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Next, another portrait of death which portrays death as life preservation will be discussed further in the next section by using other works of Kawabata
that are used in this study entitled “Immortality” and “Tabi”.
B. Life Preservation
In this section, another portrait of death is still discussed due to the presence of death in Kawabata’s writings which exhale the spirit of Zen
Buddhism teachings. As it is known that Zen Buddhism teachings do not acknowledge the presence of logical dualism, everything is regarded as a part of
one unity in the Realm of Emptiness. This idea is inspired from the belief that “emptiness is the fountainhead of all possibilities”.
151
Hermeneutically speaking, the notion has formed the horizon in locating the interpretation through the
spectacles of Zen Buddhism teachings.
152
As a result, there is no ‘absolute’ death or life, good or bad, young and old, beauty or ugly even purity or impurity since
everything is part of each other in the Realm of Emptiness.
153
Further, it is believed that this notion has inspired Kawabata in decorating his writings with the
beautiful mixtures of logical dualism. One of them can be seen in the following quotation taken from his writing entitled “Immortality” that is also used in this
study:
An old man and a young girl were walking together. There were a number of curious things about them. They nestled close together
like lovers, as if they did not feel the sixty years’ difference in their ages. The old man was hard of hearing. He could not understand most of what the girl said. The girl wore
maroon hakama with a purple-and-white kimono in a fine arrow pattern. The sleeves
151
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
152
Gadamer 301.
153
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
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were rather long. An old man was wearing clothes like those a girl would wear to pull weeds from a rice field, except that he wore no leggings. His tight sleeves and trousers
gathered at the ankles looked like a woman’s. His clothes hung loose at his thin waist. They walked across a lawn. A tall wire net stood in front of them. The lovers did
not seem to notice that they would run into it if they kept walking. They did not stop, but walked right through the net as a spring breeze might blow through it.
154
In the quotation above, Kawabata blends the opposite notions of old- young, tight-loose or even stop and pass through in order to emphasize their
equality in the Realm of Emptiness.
155
It is interesting to find out that he puts those notions in the story to emphasize the presence of each other. Further, he
raises the readers’ curiosity to have a detailed observation towards the characters involved in the story which is aligned with the characteristics of the classic Heian-
period monogatari.
156
He tries to invites the readers to use their mind as a magnifying glass which can zoom in all small details that he puts in the story. It is
related to the characteristic of Japanese literary tradition which tends to use other elements involved in the story to express the unexpressed things or feelings.
157
As it can be seen in the quotation above that Kawabata wants to give hints about the
characters’ social gap, the class warfare or even the presence of forbidden love that are involved in their love story through a precise description of the clothes
worn by the characters in the story. Besides, Kawabata’s flawless narration is able to illustrate the dream-like situation in which the characters cannot differentiate
between the solid reality and the foggy world of dream. On the other hands, Kawabata wants to blend everything including the readers, imagination and even
154
Kawabata, Palm of the Hand Stories 212.
155
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
156
Pollack 116.
157
Starrs, Soundings in Time: The Fictive Art of Kawabata Yasunari 64.
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the experience that they feel throughout the story into the Realm of Emptiness.
158
It is amusing how Kawabata creates the particular experience for the readers by using their flowing imagination in enjoying the lyrical delicate haiku style in his
writing. And once again, this uniqueness of Japanese literary tradition reflected in his writings is considered unique in giving another color on the canvas of World
Literature. Later, the readers are able to portray death that is presented in
“Immortality” as life preservation based on their experience throughout the story based on the horizon that is formed by the Japanese notion of death that cannot be
separated with the presence of life itself.
159
Hermeneutically speaking, this notion is interrelated with the influence of Zen Buddhism teaching in the way Japanese
see the death itself.
160
Consequently, death is seen as something that can preserve the presence of life itself. In other words, death itself is used as a medium to
maintain the continuity of life. Further, death is considered as an engine to gain eternity due to its ability in sustaining the freshness of life and the genuineness of
its unforgettable flavor. Besides, death is able to make the boundaries of time, distance and place that found in life ‘disappeared’ in the Realm of Emptiness.
161
These notions can be found in one of Kawabata’s selected English version short stories that are used in this study entitled “Immortality”. In this story, Kawabata
portraits the importance presence of death in a dream-like reunion of two lovers
158
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
159
Hin-Jee 226.
160
ibid., p. 226.
161
Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture 37.
