World Lit Paper

Contrast in Japanese philosophies of life

This year we have read two translated Japanese novels, Banana Yoshimoto’s

“Kitchen” and Yukio Mishima’s “The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea”, though

both novels are from the same cultural background they both depict contrasting

philosophies on three aspects of life; these three aspects are love, life and death. In

“Kitchen” we see a humanistic side of love, life and death. On the other hand “Sailor”

portrays a far more Nihilistic point of view, where love is only physical and strong

people must not show any sign of emotion. Overall, both these novels come from the

same culture, yet they both depict contrasting philosophies on love, life and death to

show the larger contrast between humanism and nihilism.

In terms of love, we are given two points of view either love is nothing but

the body (Nihilistic) or love is nothing but the person (humanistic). This contrast in

love helps us to understand that neither philosophy is wrong, but both are valid,

even if one aspect of love in “Sailor” is the opposite of a portrayal of love in

“Kitchen”. When “Sailor” first begins the main character starts peeping into his

mother’s bedroom, he does this most nights, except for when “she was gentle” (7),

since to Noboru being gentle is a show of weakness and he would rather a stronger

woman, meaning one that showed less emotion. In contrast he tells us that when his

mother-Fusako-would have her “fingers rooted between her thighs” (7) he would

tremble. This shows us that the main character feels more drawn to his mother

when she is masturbating as opposed to when she is more emotional or gentle. This

also gives the reader a feeling that Mishima is trying to tell us that power beats

emotions. As the novel continues a sailor-Ryuji-is introduced as a potential partner

for Fusako when they are having sex Noboru describes it as “lacking: the power

needed”, therefore Noboru is perceiving their physical traits as the more important

part of their relationship rather then their emotions, because Mishima is trying to

tell the reader that sex is the most important thing in love.

In contrast, the love in “Kitchen” is far more emotional and bases itself

on humanistic principles rather than on lust and physical attraction. An example of

such love is when Eriko’s wife died, and Eriko decided to become a woman, since

she knew “she’d never love anybody else” (14). This shows that Eriko is a humanist

who believes in people. An example of the nihilistic physical love in “Kitchen” would

be the love between Eriko and “a crazy man” (44) who one day “spotted her on the

street and liked what he saw” (44), this love ends with the both of them killing each

other, and has an overall negative portrayal throughout the time the event is being

told. This is to express Yoshimoto’s distaste of physical love and her belief that it

leads to death because that is the only instance that Yoshimoto talks about physical

love. That in the end starting love based off of the more nihilistic physical attraction

is going to lead in death, which is why kitchen lacked these relationships. Continuing

with the more emotional love portrayed in “Kitchen” Yuichi had a girlfriend who

“didn’t understand the slightest thing about him, and it made her angry.” In contrast

with “Sailor” such a love would be what Noboru would define as love. Again

Yoshimoto is trying to tell the reader that love should be more humanistic rather

than focusing on the body focus on the personality. Overall the love portrayed in

“kitchen” shows us a humanistic philosophy on one aspect of love throughout the

The second aspect of life in which both stories portray different points

of view is on the philosophy of living. In “Sailor” we have a more nihilistic portrayal

of life from Noboru. An example of such Nihilism is when Noboru feels that “society

was a fiction: that fathers and teachers, by virtue of being fathers and teachers, were

guilty of a grievous sin” (8), showing the reader that Mishima is trying to tell us all

things having to deal with society are bad. Yet fathers and teachers teach children

how to act in society and reinforce the laws of society in the minds of their child.

Though Mishima probably considered this brainwashing, therefore decided to have

Noboru do the same. In terms of absurdity Noboru feels that “death took root at the

moment of birth and man’s only recourse thereafter was to water and tend it” (8),

which can be compared to Sisyphus rolling the stone up the mountain no matter

how much he would try the stone would always roll back down making life

pointless. Mishima is doing this to let the reader feel more inclined towards a

nihilistic point of view as opposed to a humanistic point of view. Finally when it

comes to life in general Noboru feels it is best for him to be hard hearted, as that

“was a point of pride” (9). He then compares his heart to an anchor, which is

immune to all the dangers in the ocean. What Mishima is trying to show the reader

is that strength is the way to go and emotions are of no use in this world.

On the other hand “Kitchen” gives a completely different outlook on

life and how it should be lived. Rather then be an anchor at the bottom of the ocean

Eriko believes that “living things were connected to the sun” (80), and later on she is

called “the dazzling sun that lit the place” (87) in contrast this gives us a more

humanistic point of view towards how one should live their life as it shows that

humans are just as important as the sun, which is the source of all energy on the

planet. Yoshimoto is trying to tell the reader that we all have someone like this in

our life who lights up our day, but we also seem to revolve around them. The final

contrast in life’s portrayal throughout both stories is that while society is fiction in

both stories. Society in kitchen is only as important as you want it to be. An example

of this would be when Eriko’s parents in law excommunicate her, because of the

surgery and she tells Yuichi in her will “DO NOT contact them, ever.” (52) So like the

example of fathers and teachers, kitchen uses parents. Yet Eriko does not accuse

them of any sins, but rather she is the accused. This shows that the humanist

perceives society in the same way as the nihilist, except they care more about the

The final aspect of life portrayed in both “Sailor” and “Kitchen” is death. In

“Sailor” death fills the hollows. Meanwhile, in “Kitchen” death creates these hollows.

When Noboru killed the kitten “ he checked himself for pity… it flickered for an

instant in the distance and then disappeared” (57) the story continues: “The chief

always insisted that it would take acts such as this to fill the world’s great hollows”

(57), therefore the only thing that can fill the hollow in Sailor is murder. This is

a survival of the fittest point of view that, again, is used by Mishima to show the

importance of power. On the other hand “kitchen” gives a contradictory point of

view on this, when Eriko dies Mikage feels that she is “the only person alive and

moving in a world brought to a stop” (55), meaning that Mikage feels that the death

of Eriko opens up a void in her heart, forcing her to feel that the world has stopped.

This again shows the humanistic point of view Yoshimoto is trying to portray

because she is showing the importance of people.

In conclusion, both novels come from the same cultural background, but

they have contradicting philosophies in three great aspects of life: love, living and

death. This shows us that even to people who were supposedly raised in the same

environment won’t end up the same.