I watched the "Sunshine Through the Rain," bit of Akira Kurosawa's film, "Dreams." I realize this is extremely juvenile of me, but at the beginning, I found the scurrying of the woman in the background, to be quite comical. I suppose it was just the way she was scuffling her feet, in the most hurried fashion she could, to bring in her things from the rain. It did not matter that her child was outside in the downpour, as long as her goods were dry and inside!
I was lost for a little bit, as I was not sure what the mother meant by, "foxes," when she told her child to go inside, as "foxes" have their wedding ceremonies in the rain and sunshine. I may have missed something in class, to not grasp that concept. However, when I finished watching all of the clips, I did some research on "foxes." Foxes (the animal) are a symbolic icon of the Japanese kami, Inari. Inari was the kami of agriculture, fertility, foxes, industry, rice, and worldly success
In the part of, "Sunshine Through the Rain," numerous Shinto ideas were expressed. First, I was extremely baffled by the child disobeying his mother, by going out into the woods to see the wedding ceremony. While it is common in the American culture not to treat elders with respect, Shinto says that gratitude, loyalty, and politeness, just to name a few things, should always be expressed. The child did not exhibit any of those characteristics, by going out into the woods to view the forbidden wedding ceremony. Second, I got to take a sneak peek into Shinto Worship, which was the "miscellaneous festival" of a wedding. The wedding rites included bowing and the playing of drums. Lastly, a Fox made a cameo at the child's home, where an item was left with the mother, when the child returned home. When the child opened the item, unfortunately, it was a knife. The mother told the child the knife was to be used in the act of hari kari, ritual suicide, due to the dishonor of watching the Fox wedding.
Based on this story, I do not like Shinto. What a brutality, hari kari, brrr As matter of fact, many children and young people in Japan do not like the rigid regulations and rules controlling their lives. One girl told me that she was very happy to be able to stay in America.
ReplyDeleteThe information you found about the foxes was really interesting. I too was a bit confused (I wasn't in class so even if something was mentioned I wouldn't have known) at first, but I figured that they must have signified some Shinto being that should be given respect. Glad to know that I was on the right track. I also agree with you about being surprised that the boy would disobey his mother so easily. The culture is one that usually emphasizes honor and respect more, but then again, I guess that is why the boy accepted his fate without any objection.
ReplyDeleteThe segment you just reviewed seemed to actually be the closest to the details expressed throughout the lecture on basic shinto. The fox was described in class as being clever and bringing success, and the more tails the better, up to nine (cue pokemon lol). I liked how you stated your distress with the little child. I do not know weather the director was trying to show Western ideals about elders to show a point to keep the shinto tradition alive.
ReplyDeleteI liked your post and what you found out about the representation of foxes. It made more sense to me with that connection too.
ReplyDeleteI disagree when you say it's common in american culture to not treat your elders with respect. I don't believe that americans are less likely to disrespect elders in anyway, I believe its different in Japanese culture and Chinese culture to not question authority. Authority being different then elders. I thought your research on the foxes was very interested and helped me also understand that aspect of your post.
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