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the readers to feel and share Chiyoko’s melancholy feeling when she is gazing at the moving red reflection of thirty or forty lion-head goldfish at the mirror. As it
can be seen through the story above, the beautiful narration that he weaved throughout the story is able to give a sudden flash of satori about the transience of
life as the beautiful reflection of those thirty or forty red lionhead goldfish appeared and disappeared as well as the presence of the moon that plays hide and
seek with the clouds for some nights. Kawabata’s way in describing the complexity of human’s feeling is very poetic and considered as an exotic quality
of Japanese literary tradition which makes him won Nobel Prize of Literature in 1968. Moreover, the story above has proven Kawabata’s top-class quality both as
a Japanese writer and as a world-class writer due to his ability in aligning Japanese literary tradition and human values rooted in Japanese culture and its
dense Zen flavor. Hence, it can be drawn that Japanese literary pieces, particularly
Kawabata’s writings, are painted with the unique colors dipped in the thick influence of Zen Buddhism teachings. Further, these teachings also influence the
way Japanese in seeing the notion of death itself.
4. The Japanese View on Death
Most people usually consider death as a dreadful thing. It is related to the gloomy atmosphere of grief and sorrow that mostly cover its presence when it
happens in life. In most cases, people tend to relate death with the feeling of loss, sadness or even fear. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that sometimes death
is responded positively as a part of the relieve feeling and thankfulness as it can
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be found in the Japanese view on death. Hence, it can be said that no matter what the response is, the concept of death itself is intimately attached to human life
which later reflected on the way they live their life in order to be the ‘real’ human beings.
111
This perception is related to the basic nature of human beings as mortal creatures who are destined to die just like other living things. It means that human
beings live their life in a very limited span in which death plays a central role. So, no matter how wonderful one’s life can be, at some point the story has to come to
an end. This notion is aligned with Betty S. Flowers’ notion which can be found in Death and Philosophy 1998 about death and its role in human life. She
mentions that death brings its own peculiar stories in which the narratives influence the way people see the death presence and its role in shaping their life as
human beings.
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Further, the variety of narratives that are presented by death depends on the way in which death is understood within different cultural setting
or spectacles. Since this study discusses about the presence of death and its seeds of
wisdom found in Yasunari Kawabata’s writings, the notion of death needs to be described. As mentioned that Zen Buddhism has become the essence of the
Japanese soul and influences their perspective in seeing the life itself, its teachings also affect the Japanese way in seeing the presence of death itself.
113
Through the spectacles of Zen Buddhism teaching, death is regarded as an inseparable part of
111
Jeff Malpas and Robert C. Solomon, eds., Death and Philosophy. New York: Routledge, 1998 1.
112
ibid., p. 45.
113
Sansom 336.
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life due to the existence of death and life in the Realm of Emptiness. In this realm, the logical dualism of death and life is not acknowledged since everything is part
of others in one whole unity.
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Their inseparable unity has emphasized the significant role of each other in maintaining and preserving their presence in a
harmonic life cycle. Through these spectacles, death has to be happened in order to keep the life cycle in harmony. Further, it has to be seen as a part of natural
process in this transient life since everything is an object of death and destined to die. These notions are represented well in the haiku below:
falling to the ground, returning to the roots:
a flower’s farewell chi ni taore ne ni yori hana no wakare kana
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The haiku above describes the important presence of death to maintain and preserve the life itself by making sure the life cycle runs in a harmonic balance.
The withered petals that fall to the ground have shown the natural cycle of life that must be happened in order to give “an absolute promise” of new fresh
blooming buds in the next season. Those petals which are withered, fallen and rotten will be absorbed by roots in order to create beautiful blooming buds. This
natural event shows that there is a great dependency between death and life in bringing each other presence through the blooming buds and falling petals. In
other words, it can be said that there is life in death and vice versa. As mentioned earlier, the presence of death in this brief life has made life
more beautiful and meaningful. It is due to the presence of death that is able to emphasize the mortality of human beings and the temporal presence of their
114
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
115
Bashō, Bashō’s Haiku: Selected Poems by Matsuo Bashō 54.
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possessions in this transient world. Since death is an inevitable episode in life, it means that every second in life counted and life needs to be appreciated by
adorning it with good deeds and gratitude. Moreover, death is also able to protect human beings from their own worldly desires which will grow deeper as they live
longer. This condition may devour their humanity senses and turn them into vicious greedy beasts. As an impact, slowly but sure, human beings may lost their
chance in enjoying the true beauty of life itself in the art of loving and sharing with others. This statement is described perfectly by Kenkō in the following:
If man were never fade away like the dews of Adashino, never to vanish like the smoke over Toribeyama, but lingered on forever in the world, how things would lose their power
to move us ...The longer man lives, the more shame he endures. ...His preoccupation with worldly desires grows ever deeper, and gradually he loses all sensitivity to the
beauty of things, a lamentable state of affairs.
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The description above has shown Japanese way in viewing death which raises curiosity in revealing the different portraits of death in the works of a
Japanese famous writer named Yasunari Kawabata. Further, various portraits of death in Kawabata’s selected short stories will be analyzed in order to know how
they generate the seeds of wisdom in life. By knowing these theoretical concepts, misconceptions can be avoided in analyzing the research questions. Next, the
theoretical framework needs to be drawn in order to give limitation to the scope of the study.
C. Theoretical Framework
