Download (j-horror) film, Kakashi (2001). J- horror is distinct fo

The Journal of Comparative Media Arts (Fall/Winter 2015)
Original Paper
Real or Rational? A Study of Substantive and Instrumental Rationality,
Fallen Matthews
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Published in print: December 4 2015; Published online: December 15 2015 © CMAJournal
Abstract
This paper looks at how fear is elicited in a Japanese horror (j-horror) film, Kakashi (2001). Jhorror is distinct for plots following supernatural phenomena drawn from Japanese religious and
folkloric references of select Buddhist denominations and Shinto. These references are
substantiated by mortal rational order. Kakashi itself explores how the spirit is consecrated
through fear as well as territory; how it transcends death and bridges the physical, naturalistic
plane of the living. Terror arises when one is socially displaced. The fear of displacement exists
in the context of both biological life and the afterlife. This research draws upon secondary
sources including essays on Japanese religion, folklore, j-horror narratives, and Weberian theory.
The influence of religion and folklore upon rationality is then explored through the author’s
qualitative content analysis.
Keywords: rationality, authority, Buddhism, Shinto, Weber.
Supernatural phenomena are a definitive aspect of Japanese horror (j-horror) films. Jhorror films are generically noted for their eerie, nonlinear narratives that invoke fear through a
psychological medium, unlike the zombies and slashers that are more typical of European and
[North] American horror cinema. 1 Beyond generic motifs, j-horror is characterized by its
content; specifically, through its plotlines driven by supernatural phenomena and associations of
the occult. Fear is modeled around religious and folkloric tropes which inform j-horror
aesthetics.
Douglas Cowan, Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen (Waco: Baylor University Press,
2008), 87.
1
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Yūrei (ghosts) are well-known staples of j-horror. Their long, willowy hair and often
obscured faces have become prominent referential symbols for the genre. 2 They are defined as
ghosts bound to specific places, objects, or people. Often, yūrei are examined as analogues of
contemporary gender roles resisting ascriptions of traditional femininity yet resigned to
patriarchal paradigms beyond the grave. Traditionally, they are malevolent and female and
therefore, likely to religiously reaffirm patriarchal values as the yūrei state is often taken as an
existential consequence awaiting women [in death] who defy patriarchal social norms. 3
THE AUTHORITY AND RATIONALITY OF TRADITION
As I resolved to study j-horror, I started this analysis thinking yūrei would be my main
focus. What I found was that in j-horror, yūrei are mostly plot devices. The main focus was the
usage of supernatural phenomena as well as how religious and folkloric references inform
purposes in life and death. 4 Yūrei were not as centrally focused as I thought, but they served to
illustrate disorder and the consequences of defying social and natural order, and their likeness
(form) can be literal ghosts or allegorized in humans with subaltern identities.
Personally, I quite enjoy j-horror—which is why I thought studying it would be ideal.
What better topic to explore than one that actively engages your interests? But watching j-horror
closely led me to some interesting realizations. I found myself confronting and deconstructing a
good deal of personal biases as I started to critically consider the content. Critically considering
the traditional religious and folkloric locations of j-horror elements prompted me to contemplate
a larger question: how are things defined or proven as valid or real? What I took away was a
reflection of how standards and praxis not only constitute but also substantiate reality.
I started to realize that I was not merely analyzing a film. I was also rationalizing it to
make sense in accordance to a preconceived rational order. The connections I drew were not
sporadic or spontaneous; they were appropriated and contextualized according to various
references. The connections I sought to draw were not simply an occurrence. They were
“It Came From the East… Japanese Horror Cinema in the Age of Globalization,” last modified May 13, 2009,
http://www.gnovisjournal.org/2009/05/13/it-came-east-japanese-horror-cinema-age-globalization. See
also “Coming to America: J-Horror,” last modified March 28, 2011,
http://www.postbubbleculture.blogs.wm.edu/2011/03/28/coming-to-america-j-horror.
3 Jay McRoy, “Guinea Pigs and Entrails: Cultural Transformations and Body Horror in Japanese Torture Films,”
in Nightmare Japan: Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2008), 17.
4 David Kalat, J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge and Beyond (New York: Vertical, 2007).
See also Colette Balmain, Introduction to Japanese Horror Film (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008).
2
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
contrived and encoded. My ideas made sense because they corresponded to a line of logic and
reasoning: religious, folkloric, and other cultural references about Japan.
In order to effectively analyze this film, I had to reexamine my convictions. In doing so, I
found myself empathizing with a number of characters in the films. All the reading I’d done, all
the j-horror films I’d seen, and all my excitement were not guarantees of foolproof accuracy. My
research enabled me to gain new insight into Japanese religion, folklore, and existentialism
which illuminated how and why j-horror tended to incorporate supernatural phenomena into its
plots.
I was and still am an outsider: someone who has no firsthand background or grasp of
Japanese religion, folklore, and ritual. Bearing this in mind, I realized that I needed a vast
number of resources and references to produce a coherent thesis. Therefore, my statements were
not so much validated in my personal reality as they were guided by sources. The sources
provided a map to locate themes found in j-horror, not me. My findings and ideas were
rationalized, not manifest.
Realizing that my ideas were rationalized inclined me to incorporate a Weberian
ideology; namely, authority and rationality. Similar to the characters in the films, I likened
myself to a plot. My notions of reality, principle, and protocol were wholly contrived through
preconceived ideas of ethics and linear thinking. If I thought hard enough, I could devolve
everything and everyone to a rational reference point. I could also appreciate that all of my
references were maintained and legitimized by authorities (such as academic organizations,
books, testimonials, etc.). Everything was located within my intellectual and referential territory.
This made me think on how the films—characters, motifs, the treatments and encounters of
supernatural phenomena—were also rationalized.
