Japanese culture is highlighted throughout this work. In Maihime, however, a situation like that of Toyotaro’s is less common. That being said, the situation of both Toyotaro and Ogai are representative of Japan’s focus on Westernization during the Meiji era as their education required them to become fluent with foreign cultures and languages. In the case of Ogai and Dazai their works share specific and prominent examples of cultural trends throughout modern Japan.

There are many reasons why depression may have been a nationally present issue in Japan that both of these texts allude to. Within Viyon no Tsuma it is stated repeatedly that Mr. Otani’s work is in the papers, being as much praised as it is derided. This shows us that the media itself has a focus on the dark and dreary poems that he often wrote about hopelessness, suffering, and death. Such an effect became most prominent after the second World War, which could indicate that the media is focusing on these dark themes because of the public feelings of loss. The loss in which the Japanese experienced at the end of the second World War was not just the loss of the war, but also a cultural loss that broke down the widespread cultural images of Japanese superiority. The entire cultural viewpoint of Japan was turned upside down and one of the many reactions to such a shock was depression and sadness within the media.

Within Maihime we see a similar emotional expression of loss within Toyotaro’s monologue early on in the story – as he speaks about his lack of enjoyment in returning to Japan because of the heart-rending anguish he has suffered. While in the end, he made out well, the emotional scars in which he suffered are too great to enjoy any aspect of his new future. This personal development of Toyotaro’s feeling is analogous to the national feeling of Japan as it progressed through the post-war era. Unlike in the previous World War where Germany was cruelly punished through the Treaty of Versailles, Japan made out with minimal reparations and even had assistance in rebuilding the country. Despite this, there were two major sources of loss beyond the outcome of the war that made this event so shrouded in despair: the loss of life and the loss of their cultural beliefs of superiority. The latter of these losses is important when making an analogy between Toyotaro’s feelings and the sentiment among many Japanese. Toyotaro and Japan alike lost the one thing that they believed in and relied on, and as a result, they gained a long-lasting sadness that remained indefinitely. While depression is highly evident in both Maihime and Viyon no Tsuma it is not apparent in Ningen Isu. While the craftsman does suffer from low self-esteem, it is initially expressed through feelings of frustration rather than sadness. We see this expression as he calls the women of his neighborhood “dirty” and “uncouth” along with other names as he explains his anger towards them for not liking him (Ranpo, 1925). As we see the result of these feelings progress, there is no lack of enjoyment, there is no desire for death, nor is there any regret or guilt. Instead, he simply acknowledges the absurdity of his actions and justifies them with the extreme pleasure he feels as a result:”Enwrapped in these strange visions …I derived no end of pleasure” (Ranpo, 1925). Even Yoshiko, the woman who received the manuscript, responds to the shock of the letter in a manner that does not indicate depression. While her reaction certainly encompasses fear, it does not contain feelings oriented toward herself but rather the situation she unknowingly underwent. 

Maihime expresses a form of trauma-induced depression; however, Viyon no Tsuma expresses a hopeless depression more effectively because of the appearance of longevity within Mr. Otani’s depression. It has been made clear throughout Viyon no Tsuma that his depression is not related to his outside circumstances but instead simply a fact of his being. This is illustrated by the bartender as he explains that Mr. Otani started frequenting the bar before the loss in WWII and before the media had any reason to believe Japan was losing. This directly shows that a major reason many would turn to alcohol was not the case for him. While we know his fear of being cuckolded is one thing that causes the depression we see within the story, we are led to believe that no matter what changes occur in his circumstances his depression will remain. As long as he stays married his fear of being a cuckold remains, yet if he were to be divorced, he would simply believe that he would either view this as being a cuckold as his wife moves on without him or that he would further use the divorce to justify his already low self-esteem and his lacking connection to reality. Maihime, on the other hand, shows us that while Toyotaro will never forgive Aizawa, he still has the capability of escaping his depression. This capability is shown in the closing remarks as Toyotaro describes his lasting impressions to be towards Aizawa and not towards himself. Not only does it show us that he still has a chance to recover but it is in the context of Toyotaro returning to favorable conditions in Japan where he is likely to be reconnected with his family and friends.

