Miyamoto Tsuneichi Boom? (Holding 'Miyamoto Tsuneichi: The Traveling Folklorist')

Created on March 30, 2006

Miyamoto Tsuneichi Boom?
(Holding 'Miyamoto Tsuneichi: The Traveling Folklorist')

When I returned to Japan for the first time in a while (March 8th–13th), it was a stay of less than a week (6 days), but one of the pleasures, aside from work and visiting my home, was browsing bookstores. Since large bookstores are limited in rural areas, after having a meeting in Tokyo, I visited the Yaesu Book Center on Saturday, and in my rural home prefecture of Aichi, I went to Nagoya and checked out Sanseido.

By the way, there are no bookstores in Manila that sell Japanese books. It is truly strange that there are no bookstores at all, even though it is said that 20,000 to 50,000 Japanese people live in Manila. One reason for this might be the proximity, as it only takes three and a half to four and a half hours to get from Tokyo to Manila.

Now, among the books I purchased in Japan this time, I thought a real find was 'Miyamoto Tsuneichi: The Traveling Folklorist', edited by Shinichi Sano, published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha in 2005, which I bought in Nagoya. It is one of the 'KAWADE Michi no Techo' mook series. According to editor Mr. Sano, one of the leading figures behind the Miyamoto studies boom, this year, 2006, marks the 100th anniversary of Miyamoto's birth. In both Tokyo and Nagoya bookstores, there was indeed a 'Miyamoto Tsuneichi' section in the folklore corner, and related books and collections of his works seem to be published one after another.

Among them, this book had a great cover photo. Also, with a wealth of content including collections not previously included in his books or collected works, essays by people who knew him, critiques, and a book guide, I think it is the perfect book as an introduction to the Miyamoto world.

I think there are two ways to approach a great scholar: one is to enter from the periphery, that is, through related books and commentaries, and the other is to engage directly with their works. When I was a student, due to time constraints and simply out of laziness, I sometimes took the easy way out by reading commentaries to summarize reports, but now I think it is better to steadily read through the works of an author you admire, one by one.

For me, such subjects, as I have already touched upon inGiant Steps, include Tsuneichi Miyamoto, Shinji Maejima, Hikoichi Yajima, Ryōyō Tsurumi, and Kei Kamata. What I hope to read before I die are Professor Maejima's 'Arabian Nights', Professor Yajima's 'The Travels of Ibn Battuta', and Professor Miyamoto's 'Collected Works' (currently 46 volumes plus 2 supplementary volumes).

Now, when it comes to tackling an author with many collected works, it is necessary to properly grasp the historical background in which those works were written. People may seem unchanging, but their thoughts can change. If you do not grasp the order in which the works were written and the atmosphere of the world surrounding them, you might end up with a terrible misunderstanding or a shallow reading.

Perhaps that is the significance of related books in order to avoid that. Also, the raw voices of the people around them are extremely interesting.

With that said, I am enjoying reading these Miyamoto-related books. I am still in the middle of reading them, but there was a passage that caught my attention, which I would like to introduce below.

“... (omitted).
Something like a movement that remains unsystematized called community development, there are many people participating in it who, even if they don't call themselves disciples of Tsuneichi Miyamoto, have been deeply influenced by him. ... (omitted) ...None of them are in a hurry, and they do not try to reach hasty conclusions. Unlike the modern method of making a plan, that is, planning, they prefer to take an attitude that seems at first glance to yield no results, such as first trying to listen to people and continuing to look at reality.

However, that frustrating attitude can sometimes play a role in putting a brake on the speed of rapid change, or reckless change in the name of progress.

Like philosophy, folklore in the modern age almost never plays a role or function in helping the side that creates something. ... (omitted).” (Bold text by Shibata)

Osamu Ishiyama, 'Standing Still While Sitting: A Huge Deceleration Device', page 15 of the above-mentioned book.

When I see such writing, I can't help but smile. As a minor development consultant, I am also aiming for regional development in particular.

Indeed, as a task, it is not just about large-scale infrastructure development (although I do handle that too), but I must also devise and implement concrete measures such as livelihood improvement projects that are considered more grassroots.

However, one must keep in mind that even projects called grassroots are ultimatelyfor the sake of modernization based on the capitalist paradigm.

I cannot say for sure, but while the activities of civil society and NGOs are being discussed in various places in the world of development assistance as an alternative to ODA, in the end, I think there can be no project that ignores the current world, which is a 'capitalist society', and even if there were, it would be nothing more than a fantasy.

Coming to the Philippines and getting closer to the field, the more I walk, the more fundamental questions and realizations arise as to whether this capitalization and the introduction of modern schemes are truly suitable for the people in the rural areas of the Philippines.

Nevertheless, I am neither a scholar nor a critic. As a practitioner (a consultant), what can I do?

The journey and the questions of'Development Folklore', which stepped out into the world from Japanese folklore, have just begun.

As an aside:

The subtitle of this book is 'The Traveling Folklorist,' but I felt that 'traveling' might be an oxymoron.

I will also frankly mention that I couldn't help but retort, 'How can someone as earthy as a folklorist not travel!'

(End of this section)