66
who happened to see each other again after fifty five long years of loneliness. In this short story, Kawabata talks about the love story between an old man and a
young girl in a dream-like situation. Through an impeccable narration, Kawabata is able to draw the readers into the magical situation that is involved in the story in
which the notions of young-old, alive-dead or even beautiful-ugly are merged in a beautiful way in Kawabata’s imaginary world. In the beginning of the story,
Kawabata only slightly mentions the characters as ‘an old man’ and ‘a girl’ since he wants to make the readers jumped themselves into the characters that he
created. Later, those characters are mentioned as Shintaro and Misako, a couple of lovers who are separated and gathered by death in the story. An old Shintaro
finally meets again with his former lover, Misako who happened to drown herself in the ocean when she was eighteen which makes Shintaro lives in loneliness.
Further, Kawabata does not state their unusual relationship in a blunt statement, but only through glimpse of hints. In hermeneutical practice, it is believed that the
glimpse of hints presented by Kawabata in his writings including in “Immortality’ are related to Japanese literary heritage of renga and its loose-fragmented
structure that regard every element in the story only as complements.
162
This notion has formed the readers’ horizon in seeing the relationships of elements in
the story, including the relationships between the characters and also the loose knot of its plot in the story which need to be seen through the perspective of
Japanese literary heritage.
163
Later, this notion can be found in the story as follows:
162
Starrs, Sounding in Time: The Fictive Art of Kawabata Yasunari 174.
163
Gadamer 301.
67
There were a number of curious things about them. They nestled close together like lovers, as if they did not feel the sixty years’ difference in their ages.
... They walked across a lawn. A tall wire net stood in front of them. The lovers did
not seem to notice that they would run into it if they kept walking. They did not stop, but walked right through the net as a spring breeze might blow through it.
After they passed through, the girl noticed the net. “Oh.” She looked at the man. “Shintaro, did you pass through the net, too?”
164
In the quotation above, time is meaningless since everything is merged in harmony. Even, the presence of the characters is put in between the realms of
solid reality and foggy dream as the characters walk through things like a spring breeze that blows through the net. Further, Kawabata is able to arouse the
characters’ jumbled memories through an intense dialogue between them. Those memories are able to cross the time tunnel that connects the past and the present
or even link up the concepts of beautiful and ugly that can be found in the stories. Further, the presence of those things in Kawabata’s writing has created a beautiful
delusion which is able to hypnotize the readers’ consciousness in a dream-like situation. Through those unforgettable memories, the girl’s point of view in seeing
death is contradicted with the old man’s point of view which sees death as something that has separated him with the girl. These notions can be found in the
next quotation of “Immortality” below:
“Can’t you hear the sound of the ocean? Doesn’t it bring back fond memories?” “The ocean...Did you say the ocean? Fond memories? How could the ocean,
where you drowned yourself, bring back fond memories?” “Well, it does. This is the first time I’ve been back to my hometown in fifty-five
years. And you’ve come back here, too. This brings back memories.”
165
Next, the girl’s way in seeing death as something that can preserve her life freshness in the old man’s memory is giving a unique point of view in seeing
death. According to her, death is seen as a life preserver rather than a life ending.
164
Kawabata, Palm of the Hand Stories 212.
165
ibid., p. 213.
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Once again, it is related to the inseparable unity of death and life in this transient of life.
166
It means that death has to be happened in order to keep the life cycle in harmony. In “Immortality”, the girl regards that as long as the old man is alive,
she will also live eternally through the old man’s presence who always keeps precious memories and love for her. Even when the old man asks her to commit
suicide together, the girl refused. It is because she wants to live forever in the old man’s heart and mind, which is shown in the next quotation taken from the same
story entitled “Immortality” below:
The old man could not hear, but she went on. “I’m glad I drowned myself. That way I can think about you forever, just as I was doing at the moment I drowned myself.
Besides, the only memories and reminiscences I have are those up to the time I was eighteen. You are eternally young to me. And it’s the same for you. If I hadn’t drowned
myself and you came to the village now to see me, I’d be an old woman. How disgusting, I wouldn’t want you to see me like that.”
... “No. You must keep living. If you were to die, there wouldn’t be anyone on
earth who would remember me. I would die completely.” The girl clung to him. The old man could not hear, but he embraced her.
“That’s it. Let’s die together. This time...You came for me, didn’t you?” “Together? But you must live. Live for my sake, Shintaro.”
