On The Nightstand – Across The Nightingale Floor – 4/21/2018

“Mon zen no kozō narawanu kyō wo yomu.”

It’s a Japanese saying that translates roughly to “An Apprentice Near A Temple Will Recite Scriptures Untaught” and it suggests that a person can learn and grow simply by being in the right environment and surrounded by the right people.  This one resonates with me and I can see its truth when I think back to the time I spent in Japan.  I had two opportunities to live and work in Japan for a total of 7 years and both were important learning and growth experiences for me.  I’ve met many Americans who fell in love with Japan and saw the country, its people and it’s culture as more meritorious than their own.  That’s not me.  There are many things about Japan for which I developed a deep and abiding appreciation.  I’m also objective enough to recognize the negative aspects of it’s culture.  On balance, however, I find it a fascinating and admirable country and I’m very thankful for the chance to have so thoroughly experienced all it had to offer.

Some of the aspects of the culture that I most appreciated and that affected me most fundamentally:  1) the sense of community and the importance of group identity, 2) the personal discipline so critical to fulfillment and success, 3) the expectation that respect, consideration and courtesy permeate all human relationships, 4) a commitment to a shared set of values that define both the person and the nation.  For a young man, still in the process of defining himself as a person and a professional, those are not the worst set of foundation stones upon which to build.  I can’t say that I was a perfect student but all left their mark as I learned to work with and relate to my Japanese colleagues and peers.

This book captures many of those elements and I appreciated both the refresher course and the memories it conjured up.  This is an older book – published in 2002 – based on a fictional country and culture modeled on that of medieval Japan.  It’s one I’ve always been aware of and interested in but never purchased or read.  I finally took the opportunity to do so this week and it was a pleasure.  The two protagonists – Shigeru and Takeo – are portrayed in such a way that they either embody or strive to reflect those values.  They’re juxtaposed against a set of antagonists – Noguchi and Iida – that exemplify some of the more negative aspects of the culture.  As with so many Japanese stories – or stories about or modeled after Japan – death is the defining experience.  The story makes it clear that death is preferable to the dishonor of a poorly lived life and how and when you choose to die or accept death is the ultimate measure of the individual.

The Author – Gillian Rubinstein – an Englishwoman who eventually moved to Australia and who wrote this series using the pseudonym Lian Hearn – definitely resisted the temptation to satisfy her readers with a typically American happy ending.  A whole host of characters that you come to respect and appreciate do not survive the story and those that do are forced to make tortured decisions regarding their future – denying or deferring love – refusing the opportunity to embrace power and fame.  Ultimately, that is what makes this story so interesting and so very Japanese.  Your choices define you and life makes no promise with respect to easy decisions or joyful outcomes.  The needs and desires of the individual are, by necessity, subjugated to the needs of the larger group or to the demands of dignity, duty and honor.  Happiness is not a goal worthy of pursuit if it asks the individual to violate a higher or greater set of obligations to family, society, justice or nature.

I would think that many who read the book will find it sad – I only see nobility of intent and purpose in the protagonists and that is one of those aspects of Japan which I often – not always but often – experienced and did come to truly and deeply appreciate.  I am very glad I finally read this one and it has me thinking about a return to Nihon after a 17 year absence.

The series is called “Tales Of The Otori” and it consists of three volumes – the second and third being:  1) “Grass For His Pillow” and “Brilliance Of The Moon”.  I would recommend them to anyone interested in considering a very different way of thinking about what we’re placed on this world to do or how we should live.