Max Weber’s theory of rationality supports Western rationalism 5 wherein social
conditions drive purposive action. 6 Behaviors and discourses are not only motivated by society
but also justified and reinforced, literally rationalized. Weber identified at least sixteen types of
rationality, however these are typically reduced to four distinct types: theoretical, formal,
instrumental, and substantive. 7 Theoretical rationality concerns theocracy, idealism driven by
theory. Formal rationality follows empiricism, identifying and understand the tools and
Alex Law, Key Concepts in Classical Social Theory (Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2011), 162.
Patrick Baert, “Contextualizing Max Weber,” International Sociology 22, no. 2 (2007): 123.
7 Law, 163.
5
6
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
methods that create (and therefore, substantiate) reality. 8 Instrumental rationality concerns
measures and rhetoric working towards the attainment of a particular goal 9; this is also known as
means-end rationality. 10 Finally, substantive rationality follows how people are motivated to
act by principles and values. 11
My analysis will focus on instrumental rationality and substantive rationality because I
think they most efficiently speak to how characters have cultivated their priorities, desires, and
identities in the film. In j-horror, [Japanese] religion and folklore—predominantly Shinto—
provide context for these values (substantive rationality) and objectives (instrumental
rationality). Identifying or speculating upon theoretical rationality and formal rationality would
have been too difficult since the film focused primarily on character conflicts and supernatural
phenomena, not the theories or experiments focused upon social action.
Weber’s model of authority was also appropriate for this study as traditional authority
provided a substantial context for religious, folkloric, and even patriarchal paradigms informing
the depictions and motifs of supernatural phenomena, including yūrei. In j-horror, yūrei are
conceived and portrayed according to their traditions in religion and folklore. Characters’
attempts to exorcise or placate yūrei are also tied to these very same traditions and customs. The
efforts made by characters to appease yūrei can also be likened to tradition because yūrei are
defined as restless spirits who need to be appeased. 12
Similarly, I found that characters in these films also seek to naturalize—thereby,
rationalize—supernatural phenomena. In j-horror, the occult cannot simply be ignored or
avoided. 13 Therefore, it can be expected that j-horror invokes a customary sort of conciliation
because yūrei must be pacified in accordance with religious and folkloric standards. Overall,
supernatural phenomena is only purged or overcome by mortals when it is identified or
Ibid.
Ibid.
10 Stephen Kalberg, “Max Weber's Types of Rationality: Cornerstones for the Analysis of Rationalization Processes
in History,” American Journal of Sociology 85 (1980): 1148.
11 Law, 136.
12 Wheeler Dixon, A History of Horror (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2010), 183.
13 “Ghosts and the Afterlife in Japan,” last modified February 16, 2011, https://suite.io/paula-inielson/53rv2dq.
8
9
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
rationalized by mortals. Therefore, in j-horror, the authority substantiating and ascribing
rationality was traditional; founded in Japanese traditions and/or customs. 14
J-HORROR’S YŪREI AND OCCULT LIKENESS
Research on j-horror films predominantly focuses on religious and folkloric derivations
contextualizing characters, plot, and encoded existential themes. 15 Gender roles are also a central
theme. 16 As Wee articulates, in j-horror, there is an implicit inclination to centralize women as
either vengeful antagonists or protagonists whose deaths or encounters with supernatural
phenomena are consequences of exercising female autonomy through their departure from
patriarchal paradigms. 17 For Japanese religion and folklore outside of j-horror, Ochiai effectively
locates ideals of gender through the ie, a Japanese term denoting a household which is
traditionally patriarchal and includes familial ties of kinship and estate wherein succession rules
of primogeniture and patrivirilocal aspects predominate. 18 Given the prominence of female
spirits in j-horror, I saw gender as a device to edify existential themes such as personal
responsibilities, behavioral standards, and obliging [patriarchal] respectability.
The haunting visuality of the willowy yūrei rendered faceless by long, dark hair is a
common one, arguably definitive of j-horror wherein psionic mediums are drawn through the
ghastly femininity:
Most yurei are female, dressed in white—the color of death in
Japanese funeral costumes—and usually have long, straggling
black hair that obscures most of their faces from view. Much of this
iconography derives from kabuki theater, in tales of the supernatural, as
the restless dead haunt the living 19
Female mediumship is further discussed in relation to traditional folklore wherein women
are ascribed divine power and supernatural affinity because of their physiology, particularly their
Max Weber, Guenther Roth, and Claus Wittich, “The Sociology of Religion,” in Economy and Society
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974). See also Max Weber, Hans Heinrich Gerth, and Charles
Wright Mills, “Religious Rejections of the World and Their Dimensions,” From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1946).
15 Kalat, J-Horror, (see footnote 4). See also “It Came From the East…” (see footnote 2).
16 Valerie Wee, Japanese Horror Films and Their American Remakes: Translating Fear, Adapting Culture (New
York: Taylor & Francis, 2014).
17 Ibid., 105.
18 Emiko Ochiai, “The Ie (Family) in Global Perspective,” in A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan, ed. by
Jennifer Robertson (Malden: Blackwell Publications, 2005), 355.