Obsession

Within the conversation of mental health within modern Japanese literature, Ningen Isu shines at expressing obsession. It also contrasts the expressions within Maihime as it is not meant to be an accurate depiction of mental illnesses, instead, it is supposed to be a radical depiction of obsession and delusion within the human experience. Throughout the manuscript, we see the craftsman start as someone who can relate to society on the surface despite his unfortunate circumstances. He goes into detail about how he has a reputation as a “supercraftsman” with an apprentice working under him (Ranpo, 1925). His obsession with the chair and his dedication to remaining inside of it begins as an initial thought that his mind becomes fixated on. This theme of becoming fixated on a passing thought, regardless of its absurdity, is exactly how obsession is expressed throughout Ningen Isu. Even the act of writing the manuscript comes from the craftsman passing the thought of revealing himself to his unknowing lover, and this thought he cannot ignore. His obsession is made to seem utterly unreasonable and instead a product of his mind being unusual as he states you will only “understand the strange workings” of his mind if you read the manuscript in its entirety (Ranpo, 1925). We are shown this as he describes how he has “strange visions” of unending pleasure as he sits in the chair and engages in his delusion (Ranpo & Harris, 192). This contrasts the way that obsession is depicted in Maihime, as Elis’s obsession with Toyotaro is seen as a perfectly reasonable result of what has occurred. She relied on him both financially and emotionally and as a result, she fell into an obsessive love.

Elis’s love for Toyotaro can only be described as obsessive as a result of the fact that we see her mind is always preoccupied with thoughts of Toyotaro-even to her detriment. One example of this is in her letters as Toyotaro is working with the minister. She goes into detail that her feelings are beyond just missing him but instead that of an anxious depression. These letters could almost have been disregarded if not for her response to his departure being so severe. We see that she has gone into a state of shock that she cannot recover from before she could even talk with Toyotaro and verify the information. In a scenario where her love had not been obsessive, we could have imagined that she would have cried, screamed, and expressed her emotions in a variety of cathartic ways, yet instead we see a girl whose entire connection to reality has shattered. Not only was her mind shattered but she became “as simple-minded as a child” with “no hope for recovery” (Ougai 1890).

Between Ningen Isu and Maihime, we see a similarity in obsession: the object of one’s obsession is an escape from the things that plague them. As the craftsman escapes his loneliness in the chair, and Elis escapes her loneliness through Toyotaro, we see a similarity with Mr. Otani who tries to escape his loneliness through alcohol and death. The biggest difference, however, is that Mr. Otani never succeeds in escaping his loneliness. 

The outcomes of each character are likely a portal of the author's own attempts to deal with their loneliness through an act of obsession. This is most clearly seen in the life of Osamu Dazai, who ultimately ended his life while being unable to escape this loneliness, just like Mr. Otani attempted to. In the same vein, Mori Ougai had a fling with a German woman and married twice. As Toyotaro and Elis both used love as a method to combat their loneliness, so did Ougai. While we cannot assume that Ougai had an obsessive love with any of these women as there is a lack of evidence, we can assume that he shared Toyotaro’s obsession with the past with his life becoming grayscale instead of a colorful image. 

Taking Ningen Isu into account, we know that there was no real human chair; regardless, the symbolism within the story acts as a historical lens into Ranpo’s views on westernization. The hybridization of a Western-style chair with a Japanese man acts as a metaphor for the cultural mutation of Japan. Specifically, it focuses on the idea of decadence in the West seeping into Japanese culture. It is for that reason that the word mutation is used instead of evolution as the nuance of this change was perceived as negative. It pertains to a fear that as Japanese society focuses and obsesses on Western culture, it will degrade into a society of materialism and hedonism instead of evolving into a nation with Westernized medicine, science, and literature. Ranpo’s enjoyment and research into Western culture shows that his views of it are not entirely negative, instead, we can infer that he fears the idea of Western exoticism. This inference is supported by the craftsman's desire for a Japanese woman only after he has indulged himself fully in Western women and men. It creates an idea that Western luxuries are to be desired before Japanese luxuries. More specifically, the luxuries of Western culture would be adopted for the sake of indulgence but morality and ethics would not. It is ultimately a fear of decadence and the degradation of the preexisting society in Japan that Ranpo is discussing. 

