[Book Review] "Selected Works of Shinobu Orikuchi I–VI" (Edited by Hirohiko Okano)

2019/12/28

As the name suggests, this book collects the essence of Shinobu Orikuchi's vast body of work into five volumes, plus one volume for an album. The editor is Hirohiko Okano, who lived with Orikuchi during the final seven years of his life and observed his scholarship and daily life firsthand. The contents are: "I. Theory of Otherworlds and Rituals," "II. Theory of the Origin of Literature and History of Narrative," "III. Theory of Tanka History and Choku Tanka Collection," "IV. Theory of the History of Performing Arts," "V. Essays and Others / Choku Poetry Collection," and "VI. Album." At the end of each volume, there is a new essay by Okano reflecting on his memories of his mentor, along with a detailed commentary by Masaharu Hasegawa to deepen the reader's understanding of the work.

Until now, there has been no anthology of Orikuchi's work like this one. Although the three-volume "Kodai Kenkyu" (Study of Antiquity) was Orikuchi's first collection of papers, it already contained almost all the essentials of his scholarship—from theories on yorishiro (objects that attract spirits) and otherworlds to the theory of "marebito" (visiting deities). Thus, while not an anthology, we have previously used those three volumes as the foundation for understanding Orikuchi. The reason this book is a true anthology is that it further selects papers from "Kodai Kenkyu" and provides them to a wide range of readers alongside the essence of his works from his later period of maturity. With the publication of such a collection by Okano, one of Orikuchi's last disciples, readers can use it as a guide to construct their own understanding of Orikuchi. I would like to freely record my impressions of this anthology below.

The structure of this book is extremely well-thought-out, yet one can also sense a fairly free spirit. That freedom is part of the charm of this anthology. The first instance of this freedom is the inclusion of the handwritten manuscript of "The Concept of the Afterlife in Ethnic Historical Views" near the end of "V. Essays and Others / Choku Poetry Collection." Volume V has an exceptionally high page count, likely because Okano, who was deeply involved in the creation of this late-life study, allowed his personal feelings to override the formal consistency of the structure in the final stages. Interestingly, however, the addition of this study resulted in the "selected" texts being sandwiched between theories of the otherworld at the beginning and the end. Furthermore, the first piece, "To the Land of the Mother / To Tokoyo," is a study from 1920 (Taisho 9) before Orikuchi's trip to Okinawa, while "The Concept of the Afterlife in Ethnic Historical Views" is from 1952 (Showa 27), the year before his death. The theory of "marebito," the theory of the origin of Japanese literature, and the theory of performing arts were all conceived and theorized chronologically between these two theories of the otherworld. This accidental structure symbolizes how deeply those theories were connected to the theory of the otherworld in Orikuchi's mind.

Moreover, the content of these two theories of the otherworld makes us aware of an important characteristic of Orikuchi's scholarship: his recognition that his concept of "antiquity" (kodai) encompasses a "pre-antiquity" (zen-kodai). The version of "The Concept of the Afterlife in Ethnic Historical Views" in this book is not based on "New Research on the Classics," which the Complete Works used as a source, but on the original handwritten manuscript. It contains the following passage: "Antiquity, which contains many things we can consider historical facts, follows the modern era; however, I feel there is an even greater gap in time between that antiquity and the pre-antiquity I am describing. There is such a leap in knowledge between antiquity and pre-antiquity." This "pre-antiquity" is synonymous with the "ancient times when our ancestors still dreamed of the homeland in the blue clouds" mentioned at the beginning of "To the Land of the Mother / To Tokoyo." These two theories of the otherworld clearly show that Orikuchi's historical and literary research aimed at such a "pre-antiquity." Incidentally, the passage from the handwritten manuscript quoted here is easier to understand than the corresponding part in the Complete Works. As Okano notes in "The Final Years of Shinobu Orikuchi," one can see that as Orikuchi added more to this study, "the argument became increasingly complex and difficult to understand."

The next thing that surprises readers regarding the freedom of the book's structure is that "The Origin of National Literature (3rd Draft)" is separated from the 1st, 2nd, and 4th drafts found in Volume II and placed in "I. Theory of Otherworlds and Rituals." However, considering that only the "3rd Draft" among these four studies had the original title "Tokoyo and 'Marebito'" instead of "The Origin of Japanese Literature," this treatment is by no means unjustifiable. Rather, by placing this full-scale theory of "marebito" in Volume I, readers can more clearly recognize that the causes of the origins of "literature" and "performing arts" treated in Volumes II and IV lie in the words and actions of the "hokahi" (blessing) of the "marebito" who visit from the "otherworld" during "rituals."

I am running out of space, but the free nature of this book is also seen in the fact that creative works are distributed across Volumes III, IV, and V. This can be seen as an attempt to structurally demonstrate what the commentary calls "the unified figure of Shinobu Orikuchi the researcher and Shaku Choku the literary figure." In particular, the novel "Shintokumaru" is an important part of Orikuchi's history of performing arts, and therefore the "Selected Works" naturally places it at the end of Volume IV. Although the novel "The Book of the Dead" is not included in this selection due to its length, it is certain that it occupies a central position in Orikuchi's research and creation, and readers should add it to the margins of their own "Selected Works."

"Selected Works of Shinobu Orikuchi I–VI"

Hirohiko Okano [Editor]

Keio University Press

232–356 pages per volume, 2,800 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.