167
Further, the portrait of death as life preservation can be found in another Kawabata’s selected English version short story used in this study entitled “Tabi”.
This story is told in a simple narration through the point of view of a little girl who talks about the death of her late sister and her former platonic love who
happens to be her own teacher. In this story, death is considered as something that has carved unforgettable memories in the girl’s heart due to the death of her
beloved sister and teacher. In narrating this story, Kawabata has put many small detailed ornaments in order to invite the readers to enter his magical world and
166
Hin-Jee 226.
167
Kawabata, Palm of the Hand Stories p.213-214.
69
feel the unique atmosphere that are presented in the story itself. Once again, the use of many small-detailed ornaments of nature in the story reminds the readers
with the characteristic of the classic Heian-period monogatari.
168
Hermeneutically speaking, Kawabata wants to create a real experience for the readers as if they
jumped into the story and witnessed the unforgettable moment when the grip of death claimed the sister’s life. Through a simple narration of this story, Kawabata
tries to create an equal dialogic interaction between the readers and the text in order to get the essence of the story through particular experiences that are created
by their horizon in reading the story.
169
Later, the harsh depiction of the sister’s death is decorated with the transformation of the ugly face of death into the pretty
form of life through the presence of a white intestinal roundworm from the dead sister’s mouth. Through a flawless narration, Kawabata has shown the magical
transformation of a nasty white roundworm into the perfect form of purity which is created by death. As it can be seen in the quotation below taken from “Tabi”:
If my sister was such a gentle person, why did she have to die that way? I didn’t understand.
Turning delirious in the evening, my sister arched her body back. Her braced, straining hands trembled violently. Even when that stopped, her head seemed about to
drop off the pillow to the left. And then, from her half-opened mouth, a white intestinal roundworm slowly crawled out.
170
In the quotation above, death is depicted as life preservation, due to its role in creating life. Besides, Kawabata is able to use the sister’s unforgettable scene
of death to bring the sweet memories that little girl has for her sister through the smooth contradictive narration. In this term, death is used to recall the sweet
168
Pollack 116.
169
Marra, Essays on Japan: Between Aesthetics and Literature 277.
170
Kawabata, Palm of the Hand Stories 178.
70
memories which are shared among the characters in the story. As it can be seen in another quotation that can be found in “Tabi” below:
Since then, I’ve often recalled vividly the peculiar whiteness of that worm. And, at such times, I make it a point to think of the white socks called tabi.
When we were placing various articles in my sister’s coffin, I said, “Mother, what about the tabi? Let’s put them in, too.”
“That’s good. I’d forgotten about them. Because this child had pretty feet.” “Size nine. Let’s be sure we don’t mix hers up with yours or mine,” I said.
I mentioned the tabi not only because my sister’s feet were small and beautiful but also because of a memory of such socks.
171
In addition, the quotation above has shown Kawabata’s great talent in emphasizing the unity of death and life through the representations of tabi and the
white intestinal roundworm. Moreover, the quotation has shown that the pure warmth and total protection which are offered through tabi representation are used
to emphasize the same quality of the white intestinal roundworm that comes from the dead sister’s mouth in the girl’s heart. It is interesting how Kawabata puts
these two different things on the same level of purity through the contradiction of beauty and ugly. In the hermeneutical practice, the representation of tabi to
emphasize the unity of beauty and ugly is inspired from the notion of emptiness which becomes the core of Zen Buddhism teachings since everything is part of
each other, including beauty and ugly in the Realm of Emptiness.
172
Moreover, the roundworm is used to evoke the little girl’s beautiful memory about the dead
sister’s warmth love and pure kindness. Even, the roundworm is represented as valuable and useful thing as tabi than offers pure warmth and total protection
toward the memory of the beloved one.
171
ibid., p. 178.
172
Davies and Osamu Ikeno 225.
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Through Kawabata’s short stories entitled “Immortality” and “Tabi”, Kawabata wants to portray death as life preservation in which life can be found in
the presence of death itself. It leads to the notion of Zen Buddhism teachings which believes in death as another form of life and vice versa.
173
In the next section, another portrait of death which can be found in other Kawabata’s selected English version short stories will be revealed. In this
following section, death is seen as final redemption which can be found in two of Kawabata’s writings that are also used in this study entitled “Canaries” and “Love
Suicides”.
C. Final Redemption
