Mito Komon, Understanding who is boss and why.

I was just sitting around the house watching the television when I realised something about Japanese culture that I believe is actually very important. The programme on show was a typical holiday season drama; love, treachery, swords and samurai, everywhere samurai with swords. In fact I would imagine that for most people one of the first images the word Japan conjures up in their mind is that of the samurai.

Fine clothes, fine swords, the dangerous elegance of power

This icon of Japan is the foundation of television drama, the lynchpin format which places the history of Japan at the heart of entertainment. But the realisation I made was that with very small exceptions this is all there is, almost everything is samurai, almost everything is historical drama that proclaims one standard Japanese identity.

Every child knows who they are

Now this is so obvious that I am sure some of you are thinking, "Come on Jack, what are you trying to say here." Well it is obvious but it is so obvious that I feel we miss something. In our English culture we have historical drama, good lord we are riddled with it, the royal family through history, stories of the Englishman as empire builder, those Norman invaders, Robin Hood, the list is long. But in all of our dramas there are others, we always have others. Even when we deal with the royal family, an example being Queen Victoria, there is always the foreigner, Prince Albert, that German character. Robin Hood, well how many episodes before the skillful Moor makes an appearance? Besides the men in green of Sherwood forest are fighting that dreadful foreigner the Norman overlord.

We have always known who everyone else is

Our history is filled with the comings and goings not just of the continent of Europe but the whole world and they all turn up in the cast of our historical dramas. We source our identity in popular culture from this multiplicity of identities. In Japanese popular culture there is only one identity, all the time the same identity continually playing into the nation's consciousness.

Mito Komon, the definitive Japanese hierachy

We have to remember that for many years the traditional greeting for the tourist arriving on the shores of Japan was decapitation. The poor old sailor who managed to struggle through the surf as the sole survivor of a shipwreck would stagger half way up the beach but never make it any further. No words, no enquiry, no other consideration, the first person to see this demon from the sea would either take the head off there and then or get someone with a sword to do the job immediately. You see Japan is the sacred islands of the Japanese and in the past they intended to keep it that way. There was going to be no issue about foreigners coming and changing or ruining the Japanese way of life. Foreigners were simply not allowed to pollute the national identity.

But, as I have said before, pragmatism and a dislike of uncertainty were always on hand to deal with changing situations. Gunpowder, for the pragmatic mind, and European weapons, especially in a feudal society with clans protected by warrior armies, held a certain attraction. Even then the traders were kept in isolation from the nation of Japan, either on a designated island or in ghettos, contact with the foreign was limited. Once the technology and the skills of production were acquired then it was back to the good old days of banishing foreigners on pain of death.

Dark days ahead as America forges its diplomatic style

Things really do not change until July 14th 1853 when the United States of America decided to use their own interpretation of the word diplomacy to open up the country for trade. Commander Perry arrived in his famous Black Ship and gave Japan two options, either open for trade or have all your coastal towns bombarded. Faced with an opponent so technologically superior the decision was the pragmatic choice, open for trade. This ended 200 years of trading only with the Dutch and the Chinese. The nation still managed to protect its population from excessive foreign influence but it was recognised that Japan had to become an industrialised country and move on the global stage. The rest, as they say, is history!

That realisation I started with was the effect of a continually mono-cultural background on identity today. True, a lot of what I am saying here is actually quite superficial in some respects, but scratch any surface and you will find the true metal of your subject. I believe the metal of this Japanese identity is something special.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Two years ago a delegtaion of Islamic traders organising the sale of second hand Japanese cars from a port on the coast to Asia and beyond arranged to meet with the city mayor. Their petition was about trying to obtain halal meals for their children at the local school. They presented their case and the mayor, who listened patiently so the report stated, replied, "Ah yes, but this is Japan."

The delegation tried to further explain but anyone who knows the Japanese knows exactly what the mayor was saying. Perhaps I could translate for you, "If you want to eat halal please do but in Japan we are not muslim so we don't do halal in our schools. If you are not happy with this then please go to a country where your children can eat halal meals in their schools. Thankyou and goodbye."

Authority comes from the top

Perhaps this seems a glib interpretaton but to the Japanese mind the whole question would have made little sense and have been seen just as an odd request from a bunch of foreigners. There is only one cultural position and that is Japanese, all other relationships are a matter of pragmatism but Japanese culture is never negotiable.

Halal meals? I don't think so!

And so to Mito Komon. This is Japan's longest running television drama and I love every moment of it. This progamme has over 1000 episodes to its credit and began in 1969. At 16.00hrs most weekdays you can see an episode of the back catalogue and the current series plays in an evening slot within the schedule. 1000 episodes and all with exactly the same format, the same fundamental plot. This programme is the Doctor Who of Japanese television, by that I mean that every so often the main character, Mitsuemon, regenerates and so, I believe, there have been 5 Mitsuemon and with each new interpretation of the character his travelling companions change (slightly).

