Discussion Question

1) How does spirit possession seem to function in this book as a way to deal with female jealousy, as compared to Tale of Genji and the Noh plays Aoi no Ue and Nonomiya? Give concrete examples to support your points. Do you think the author believes in spirit possession?

Reading Questions

Fumiko Enchi, Masks (Onnamen)

ENCHI, FUMIKO (1905-1986): Born in Tokyo on October 2, 1905 and died of heart failure on November 14, 1986. Her father was Ueda Kazutoshi (1867-1937), a distinguished Japanese linguist. Her grandmother (on her father’s side) was an avid fan of Kabuki and a good story-teller. Enchi attended the girls' middle school of Japan Women's University from 1918-1922; until her marriage she received private tuition in English, French, and kanbun (Japanese version of Chinese). She also attended the lectures of Osanai Kaoru, the founder of modern Japanese drama. In 1930, she married Enchi Yoshimatsu, a journalist with whom she had a daughter. She had two major cancer operations, a mastectomy in 1938 and a hysterectomy in 1946. As a young child Enchi was taken to the Kabuki theatre often and her father encouraged her interest in the theater. A precocious girl, she read everything from the Tale of Genji to late Edo gesaku (light fiction) and modern novels in adult magazines. At 13 her reading list included the works of Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, Hoffman, and the writings of lzumi Kyoka (1873-1939), Nagai Kafu (1879-1959), Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1892-1927), and Tanizaki Jun'ichiro (1868-1965), whose sado-masochistic aestheticism particularly fascinated her.

In 1926 her one-act play, "Furusato" (A Birthplace), was published in the journal Kabuki and was received favorably. Another one-act play "Banshu soya" (A Noisy Night in Late Spring, 1928) was acclaimed when it was staged at the Tsukiji Little Theatre. After the birth of her daughter, Enchi turned to novel writing. Her earliest novels such as Kaze no gotoki kotoba (The Words Like the Wind, 1939), Ten no sachi, umi no sachi (The Treasures of Heaven and Sea. 1940) and Shunju (Spring and Autumn, 1943) did not sell well. During the war Enchi had her first cancer operation and lost her home in the bombing; immediately afterwards she had a second cancer operation , from which she made a slow recovery. During this period she published little. Around 1951 she reestablished herself as an author writing of the suffering of women. In 1953 the title story of Himojii tsukihi (Starving Days), which had first appeared in serial form in 1951, won the Women's Literature Prize. It is a violent, harrowing tale of family misfortune and deprivation, both physical and emotional. The highly praised novel, Onna zaka (The Waiting Years, 1949-1957), won the Noma Literary Prize. It analyzed the plight of women who had no alternative but to accept the demeaning roles that the patriarchal family system had assigned to them. Onnamen (Masks) was published in 1958. Also during this period she published a 10 volume translation of The Tale of Genji into modern Japanese The stylistic and thematic influence of Genji is clearly very important to Masks. (Biographical data adapted from Sachiko S. Schierbeck, Japanese Women Novelists in the 20th Century: 104 biographies, 1900-1993. Copenhagen: Museum Tusalanum Press, 1994, pp. 112-118.

Principal Characters:

YASUKO Togano (late 20s)
_ widow of Akio Togano
_ apparently choosing between two suitors, Mikame and Ibuki
_ living with her mother-in-law, Mieko Togano

AKIO Togano

_ Died 4 years ago in avalanche on Mt. Fuji
_ married to Yasuko TOGANO
_ son of Mieko TOGANO
_ twin brother of Harume, an eerily beautiful young woman

MIEKO Togano (50s)
_ daughter of head priest of well-known temple
_ married into powerful Niigata landowner family
_ husband deceased

Tsuneo IBUKI (age 33)
_University Professor, Heian Literature Specialist
_ Senior colleague to Akio TOGANO
_ Married to Sadako, has one child

Toyoki MIKAME (age 33)
_ Ph.D., Psychology (works in psychiatric hospital)
_ Amateur Folklorist
_ Interested in devil possession, Japanese folklore
_ Bachelor

AGURI
_ maid in the household and mistress of Mieko’s husband
_ caused Mieko’s miscarriage

HARUME Togano (about 30)
_ mentally handicapped twin of Akio
_ raised by her grandparents, but now living with Mieko

Yorihito Yakushiji
_ head of renowned Noh family
_ dying of stomach cancer, wasting away
_ wants to show Mieko his mask collection, especially female masks

Yoritaka Yakushiji
_ son of Yorihito
_ shows masks to Mieko, Yasuko, Ibuki and Mikame
_ puts on Zo-no-onna mask

Notes and images of the NOH MASKS discussed in the book (click on the names to see images)

Yase otoko: literally, "thin man"; a man emaciated from suffering, usually a ghost.

Magojirô: a woman slightly older than Ko-Omote (used for the youngest women); her face is slender (ko-omote is quite plump) and she is considered to be at the height of her beauty.

Zô no onna: a woman of refined elegance and beauty. Because it is used in plays like "The Burden of Love" in which an aristocratic woman cruelly spurns a poor man, its beauty is associated with haughty cruelty.

Ryô no onna: a woman tormented from beyond the grave by her attachment to love.

Masugami: used to represent a young, aristocratic woman who has gone mad.

Fukai: used for slightly older women who are suffering from the loss of their child.

Study questions:

1) As you read along pay attention to how references to Noh and Noh masks are used to describe character. How are different Noh masks used to designate different kinds of women? What Noh masks are Yasuko, Mieko, and Harume identified with? Why?

2) Look for references to spirit possession, female shamanism, and ghosts. How is religion and spirituality treated in this book (especially compared to Noh)? How is spirit possession used to describe power relationships, particularly among women and between women and men? How is spirit possession and shamanism related to feminine sexuality?

3) There are a number of "triangular" structures and personal relationships in this book: see if you can pick them out.

4) How do Ibuki and Mikame view the relationship between Mieko and Yasuko? (note especially pp. 13-14; pp. 87-89) Who do you think is right in their assessment?

5) Mieko's essay on Rokujô (pp. 48-57) could be read as a feminist reading of Tale of Genji (note that in the 1950s this would have been a very unusual reading of the play; today it has almost become standard). According to Mieko, how do male commentators usually respond to Rokujô? Why does she think this is mistaken? What is her intepretation of the role of demonic possession in Tale of Genji? How does her interpretation of Rokujô and demonic possession reflect her own situation?

6) To what extent does Mieko appear to interpret the character of Rokujô through the Noh play Nonomiya rather than the original story?

7) How does Mieko and Yasuko's relationship seem subversive of the power of men in their lives?

8) At a few points in the story, Ibuki and Mikame indicate what kind of woman they find attractive, and what kind they don't find attractive. What are the traits (both positive and negative) that they consider attractively feminine in Yasuko, Harume, and Mieko? Why is Sadako (Ibuki's wife) considered unattractive?