Myths and Japan

In English class, which will provide topics for some posts, we're reading Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible. I would recommend it as a good read (at least through page 124). For a full plot summary, click here. The book tells the story of an American family led by a missionary father who goes to the Congo (prior to independence) in the 1960's. There they encounter an Africa strangely closed to their missionary manner of imposing openness, and not eager to be Christian. While reading the book, we've talked about myths that we have about the cultures we interact with, and how they influence our interactions. In this case, priorly held assumptions about Africans as backwards, incapable, and pliable lead to the mission's failure. I thought it would be instructive to contrast this to America's colonial experience with Japan.

The US pried Japan open. Japan had evicted Westerners after some exposure to early industrial ideas from Dutch missionaries, but as Western presence expanded, Japan evicted all Westerners except for a Dutch enclave at Nagasaki. This period of self-imposed isolation lasted until 1853, when Commodore Perry came and forced Japan to join the global economy. For a good recounting of these events, see this. If you have access to more databases than I do, you might find this interesting.

The question of myth in the Japanese context is very different than American myths in Africa. Because the US simply opened (versus settled) Japan, myth creation simply wasn't as necessary. Yes, there was probably racism towards the Japanese like there was towards most minority groups during that time period, but the government didn't need to create an image of the Japanese as needy, backwards, or inferior to support their mission. As long as the public was aware the Japanese market held great economic potential, an economic mission was justified. If, for the growing empire, the means justify the ends, then so do the myths.