19 Dixon, A History of Horror (see footnote 12), 185.
14
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
biological capacity to gestate and give birth and their “emotional nature”. 20 There is a
contradiction in how women are conceptualized culturally—both in and outside of Japanese
films—as objects to be feared or deified as objects of worship, revered for their supernatural
prowess, whilst also being discriminated against and oppressed in patriarchy. 21
In the literature, I also found some references to male yūrei, in particular, the funayūrei,
known for haunting seas and luring sailors to their demise. 22 I found this interesting as yūrei are
virtually almost always depicted and referenced as female. Of all the religious and folkloric
research, all the j-horror films, and generally all the resources I have referenced, male yūrei were
predominantly unheard of. They were only mentioned as afterthoughts—mere possibilities,
potentials, the other (and implicitly obscured) side of the coin to the female yūrei dominant
cultural and cinematic imprint. 23
Cinematically, Japan is venerated through a “long tradition of scary stories.” 24 This long
tradition is supported by religious attitudes: Shinbutsu-shūgō, the syncretism of Buddhism and
Shinto, the religions with which most Japanese people identify and practice. 25 Buddhism is a
nontheistic religion that follows the teachings of Buddha, whose insights were meant to guide
people to enlightenment. Its principles emphasize that self-control and harmony are the means to
a good life and afterlife. 26 Enlightenment is attained in resisting social and material desires in
addition to cultivating and embracing a unification of self and everything else. 27 The largest
schools of Buddhism in Japan are Nichiren 28, Pure Land 29, Shingon 30, and Zen 31 which together
Noriko Kawahashi, “Folk Religion and Its Contemporary Issues,” in A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan,
ed. by Jennifer Robertson (Malden: Blackwell Publications, 2005), 459.
21 Wee, Japanese Horror Films and Their Remakes (see footnote 16), 107, 111. See also Kalat, J-Horror (see
footnote 4), 15.
22 Laurence Bush, Asian Horror Encyclopedia: Asian Horror Culture in Literature, Manga and Folklore (San Jose:
Writer’s Club Press, 2001), 54.
23 Balmain, Introduction to Japanese Horror Film (see footnote 4), 83. See also Wee, Japanese Horror Films and
Their Remakes (see footnote 16), 132.
24 Chris Pruett, “The Anthropology of Fear: Learning about Japan through Horror Games,” LDG 4, no. 6 (2010),
http://journals.sfu.ca/loading/index.php/loading/article/view/90.
25 John Breen and Mark Teeuwen, A New History of Shinto (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).
26 Rupert Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 3.
27 Diane Morgan, Essential Buddhism a Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice (Santa Barbara: Praeger,
2010), 113.
28 School of Buddhism based upon the teachings of Japanese monk, Nichiren, stating that all people have a
Buddha nature within and are therefore, capable of attaining enlightenment – Daniel Montgomery, Fire in the
Lotus: The Dynamic of Nichiren (London: Mandala, 1991), 169.
29 Branch of Buddhism with little emphasis on meditation or offerings believing that, “the chanting of the
name of Amitabha Buddha with total concentration, trusting that one will be reborn in the Pure Land, a place
20
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
are referred to as Japanese Buddhism. 32 Indigenous to Japan, Shinto was officiated, therefore
formally authenticated, as a religion during the Meiji period (1868-1912). 33 Shinto and Japanese
Buddhist religion and folklore involve ghosts, possessions, hauntings, and so forth. 34
For Shinto, death is marked by the departure of reikon (spirit, soul) from the body to a
temporal plane awaiting reverence through funeral rites which will enable spiritual peace. 35 If
rights are performed properly, the reikon will transition from this temporal plane as a protector of
its family until it joins the rest of its ancestors after 33 or 50 years if the spirit is laid to rest. 36 If
funeral rites are improperly performed or not done at all, the reikon remains in the temporal
plane as a yūrei.
Buddhism differs in its belief of afterlife, the way in which the soul departs the body and
its subsequent destination. Funerary rites are not integral to pacifying the soul, with an emphasis
on emotive and spiritual support as the soul is in the process of [naturalistically] dying, departing
its human. 37 The focus is not so much on the overall life led by the prospective deceased. Spirits
remain as ghosts if they have led lives of evil, marked by avaricious apparitions, known as
hungry ghosts. 38
Religious principles regarding how one’s life affects the afterlife shows a dimension of
existentialism where one’s goals in life are associated with one’s quality of life. 39 The idea of
unnatural death leads to concepts of unfulfilled, unfinished business that is the yūrei’s source of
conflict since they have not achieved their life goals. 40 In Buddhist tradition, death occurs in four
where it is much easier for a being to work towards enlightenment” – “Pure Land Buddhism,” last modified
October 2, 2002, http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/pureland_1.shtml.
30 Sect of Buddhism concerned predominantly with tantras (bodily practice) not sutras (spoken and literary
aspects; written prayer) based upon teachings of Japanese monk, Kobo Daishi – “What is Shingon Buddhism?”
last modified December 17, 2014, http://www.shingonbuddhism.org/information/what-is-shingonbuddhism.html.
31 A Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition – “What is Zen
Buddhism?” http://www.zen-buddhism.net.
32 “Buddhism in Japan,” http://asiasociety.org/buddhism-japan.
33 Breen and Teeuwen, 78.
34 Catrien Ross, Japanese Ghost Stories: Spirits, Hauntings, and Paranormal Phenomena (North Clarendon:
Tuttle Publications, 2011).
35 Thomas Kasulis, Shinto: The Way Home (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004).
36 Hikaru Suzuki, introduction to Death and Dying in Contemporary Japan (Milton Park: Routledge, 2013), 16.
37 The Wordsworth Encyclopedia of World Religions: 4500 Entries Covering Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese, and Japanese Religions, 758.
38 Tich Nguyen Tang, “Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth,” (lecture, RMIT University, March 22, 2002).
39 Suzuki, 8.
40 Kalat, J-Horror (see footnote 4), 13.
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
ways: bodily expiration in age old age, karmic expiration, a combination of these first two
conditions, and destructive karma. 41
The soul is afforded more agency in Shinto, where its remaining in the material plane is
connected to personal desires, whereas in Buddhism, the soul remains solely through karmic
misdeeds. This Shinto agency is a central characteristic of j-horror, emphasizing the resolve of
the yūrei to enact vengeance or their pursuit of fulfillment however, Buddhist rituals are typically
invoked to exorcise or overcome yūrei. 42 I think this is because of religious syncretism.
