Japanese vs American Gothic: Women Are Still Scary

     The main gothic theme of exploring the fears of the past and how changes to our current understanding of the world can be terrifying remains in Japanese gothic. The difference in cultures results in a difference in systems. Different values are more important, different aspects of society have changed or change in ways that are not European, and different cultural expectations affect how a Western reader experiences the Japanese gothic. What remains is that when things change fear is often the result. European and Japanese gothic both place a high value on exploring the role of women in society.

            Japanese and European gothic approach women in similar ways, Matilda and Hippolita type characters still make appearances, and transgressive women are a major source of fear. In “The Chrysanthemum Vow” the monk’s mother is your typical Hippolita, ignorant of the events going on around her and always offering a weak womanly viewpoint on things. Transgressive women are not in “The Chrysanthemum Vow” at all, but their lack of involvement makes as much of a statement about the role of women as a story centering on a woman does. By excluding women entirely the auther is asserting that the only true loving relationship is between two men, and that women are by their nature unable of an honorable loving relationship.

            “The Tattooer” contains a transgressive woman in a stronger role than most European gothic stories. However, the role of the transgressive woman is still the same, to play off of the fear of what happens when people behave, as they shouldn’t. Matilda misbehaves by loving out of her social class, and disobeying her father. Women in Japanese gothic transgress by becoming too powerful. The modernization of Japan spurred the creation of a more independent Japanese woman, which scared men because it was a rejection of the old social order.

            “The Surgery Room” is a classic tale of “the good ‘ole days” with some incorporation of “what have women become?” The main character should be the pure innocent beautiful young woman we experience at the end of the story that the author esteems. Instead the main character, a noble woman (typically gothic), is withholding some dark secret from her husband. The husband in this story is not the tyrannical male of the European gothic but instead the pawn of some larger evil (a la “The Sandman”).

            Japanese gothic is similar to European gothic in that it explores the fear that is experienced when things change. However the things that are changing are different in Japanese culture than in European culture, or at least the response to these changes is different. Reading the Japanese gothic helps broaden the definition of what is gothic. Gothic changed as time went on, changed in the shift from novels to short stories, changed in the shift from European to American, and then again in Japanese. What holds these stories together is the underlying fear that they are exploring, what makes them interesting and valuable is what information the reader can glean about some culture at a particular time.