Trauma

The effects of trauma are best expressed in Maihime as we can see multiple perspectives of the same incident. Specifically, we can see how Elis was affected by the news that Toyotaro would be leaving, and we can see how Toyotaro responded to her reaction. With this example of emotional trauma, we see how frail Ougai believed the human mind to be. While it may seem like Elis is a great example of this frailty because of how severely she was affected, Toyotaro is a much more effective example for the Japanese audience of Maihime. This is because much of modern Japanese literature had deeply personal tones and was relatable to many Japanese people as a result of how autobiographical it seemed (Lyons, 1981, p. 94). While we don’t see nearly as flashy of an effect on Toyotaro compared to Elis, we see that his mind has been permanently darkened and that he feels a deep and unending pain as “remorse has settled in the depths of [his] heart” (Ougai, 1925). Throughout his initial monologue and the rest of the story he directly speaks about the pain he feels and the hopelessness it brings. What is important to note is that, unlike his descriptions of Elis, Ougai makes sure that the feelings described by Toyotaro are relatable and realistic. Through the use of shared Japanese tendencies, such as instinctively responding “yes” to your superiors without regard how their request may affect you, Ougai creates a sense of depression in Toyotaro where a Japanese reader can easily understand just how simple it can be to fall victim to. 

Within Viyon no Tsuma we see a very different depiction of trauma in Mrs. Otani. Unlike Toyotaro, whose worldview becomes darkened as his love fails, we see Mrs. Otani as a strong-headed optimist who perseveres through multiple traumatic experiences without being entirely affected. She knows her husband is getting drunk with other women, possibly having an affair, and she even knows about how he attempts suicide. Despite this, she still tries continually throughout the story to right his wrongs, and find her own way to be happy in life. This is particularly interesting if you follow the interpretation that Mr. Otani is a stand-in for Dazai as it sends a different message. Following this interpretation we get a possible assumption that Mrs. Otani is how Dazai views regular people: strong, optimistic, and caring. Given that Mr. Otani starkly contrasts this, Dazai claims that regular people are strong and happy, yet he can never be those things. Since the nihilism of Mr. Otani and the optimism of Mrs. Otani are expressed as being inherent, it creates a divide between these two types of people saying that they will never understand each other. This innate nature is shown in the final dialogue between the two as Mr. Otani remains unchanged and Mrs. Otani says that it's okay to be a monster as long as they are both alive.  This message directly contrasts the message sent by Ougai as he does not portray the nihilism or optimism of his characters to be inherent, but instead as something that they can gain or lose depending on their experiences. We see that both Elis and Toyotaro have phases of despair and bliss as their lives progress and that neither is consistent. This means that instead of these two types of people being unable to understand each other, they can because they are all people, they have just undergone differing experiences. While Ougai sends the message that people are at the mercy of their experiences, Dazai sends the message that people are born with some nature that will not change.

Ranpo doesn’t directly send a message in this regard in Ningen Isu, but one can be implied based on his writing style as a whole. The genre that he marked – ero-guro-nansensu – has an innate message on human nature. Namely, that the way we communicate is through a series of masks and lies because our true intentions and desires are perverse. While a great example of this is Shisei by Tanizaki Junichiro because of its literal depictions of deceptions and perversity, we can still see this through the craftsman in Ningen Isu. In both of these stories, we see human eroticism and desire as the main driving force behind extreme actions. In both of these stories, the erotic desires are an innate and immutable part of the characters. Rather than making a claim on the morality of man, or the strength or weakness of man, they claim that man is no different than an animal and that we simply do what we want. The craftsman and tattooer alike fell victim to their desires that they could not control even if they had no logical reason to follow them. 