Outnumbered but never outmatched, Japan against the world.

This is the plot: wandering old retired man arrives at a location and finds something bad going on. He and his team investigate and discover the truth about how local people are being abused by corrupt officials and authorities. They then confront the evil doers and a fight ensues. This fight is badly ill matched with Mitsuemon's faithful and ever present key retainers Kaku-san and Suke-san usually taking on at least 15 opponents at any one time. However what the bad guys do not know is that these two men represent the most formidable of swordmen and the most formidable exponent of judo. Very quickly it is clear that no numbers of opponent will get the better of these two but that is just the first lesson.

The inro is produced

At some point Mitsuemon will call his men to him and then they will reveal that their master is in fact not a retired travelling crepe merchant but the second most powerful person in Japan, Tokugowa Mitsukuni, former vice-Shogun and reitired daimyo of the Mito domain. No matter what your rank or authority this is the moment when you get down on your knees because if Mitsuemon tells you to eat your own foot all you can do is ask permission for some salt.

1. 

Pass the salt

Here is a video clip so you can see for yourself:

So there you have it, out comes the inro (the lacquered box bearing the symbol of the Tokugowa clan) and everyone thinks "Shit!" as Suke-san tells them "Do you know who this is, this is the former vice-shogun, this is the Lord of Mito, get down on your knees now and show the proper respect."

There is no chance or opportunity of any other action in this moment as everyone is faced with the power of Japanese feudal authority. What Mitsuemon says is exactly what will happen, there is no debate. Faced with such power the ring leader gets up and attacks, he knows that he is a dead man and so decides to go out fighting, it is all he can do. But for such unusual insolence even in his moment of death a judicious foot comes down on his neck. Most of the time the ring leaders just keep their noses in the dirt and take their punishment. The other bad boy is then dispatched with ruthless efficiency and all has been set right. Mitsuemon produces his trademark laugh, probably at the very idea anyone thought they could get away with such a scam in the first place, and then goes on to ensure all worthy citizens are safe within that local society.

Everyone on the floor before authority

Well yes, this is an historic drama played with humour and perhaps you would say hardly a touchstone of culture. I would contend that you would be wrong to look at this with such eyes. Those eyes would be your western interpretation. The fundamental of this drama is authority and its power. When that inro comes out everything stops, one look at the Tokugawa seal and everyone falls to their knees. Remember this is Japan's longest running drama celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. We have Coronation Street and the working class of the Rover's Return but Japan has supreme power and authority enforced from the top to ensure society functions as it should with all wrong doers punished mercilessly. Every day at 16.00hrs and once a week in an evening prime time slot, the message goes out, always the same story, always the same result, always consistent. No uncertainty at all.

And who was this Mitsuemon?

Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川 光圀, Tokugawa Mitsukuni?, July 11, 1628 - January 14, 1701) was a prominent daimyo who was known for his influence in the politics of the early Edo period. He was the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa (who in turn was the eighth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu) and succeeded him, becoming the second daimyo of the Mito domain.

source: Wikipedia

Tokugawa Ieyasu

The key name in this extract is Tokugawa Ieyasu who is a formidable figure in Japanese history. This is the man who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate which ruled Japan for 250 years, absolutely no mean feat whatsoever. So Mitsuemon is Tougawa Ieyasu's grandson and a former vice-shogun in the Tokugowo Shogunate and that is someone you just do not want to pick a fight with.

This Tokugawa clan is very important because it established the capital of Japan at Edo, this today is the location of Tokyo. No Tokugawa, no Tokyo, as simple as that.

So how does this all translate into the contemporary. Well it is about authority and how we react to it. One flash of the inro and everyone is on their knees. But if you ask a company man today if that effects his life he would probably not understand what you mean, no Mitsuemon is just a television drama. However, if you ask that company man out for a beer after work he may just say to you that he can't make it because his boss is working late that evening. Nobody leaves until after the boss has gone, that's just the way it is in Japan.
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The man who replaced Liberal Democratic Party of Japan
Well Done Indeed Sir!
Overwhelming Election Victory on Change Mandate
Consequence: nothing changes.
Hatoyama, the grandson of the founder of a political dynasty

Hatoyama comes from a prominent Japanese political family which has been called the "Kennedy family of Japan."[2]

Hatoyama, who was born in Bunkyō, Tokyo, is a fourth generation politician. His paternal great-grandfather, Kazuo Hatoyama, was speaker of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan from 1896 to 1897 during the Meiji era.[3] Kazuo later served as the president of Waseda University.[3] His paternal great-grandmother, Haruko Hatoyama, was a co-founder of what is known today as Kyoritsu Women's University. His paternal grandfather, Ichirō Hatoyama, was a major politician; he served as Prime Minister and was a founder and the first President of the Liberal Democratic Party (ja:自由民主党総裁, Jiyū-Minshutō Sōsai?, 1956).

extract source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Hatoyama

Mitsuemon source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mito_K%C5%8Dmon