Religious syncretism within j-horror cinema informs the usage of exorcisms, séances, and
psionic ideologies in accordance to Buddhist values to solve problems. However, supernatural
phenomena are typically contextualized through notions of fear that “capitalize on urban legends
and media technologies in everyday life.” 43
In j-horror, we see how traditional religious values and rituals are timeless. No matter
how old a tradition may be—in belief or performing rituals—characters ultimately reference and
respect it. Kinoshita discusses how j-horror accentuates a link between the supernatural and
technology wherein media serves as a channel for yūrei to fulfill their purposes. 44 Despite
traditional religious and folkloric values, yūrei are moved out of the context of templar, rustic
ritual into navigating the contemporary world. Films like Ringu 45 and Kairo 46 articulate how
yūrei [can] utilize modern technology to effect and transmit their presence. The yūrei can be
technologically inclined in the contemporary world, but ancient religious and folkloric traditions
are employed by mortals to exorcise or purge them.
Generically, j-horror accentuates the yūrei’s vindictive capacity through their capricious
cruelties or relentless pursuits of revenge. Mortality itself is a malevolent force in j-horror.
Regardless of their roles, mortal characters can die as they are subject to yūrei or other occult
forces. The prevalence of the occult typifies all outcomes. Yūrei are not pacified: they are purged
through mortal rituals (i.e. exorcisms, etc.) so the living can find peace. Despite locating them
and other supernatural phenomena within religious rationality, they are still feared and
“Death and Rebirth According to Theravada Buddhism,”
http://www.buddhistdoor.com/OldWeb/bdoor/0003e/sources/rebirth.htm.
42 Ross, Japanese Ghost Stories (see footnote 34).
43 Chika Kinoshita, “The Mummy Complex,” in Horror to the Extreme: Changing Boundaries in Asian Cinema, ed.
by Jinhee Choi and Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009).
44 Ibid., 106.
45 Ringu, directed by Hideo Nakata (1998 Japan: DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2003), DVD.
46 Kairo, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (2001 Japan: Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2005), DVD.
41
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
marginalized because they are not part of natural order. 47 They are supernatural. In j-horror,
they are vengeful and thereby innately bad. In traditional religious and folkloric contexts, ‘good’
or ‘bad’ are insubstantial; yūrei are simply uncanny and therefore, unwanted. 48 The yūrei serves
as a distinct site of reflection and reference in j-horror. They do not personify people or past lives
inspiring mortal aid or understanding. Instead, they incline viewers to passionately think about
the meaning of life as they are bound by ambitions that extend beyond the grave. 49
J-horror draws viewers beyond religious diegetic paradigms and shows yūrei as
conscientious, vindictive, and visceral forces. 50 They do not characterize supernatural
phenomena merely to be warded off, but as vicious and viable agents that navigate the mortal
world. The yūrei is a supernatural vengeance affecting the earthly realm, capable of influence. 51
Characters are either enthralled or desecrated under the yūrei’s influence. Supernatural
phenomena affect the seemingly steady passage of time towards, not the inevitable but sudden
death of protagonists, antagonists, and even supporting characters. Regarding character
development, the appearance of yūrei imbues an existential paradigm because they are ghosts.
As Lacefield says, they embody a “frozen temporality, a kind of sealing off of subjective
possibility and futurity.” 52
Even though Shinto and Buddhism consecrate the deceased, they ultimately attest to the
malevolence or duplicity of supernatural phenomena. Despite their former humanity and mortal
naturalism, yūrei and other supernatural manifestations of the deceased are no longer human. 53
In both j-horror and in accordance to natural laws, they are rendered powerless because they are
bound by earthly ambitions and are unable to fulfill them because of their metaphysical state. 54
However, we are still cautioned to keep our distance from them. Religious guidance does not
unerringly integrate the yūrei’s condition or motives into mortal understanding. It only provides
context and comprehensive methodology (rituals, mantras, etc.) for pacifying or otherwise
diverting the spirit. J-horror expands upon religious context and ritual, depicting how encounters
Kalat, J-Horror (see footnote 4), 19.
“It Came From the East…” (see footnote 2).
49 Kristen Lacefield, The Scary Screen: Media Anxiety in The Ring (Farnham: Ashgate, 2010).
50 Kalat, J-Horror (see footnote 4), 15.
51 Lacefield, 9.
52 Ibid., 10.
53 Suzuki, Death and Dying (see footnote 36), 23.
54 Charles Tart, The End of Materialism: How Evidence of the Paranormal Is Bringing Science and Spirit Together
(Oakland: Noetic Books, 2009), 245.
47
48
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
with yūrei result in mortal peril with often assured fatal consequences. Locating themselves
within the religious norms of Shinbutsu-shūgō 55 and traditional conceptions of ghosts, viewers
must confront their mortality which makes them susceptible to the unseen, unexplained, and
malevolent forces much like the characters in j-horror films. 56
Cowan describes the soul as “an inextricably religious concept, one linked to our hope for
a life beyond this one” 57, going on to say that horror inspires fear because we have yet to define
what the soul is. This inability to define the soul establishes a syllogistic strife because we are
unable to circumscribe its complexity. It cannot be defined therefore, it cannot be rationalized.
This lack of definition, the soul’s obscurity, justifies ghostly vindications of existence that
validate aspects of horror cinema rhetoric. Namely, “resurgent themes of madness, possession,
and supernatural vengeance.” 58
In what follows, I will analyze how yūrei and supernatural phenomena are treated in a jhorror film, focusing mainly on how and why they inspire fear.
