This thesis provides a critical evaluation of certain selected works of Hayashi Fumiko and demonstrates the unique literary achievement of this important modern Japanese woman writer who is as yet little known in the West. This thesis contends that the element of struggle, so omnipresent in this writer's life and works, is the essence of her artistic vision. Herein, struggle is examined not only in terms of theme, characterization, imagery, and style but also as a major determining factor in the development and progression of narrative itself. Four principal struggles are discerned: (1) for art and beauty, (2) for love, (3) for maturity and independence, and (4) for survival. It is shown also that the first three of these categories of struggle belong to what in Hayashifs writings may be designated as the inner world of human feeling. This inner world is opposed to and in conflict with the outer world of hardship and necessity in which the struggle for survival takes place. Five major stages in the development of Hayashifs work are proposed, and representative works are discussed in each period to illustrate the developments and modifications of the struggle element. Chapter One, dealing with the period 1922-1930, discusses Hayashi's early poetry and her first major work, Hōrōki. Here, the inner struggle for art and beauty is affirmed amidst the hardship of the outer struggle for survival. Chapter Two discusses the period 1931-1934, and focuses on the short stories "Fūkin to sakana no machi'' and "Seihin no sho." In these works the inner struggles for love and for maturity are brought to the fore as Hayashi's early autobiographical fiction reaches the peak of lyrical expression. In Chapter Three, covering the period 1936-1942, Hayashi's change to "objective" fiction is examined, in particular her first full-length novella, Inazumaf in which the inner struggle is weakened and debilitated by the struggle with outside circumstances. Chapter Four covers the years 1946-1949, a period which represents Hayashi's full maturity. In Ukigumo, her masterpiece, the forces of the inner struggle assume demonic proportions, overpowering the outward struggle for survival and success. In Chapter Five, Hayashi's final years, 1950-1951, are examined. Here, in Meshi, the author attempts to reconcile the dichotomies of the inner and outer elements of struggle as she portrays the lives of ordinary people, striving to find self-fulfillment in the modern world. The thesis concludes that the element of struggle provides a primary tool by which the works of this author can be fully appraised and appreciated. By providing an explication of this element, this thesis not only offers an insight into the mechanisms of Hayashi's genius but also presents a much-needed introduction to and interpretation of this writer's work. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

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This thesis examines the theme of alienation along with the train motif in the life journeys of the protagonists in four modern Japanese novels. Each chapter is devoted to an individual novel and explores its hero's feelings of socio-psychological estrangement on personal and interpersonal levels as well as the role of the train journey which serves to arouse, create or alleviate such feelings. Chapter One deals with Sanshiro (Sanshiro. 1908) by Natsume Soseki and follows the hero on his long train journey from backward Kyushu to progressive Tokyo. The people he meets on the train foreshadow the feelings of uneasiness and estrangement he will encounter in the capital. For Sanshiro, the noisy, crowded streetcars initially represent the "real world," constantly reminding him of his alienation from it. Once over his culture shock the hero's sense of not belonging shifts to his relationships with his friends. Gradually he begins to feel more comfortable with himself and the world around him. Chapter Two examines A Dark Night's Passing (An'ya Koro, 1921-37) by Shiga Naoya. In his search to resolve feelings of unacceptability arising from his childhood experiences, Kensaku takes a series of journeys, many by train, "backward" in time. The train thus serves as an agent which can transcend the barriers of both time and space, separating or reuniting people and creating or breaking down distances between places. It can arouse feelings of happiness, excitement, sadness or loneliness in its passengers or simply provide him with a place to relax and dream about a brighter future. Chapter Three focuses on Snow Country (Yukiguni. 1934-1947) by Kawabata Yasunari. Shimamura's purpose in visiting the snow country is two-fold -- he both desires to escape from and needs to confront the reality of the wasted effort in his life and resulting sense of alienation from humanity. The train complies. As it brings him into this region of Japan it completely loses any connection with reality, creating a void in which weirdly beautiful apparitions float up before our hero's very eyes. Once in this fantasy land our hero is taught to see his own coldness and how to become more human by two beautiful women. It is then left up to Shimamura to put what he has learned into action when he returns to Tokyo by the train which, heading away from the snow country, takes on very real qualities. The final chapter examines The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuii. 1956) by Mishima Yukio. This novel deals with Mizoguchi, a most frightening character whose mixed-up views of both himself and the world are but a thin disguise for insanity. The hero suffers terribly from the resulting feelings of not belonging as well as a great inferiority complex. The situation is complicated by his strange love-hate relationship with the Golden Temple to which he attributes human qualities. The train in this novel serves as the symbolic vehicle which transports the hero back and forth between the region of his birth and what he calls "the station of death" where he will eventually destroy both the temple and the hated half of his personality. In the conclusion the relevance of alienation, trains and the journey of life in modern Japanese literature are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

Mishima Yukio premiered the play Rokumeikan in 1956 and published it in 1957. For more than half a century, this play has been praised as one of the finest Japanese plays in the Post-War period. Rokumeikan is a multi-act tragic melodrama, set in 1886 (Meiji Period) in the Rokumeikan building. The play intertwines complex political cabals, intense loves and hatreds, and multiple deceptions embodying the conflict between political power and love. This essay explores the reasons why Rokumeikan has maintained its popularity over its fifty year long performance history and examines the critical reception of the play. My analysis of the Rokumeikan text is based on conflicting notions of truth and power. According to the French philosopher, Michel Foucault, socio-political power creates truth. This "power reality" is embodied in the play by Prime Minister Kageyama, and its authority is challenged by his wife, Asako, who has an entirely different conception of truth. This interplay of conflicting values has helped to maintain the popularity and stature of the play for half a century.

From 1958 to 1959, Mishima Yukio published a series of satirical essays titled Lessons in Immorality, in the magazine Weekly Morningstar. Lessons in Immorality was made into a television series, a stage play, and a film. Famous in the West for writing serious novels, Mishima's work as a humor writer is largely unknown. In these essays Mishima writes in a very comic style, making liberal use of hyperbole, burlesque, and travesty, in order to parody and satirize contemporary Japanese morality. Mishima uses humor to create a world in which Mishima Yukio, iconoclastic author and pop-culture figure, is an arbiter of his own honest and just morality that runs counter to the norms that Japanese at that time considered to be honest and just. Additionally, Mishima used Lessons in Immorality as a forum to discuss some of the serious concerns that are central to his famous novels. Because Mishima was writing for young men and women, he wrote about his complex philosophical and aesthetic ideals in a very humorous and accessible style. Thus, in addition to displaying Mishima's talent as a humor writer, these essays also give the reader fresh perspectives on Mishima's serious literature. In this paper, I will present the writing styles, rhetorical tools, and philosophical discussions from Lessons in Immorality that I believe make the series essential reading for anyone interested in Mishima or postwar Japanese literature.

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Dazai Osamu (born Tsushima Shûji) was a post-WWII writer who wrote a number of works using a female narrator. This thesis research focused on the reasons as to why Dazai may have written using female narratives, taking into consideration the time period and social milieu in which he was writing, as well as his own personal history with women. In addition, the history of male authors utilizing female narratives was explored, as well as the ideas of gender in the Japanese arts. Dazai works were also compared with Tankizaki Junichirô's to see how the roles of women in their works differ. The four main Dazai works analyzed were "Magic Lanterns" ("Tôrô"), "The Schoolgirl" ("Joseito"), "December 8th" ("Jûnigatsu yôka"), and "Villon's Wife" ("Biyon no tsuma"). The conclusion was that Dazai was using female narrators as a different approach to further critiquing himself, with the female narrator being used to critique a Dazai-like persona in the works.