Students Again

The book I would like to discuss in this paper is entitled The Paper Door and Other Stories by Shiga Naoya which was translated by Lane Dunlop. During the course of this paper I will  discuss two stories from this book separately. In this discussion I will attempt to explain how each story helped me to understand the art of this culture better and then I will conclude this paper with my emotional reaction to both stories. In my attempt to explain how these stories helped me understand the art of the Japanese culture better I will give my understanding based on what I learned from the entire story, or use quotes from the story that particularly helped me to understand, or I will use a combination of the two previously mentioned methods.I do not recall any personal experiences I have had pertaining to the Japanese culture or art. However, during my reading of these stories or my writings about what I learned from these stories, if anything pertinent is conjured in my memory I will be sure to include them.

The first story I would like to discuss from this book is called The Little Girl and the Rapeseed Flower. The main theme of the story, to me, was nature. In particular, it seemed to be a story of how nature and people work together hand in hand. This, I believe, tends to be a Japanese philosophy. In the story the little girl and the Rapeseed flower worked together to get the Rapeseed flower to its proper home and while working together down the stream to their destination at the base of the village, it was evident they respected each other and cared about each other’s well being. Understanding the Japanese respect and reliance on nature, through the symbolism of this story, I would imagine nature is a huge influence to the art of this culture. I could imagine some of the art produced is heavily weighted on the subject of nature. Also, I would not be surprised if some of the art consist of nature itself. For example, as we have discussed in class, the use of natural wood in Japanese architecture, Japanese rock gardens, and the many other ways the Japanese culture incorporates nature into its artistic expressions. This story made it sparkling clear to me the importance of nature to Japanese art and how nature helps to shape the art of this culture.

The second and final story I would like to discuss is named Seibei and His Gourds. This story made me realize that simplicity is important and has value in Japanese culture. It was interesting that something as simple and seemingly uninteresting as gourd were of great importance. Gourds were of such great importance that exhibitions were held and gourds were admired and towards the end of the story gourds even commanded high prices from collectors. This story made me understand that simplicity is probably another attribute to the art of this culture. In this culture hobbies seem to be important and could grow into a skilled profession, although, sadly Seibei’s father was less convinced. Seibei’s father and teacher seemed to value education and did not hold outside activities in high regard. His father and teacher did not seem to realize how other activities could be important and enrich your life in ways education could not as most of the other characters in the story understood. Due to this, I would imagine education quickly becomes important to children through the rage of their parents and in turn will continue to be important as they grow and this importance will be passed on to their children. I would imagine that education could possibly be an important subject in the art of this culture.

Now, I would like to briefly talk about my emotional reaction to these two stories. In the first story, The Little Girl and the Rapeseed Flower, I felt innocents. The two words that come to mind after reading this story were peaceful and tranquil. This was a story that made me want to go for a hike or a picnic and relax in my natural surroundings and enjoy. In the second story, Seibei and His Gourds, I felt happiness. It reminded me of a time, when I was a boy, when I had seemingly trivial interest of my own. In addition, I also felt anger and sadness. These feelings stem from Seibei’s teacher and father crushing his most prized activity. It is sad when this happens to a child. These interests in young children could grow into an amazing talent. It is a shame when parent put that potential to an untimely halt due to their own ideas of what is important.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed these two stories. These two stories made me think, invoked emotion, and helped me to understand some attributes that may contribute to the art produced in the Japanese culture. Even though I have barely scratched the surface each story had a hidden wisdom that seemed to be enclosed in the words of the story. I am sure, for this culture, these wisdoms that are a part of their everyday life help to shape artistic expression as well.