Anthems - Japan - Afterword

After my last post, a friend wrote me to point out that the Japanese don’t officially have a national anthem.  Nor do they have an army, or navy, or nuclear weapons; they have a “self-defense force.”  I lived on an airbase in Japan.  I knew about the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
 

And (my friend went on), produce from the Fukushima area is safe.  The government says it is, so it must be.

Well, according to Wikipedia (that source of all alleged truth), the anthem was officially proclaimed the national anthem by the 1999 Act on National Flag and Anthem.  I went back to check, on the chance that perhaps it had been proclaimed something else, maybe the Official National Patriotic Song or Tune.  But of course Wikipedia can be wrong.

I won’t say anything about nuclear weapons or Fukushima (“Fortunate Island?”); I’m not up on that.

But the comment on the “self-defense force” (and yes, the comment on Fukushima, obliquely) reminded me of the fabled indirectness (“obliqueness?!”) often attributed to the Japanese; and curiously, that reminded me of the British.

I intended, at the time, to say something about what seems to me the indirectness of the Japanese anthem.  Paradoxical, since I claimed the words were so to the point.  And yet…whereas other anthems might go on at length about the glories of their countries (not mentioning any names, but pick any one that describes, at length, vast geography or glorious history), the Japanese anthem is perhaps the shortest in its lyrics.  May your reign endure a thousand, eight thousand generations; till the pebbles grow into boulders lush with moss.  It is direct, but to me seems to understate, imply.  Perhaps that’s just my aesthetic viewpoint.

I wanted to go on and say something about indirectness in the Japanese language; but, of course, as soon as I decided to do that, I realized, alas, that I could not think of an example.  My humble inadequacy!

Still, thinking of the Japanese and the British, who I’ve often thought of together (both imperial island nations, on uneasy terms with the Powers of the Mainland)…  I’m told that Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado was a great hit in Japan (which I can’t quite imagine).  Queen Victoria allegedly was delighted to hear that Gilbert had decided to lampoon another country besides England.  Yes…

Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood describes an English friend who had to bring home news of a relative’s death and begins by saying, “There’s been a small accident,” then continues on with, “No, he was injured I’m afraid…slightly…well, a bit more seriously, actually;”  continuing on in that vein before finally admitting to the poor man’s demise.  Indirectness…

Thinking of imperial powers…and of our own fabled Pentagon chiefs who think up clinical terms like “collateral damage”…one must of course remember that indirectness can be either polite or…deceitful.

Meanwhile, I still like the Japanese anthem, whether it’s “official” or “national” or an “anthem!”