Since modern Japanese authors tended to use trauma to portray the perseverance of humanity, it follows that Ranpo’s use of trauma in Ningen Isu was minimal as his main focus was to show the animalistic nature of humanity. One noteworthy expression of trauma in Ningen Isu through Yoshiko as she learns the chair in the manuscript is the chair she owns. That being said there is no particular claim made in this expression, it is simply present for the sake of continuity in the story.  However, it does act as a great point of comparison to the reaction of Elis when she learns the news of Toyotaro’s departure. These scenarios both share the commonality of female characters learning greatly unsettling news and their analysis can communicate information on the authors’ views of both women and trauma. In Maihime we see a simplistic depiction of women as Elis’s reaction was summed up as her just losing her mind to “paranoia.” Meanwhile, Yoshiko is depicted with a much more depth and a deeply human reaction to her uniquely horrifying circumstances. She was horrified, but she also considered what she should do. Unlike Elis who simply succumbed to her circumstances, Yoshiko is depicted as though she still has to live through them like any other person would.

What is implied by Elis’s reaction is that Ougai did not view that the female experience is similar or retable to that of the male experiences, but instead that they were so vastly different that he could not credibly comment on it. Throughout Maihime there is a consistency in the expression of women, the consistency is that they are not fully developed in comparison to their male counterparts. While it is reasonable that Toyotaro is the best-developed character, since he is the main character, the lack of development into the complexities of Elis provides the reader with a sense that her feelings and emotions are not necessarily important compared to the male characters. Within Ningen Isu, however, we see a much better-developed female character who is treated equally to the male characters in terms of focus and development. With the age difference between Ranpo and Ougai, this discrepancy may be a result of a slight improvement in the way the Japanese viewed women. This discrepancy could also be related to the personal lives of the authors, as Ougai was the Army Surgeon General and this position may have given him a greater focus on men and the male experience over the female experience. Ranpo on the other hand was fully involved with the literary world which may have affected his views and focuses to be more liberal than Ougai.

While Mrs. Otani did not have a singular event similar enough to compare with these reactions of Elis and Yoshiko, her depth as a character still gives insight into Dazai’s views on women. Throughout the text, Mrs. Otani and Mr. Otani are described as being unable to relate to each other. While Mr. Otani goes through a great deal of emotions without a clear cause, Mrs. Otani has many things shown that could send her into deep suffering, yet she is mostly unaffected by them. Two potential messages can be interpreted from this, firstly that Dazai believes that women are incapable of understanding men and their suffering, and secondly that Dazai believes himself to be incapable of understanding women and how they cling to this world in a way in which he cannot. As the situation throughout the story changes, we see Dazai’s stand-in Mr. Otani looking for an escape from life and Mrs. Otani looking to make life more enjoyable. The characters are set up as two opposing approaches to life which cannot intercede.

The modern period of Japan is a time marked by change. With the Meiji era having such a focus on westernization, Japan began to have a national identity crisis. This change, followed by more change, war, and poverty created the world that many modern Japanese authors had experienced. It follows that their works are the result of the historical context in which they inhabited. These include works of resistance and support alike (Reichert, 2001, p. 115). While the works covered have a great range in their levels of fictionality, they all in some way represent Japan as it traversed the modern period. To exist within a country where all once thought to be true has been turned anew, and to exist in a country suffering from such poverty and war, it is only natural that shock turns into trauma, sadness into depression, and wonders into obsessions. Mental illnesses are a prominent part of modern Japanese literature because of the historical context in which it exists. Both the individual suffering of each author and the collective suffering of a country as a whole have been etched into the words within each of these works.

• References

  Lyons, P. I. (1981). "Art is me": Dazai osamu's narrative voice as a permeable self. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 41(1), 93-110. https://doi.org/10.2307/2719002

  Ranpo, E., & Reichert, J. (2001). Deviance and social darwinism in edogawa ranpo's erotic-grotesque thriller "kotō no oni." Journal of Japanese Studies, 27(1), 113-141. https://doi.org/10.2307/3591938