METHOD AND FILM SELECTION
Although yūrei are apart of Japanese religious and folkloric institutions, j-horror offers a
moderate departure from these traditions. Plots generally explore protagonists’ attempts to pacify
yūrei or reconcile supernatural phenomena using natural tools. Yet as the story unfolds, it
becomes evident that fatalities must ensue to appease the spirit only to culminate in an often
ambiguous conclusion. Mollifying yūrei entails identifying living [human] culprits: those who
have wronged them in life by indirectly contributing to their deaths or otherwise occult
phenomena (supernatural possession, curses, etc.) of the living they have left behind. This
involves uncovering secrets or exploring the existential dimensions of the yūrei, ethics, and selfconcept. Yūrei either enact a murderous vengeance or inspire living characters to relocate their
priorities, their sense of self, their life goals, etc. to achieve justice for themselves.
Drawing from this—how protagonists strive to pacify yūrei—the literature also showed
that a major foundation of j-horror was conveying conflicts between mortals and immortals,
55 Fabio Rambelli, “Buddhist Kingship, the Kami, and Modernity: Comparative Considerations,” Japanese
Association for Religious Studies 81, no. 2 (2007).
56 Douglas Cowan, Sacred Terror (see footnote 1), 123.
57 Douglas Cowan, Sacred Terror (see footnote 1), 124.
58 Dixon, A History of Horror (see footnote 12), 191.
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
natural and supernatural. 59 Unlike their descriptions in religious and folkloric rhetoric 60, the
vengeful yūrei in j-horror is not absolved by funerary rites or offerings just like miscellaneous
supernatural phenomena are not appeased by traditional customs. J-horror instead explores how
supernatural phenomena are consecrated through fear, how they transcend death as and bridge
the physical, naturalistic plane of the living.
In my research, I have found that j-horror can also depict yūrei as embodied in the living;
particularly through those occupying occult diasporas in serving supernatural mediums. I have
also found yūrei are allegorized in characters that drastically deviate from social norms such as
vagrants and sociopaths.
For my project, I did a qualitative content analysis of a j-horror film, Norio Tsuruta’s
Kakashi. 61 My analysis focused on how this film elicited fear from perspectives of substantive
and instrumental rationalities. Specifically, I examined how supernatural phenomena overcomes
the characters’ values and objectives—and just why that is scary. I chose this film because I felt
it presented yūrei in addition to other forms supernatural phenomena while maintaining the
treatment of religious aesthetics characterizing j-horror.
Kakashi follows a village’s annual festival, held not because of tradition, but as a
collective plot to placate yūrei. This film struck me because it is so resonant of the idea that
things are not as they appear. The festival is advertised as a simple local tradition, even tourist
attraction, but then the audience discovers the literal and figurative grave supernatural motives.
As mentioned before, the limitations of this study are mostly researcher based, the
foremost being that I am not from Japan and know nothing of Japanese religions or folklore
beyond the scope of the literature. Another limitation is the potential for inaccurate observations
in which I may make “casual or semiconscious observations” 62 in viewing the films. For the
most part, these limitations cannot be wholly eliminated but can be amended in acknowledging
that I am outside the cultural narrative but can provide a unique, academic perspective as an
outsider.
“It Came From the East…” (see footnote 2).
Suzuki, Death and Dying (see footnote 36), 16.
61 Kakashi, directed by Tsuruta Norio (2001 Japan: Universe Laser and Video), DVD.
62 Martin Abbott and Jennifer McKinney, Understanding and Applying Research Design (Hoboken: Wiley, 2012),
13.
59
60
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
THE SUBJECTIVE TRUTH IN KAKASHI
Kakashi follows Kaoru Yoshikawa (played by Maho Nonami) whose search for her
missing brother, Tsuyoshi, leads her to the obscure, rural village of Kozukata. The film opens
with a textual introduction that establishes a premise of kagashi, a practice of burning animal and
human hairs to ward off wild beasts. Upon discovering that these wild beasts actually embody
evil spirits, people erect man-like figures known as kakashi as a means to scare away the evil
spirits. These kakashi can also attract spirits to protect the fields they are erected in. However,
the spirits they attract are not always kind. In modern times, kakashi in the context of the film as
well as real-time Japanese religion and folklore are known as scarecrows. 63
After watching this film several times, I find Kakashi is unique in its conscious
ambiguity. The premise of kakashi and Kaoru’s coincidental arrival in Kozukata during the
village scarecrow festival did not provide me with much insight into Kaoru or other characters’
motives. From the introductory text, we are granted only a liking of what awaits Kaoru in
Kozukata, this village that reveres scarecrows—and even then, there is not much to go on
regarding how this involves Kaoru’s brother or why this could (or should) be scary. Another hint
foreshadows and occurs when Kaoru explores her brother’s vacant apartment. A letter sticks out
from his mail pile. Its sender, we discover, is a mutual friend of Kaoro and Tsuyoshi: Izumi
Miyamori. Bristles of hay fall out from the envelope; and coincidently, hay is also used to make
scarecrows. The return address is Kozukata. The story unfolds as Kaoru travels to Kozukata,
desperately following this mysterious lead to her brother’s whereabouts.
Researching the religious context of scarecrows in Japan provided me with some context
for kakashi from whom the film takes its title. The Shinto deity, Kuebiko, is a scarecrow who
rules knowledge and agriculture. 64 As he was unable to walk, his name—kuebiko—can also be
used in reference to someone physically disabled, believed to have special powers of observation
and thereby insight, due to their immobility. 65 This [Japanese] religious and folkloric reverence
is inconsistent with able-bodied, bureaucratic ideals of normalcy wherein society is more
optimized for those who do not have physical disabilities. 66 Where there is more ease of access,
Mori Mizue, “Kami (Deities): Kami in Classic Texts,” Encyclopedia of Shinto (2005).
