Japanese Literature Through Indian Eyes
Nissim Bedekar (India)

To the average Indian literary connoisseur, literature from abroad means French, German, Russian or Spanish literature. He or she may be familiar with the works of Maupassant, Gunter Grass, Dostoevsky or Marquez, but Kawabata, Mishima, or Tanizaki are virtually unknown to him or her. Mention of Japan conjures images of Mount Fuji and Geisha, bullet trains and cherry blossoms, cars, hi-tech robots and electronic goods, a country arising from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and recently, the nation of Doraemon, Pokémon, and Shinchan. But when it comes to international literature, Japan simply does not make the list.

One reason for this non familiarity with Japanese literature is because it is simply too exotic- too unfathomable, too otherworldly, too different for Indian readers to understand and appreciate. I remember reading, during my childhood, Basho's famous haiku somewhere- 'The old pond/ Frog jumps in/ Sound of water'. My first reaction was 'What kind of poem is this? Can this really be called a poem'? Its deep philosophical meaning was completely lost on me. Later I came across some Japanese folk tales such as Princess Kaguya, Urashima Taro and Crane Returns the Favour. Although the stories were fascinating, I noticed something unique about them- none of the stories ended on a happy note. This was in sharp contrast to the fairy tales from the West that I had read- Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and others. They always ended with 'and they lived together happily ever after'. But that never seemed to happen in the Japanese tales.

This uniqueness of Japanese stories was one of the many reasons that piqued my interest about Japanese language and culture, and made me pursue a master's degree in Japanese language. Apart from five years in India, I also got a chance to study Japanese language, history and culture in Japan for three years. These were the years when I was introduced to the richness of Japanese literature and the love affair began. Apart from works of popular writers of science and mystery fiction such as Shin’ichi Hoshi and Jiro Akagawa, I also read excerpts from the works of stalwarts of Meiji and Taisho periods such as Soseki and Akutagawa, and literary masters of Showa period such as Kawabata, Tanizaki, Shiga Naoya and so on. I also 'discovered' others on my own such as Edogawa Rampo, Kenji Miyazawa, Abe Kobo among others.

I translated a short short story by Shin’ichi Hoshi into my mother tongue, Marathi, for a magazine nearly twenty years ago, and that proved to be a spark that ignited the passion of literary translation in me. Translating Japanese literature is an extremely challenging and at the same time, a hugely rewarding task. With a rich and deep cultural and historical background, plenty of ambiguity and subtlety, specific terms for various natural phenomena such as various types of rain and different shades of a specific colour, and a rich treasury of idioms and proverbs, translating Japanese literature can be frustrating, sometimes even agonising. This is the reason why there are not even twenty translators of Japanese literature in India although the number of Japanese language learners is in the thousands. Besides, literary translation is a labour of love, and for most learners of Japanese language in India, the primary motivation for learning the language is the abundant monetary benefits, so they have little inclination towards translating literature.

However, things are changing for the better, albeit slowly. With more Indian universities offering undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Japanese, more number of students are getting exposed to Japanese literature, sparking interest in research and translation. Leading bookstore chains such as Crosswords display English translations of well known contemporary Japanese authors such as Haruki Murakami, Yoko Ogawa as well as masters of crime fiction such as Keigo Higashino and Natsuo Kirino. Publishers in Indian Languages such as Marathi are also showing interest in introducing famous works of contemporary Japanese literature to their readers. This is indeed a good news for aspiring translators of Japanese literature in India.

And so, in the end, why do so many works of Japanese literature have sad endings, including works of children's literature?

The answer requires an understanding of Japanese culture and especially Japanese sense of aesthetics which vastly differs from the Western one. Buddhism, introduced to Japan from India via China and Korea, has had profound impact in shaping Japanese culture, sensitivities, and aesthetic concepts. The concept of 'Mujō' (impermanence) pervades every aspect of Japanese life- happiness is followed by sadness, birth by death. Beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom, a symbol of Japan, last barely two weeks, only to fall down and be scattered everywhere. The Japanese aesthetic keyword here is 'Mono No Aware', often translated as 'pathos of things' or 'empathy towards things' which is derived from this impermanence of everything in life. It denotes a transient, gentle sadness or wistfulness at passing of things, as well as a deep, gentle sadness at this being the reality of life. This gentle sadness, which is the essential core of Japanese culture, is also reflected in Japanese children's literature. To the Japanese, it is important that even a child should know that life is not all chocolate, cookies or sweet pie- death, disappointment, and separation are very much a part of life.

During my childhood I was puzzled about the sad endings of Japanese stories, but now that I know the reason why, I think the sad endings is what makes Japanese literature so fascinating, profound, and if I may say, very, very uniquely Japanese.

(Assistant Professor, English and Foreign Languages University)