“Tsuyu no Inotchi”
- Human life is like
Dew in the Morning
As this famous quote suggests, many Japanese feel that their
time on earth as humans is a temporary state. Largely influenced by the
Japanese Buddhist doctrine, the major religion in Japan, this widely held
belief ultimately results in a culture where the realms of the living and the
dead are much closer than they are in North America. In Douglas Cowen’s
discussion on the relationship with ghosts, “in Stalking Life: The Fear of
Death and Dying Badly”, he notes that, “the Japanese…hold to a worldview in
which the realms of the living and the dead interpenetrate in a system of
mutual responsibility.”[1]
Being half Japanese myself, I can confirm the strong relationship that the
Japanese have with the deceased, which not only resulted in exposure to
terrifying ghosts stories at an early age, but also frequently lead to both
humorous and eerie conversations with my mother.
 |
| The faceless "Mujina" |
As I was half-Japanese, my parents made the decision to
enroll me in an extremely progressive elementary school that offered Japanese
as a third language. Although much of the time was spent learning Kanji and
grammar, Mrs. Kishibe, our teacher, would frequently screen movies. Although
these films were aimed at children, usually cartoons, their subject matter very
frequently dealt with ghosts, such a “Mujina”, the faceless noodle merchant, and
the “Ghosts of Aokigahara Forest”. After watching these films, I would usually
ask my mother about the stories when I got home, and after her initial shock
that we watched them in class, she would proceed to tell me the “real”
versions, which were ironically much more gruesome than the watered down children’s
stories screened at school. Furthermore, her stories were usually book-ended by
affirmations that many people in Japan believe these stories to be true and she
would talk about areas in Japan, such as Tokyo’s famous Shinjuku district, which some people avoid at night due to their fear of ghosts.
Locations for Tokyo ghost tours, including the Shinjuku district and Aokigahara Forest
However, although my experiences confirm Cowen’s assertion
of the importance of ghosts in the Japanese culture, I feel that he distorts
the nature of this relationship. Claiming that the extent to which the
interconnectedness between the living and the dead in Japanese culture can be
“disturbing”, coupled with the reasoning that the “mizuko kuyo” ceremony, for
aborted fetuses, is carried out primarily to avoid attack by a vengeful spirits,
highlights the extent of his misunderstanding. From my experience, the
sensitivity for the dead is primarily a product of respect, and not misplaced
and completely irrational fear, as many Japanese myths and horror films would
have the misinformed believe. Japanese people are traditionally extremely proud
and respectful, and these virtues extend to those who are no longer living.
Thus, although the notion of vengeful and angry spirits are a concern some,
this is most likely a result of them feeling very close to a force they do not
completely understand. Ultimately, I feel that Cowen’s argument, despite
highlighting some important truths about the significance of ghost’s in
Japanese culture, misconstrues the relationship between Japanese mythology and story
telling as the actual beliefs of Japanese people.
Trailer for "Ju-on" the original Japanese version of "The Grudge"... a typical J-Horror film
[1] Douglas E.
Cowen, “Stalking Life: The Fear of
Death and Dying Badly,” in Sacred Terror Religion and Horror on the Silver
Screen, (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2008), 132.
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