Yasumaro Ō, Kojiki: An Account of Ancient Matters (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014), 122.
65 Ibid., 422.
66 Gili Hammer, “Blind Women’s Appearance Management: Negotiating Normalcy between Discipline and
Pleasure,” Gender & Society 26, no. 3 (2012): 403.
63
64
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Fall/Winter 2015
movement, and resources suited to able-bodied individuals, this power of observation may be
special. But ultimately, this power is invalidated by other disabilities that render the observer
immobile or [literally] unable to enjoy an ease of access exclusively afforded to the able-bodied.
The idea of kuebiko is that an individual’s physical disability affords them the greater ability to
observe. Being stationary is somehow a likeness for being placid; by extension, literally,
physically inactive. This inactivity enables a clearer focus and therefore, greater observation and
even introspection skills. 67 One need not travel to learn. The religious context and metaphorical
definition of kuebiko allows for an appreciation of Kakashi’s depiction of scarecrows as
supernatural mediums of whom are more than physically able.
Further into the story, we see that Kozukata’s scarecrow festival is used as an opportunity
to contact and summon deceased members of the community. Scarecrows are supernatural
embodiments of the deceased. They come in a number of forms—some look human, some look
like scarecrows—but they are all alive, assuming roles in the village. Kozukata itself can be
located as an anomaly. It functions as an occult conduit to summon the deceased and yet it is
entirely a temporal space.
After meeting Mr. Miyamori, Izumi’s father, Kaoru learns that Izumi has died. Mr.
Miyamori implores her to leave as soon as possible. He says that she will not be able to leave if
she remains in the village any longer; then, amends that her leaving is not a matter of ability but
desire. It is not that she cannot leave, but that she will not want to leave. This sentiment carries
throughout the movie. Characters juxtapose the idea of ability against desire. This idea is
relevant to kuebiko in how physicality is transcended through corporeality, how wisdom and
insight involve more than just physical naturalist action. Having the physical capacity to do
things can be inconsequential. People cannot act if they do not want to.
It is through this logic that Kakashi demonstrates the relationship between substantive
and instrumental rationalities: the idea that values and objectives drive social action. In Kakashi,
the value drives the objective. Characters cannot act if they do not want to. They cannot attain
goals or interests if they cannot act. In Kakashi, the characters choice not to leave is a desperate
measure to cling onto memories of deceased loved ones. As Mr. Miyamori elaborates: in the
village of Kozukata, people “coexist with death”. This coexistence can be read as a metaphor for
those who cannot leave their pasts behind. Visitors like Mr. Miyamori come to Kozukata for
67
Ō, Kojiki (see footnote 64), 422.
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
closure, to coexist with reincarnates of their deceased loved ones as opposed to living without
them. In Kozukata, time becomes stagnant. The prospect of a supernatural reunion overwhelms
everything else. At the same time, remaining in the village is not wholly a choice or conscious
value. Characters are conveyed as captives of their pasts, unable to let go of the deceased.
Substantively, people, yūrei, and other supernatural phenomena are driven by values. Kakashi
presents a very literal merging of substantive and instrumental rationalities. The film shows how
the traditional authority of ritual articulates beliefs founded in values (substantive rationality)
wherein people do not simply act upon their beliefs but towards them (instrumental rationality)
to fulfill religious objectives.
Before the scarecrow festival, Izumi appears to Kaoru as a yūrei. Her long hair veils her
face. She wears a willowy red gown, just like her carefully crafted and subsequently erected
scarecrow. Peering into her diary, Kaoru discovers that Izumi harbored resentment towards her,
thinking she was overprotective of Tsuyoshi and an impediment to their intimacy. As a yūrei, she
appears to tell Kaoru that she was “always in the way” which prevented her and Tsuyoshi from
realizing their romantic potential. Through Izumi, the film shows that substantive and
instrumental rationalities hold both supernatural and natural significance.
Kozukata is unique as a supernatural sphere. Beyond its boundaries, there are no
scarecrow incarnates. This is evident through the tunnel we see at the edge of the village, the
tunnel that scarecrows are unable to cross. The tunnel represents the idiosyncrasy of borders:
bridges and borders simultaneously connect and divide. They exist to ensure separation and
distinction yet also remind us that we are not alone, that there is something beyond our locational
reality. Sacred spaces and supernatural spheres speak to how supernatural things can be
situational. 68 In this sense, the yūrei Izumi also emulates the kuebiko ideal.
As both a yūrei and soon-to-be scarecrow, Izumi is unable to travel beyond Kozukata.
Her immobility gives her time to think, mostly ruminate upon her regrets and current state. She
observes the world around and within her. As a viewer, I found she possessed a good deal of
insight—more so than the other characters—as she calmly conveyed her frustrations to Kaoru
and mused upon her supernatural state. Compared to the rest of the cast, Izumi is clearly
composed, almost serene but not passive. She stakes her claim to Tsuyoshi as the greatest love he
never knew because of Kaoru’s interference. Izumi is a unique yūrei in that she does not use
68
Weber et al., “Religious Rejections and Their Dimensions” (see footnote 14), 324.
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
violence to articulate her wrath. Unlike the greater part of j-horror I have seen, this yūrei does
not enact her justice through murder or malevolence. I felt this was because of her kuebiko
likeness, how her knowledge afforded her insight compared to others. The other scarecrows
strive to uphold and enforce order whereas Izumi is concerned only with Tsuyoshi, fulfilling the
romantic ambitions that never came to fruition in her natural lifetime. Her experience in life is
centered around Kaoru being overprotective and Tsuyoshi simply (albeit unwittingly) not
requiting her affections. For her, the very conventions fellow scarecrows strive to uphold seem
reductive. Her only priority is justice, engaging with Tsuyoshi for her own happiness.
When individual interests interfere with traditional authorities such as religion, those
authorities become a site of tension as opposed to solace. 69 In the context of religion, an
institution grounded in ritual and soulful salvation, this tension is particularly problematic as it
defines sanctity as desire. The more tension, the more value placed upon individual catharsis.
But when there is less tension—less emphasis upon locating oneself individually—there is
collective solidarity. 70 Traditional authority crumbles in the context of individuality wherein
personal interests are prioritized over existential or divine ones. In j-horror, the yūrei embody
mortal disenchantment as they drift into the imperfect, innate, and somewhat stark reality of how
limited (and flawed) humanity is in contrast to the divine, theocratic idealism. Through its
premise, Kakashi conveys this disenchantment further as substantive and instrumental
rationalities justify the indulgence of occult idealism. People in the film want to live with
deceased loved ones. Their desire to reunite with the deceased drives them to Kozukata, an
occult plane where they can revive loved ones as kakashi, scarecrow avatars of their former
selves. People are thereby disenchanted from naturalist values, indulging in supernaturalist ones
instead.
As Weber states, “All the primeval magical or mystagogic ways of influencing spirits and
deities have pursued special interests.” 71 Indeed, special rational interests. Those who are
naturalistically alive in Kozukata are actively aware of their village’s supernaturalism and remain
there solely to coexist with their deceased loved ones. Their values, their priorities of living with
the deceased, prevent them from leaving; those same values prompt them to construct and
consecrate scarecrow incarnates. According to their values, their interests are rational. The
Weber et al., “Religious Rejections and Their Dimensions” (see footnote 14), 327.
Ibid., 328.
71 Ibid., 331.
69
70
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
purpose of traditional authority in Kakashi, its ritual, is to enliven existence through religion.
Characters invoke a supernatural instrumentality while moral and conscientious justifications are
superfluous to the narrative.
As I read more into religion, I found that ritualism imparts a sense of acosmism, denying
the existence of the universe and seeing everything as an illusion. 72 Japanese Buddhism and
Shinto affirm that enlightenment transcends the naturalist order 73 much like Weber declares that
in the moral context of religion, salvation is without reference to the world and moreover
subjective to the self and individual desires. 74 Rationality is manifest through presuppositions of
empirical logic and deductive reasoning. 75 Even in the context of religion, worship and ritual are
essentially “magical practices…engaged in for the sake of awakening charismatic qualities or for
the sake of preventing evil charms”. 76 In Kakashi, we see this clearly done in the former sense as
characters desire to awaken their deceased loved ones into a living state. Substantive and
instrumental rationalities become entwined as people instrumentally enact occult means for
substantive ends. Life and death coexist because of the villagers. Through them, we see the usage
of traditional authority—religion, ritualism, the creation of scarecrow incarnates—in ascribing
what constitutes reality. Kozukata is a distinct world of its own, a supernatural sphere where the
dead confer with the living. It is an entirely different and occult reality, justified by the wistful
inability to sever bonds with the deceased.
Kakashi also shows that a good life is not necessarily a finite one. In considering how the
villagers of Kozukata craft their scarecrows to revive loved ones, I saw and became acutely
aware that the characters are consciously driven by the finite state of mortality. Their inability to
sever bonds with the deceased is because they are left behind. Their loved ones are no longer
with them as they have passed on to the afterlife. 77 Death has claimed their loved ones while they
are resigned to a mortal realm of living. The kakashi ritual dispels mortal boundaries. However,
yūrei Izumi innately contests this practice.
George Henry Radcliffe, “Hegel, Pantheism, and Spinoza,” Journal of the History of Ideas 38, no. 3 (1977): 450.
Jong Jun, “The Self in the Social Construction of Organizational Reality: Eastern and Western Views,”
Administrative Theory & Praxis 27, no. 1 (2005): 93.
74 Weber et al., “Religious Rejections and Their Dimensions” (see footnote 14), 333.
75 Tart, The End of Materialism (see footnote 54), 58.
76 Weber et al., 333.
77 Suzuki, Death and Dying (see footnote 36), 14.
72
73
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
Yūrei are bound to the mortal realm because they failed to fulfill ambitions in life. 78
Untimely, tragic deaths or their lack of funerary rites catalyze their existence. 79 Yūrei are cast as
being unable to transition to a divine realm. In Kakashi, their presence and reincarnation is
rationalized and effected by other mortals who revive them as scarecrows. The villagers of
Kozukata consciously revive anyone they choose so, the deceased are revived regardless of their
attitude at death. The scarecrows of revived people are not all conflicted like yūrei are. They are
not stewing in anger about unfulfilled ambitions or vengeance. Most are simply revived by loved
ones who simply cannot bear to part with them.
In this regard, the kakashi ritual is ambiguous. In this film, are yūrei like Izumi bound to
our world because of their regrets, to seek vengeance? Or are they unable to pass on because
people evocate their spirits? 80 The latter inspired a critical ethical consideration on my part: is
evocation a benevolent method to recover the dead or a selfish means to indulge the living?
Would the prospects of Izumi’s afterlife bring her spirit peace or would she be happier revived?
For me, this sprang a sense of fear: these ethical, existential questions and facing the reality of
how [through ritual and whims] the soul is prey to mortal intermediaries. In my reading, the
horror of Kakashi lay in those questions, not the eerily stiff countenance of the scarecrows.
In Japan, the concept of pokkuri (sudden death) and the timing of death, rōsui (decline of
old age) are considered ideal forms of “good death” particularly among the elderly. 81 These are
comfortable, “peaceful” ways of dying 82—but, peaceful for whom exactly? Despite the pokkuri
and rōsui ideals, there is still a considerable amount of disagreement as to how one should die.
Clinical standards and other family members may hold divergent values in instances of
determining the usage of life support or treatment. Before urbanization and WWII in Japan,
bereavement and funerary services were largely communal and informed by forms of traditional
authority. Community heads, kumichō, assigned funeral duties and nobeokuri (funeral
procession) which culminated with a march to the burial site. 83 Urbanization—and by extension,
rationalization—sees the tactical elimination of this practice wherein the industrialization of the
Dixon, A History of Horror (see footnote 12), 185.
Kasulis, Shinto: The Way Home (see footnote 35). See also Kasulis, Shinto: The Way Home (see footnote 35).
80 Mary Beard, John North, and Simon Price, Religions of Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998), 41.
81 Suzuki, 8.
82 Ibid.
83 Suzuki, Death and Dying (see footnote 36), 9.
78
79
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015
funeral industry results in funerary rites being homogenized as well as commercialized. 84 This
history speaks to the adverse effect of rationalization as it manifests mortal interests, prioritizing
convenience and efficiency over religious as well as moral values. Interests such as
industrialization, urbanization, and economics cannot effectively be applied to occultism or
supernaturalism. Our naturalist context is reflective of distinctly mortal ambitions. Therefore,
divine constructs should logically be seen as “impervious to human comprehension”. 85 It is
through a lens of logic and ethics that I conclude the substantive and instrumental rationalities of
mortals in Kakashi are innately egocentric. Through the kakashi ritual, Izumi’s parents along
with others evidently seek to steer supernatural favors by their hands. Izumi’s spirit, her yūrei,
does not remain in our realm of its own anguish or volition. Like others, it is caught here due to
ritualistic efforts.
As we see in Kakashi, other j-horror films, and religious accounts, occult practices
effected by mortals inevitably hold dire consequences. 86 The religious fixtures of j-horror—
predominantly, yūrei—are not to be appeased or appropriated through mortal logics. Confronting
supernatural forces almost always concludes with natural, mortal deaths. Just as the scarecrow
incarnates in Kakashi are not reflective of their former mortal selves.
THE ILLUSION OF RATIONALITY
Exploring Japanese religion, folklore, existentialism, j-horror, and the overall praxis of
rationality enables me to appreciate how scary life can be when one is socially displaced; and
how the fear of displacement exists in the context of both biological life and the afterlife.
I started this project thinking that yūrei would be the prime focus; but after my analysis, I
found that they were not as central as the overall settings of supernatural phenomena. In j-horror,
both displacement and integration are dependent upon traditional authority—religion and
folklore—that is upheld by substantive and instrumental rationalities. Religion and folklore guide
social, moral, behavioral, and naturalist values in these films. Supernatural forces, particularly
Haruyo Inoue, “Contemporary Transformation of Japanese Death Ceremonies,” in Death and Dying in
Contemporary Japan, ed. by Hikaru Suzuki (Milton Park: Routledge, 2013), 126.
85 Weber et al., “The Sociology of Religion” (see footnote 17), 522.
86 William Costanzo, World Cinema through Global Genres (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014). See also Ross,
Japanese Ghost Stories (see footnote 34), 23.
84
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Fall/Winter 2015
yūrei, are devices that drive characters to death or catharsis. 87 J-horror’s horror is distinct from
other horror genres because it is primarily articulated through supernatural phenomena that
usurps mortal means and ambitions in often ghastly, gruesome, or enigmatic ways. 88
I found fear in futility, just knowing that every effort made by anyone was futile. Mortals
are subject to the reign of occult forces in Kakashi but they also steer supernatural phenomena to
oblige their desires. There is no ‘right way’ to do anything. There is no ‘winning.’ No matter
what was done, it was all ultimately useless. Even when we strive to follow social, natural orders
and authorities, we stand to be compromised by supernatural forces. Social, moral, and natural
orders are not rewarded nor do they grant immunity to the occult. Likewise, one’s rationality
does not ensure safety. Reality was the only thing I was sure of: the reality of supernatural
phenomena being rendered in natural, rationalist terms; and the reality of the supremacy of
occult forces and therefore, the reality that natural, social orders’ realism revolve around
rationality. 89
Adam Lowenstein, “Ghosts in a Super Flat Global Village: Globalization, Surrealism, and Contemporary
Japanese Horror Films,” Post Script: Essays in Film and the Humanities 28, no. 2 (2009).
88 “It Came From the East…” (see footnote 2).
89 Tart, The End of Materialism (see footnote 54), 55, 246.
87
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Fall/Winter 2015
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About the Author
Fallen Matthews, a sociologist, intersectional feminist, writer, and horror movie enthusiast,
graduated from Dalhousie University with a degree in sociology. As a graduate student, she
currently attends Saint Mary’s University for Gender and Women’s Studies. She analyzes media,
religion, folklore, gender roles, and supernatural phenomena. More specifically, her work
examines the construction of identity and reality is influenced by social roles within horror films.
She has written and produced radio segments as an activist for independent feminist collectives
such as Father Teresa’s Wine Cellar and Guerrilla Feminism. In her fiction writing, she explores
existentialism using nihilistic narratives. Matthews’ goal, as an academic, is to show how much
reality is wholly subjective to pervasive perspectives and presuppositions. Her analysis of
supernatural phenomena illustrates how reality is a matter of rationality wherein knowledge,
behaviors, and feelings correspond to natural laws and otherwise prescribed conditions.
Real or Rational? Fallen Matthews
Fall/Winter 2015